Mr. Tulkinghorn arrives in his turret-room a little breathed by thejourney up, though leisurely1 performed. There is an expression onhis face as if he had discharged his mind of some grave matter andwere, in his close way, satisfied. To say of a man so severely2 andstrictly self-repressed that he is triumphant3 would be to do him asgreat an injustice4 as to suppose him troubled with love orsentiment or any romantic weakness. He is sedately5 satisfied.
Perhaps there is a rather increased sense of power upon him as heloosely grasps one of his veinous wrists with his other hand andholding it behind his back walks noiselessly up and down.
There is a capacious writing-table in the room on which is a prettylarge accumulation of papers. The green lamp is lighted, hisreading-glasses lie upon the desk, the easy-chair is wheeled up toit, and it would seem as though he had intended to bestow6 an houror so upon these claims on his attention before going to bed. Buthe happens not to be in a business mind. After a glance at thedocuments awaiting his notice--with his head bent7 low over thetable, the old man's sight for print or writing being defective8 atnight--he opens the French window and steps out upon the leads.
There he again walks slowly up and down in the same attitude,subsiding, if a man so cool may have any need to subside9, from thestory he has related downstairs.
The time was once when men as knowing as Mr. Tulkinghorn would walkon turret-tops in the starlight and look up into the sky to readtheir fortunes there. Hosts of stars are visible to-night, thoughtheir brilliancy is eclipsed by the splendour of the moon. If hebe seeking his own star as he methodically turns and turns upon theleads, it should be but a pale one to be so rustily10 representedbelow. If he be tracing out his destiny, that may be written inother characters nearer to his hand.
As he paces the leads with his eyes most probably as high above histhoughts as they are high above the earth, he is suddenly stoppedin passing the window by two eyes that meet his own. The ceilingof his room is rather low; and the upper part of the door, which isopposite the window, is of glass. There is an inner baize door,too, but the night being warm he did not close it when he cameupstairs. These eyes that meet his own are looking in through theglass from the corridor outside. He knows them well. The bloodhas not flushed into his face so suddenly and redly for many a longyear as when he recognizes Lady Dedlock.
He steps into the room, and she comes in too, closing both thedoors behind her. There is a wild disturbance--is it fear oranger?--in her eyes. In her carriage and all else she looks as shelooked downstairs two hours ago.
Is it fear or is it anger now? He cannot be sure. Both might beas pale, both as intent.
"Lady Dedlock?"She does not speak at first, nor even when she has slowly droppedinto the easy-chair by the table. They look at each other, liketwo pictures.
"Why have you told my story to so many persons?""Lady Dedlock, it was necessary for me to inform you that I knewit.""How long have you known it?""I have suspected it a long while--fully known it a little while.""Months?""Days."He stands before her with one hand on a chair-back and the other inhis old-fashioned waistcoat and shirt-frill, exactly as he hasstood before her at any time since her marriage. The same formalpoliteness, the same composed deference11 that might as well bedefiance; the whole man the same dark, cold object, at the samedistance, which nothing has ever diminished.
"Is this true concerning the poor girl?"He slightly inclines and advances his head as not quiteunderstanding the question.
"You know what you related. Is it true? Do her friends know mystory also? Is it the town-talk yet? Is it chalked upon the wallsand cried in the streets?"So! Anger, and fear, and shame. All three contending. What powerthis woman has to keep these raging passions down! Mr.
Tulkinghorn's thoughts take such form as he looks at her, with hisragged grey eyebrows12 a hair's breadth more contracted than usualunder her gaze.
"No, Lady Dedlock. That was a hypothetical case, arising out ofSir Leicester's unconsciously carrying the matter with so high ahand. But it would be a real case if they knew--what we know.""Then they do not know it yet?""No.""Can I save the poor girl from injury before they know it?""Really, Lady Dedlock," Mr. Tulkinghorn replies, "I cannot give asatisfactory opinion on that point."And he thinks, with the interest of attentive13 curiosity, as hewatches the struggle in her breast, "The power and force of thiswoman are astonishing!""Sir," she says, for the moment obliged to set her lips with allthe energy she has, that she may speak distinctly, "I will make itplainer. I do not dispute your hypothetical case. I anticipatedit, and felt its truth as strongly as you can do, when I saw Mr.
Rouncewell here. I knew very well that if he could have had thepower of seeing me as I was, he would consider the poor girltarnished by having for a moment been, although most innocently,the subject of my great and distinguished14 patronage15. But I have aninterest in her, or I should rather say--no longer belonging tothis place--I had, and if you can find so much consideration forthe woman under your foot as to remember that, she will be verysensible of your mercy."Mr. Tulkinghorn, profoundly attentive, throws this off with a shrugof self-depreciation and contracts his eyebrows a little more.
"You have prepared me for my exposure, and I thank you for thattoo. Is there anything that you require of me? Is there any claimthat I can release or any charge or trouble that I can spare myhusband in obtaining HIS release by certifying16 to the exactness ofyour discovery? I will write anything, here and now, that you willdictate. I am ready to do it."And she would do it, thinks the lawver, watchful17 of the firm handwith which she takes the pen!
"I will not trouble you, Lady Dedlock. Pray spare yourself.""I have long expected this, as you know. I neither wish to sparemyself nor to be spared. You can do nothing worse to me than youhave done. Do what remains18 now.""Lady Dedlock, there is nothing to be done. I will take leave tosay a few words when you have finished."Their need for watching one another should be over now, but they doit all this time, and the stars watch them both through the openedwindow. Away in the moonlight lie the woodland fields at rest, andthe wide house is as quiet as the narrow one. The narrow one!
Where are the digger and the spade, this peaceful night, destinedto add the last great secret to the many secrets of the Tulkinghornexistence? Is the man born yet, is the spade wrought19 yet? Curiousquestions to consider, more curious perhaps not to consider, underthe watching stars upon a summer night.
