Rose did not talk much, but she ate heartily—she must be as healthy as she looked. Once or twice during the meal Reuben caught himself staring at her lips—they were extraordinarily3 red, and at the end of the meal the juice of her pudding had stained them purple.
She said that she must leave directly after supper. Alice fetched her hat, which was not the kind that Reuben had ever seen on country girls, being of the fashionable pork-pie shape. All her clothes were obviously town-made; she wore a blue stuff dress, tight-fitting round her bust4 and shoulders, full and flounced in the skirt—afterwards he heard that Rose had spent some years with relations in London before coming to live at Starvecrow.
He gave her his arm, said good-bye to Alice in the doorway5, and went through the little garden where flowers crowded out vegetables in a very unbusiness-like way, into the lane which wound past Cheat Land and round the hanger6 of Boarzell, to the farms of the Brede Valley.
Rose, a little to his surprise, began to chatter7 volubly. She talked very much like a child, with na?ve comments, about simple things. She asked trivial questions, and screamed with delight when some dusk-blinded bird flew against her breast and dashed down heavily into[Pg 247] the ruts. She exclaimed at the crimson8 moon which rose behind the hedge like a hot penny—she laughed at the slightest provocation9; and yet all the while he was conscious of an underlayer of shrewdness, he had an extraordinary conviction of experience.
Besides, while she laughed and babbled10 like a child, her eyes continually rose towards his with a woman's calculated boldness. They spoke11 something quite different from her lips—the combination was maddening; and those lips, too, in their rare silences, were so unlike the words they uttered that he scarcely knew whether he wanted most to silence them completely or never let them be silent.
"I don't like Alice Jury," she prattled12, "she says just the opposite of what you say. She never lets herself agree with anyone. She's a contradictious female."
Then suddenly she was silent—and Reuben kissed her.
He crooked13 his arm round her and held her close to him, standing15 there in the lane. Her lips slowly parted under his, then suddenly she threw her head back in a kind of ecstasy16, giving him the white expanse of her neck, which he kissed, giddy with a soft fragrance17 that rose from her clothes, reminding him a little of clover.
She was so obviously and na?vely delighted, that when he drew himself up, his idea of her was again one of extreme childishness. And yet it was evident that she was used to kisses, and that he had kissed her at her own unspoken invitation.
They walked on down the lane. Rose's chatter had ceased, and a complete silence dropped between the hedges. The moon had risen higher, and the western hazels were bloomed with light. The moon was no longer crimson in the dark sky, but had burnt down to copper18, casting a copper glow into the mists, staining all the blues19 that melted into one another along the hills. Only the middle of the lane was black—like a well. Reuben[Pg 248] and Rose could see each other's faces in a kind of rusty20 glimmer21, but their feet stumbled in the darkness, and her hand lay clutching and heavy on his arm.
At last they came to Castweasel—three old cottages and a ruined one, leaning together in a hollow like mushrooms. Beside the ruined cottage a tree-trunk was lying, and Rose suddenly stretched herself with a little sigh.
"I'm tired—let's sit down and rest a bit."
They sat down on the log, and she immediately crept close to him like a child. He put his arm round her, and once again she thrilled him with her own delight—she stole her arms round his neck, holding his head in the crook14 of her elbows, and laughed with her mouth against his. Then her hands crept into his hair, and rumpled22 it, while she whispered like a child finding some new virtue23 in its toy—"How thick! how thick!" At last she drew his head down to her breast, holding it there with both hands while she dipped her kisses on his eyes....
Reuben was in ecstasy by this time. It was years since he had caressed24 a woman, except casually25, for he considered that women interfered26 with his work. Rose's eagerness could not cheapen her, for it was so childlike, and she continued to give him that sense of deep experience which robbed her attitude of insipidity27. Her delight in his kisses was somehow made sweeter to him by the conviction that she could compare them with other men's.
She began to laugh—she became gay and mettlesome28. Her whole nature seemed changed, and he found it hard to think of her as the beautiful yet rather lumpish girl who had sat in the silence of a good appetite at the Cheat Land supper-table. Behind them the ruin of the old cottage sent out bitter-sweet scents30 of decay—its crumbling31 plaster and rotting lath perfumed the night. Fragrances32 strove in the air—the scent29 of Rose's clothes,[Pg 249] and of her big curls tumbling on his shoulder, the scent of still water, of dew-drenched leaves, and damp, teeming33 soil—sweet vagabond scents of bluebells34, puffed35 on sudden breezes....
