The walls of his new house were carried up nearly to their fullheight. By a curious though not infrequent reaction, Barnet'sfeelings about that unnecessary structure had undergone a change; hetook considerable interest in its progress as a long-neglectedthing, his wife before her departure having grown quite weary of itas a hobby. Moreover, it was an excellent distraction1 for a man inthe unhappy position of having to live in a provincial2 town withnothing to do. He was probably the first of his line who had everpassed a day without toil3, and perhaps something like an inheritedinstinct disqualifies such men for a life of pleasant inaction, suchas lies in the power of those whose leisure is not a personalaccident, but a vast historical accretion4 which has become part oftheir natures.
Thus Barnet got into a way of spending many of his leisure hours onthe site of the new building, and he might have been seen on mostdays at this time trying the temper of the mortar5 by punching thejoints with his stick, looking at the grain of a floor-board, andmeditating where it grew, or picturing under what circumstances thelast fire would be kindled6 in the at present sootless chimneys. Oneday when thus occupied he saw three children pass by in the companyof a fair young woman, whose sudden appearance caused him to flushperceptibly.
'Ah, she is there,' he thought. 'That's a blessed thing.'
Casting an interested glance over the rising building and the busyworkmen, Lucy Savile and the little Downes passed by; and after thattime it became a regular though almost unconscious custom of Barnetto stand in the half-completed house and look from the ungarnishedwindows at the governess as she tripped towards the sea-shore withher young charges, which she was in the habit of doing on most fineafternoons. It was on one of these occasions, when he had beenloitering on the first-floor landing, near the hole left for thestaircase, not yet erected7, that there appeared above the edge ofthe floor a little hat, followed by a little head.
Barnet withdrew through a doorway8, and the child came to the top ofthe ladder, stepping on to the floor and crying to her sisters andMiss Savile to follow. Another head rose above the floor, andanother, and then Lucy herself came into view. The troop ran hitherand thither9 through the empty, shaving-strewn rooms, and Barnet cameforward.
Lucy uttered a small exclamation10: she was very sorry that she hadintruded; she had not the least idea that Mr. Barnet was there: thechildren had come up, and she had followed.
Barnet replied that he was only too glad to see them there. 'Andnow, let me show you the rooms,' he said.
She passively assented11, and he took her round. There was not muchto show in such a bare skeleton of a house, but he made the most ofit, and explained the different ornamental12 fittings that were soonto be fixed13 here and there. Lucy made but few remarks in reply,though she seemed pleased with her visit, and stole away down theladder, followed by her companions.
After this the new residence became yet more of a hobby for Barnet.
Downe's children did not forget their first visit, and when thewindows were glazed14, and the handsome staircase spread its broad lowsteps into the hall, they came again, prancing15 in unweariedsuccession through every room from ground-floor to attics16, whileLucy stood waiting for them at the door. Barnet, who rarely misseda day in coming to inspect progress, stepped out from the drawing-room.
'I could not keep them out,' she said, with an apologetic blush. 'Itried to do so very much: but they are rather wilful17, and we aredirected to walk this way for the sea air.'
'Do let them make the house their regular playground, and youyours,' said Barnet. 'There is no better place for children to rompand take their exercise in than an empty house, particularly inmuddy or damp weather such as we shall get a good deal of now; andthis place will not be furnished for a long long time--perhapsnever. I am not at all decided18 about it.'
'O, but it must!' replied Lucy, looking round at the hall. 'Therooms are excellent, twice as high as ours; and the views from thewindows are so lovely.'
'I daresay, I daresay,' he said absently.
'Will all the furniture be new?' she asked.
'All the furniture be new--that's a thing I have not thought of. Infact I only come here and look on. My father's house would havebeen large enough for me, but another person had a voice in thematter, and it was settled that we should build. However, the placegrows upon me; its recent associations are cheerful, and I amgetting to like it fast.'
A certain uneasiness in Lucy's manner showed that the conversationwas taking too personal a turn for her. 'Still, as modern tastesdevelop, people require more room to gratify them in,' she said,withdrawing to call the children; and serenely19 bidding him goodafternoon she went on her way.
Barnet's life at this period was singularly lonely, and yet he washappier than he could have expected. His wife's estrangement20 andabsence, which promised to be permanent, left him free as a boy inhis movements, and the solitary21 walks that he took gave him ampleopportunity for chastened reflection on what might have been his lotif he had only shown wisdom enough to claim Lucy Savile when therewas no bar between their lives, and she was to be had for theasking. He would occasionally call at the house of his friendDowne; but there was scarcely enough in common between their twonatures to make them more than friends of that excellent sort whosepersonal knowledge of each other's history and character is alwaysin excess of intimacy22, whereby they are not so likely to be severedby a clash of sentiment as in cases where intimacy springs up inexcess of knowledge. Lucy was never visible at these times, beingeither engaged in the school-room, or in taking an airing out ofdoors; but, knowing that she was now comfortable, and had given upthe, to him, depressing idea of going off to the other side of theglobe, he was quite content.
