"'Tis an orgy!" exclaimed Lady Maria.
"Oh, Jasper!" sobbed1 Lady Standish.
"'Twould be interesting to know," further trumpeted2 Lady Maria, "which of these gentlemen is supposed to have run away with the widow Bellairs?"
"Oh, Kitty!" sobbed Lady Standish.
"My God!" said Sir Jasper, laying down his reeking3 glass and hardly believing his eyes.
Mistress Kitty (seated between O'Hara and Stafford at the end of the table, while Lord Verney and Sir Jasper faced each other), continued, unmoved, to sip4 her fragrant5 brew6 and cocked her wicked eye at the newcomers, enjoying the situation prodigiously7. She laid an arresting hand upon the cuffs8 of her neighbours, who, all polite amazement9, were about to spring to their feet. "Keep still," said she, "keep still and let Sir Jasper and his lady first have their little explanation undisturbed. Never intermeddle between husband and wife," she added demurely10: "it has always been one of my guiding axioms!"
"Well, Sir Jasper Standish, these are pretty goings on!" cried Lady Maria, "for a three months' husband.... (Hold up, my poor dear Julia!) Profligate11!" snorted the old lady, boring the baronet through with one gimlet eye. "Dissolute wretch12! highwayman!"
"I demand," fluted13 Lady Standish's plaintive14 treble (in her gentle obstinate15 heart she had come to the fixed16 resolution of never allowing Sir Jasper out of her sight again), "I demand to be taken back to my mother, and to have an immediate17 separation."
"Running away with women out of the streets of Bath!—A lady," (sniff) "supposed to be engaged to my nevvy! Poor deluded18 boy——"
"And my dearest friend!—oh, Jasper! How could you?"
Sir Jasper broke in upon his wife's treble with the anguished19 roar of the goaded20: "The devil take me," cried he, "if I don't think the whole world's going mad! I elope with the widow Bellairs, Lady Maria, ma'am? I treacherous21, my Lady? Ha!" He positively22 capered23 with fury and wounded feeling and general distraction24, as he drew the incriminating documents from his breast, and flourished them, one in each hand, under the very nose of his accusers. "What of Red Curl, madam? What of the man who kissed the dimple, madam? What of your lover, madam!"
In his confusion he hurled25 the last two demands straight in Lady Maria's face, who, with all the indignation of outraged26 virtue27, exclaimed in her deepest note:
"Vile28 slanderer29, I deny it!"
Here Mistress Bellairs deemed the moment ripe for her delicate interference.
"My lovely Standish," she cried, "you look sadly. Indeed I fear you will swoon if you do not sit. Pray Mr. Stafford, conduct my Lady Standish to the arm-chair and make her sip a glass of cordial from the bowl yonder."
"Oh, Kitty!" cried Lady Standish, and devoured30 the widow's face with eager eyes to see whether friend or enemy was heralded31 there.
"My dear," whispered Kitty, "nothing could be going better. Sit down, I tell you, and I promise you that in ten minutes you will have Sir Jasper on his knees."
Then running up to Sir Jasper and speaking with the most childlike and deliberate candour:
"Pray, Sir Jasper," said she, "and what might you be prating32 of letters and red curls? Strange now," she looked round the company with dewy, guileless eyes, "I lost a letter only a day or two ago at your house—a," she dropped her lids with a most entrancing little simper, "a rather private letter. I believe I must have lost it in dear Julia's parlour, near the sofa, for I remember I pulled out my handkerchief——"
"Good God!" said Sir Jasper, hoarsely33, and glared at her, all doubt, and crushed the letters in his hand.
"Could you—could you have found it, Sir Jasper, I wonder? Mercy on me! And then this morning ... 'tis the strangest thing ... I get another letter, another rather private letter, and after despatching a few notes to my friends, for the life of me, I could not find the letter any more! And I vow34 I wanted it, for I had scarce glanced at it."
"Oh, Mistress Bellairs!" cried Sir Jasper. "Tell me," cried he panting, "what did these letters contain?"
"La!" said she, "what a question to put to a lady!"
"For God's sake, madam!" said he, and in truth he looked piteous.
"Then, step apart," said she, "and for dear Julia's sake I will confide35 in you, as a gentleman."
She led him to the moonlit window, while all followed them with curious eyes—except Verney, who surreptitiously drank his punch, and slid away from the table, with the fear of his aunt in his heart. And now Mistress Kitty hung her head, looked exceedingly bashful and exceedingly coy. She took up a corner of her dainty flowered gown and plaited it in her fingers.
"Was there," she asked, "was there anything of the description of a—of a trifling36 lock of hair, in the first letter—'twas somewhat of an auburn hue37?"
