The Rencounter by the Pool
The July sun shone over Egdon and fired its crimson1 heather to scarlet2. It was the one season of the year, and the one weather of the season, in which the heath was gorgeous. This flowering period represented the second or noontide division in the cycle of those superficial changes which alone were possible here; it followed the green or young-fern period, representing the morn, and preceded the brown period, when the heathbells and ferns would wear the russet tinges3 of evening; to be in turn displaced by the dark hue4 of the winter period, representing night.
Clym and Eustacia, in their little house at Alderworth, beyond East Egdon, were living on with a monotony which was delightful5 to them. The heath and changes of weather were quite blotted6 out from their eyes for the present. They were enclosed in a sort of luminous7 mist, which hid from them surroundings of any inharmonious colour, and gave to all things the character of light. When it rained they were charmed, because they could remain indoors together all day with such a show of reason; when it was fine they were charmed, because they could sit together on the hills. They were like those double stars which revolve8 round and round each other, and from a distance appear to be one. The absolute solitude9 in which they lived intensified10 their reciprocal thoughts; yet some might have said that it had the disadvantage of consuming their mutual11 affections at a fearfully prodigal12 rate. Yeobright did not fear for his own part; but recollection of Eustacia's old speech about the evanescence of love, now apparently13 forgotten by her, sometimes caused him to ask himself a question; and he recoiled14 at the thought that the quality of finiteness was not foreign to Eden.
When three or four weeks had been passed thus, Yeobright resumed his reading in earnest. To make up for lost time he studied indefatigably15, for he wished to enter his new profession with the least possible delay.
Now, Eustacia's dream had always been that, once married to Clym, she would have the power of inducing him to return to Paris. He had carefully withheld16 all promise to do so; but would he be proof against her coaxing17 and argument? She had calculated to such a degree on the probability of success that she had represented Paris, and not Budmouth, to her grandfather as in all likelihood their future home. Her hopes were bound up in this dream. In the quiet days since their marriage, when Yeobright had been poring over her lips, her eyes, and the lines of her face, she had mused18 and mused on the subject, even while in the act of returning his gaze; and now the sight of the books, indicating a future which was antagonistic19 to her dream, struck her with a positively20 painful jar. She was hoping for the time when, as the mistress of some pretty establishment, however small, near a Parisian Boulevard, she would be passing her days on the skirts at least of the gay world, and catching21 stray wafts22 from those town pleasures she was so well fitted to enjoy. Yet Yeobright was as firm in the contrary intention as if the tendency of marriage were rather to develop the fantasies of young philanthropy than to sweep them away.
Her anxiety reached a high pitch; but there was something in Clym's undeviating manner which made her hesitate before sounding him on the subject. At this point in their experience, however, an incident helped her. It occurred one evening about six weeks after their union, and arose entirely23 out of the unconscious misapplication of Venn of the fifty guineas intended for Yeobright.
A day or two after the receipt of the money Thomasin had sent a note to her aunt to thank her. She had been surprised at the largeness of the amount; but as no sum had ever been mentioned she set that down to her late uncle's generosity24. She had been strictly25 charged by her aunt to say nothing to her husband of this gift; and Wildeve, as was natural enough, had not brought himself to mention to his wife a single particular of the midnight scene in the heath. Christian26's terror, in like manner, had tied his tongue on the share he took in that proceeding27; and hoping that by some means or other the money had gone to its proper destination, he simply asserted as much, without giving details.
Therefore, when a week or two had passed away, Mrs. Yeobright began to wonder why she never heard from her son of the receipt of the present; and to add gloom to her perplexity came the possibility that resentment28 might be the cause of his silence. She could hardly believe as much, but why did he not write? She questioned Christian, and the confusion in his answers would at once have led her to believe that something was wrong, had not one-half of his story been corroborated29 by Thomasin's note.
Mrs. Yeobright was in this state of uncertainty30 when she was informed one morning that her son's wife was visiting her grandfather at Mistover. She determined31 to walk up the hill, see Eustacia, and ascertain32 from her daughter-in-law's lips whether the family guineas, which were to Mrs. Yeobright what family jewels are to wealthier dowagers, had miscarried or not.
When Christian learnt where she was going his concern reached its height. At the moment of her departure he could prevaricate33 no longer, and, confessing to the gambling34, told her the truth as far as he knew it--that the guineas had been won by Wildeve.
"What, is he going to keep them?" Mrs. Yeobright cried.
"I hope and trust not!" moaned Christian. "He's a good man, and perhaps will do right things. He said you ought to have gied Mr. Clym's share to Eustacia, and that's perhaps what he'll do himself."
