CHAPTER IX. OLIVER'S MOTHER.

I T is time to introduce Oliver's mother, who was suffering such cruel imprisonment¹ within the walls of a mad-house.

It was by a subterfuge² she had first been induced to enter the asylum³ of Dr. Fox. Her husband had spoken of it as a boarding-school under the charge of an old friend of his.

"I think, my dear," he said, as they dismounted at the gate, "that you will be interested to look over the institution, and I know it will afford my friend great pleasure to show it to you."

"I dare say I shall find it interesting," she answered, and they entered.

Dr. Fox met them at the door. He had received previous notice of their arrival, and a bargain had been struck between Mr. Kenyon and the doctor. A meaning look was exchanged between them which Mrs. Kenyon did not notice.

"I have brought my wife to look over your establishment, doctor," said Mr. Kenyon.

"I don't think it is worth looking at," said the doctor, "but I shall be very glad to show it. Will you come upstairs?"

They were moving up the main staircase when a loud scream was heard from above, proceeding⁴ from one of the insane inmates⁵.

"What is that?" asked Mrs. Kenyon, stopping short and turning pale.

Mr. Kenyon bit his lip. He feared that his wife would suspect too soon the character of the institution. But Dr. Fox was prepared for the question.

"It is poor Tommy Briggs," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "He is in the sick-ward."

"But what is the matter with him?" asked Mrs. Kenyon, shuddering⁶ as another wild shriek⁸ was borne to her ears.

"He has fits," answered the doctor.

"Ought he to be here, then?"

"He has them only at intervals⁹, say once a month. To-morrow he will be all right again."

Mrs. Kenyon accepted this explanation without suspicion.

"How old is he?" she asked.

"Fifteen."

"About the age of Oliver," she remarked, turning to her husband.

"Or Roland."

"What a misfortune it must be to have a boy so afflicted¹⁰! How I pity his poor mother!"

"Come up another flight, please," said Dr. Fox. "We will begin our examination there."

They went up to the next story.

Dr. Fox drew a bunch of keys from his pocket, and applying one to the door opened it.

"Do you keep them locked in?" asked Mrs. Kenyon, surprised.

"This is one of the dormitories," answered the doctor, who never lost his self-possession. "Come in, please."

It was a large square room. In one corner was a bed, surrounded by curtains. In the opposite corner was another bed—a cot.

"Sit down one moment, Mrs. Kenyon," said the doctor. "I want to call a servant."

He left the room, and Mr. Kenyon followed him.

The two men regarded each other with a complacent¹¹ smile.

"Well, it's done," said the doctor, rubbing his hands. "She walked into the trap without any suspicion or fuss."

"You'd better lock the door," said Mr. Kenyon nervously¹².

The doctor did so.

"Now," said he, "if you will follow me downstairs we will attend to the business part of the matter."

"Willingly," said Kenyon.

The business referred to consisted of the payment of three months' board in advance.

"Now, Dr. Fox," said his new patron, "you may rely upon punctual payment of your bills. On your part, I depend on your safe custody¹³ of my wife as long as her mind remains¹⁴ unsound."

"And that will be a long time, I fancy," said the doctor, laughing.

Mr. Kenyon appreciated the joke, and laughed too.

"I must leave you now," he said. "I hope you won't have much trouble with her."

"Oh, have no anxiety on that score," said the doctor nonchalantly. "I am used to such cases; I know how to manage."

The two men shook hands, and Mr. Kenyon left the asylum a free man.

"So far, well," he said, when he was in the open air. "At last—at last, I am rich! And I mean to enjoy my wealth!"

Mrs. Kenyon remained in the seat assigned her for two or three minutes. Then she began to wonder why her husband and the doctor did not return.

"It's strange they leave me here so long," she said to herself.

Then she rose and went to the door.

She tried to open it, but it resisted her efforts.

"What does this mean?" she asked herself, bewildered.

She turned, and was startled by seeing a tall woman, in a long calico robe, in the act of emerging from the curtained bed. The woman had long hair, which, unconfined, descended¹⁵ over her shoulders. Her features wore a strange look, which startled and alarmed Mrs. Kenyon.

"How did you get into my room?" asked the woman sharply.

"Is this your room?" asked Mrs. Kenyon, unable to remove her eyes from the strange apparition¹⁶.

"Yes, it is my audience chamber," was the reply. "Why are you here?"

"I hardly know," said Mrs. Kenyon hurriedly. "I think there must be some mistake. I would go out if I could, but the door is locked."

"They always lock it," said the other composedly.

"Do you live here?" asked Mrs. Kenyon nervously.

"Oh, yes, I have lived here for five hundred years, more or less."

"What!" exclaimed Mrs. Kenyon, terror-stricken.

"I said more or less," repeated the woman sharply. "How can I tell within fifty years? Do you know who I am?"

"No."

"You have often heard of me," said the other complacently¹⁷. "The whole world has heard about me. I am Queen Cleopatra."

Mrs. Kenyon knew where she was now. She realized it with a heart full of horror. But what could it mean? Could Mr. Kenyon have left her there intentionally¹⁸? In spite of all she had learned about it she could hardly credit it.

"What place is this, tell me?" she implored¹⁹.

"I'll tell you," said the woman, "but you mustn't tell," she added, with a look of cunning. "I've found it all out. It's a place where they send crazy people."

"Good Heaven!"

"They are all crazy here—all but me," continued Cleopatra, to call her by the name she assumed. "I am only here for my health," she continued. "That's what the doctor tells me, though why they should keep me so long I cannot understand. Sometimes I suspect――"

"In Heaven's name, what?"