"Confusion!" exclaimed the baronet, thrust the fateful letters into her hand, and turning on his heel, stamped his foot, muttering furiously: "Curse the fool that wrote them, and the feather-head that dropped them!"
"And what of the fool that picked them up and read them?" whispered Mistress Kitty's voice in his ears, sharp as a slender stiletto.
She looked him up and down with a fine disdainful mockery.
"Why will you men write?" said she meaningly. "Letters are dangerous things!"
He stood convicted, without a word.
"La! what a face!" she cried aloud now. "I protest you quite frighten me. And how is it you are not overjoyed, Sir Jasper? Here is your Julia proved whiter than the driven snow and more injured than Griselidis, and you not at her feet!"
"Where is she?" said Sir Jasper, half strangled by contending emotions.
"Why, there, in that arm-chair in the inglenook."
Mistress Kitty smoothed her restored treasures quite tenderly, folded them neatly38 and slipped them into the little brocade bag that hung at her waist.
*****
"Indeed, Lady Standish," said Mr. Stafford, "a glass of punch will do you no harm."
"Punch?" echoed Lady Maria—then turning fiercely on her nephew: "What, my Lord!" said she, "would your mother say? Why you are positively reeking with the dissolute fumes39!"
"My dear Lady Maria," interposed the urbane40 Stafford, "a mere41 cordial, a grateful fragrance42 to heighten the heart after fatigue43 and emotions, a sovereign thing, madam, against the night air—the warmest antidote44! A sip of it, I assure you, would vastly restore you."
"I," she said, "I, drink with the profligate and the wanton! The deceiving husband and the treacherous friend!" She gave the fiercer refusal for that she felt so strongly in her old bones the charm of his description.
"Pooh, pooh! my dear ladies, if that is all," said Mr. Stafford, "then, by Heaven, let the glass circulate at once! Indeed, your La'ship," turning to Lady Standish, "so far from our good Jasper having anything to say to Mistress Bellairs's presence here to-night, let me assure you that he and I set out alone at an early hour this evening, with no other object but to be of service to your ladyship—whom your anxious husband had been led to believe was likely to come this way ... somewhat—ah—unsuitably protected, as he thought."
Then he bent45 down and whispered into Lady Standish's pretty ear (which she willingly enough lent to such consoling assurances): "As for your friend," he went on, "our delightful46 if volatile47 Bellairs—she came here with a vastly different person to Sir Jasper: poor O'Hara yonder—who's drinking all the punch! She will tell you herself how it happened.... But, gracious stars, my dear Lady Maria, have you not yet been given a glass of the—of Mr. O'Hara's restorative!"
"Allow me," cried Kitty, who, having just settled Sir Jasper's business for him, had now freedom to place her energies elsewhere. "Dearest Lady Maria—how sweet of you to join us in our little reconciliation48 feast!" She took a brimming glass from O'Hara's hands and held it, with a winning smile, for Lady Maria's acceptance.
"Madam," responded the matron, scowled49, drew her voluminous skirts together and became impenetrably deaf.
"Ah," cried the widow in her topmost notes, "Madam, how I should have revered50 such a relative as yourself! Next to the joy of calling my Lord Verney's mother, my mother, would have been that of calling his aunt, my aunt! But the dream is over. Lord Verney and I can never be more to each other than we are now."
"Eh?" and the Dowager recovered her hearing. "What's that, what's that, nevvy?"
"'Tis, alas51, true," said Lord Verney, with great demureness52. "Mistress Bellairs has given me back my word."
"Forgive me, dear Lady Maria," trilled the widow.
"Mercy on us!" ejaculated the old lady; then, as if unconsciously, groped for the glass in Mistress Kitty's hand.
"Sit down, sit down all!" cried Mistress Bellairs. Stafford echoed with a jovial53 shout. There was a call for a fresh bowl. O'Hara's eyes began to dance, his tongue to resume its glibness54. And Lady Maria was surprised to find how long her tumbler took to empty, but, curiously55, never failed to be looking the other way when Mistress Bellairs with tenderest solicitude56 plied57 the silver ladle in her direction.
"I hope," said the ancient lady, now wreathed in smiles, "I hope that Mr. O'Hara's cordial is not really stronger than Madeira wine—which my physician, that charming Sir George, says is all I ought to drink."