To Mrs. Yeobright, as soon as she could calmly reflect, there was much likelihood in this, for she could hardly believe that Wildeve would really appropriate money belonging to her son. The intermediate course of giving it to Eustacia was the sort of thing to please Wildeve's fancy. But it filled the mother with anger none the less. That Wildeve should have got command of the guineas after all, and should rearrange the disposal of them, placing Clym's share in Clym's wife's hands, because she had been his own sweetheart, and might be so still, was as irritating a pain as any that Mrs. Yeobright had ever borne.
She instantly dismissed the wretched Christian from her employ for his conduct in the affair; but, feeling quite helpless and unable to do without him, told him afterwards that he might stay a little longer if he chose. Then she hastened off to Eustacia, moved by a much less promising35 emotion towards her daughter-in-law than she had felt half an hour earlier, when planning her journey. At that time it was to inquire in a friendly spirit if there had been any accidental loss; now it was to ask plainly if Wildeve had privately36 given her money which had been intended as a sacred gift to Clym.
She started at two o'clock, and her meeting with Eustacia was hastened by the appearance of the young lady beside the pool and bank which bordered her grandfather's premises37, where she stood surveying the scene, and perhaps thinking of the romantic enactments38 it had witnessed in past days. When Mrs. Yeobright approached, Eustacia surveyed her with the calm stare of a stranger.
The mother-in-law was the first to speak. "I was coming to see you," she said.
"Indeed!" said Eustacia with surprise, for Mrs. Yeobright, much to the girl's mortification39, had refused to be present at the wedding. "I did not at all expect you."
"I was coming on business only," said the visitor, more coldly than at first. "Will you excuse my asking this--Have you received a gift from Thomasin's husband?"
"A gift?"
"I mean money!"
"What--I myself?"
"Well, I meant yourself, privately--though I was not going to put it in that way."
"Money from Mr. Wildeve? No--never! Madam, what do you mean by that?" Eustacia fired up all too quickly, for her own consciousness of the old attachment40 between herself and Wildeve led her to jump to the conclusion that Mrs. Yeobright also knew of it, and might have come to accuse her of receiving dishonourable presents from him now.
"I simply ask the question," said Mrs. Yeobright. "I have been----"
"You ought to have better opinions of me--I feared you were against me from the first!" exclaimed Eustacia
"No. I was simply for Clym," replied Mrs. Yeobright, with too much emphasis in her earnestness. "It is the instinct of everyone to look after their own."
"How can you imply that he required guarding against me?" cried Eustacia, passionate41 tears in her eyes. "I have not injured him by marrying him! What sin have I done that you should think so ill of me? You had no right to speak against me to him when I have never wronged you."
"I only did what was fair under the circumstances," said Mrs. Yeobright more softly. "I would rather not have gone into this question at present, but you compel me. I am not ashamed to tell you the honest truth. I was firmly convinced that he ought not to marry you--therefore I tried to dissuade42 him by all the means in my power. But it is done now, and I have no idea of complaining any more. I am ready to welcome you."
"Ah, yes, it is very well to see things in that business point of view," murmured Eustacia with a smothered43 fire of feeling. "But why should you think there is anything between me and Mr. Wildeve? I have a spirit as well as you. I am indignant; and so would any woman be. It was a condescension44 in me to be Clym's wife, and not a manoeuvre45, let me remind you; and therefore I will not be treated as a schemer whom it becomes necessary to bear with because she has crept into the family."
"Oh!" said Mrs. Yeobright, vainly endeavouring to control her anger. "I have never heard anything to show that my son's lineage is not as good as the Vyes'--perhaps better. It is amusing to hear you talk of condescension."
"It was condescension, nevertheless," said Eustacia vehemently46. "And if I had known then what I know now, that I should be living in this wild heath a month after my marriage, I--I should have thought twice before agreeing."
"It would be better not to say that; it might not sound truthful47. I am not aware that any deception48 was used on his part--I know there was not--whatever might have been the case on the other side."
"This is too exasperating49!" answered the younger woman huskily, her face crimsoning50, and her eyes darting51 light. "How can you dare to speak to me like that? I insist upon repeating to you that had I known that my life would from my marriage up to this time have been as it is, I should have said NO. I don't complain. I have never uttered a sound of such a thing to him; but it is true. I hope therefore that in the future you will be silent on my eagerness. If you injure me now you injure yourself."
"Injure you? Do you think I am an evil-disposed person?"
"You injured me before my marriage, and you have now suspected me of secretly favouring another man for money!"
"I could not help what I thought. But I have never spoken of you outside my house."
"You spoke52 of me within it, to Clym, and you could not do worse."