The woman advanced toward Mrs. Kenyon, who shrank from her instinctively²⁰, and whispered:

"They want to separate me and Mark Antony," she said. "I am convinced of it, though whether it's C?sar or my ministers who have done it I can't tell. What do you think?" she demanded, fixing her eyes searchingly upon Mrs. Kenyon.

"I don't know," answered Mrs. Kenyon, shrinking away from her.

"You needn't be afraid of me," said Cleopatra, observing the movement. "I am not crazy, you know. I am perfectly²¹ harmless. Are you crazy?"

"Heaven forbid!" exclaimed Mrs. Kenyon with a shudder⁷.

"They all say so," said Cleopatra shrewdly, "but they are all crazy except me. Do you hear that?"

There was another wild shriek, proceeding from a room on the same floor.

"Who is it?" asked Mrs. Kenyon, in alarm.

"It's crazy Nancy," answered Cleopatra. "She thinks she's the wife of Henry VIII., and she is always afraid he will have her executed. It's queer what fancies these people have," added Cleopatra, laughing.

"How unconscious she is of her infirmity!" thought Mrs. Kenyon. "I hope she's never violent."

"Is there a bell here?" she asked.

"What for?"

"I wish to ring for the doctor and my husband."

"Ho! ho! Do you think they would notice your ringing?"

"Do you think they mean to leave me here?" asked Mrs. Kenyon, with a gasp²² of horror.

"To be sure they do. The doctor told me this morning he was going to give me a nice, agreeable room-mate."

The full horror of her situation was revealed to the unfortunate woman, and she sank upon the floor in a swoon.

1 imprisonment   

n.关押，监禁，坐牢

参考例句：

• His sentence was commuted from death to life imprisonment.他的判决由死刑减为无期徒刑。
• He was sentenced to one year's imprisonment for committing bigamy.他因为犯重婚罪被判入狱一年。

2 subterfuge   

n.诡计；藉口

参考例句：

• European carping over the phraseology represented a mixture of hypocrisy and subterfuge.欧洲在措词上找岔子的做法既虚伪又狡诈。
• The Independents tried hard to swallow the wretched subterfuge.独立党的党员们硬着头皮想把这一拙劣的托词信以为真。

3 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

4 proceeding   

n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报

参考例句：

• This train is now proceeding from Paris to London.这次列车从巴黎开往伦敦。
• The work is proceeding briskly.工作很有生气地进展着。

5 inmates   

n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• One of the inmates has escaped. 被收容的人中有一个逃跑了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The inmates were moved to an undisclosed location. 监狱里的囚犯被转移到一个秘密处所。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 shuddering   

v.战栗( shudder的现在分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动

参考例句：

• 'I am afraid of it,'she answered, shuddering. “我害怕，”她发着抖，说。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
• She drew a deep shuddering breath. 她不由得打了个寒噤，深深吸了口气。 来自飘（部分）

7 shudder   

v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动

参考例句：

• The sight of the coffin sent a shudder through him.看到那副棺材，他浑身一阵战栗。
• We all shudder at the thought of the dreadful dirty place.我们一想到那可怕的肮脏地方就浑身战惊。

8 shriek   

v./n.尖叫，叫喊

参考例句：

• Suddenly he began to shriek loudly.突然他开始大声尖叫起来。
• People sometimes shriek because of terror,anger,or pain.人们有时会因为恐惧，气愤或疼痛而尖叫。

9 intervals   

n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息

参考例句：

• The forecast said there would be sunny intervals and showers. 预报间晴，有阵雨。
• Meetings take place at fortnightly intervals. 每两周开一次会。

10 afflicted   

使受痛苦，折磨( afflict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• About 40% of the country's population is afflicted with the disease. 全国40%左右的人口患有这种疾病。
• A terrible restlessness that was like to hunger afflicted Martin Eden. 一阵可怕的、跟饥饿差不多的不安情绪折磨着马丁·伊登。

11 complacent   

adj.自满的；自鸣得意的

参考例句：

• We must not become complacent the moment we have some success.我们决不能一见成绩就自满起来。
• She was complacent about her achievements.她对自己的成绩沾沾自喜。

12 nervously   

adv.神情激动地，不安地

参考例句：

• He bit his lip nervously,trying not to cry.他紧张地咬着唇，努力忍着不哭出来。
• He paced nervously up and down on the platform.他在站台上情绪不安地走来走去。

13 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

14 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

15 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。

16 apparition   

n.幽灵，神奇的现象

参考例句：

• He saw the apparition of his dead wife.他看见了他亡妻的幽灵。
• But the terror of this new apparition brought me to a stand.这新出现的幽灵吓得我站在那里一动也不敢动。

17 complacently   

adv. 满足地, 自满地, 沾沾自喜地

参考例句：

• He complacently lived out his life as a village school teacher. 他满足于一个乡村教师的生活。
• "That was just something for evening wear," returned his wife complacently. “那套衣服是晚装，"他妻子心安理得地说道。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

18 intentionally   

ad.故意地，有意地

参考例句：

• I didn't say it intentionally. 我是无心说的。
• The local authority ruled that he had made himself intentionally homeless and was therefore not entitled to be rehoused. 当地政府裁定他是有意居无定所，因此没有资格再获得提供住房。

19 implored   

恳求或乞求（某人）( implore的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She implored him to stay. 她恳求他留下。
• She implored him with tears in her eyes to forgive her. 她含泪哀求他原谅她。

20 instinctively   

adv.本能地

参考例句：

• As he leaned towards her she instinctively recoiled. 他向她靠近，她本能地往后缩。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He knew instinctively where he would find her. 他本能地知道在哪儿能找到她。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

22 gasp   

n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说

参考例句：

• She gave a gasp of surprise.她吃惊得大口喘气。
• The enemy are at their last gasp.敌人在做垂死的挣扎。