The new house had so far progressed that the gardeners werebeginning to grass down the front. During an afternoon which he waspassing in marking the curve for the carriage-drive, he beheld23 hercoming in boldly towards him from the road. Hitherto Barnet hadonly caught her on the premises24 by stealth; and this advance seemedto show that at last her reserve had broken down.
A smile gained strength upon her face as she approached, and it wasquite radiant when she came up, and said, without a trace ofembarrassment, 'I find I owe you a hundred thanks--and it comes tome quite as a surprise! It was through your kindness that I wasengaged by Mr. Downe. Believe me, Mr. Barnet, I did not know ituntil yesterday, or I should have thanked you long and long ago!'
'I had offended you--just a trifle--at the time, I think?' saidBarnet, smiling, 'and it was best that you should not know.'
'Yes, yes,' she returned hastily. 'Don't allude25 to that; it is pastand over, and we will let it be. The house is finished almost, isit not? How beautiful it will look when the evergreens26 are grown!
Do you call the style Palladian, Mr. Barnet?'
'I--really don't quite know what it is. Yes, it must be Palladian,certainly. But I'll ask Jones, the architect; for, to tell thetruth, I had not thought much about the style: I had nothing to dowith choosing it, I am sorry to say.'
She would not let him harp27 on this gloomy refrain, and talked onbright matters till she said, producing a small roll of paper whichhe had noticed in her hand all the while, 'Mr. Downe wished me tobring you this revised drawing of the late Mrs. Downe's tomb, whichthe architect has just sent him. He would like you to look itover.'
The children came up with their hoops28, and she went off with themdown the harbour-road as usual. Barnet had been glad to get thosewords of thanks; he had been thinking for many months that he wouldlike her to know of his share in finding her a home such as it was;and what he could not do for himself, Downe had now kindly29 done forhim. He returned to his desolate30 house with a lighter31 tread; thoughin reason he hardly knew why his tread should be light.
On examining the drawing, Barnet found that, instead of the vastaltar-tomb and canopy32 Downe had determined33 on at their last meeting,it was to be a more modest memorial even than had been suggested bythe architect; a coped tomb of good solid construction, with nouseless elaboration at all. Barnet was truly glad to see that Downehad come to reason of his own accord; and he returned the drawingwith a note of approval.
He followed up the house-work as before, and as he walked up anddown the rooms, occasionally gazing from the windows over thebulging green hills and the quiet harbour that lay between them, hemurmured words and fragments of words, which, if listened to, wouldhave revealed all the secrets of his existence. Whatever his reasonin going there, Lucy did not call again: the walk to the shoreseemed to be abandoned: he must have thought it as well for boththat it should be so, for he did not go anywhere out of hisaccustomed ways to endeavour to discover her.
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distraction
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| n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐 | |
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provincial
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| adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人 | |
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toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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accretion
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| n.自然的增长，增加物 | |
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mortar
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| n.灰浆，灰泥；迫击炮；v.把…用灰浆涂接合 | |
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kindled
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| （使某物）燃烧，着火( kindle的过去式和过去分词 )； 激起（感情等）； 发亮，放光 | |
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ERECTED
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| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
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doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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assented
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| 同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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ornamental
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| adj.装饰的；作装饰用的；n.装饰品；观赏植物 | |
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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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glazed
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| adj.光滑的，像玻璃的；上过釉的；呆滞无神的v.装玻璃( glaze的过去式)；上釉于，上光；（目光）变得呆滞无神 | |
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prancing
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| v.（马）腾跃( prance的现在分词 ) | |
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attics
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| n. 阁楼 | |
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wilful
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| adj.任性的，故意的 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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serenely
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| adv.安详地，宁静地，平静地 | |
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estrangement
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| n.疏远，失和，不和 | |
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solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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intimacy
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| n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行 | |
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23
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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premises
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| n.建筑物，房屋 | |
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allude
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| v.提及，暗指 | |
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evergreens
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| n.常青树，常绿植物，万年青( evergreen的名词复数 ) | |
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harp
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| n.竖琴；天琴座 | |
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hoops
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| n.箍( hoop的名词复数 )；（篮球）篮圈；（旧时儿童玩的）大环子；（两端埋在地里的）小铁弓 | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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30
desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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31
lighter
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| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
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32
canopy
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| n.天篷，遮篷 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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