"I did my duty."
"And I'll do mine."
"A part of which will possibly be to set him against his mother. It is always so. But why should I not bear it as others have borne it before me!"
"I understand you," said Eustacia, breathless with emotion. "You think me capable of every bad thing. Who can be worse than a wife who encourages a lover, and poisons her husband's mind against his relative? Yet that is now the character given to me. Will you not come and drag him out of my hands?"
Mrs. Yeobright gave back heat for heat.
"Don't rage at me, madam! It ill becomes your beauty, and I am not worth the injury you may do it on my account, I assure you. I am only a poor old woman who has lost a son."
"If you had treated me honourably53 you would have had him still." Eustacia said, while scalding tears trickled54 from her eyes. "You have brought yourself to folly55; you have caused a division which can never be healed!"
"I have done nothing. This audacity56 from a young woman is more than I can bear."
"It was asked for; you have suspected me, and you have made me speak of my husband in a way I would not have done. You will let him know that I have spoken thus, and it will cause misery57 between us. Will you go away from me? You are no friend!"
"I will go when I have spoken a word. If anyone says I have come here to question you without good grounds for it, that person speaks untruly. If anyone says that I attempted to stop your marriage by any but honest means, that person, too, does not speak the truth. I have fallen on an evil time; God has been unjust to me in letting you insult me! Probably my son's happiness does not lie on this side of the grave, for he is a foolish man who neglects the advice of his parent. You, Eustacia, stand on the edge of a precipice58 without knowing it. Only show my son one-half the temper you have shown me today--and you may before long--and you will find that though he is as gentle as a child with you now, he can be as hard as steel!"
The excited mother then withdrew, and Eustacia, panting, stood looking into the pool.
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1
crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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tinges
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| n.细微的色彩，一丝痕迹( tinge的名词复数 ) | |
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hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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blotted
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| 涂污( blot的过去式和过去分词 )； （用吸墨纸）吸干 | |
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luminous
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| adj.发光的，发亮的；光明的；明白易懂的；有启发的 | |
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revolve
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| vi.(使)旋转；循环出现 | |
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solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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intensified
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| v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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prodigal
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| adj.浪费的，挥霍的，放荡的 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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recoiled
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| v.畏缩( recoil的过去式和过去分词 )；退缩；报应；返回 | |
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indefatigably
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| adv.不厌倦地，不屈不挠地 | |
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withheld
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| withhold过去式及过去分词 | |
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coaxing
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| v.哄，用好话劝说( coax的现在分词 )；巧言骗取；哄劝，劝诱；“锻炼”效应 | |
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mused
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| v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
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antagonistic
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| adj.敌对的 | |
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positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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wafts
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| n.空中飘来的气味，一阵气味( waft的名词复数 )；摇转风扇v.吹送，飘送，（使）浮动( waft的第三人称单数 ) | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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generosity
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| n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为 | |
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strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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resentment
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| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
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corroborated
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| v.证实，支持（某种说法、信仰、理论等）( corroborate的过去式 ) | |
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uncertainty
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| n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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ascertain
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| vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清 | |
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prevaricate
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| v.支吾其词；说谎；n.推诿的人；撒谎的人 | |
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gambling
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| n.赌博；投机 | |
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promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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privately
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| adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地 | |
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premises
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| n.建筑物，房屋 | |
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enactments
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| n.演出( enactment的名词复数 )；展现；规定；通过 | |
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mortification
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| n.耻辱，屈辱 | |
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attachment
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| n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附 | |
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41
passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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42
dissuade
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| v.劝阻，阻止 | |
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smothered
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| （使）窒息， （使）透不过气( smother的过去式和过去分词 )； 覆盖； 忍住； 抑制 | |
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44
condescension
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| n.自以为高人一等，贬低(别人) | |
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45
manoeuvre
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| n.策略，调动；v.用策略，调动 | |
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vehemently
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| adv. 热烈地 | |
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47
truthful
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| adj.真实的，说实话的，诚实的 | |
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48
deception
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| n.欺骗，欺诈；骗局，诡计 | |
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49
exasperating
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| adj. 激怒的 动词exasperate的现在分词形式 | |
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50
crimsoning
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| 变为深红色（crimson的现在分词形式） | |
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51
darting
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的现在分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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52
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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53
honourably
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| adv.可尊敬地，光荣地，体面地 | |
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54
trickled
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| v.滴( trickle的过去式和过去分词 )；淌；使)慢慢走；缓慢移动 | |
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55
folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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56
audacity
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| n.大胆，卤莽，无礼 | |
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57
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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precipice
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| n.悬崖，危急的处境 | |
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