"Madeira?" cried Mr. O'Hara, "Madeira wine is a very fair drink ... it is a fine stirring dhrink. But 'tis apt, I'm afraid, to heat the blood overmuch. Now Claret," he went on, pursuing the thesis, "Claret's the wine for gentlemen—only for the divil of a way it has of lying cold upon the stomach ... after four or five bottles.... Do I hear you say: 'Port,' over there, Tom, me boy? I'll not deny but that Port has qualities. It's strong, it's mellow—but it's heavy. It sends a fellow to sleep, and that's a tirrible bad mark against it; for 'tis near as bad for a man to sleep when he has a bottle going, as when he has a lady coming. Then there's Champagne58 for you: there's exhilaration in Champagne, 'tis the real tipple59 for a gentleman when he's alone—in a tête-à-tête—but 'tis not the wine for great company. Now, my dear friends," said O'Hara, stirring his new brew with the touch of a past master, "if you want to know a wine that combines the fire of the Madeira with the elegance60 of the Claret, the power and mellowness61 of the Port with the exhilaration of the Champagne—there's nothing in the world can compare to a fine screeching62 bowl of Brandy Punch!"
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1
sobbed
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| 哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说 | |
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2
trumpeted
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| 大声说出或宣告（trumpet的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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3
reeking
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| v.发出浓烈的臭气( reek的现在分词 )；散发臭气；发出难闻的气味 (of sth)；明显带有（令人不快或生疑的跡象） | |
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4
sip
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| v.小口地喝，抿，呷；n.一小口的量 | |
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5
fragrant
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| adj.芬香的，馥郁的，愉快的 | |
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6
brew
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| v.酿造，调制 | |
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7
prodigiously
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| adv.异常地，惊人地，巨大地 | |
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8
cuffs
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| n.袖口( cuff的名词复数 )v.掌打，拳打( cuff的第三人称单数 ) | |
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9
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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10
demurely
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| adv.装成端庄地，认真地 | |
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11
profligate
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| adj.行为不检的；n.放荡的人，浪子，肆意挥霍者 | |
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12
wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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13
fluted
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| a.有凹槽的 | |
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14
plaintive
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| adj.可怜的，伤心的 | |
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15
obstinate
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| adj.顽固的，倔强的，不易屈服的，较难治愈的 | |
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16
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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17
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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18
deluded
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| v.欺骗，哄骗( delude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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19
anguished
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| adj.极其痛苦的v.使极度痛苦(anguish的过去式) | |
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20
goaded
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| v.刺激( goad的过去式和过去分词 )；激励；（用尖棒）驱赶；驱使（或怂恿、刺激）某人 | |
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21
treacherous
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| adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的 | |
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22
positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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23
capered
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| v.跳跃，雀跃( caper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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24
distraction
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| n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐 | |
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25
hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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26
outraged
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| a.震惊的，义愤填膺的 | |
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27
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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28
vile
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| adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的 | |
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29
slanderer
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| 造谣中伤者 | |
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30
devoured
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| 吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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31
heralded
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| v.预示( herald的过去式和过去分词 )；宣布（好或重要） | |
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32
prating
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| v.（古时用语）唠叨，啰唆( prate的现在分词 ) | |
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33
hoarsely
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| adv.嘶哑地 | |
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34
vow
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| n.誓(言)，誓约；v.起誓，立誓 | |
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35
confide
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| v.向某人吐露秘密 | |
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36
trifling
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| adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的 | |
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37
hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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38
neatly
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| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
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39
fumes
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| n.(强烈而刺激的)气味，气体 | |
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40
urbane
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| adj.温文尔雅的，懂礼的 | |
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41
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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42
fragrance
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| n.芬芳，香味，香气 | |
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43
fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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44
antidote
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| n.解毒药，解毒剂 | |
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45
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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46
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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47
volatile
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| adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质 | |
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48
reconciliation
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| n.和解，和谐，一致 | |
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49
scowled
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| 怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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50
revered
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| v.崇敬，尊崇，敬畏( revere的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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51
alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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52
demureness
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| n.demure（拘谨的，端庄的）的变形 | |
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53
jovial
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| adj.快乐的，好交际的 | |
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54
glibness
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| n.花言巧语；口若悬河 | |
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55
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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56
solicitude
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| n.焦虑 | |
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57
plied
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| v.使用（工具）( ply的过去式和过去分词 )；经常供应（食物、饮料）；固定往来；经营生意 | |
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58
champagne
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| n.香槟酒；微黄色 | |
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59
tipple
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| n.常喝的酒；v.不断喝，饮烈酒 | |
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60
elegance
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| n.优雅；优美，雅致；精致，巧妙 | |
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61
mellowness
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| 成熟； 芳醇； 肥沃； 怡然 | |
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62
screeching
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| v.发出尖叫声( screech的现在分词 )；发出粗而刺耳的声音；高叫 | |
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