Reuben was growing drunken with it all—he strained Rose to him; she was part of the night. Just as her scents mingled36 with its scents, so he and she both mingled with the hush37 of the lightless, sorrowless fields, the blots38 of trees, the woods that whispered voicelessly.... Above the hedges, stars winked39 and flashed, dancing in the crystalline air. Right overhead the Sign of Cancer jigged40 to its image in Castweasel Pool. Reuben looked up, and through a gate he saw Boarzell rearing like a shaggy beast towards him. He suddenly became more aware of Boarzell than of anything in the night, than of the flowers or the water or the stars, or even Rose, drowsing against his shoulder with parted lips. Boarzell filled the night. The breeze became suddenly laden41 with scents of it—the faint bitterness of its dew-drenched turf where the bracken-crosiers were beginning to uncurl, of its noon-smelling gorse, of its heather-tangle, half budding, half dead, of its fir-needles and its fir-cones, rotting and sprouting42. All seemed to blend together into a strong, heady, ammoniacal smell ... the great beast of Boarzell dominated the night, pawed Reuben, roared over him, made him suddenly mad, clutching Rose till she cried out with pain, kissing her till she broke free, and stood before him pale and dishevelled, with anger in her eyes.
He sprang to his feet, the mood had passed—the beast of Boarzell had ceased to worry him.
"I'm sorry," he said sheepishly.
"And well you may be," said Rose, "you've torn my gown."
They walked on down the lane; she pouted43 and swung her hat. Reuben, anxious to propitiate44, picked primroses45 under the hedge and gave them to her.
She looked pleased at once, and began to eat them.
"Wot," said Reuben, "you eat flowers?"
"Yes," she answered, "I love eating primroses—pick me some more."
So for the rest of the walk to Starvecrow, he picked primroses, and she nibbled46 them with her white teeth, which were small and even, except for the two canines47, which were pointed48 like a little animal's.
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1
invalid
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| n.病人，伤残人；adj.有病的，伤残的；无效的 | |
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2
helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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3
extraordinarily
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| adv.格外地；极端地 | |
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4
bust
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| vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部 | |
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5
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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hanger
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| n.吊架，吊轴承；挂钩 | |
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7
chatter
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| vi.／n.喋喋不休；短促尖叫；(牙齿)打战 | |
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8
crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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9
provocation
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| n.激怒，刺激，挑拨，挑衅的事物，激怒的原因 | |
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10
babbled
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| v.喋喋不休( babble的过去式和过去分词 )；作潺潺声（如流水）；含糊不清地说话；泄漏秘密 | |
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11
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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12
prattled
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| v.（小孩般）天真无邪地说话( prattle的过去式和过去分词 )；发出连续而无意义的声音；闲扯；东拉西扯 | |
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13
crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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14
crook
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| v.使弯曲；n.小偷，骗子，贼；弯曲(处) | |
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15
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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16
ecstasy
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| n.狂喜，心醉神怡，入迷 | |
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17
fragrance
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| n.芬芳，香味，香气 | |
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18
copper
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| n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的 | |
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19
blues
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| n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐 | |
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20
rusty
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| adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的 | |
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21
glimmer
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| v.发出闪烁的微光；n.微光，微弱的闪光 | |
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22
rumpled
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| v.弄皱，使凌乱( rumple的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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23
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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24
caressed
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| 爱抚或抚摸…( caress的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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25
casually
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| adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地 | |
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26
interfered
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| v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉 | |
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27
insipidity
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| n.枯燥无味，清淡，无精神；无生气状 | |
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28
mettlesome
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| adj.（通常指马等）精力充沛的，勇猛的 | |
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29
scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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30
scents
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| n.香水( scent的名词复数 )；气味；（动物的）臭迹；（尤指狗的）嗅觉 | |
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31
crumbling
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| adj.摇摇欲坠的 | |
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32
fragrances
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| n.芳香，香味( fragrance的名词复数 )；香水 | |
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33
teeming
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| adj.丰富的v.充满( teem的现在分词 )；到处都是；（指水、雨等）暴降；倾注 | |
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34
bluebells
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| n.圆叶风铃草( bluebell的名词复数 ) | |
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35
puffed
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| adj.疏松的v.使喷出( puff的过去式和过去分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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36
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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37
hush
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| int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静 | |
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38
blots
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| 污渍( blot的名词复数 )； 墨水渍； 错事； 污点 | |
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39
winked
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| v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮 | |
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40
jigged
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| v.（使）上下急动( jig的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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41
laden
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| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
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42
sprouting
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| v.发芽( sprout的现在分词 )；抽芽；出现；（使）涌现出 | |
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43
pouted
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| v.撅（嘴）( pout的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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44
propitiate
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| v.慰解，劝解 | |
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45
primroses
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| n.报春花( primrose的名词复数 )；淡黄色；追求享乐（招至恶果） | |
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46
nibbled
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| v.啃，一点一点地咬（吃）( nibble的过去式和过去分词 )；啃出（洞），一点一点咬出（洞）；慢慢减少；小口咬 | |
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47
canines
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| n.犬齿( canine的名词复数 )；犬牙；犬科动物 | |
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48
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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