"Of repentance20 or remorse21 or any feeling of mine," Lady Dedlockpresently proceeds, "I say not a word. If I were not dumb, youwould be deaf. Let that go by. It is not for your ears."He makes a feint of offering a protest, but she sweeps it away withher disdainful hand.
"Of other and very different things I come to speak to you. Myjewels are all in their proper places of keeping. They will befound there. So, my dresses. So, all the valuables I have. Someready money I had with me, please to say, but no large amount. Idid not wear my own dress, in order that I might avoid observation.
I went to be henceforward lost. Make this known. I leave no othercharge with you.""Excuse me, Lady Dedlock," says Mr. Tulkinghorn, quite unmoved. "Iam not sure that I understand you. You want--""To be lost to all here. I leave Chesney Wold to-night. I go thishour."Mr. Tulkinghorn shakes his head. She rises, but he, without movinghand from chair-back or from old-fashioned waistcoat and shirt-frill, shakes his head.
"What? Not go as I have said?""No, Lady Dedlock," he very calmly replies.
"Do you know the relief that my disappearance23 will be? Have youforgotten the stain and blot24 upon this place, and where it is, andwho it is?""No, Lady Dedlock, not by any means."Without deigning25 to rejoin, she moves to the inner door and has itin her hand when he says to her, without himself stirring hand orfoot or raising his voice, "Lady Dedlock, have the goodness to stopand hear me, or before you reach the staircase I shall ring thealarm-bell and rouse the house. And then I must speak out beforeevery guest and servant, every man and woman, in it."He has conquered her. She falters26, trembles, and puts her handconfusedly to her head. Slight tokens these in any one else, butwhen so practised an eye as Mr. Tulkinghorn's sees indecision for amoment in such a subject, he thoroughly27 knows its value.
He promptly28 says again, "Have the goodness to hear me, LadyDedlock," and motions to the chair from which she has risen. Shehesitates, but he motions again, and she sits down.
"The relations between us are of an unfortunate description, LadyDedlock; but as they are not of my making, I will not apologize forthem. The position I hold in reference to Sir Leicester is so wellknown to you that I can hardly imagine but that I must long haveappeared in your eyes the natural person to make this discovery.""Sir," she returns without looking up from the ground on which hereyes are now fixed29, "I had better have gone. It would have beenfar better not to have detained me. I have no more to say.""Excuse me, Lady Dedlock, if I add a little more to hear.""I wish to hear it at the window, then. I can't breathe where Iam."His jealous glance as she walks that way betrays an instant'smisgiving that she may have it in her thoughts to leap over, anddashing against ledge30 and cornice, strike her life out upon theterrace below. But a moment's observation of her figure as shestands in the window without any support, looking out at the stars--not up-gloomily out at those stars which are low in the heavens,reassures him. By facing round as she has moved, he stands alittle behind her.
"Lady Dedlock, I have not yet been able to come to a decisionsatisfactory to myself on the course before me. I am not clearwhat to do or how to act next. I must request you, in themeantime, to keep your secret as you have kept it so long and notto wonder that I keep it too."He pauses, but she makes no reply.
"Pardon me, Lady Dedlock. This is an important subject. You arehonouring me with your attention?""I am.""'Thank you. I might have known it from what I have seen of yourstrength of character. I ought not to have asked the question, butI have the habit of making sure of my ground, step by step, as I goon. The sole consideration in this unhappy case is Sir Leicester.""'Then why," she asks in a low voice and without removing hergloomy look from those distant stars, "do you detain me in hishouse?""Because he IS the consideration. Lady Dedlock, I have no occasionto tell you that Sir Leicester is a very proud man, that hisreliance upon you is implicit31, that the fall of that moon out ofthe sky would not amaze him more than your fall from your highposition as his wife."She breathes quickly and heavily, but she stands as unflinchinglyas ever he has seen her in the midst of her grandest company.
"I declare to you, Lady Dedlock, that with anything short of thiscase that I have, I would as soon have hoped to root up by means ofmy own strength and my own hands the oldest tree on this estate asto shake your hold upon Sir Leicester and Sir Leicester's trust andconfidence in you. And even now, with this case, I hesitate. Notthat he could doubt (that, even with him, is impossible), but thatnothing can prepare him for the blow.""Not my flight?" she returned. "Think of it again.""Your flight, Lady Dedlock, would spread the whole truth, and ahundred times the whole truth, far and wide. It would beimpossible to save the family credit for a day. It is not to bethought of."There is a quiet decision in his reply which admits of noremonstrance.
"When I speak of Sir Leicester being the sole consideration, he andthe family credit are one. Sir Leicester and the baronetcy, SirLeicester and Chesney Wold, Sir Leicester and his ancestors and hispatrimony"--Mr. Tulkinghorn very dry here--"are, I need not say toyou, Lady Dedlock, inseparable.""Go on!""Therefore," says Mr. Tulkinghorn, pursuing his case in his jog-trot style, "I have much to consider. This is to be hushed up ifit can be. How can it be, if Sir Leicester is driven out of hiswits or laid upon a death-bed? If I inflicted32 this shock upon himto-morrow morning, how could the immediate33 change in him beaccounted for? What could have caused it? What could have dividedyou? Lady Dedlock, the wall-chalking and the street-crying wouldcome on directly, and you are to remember that it would not affectyou merely (whom I cannot at all consider in this business) butyour husband, Lady Dedlock, your husband."He gets plainer as he gets on, but not an atom more emphatic34 oranimated.
"There is another point of view," he continues, "in which the casepresents itself. Sir Leicester is devoted35 to you almost toinfatuation. He might not be able to overcome that infatuation,even knowing what we know. I am putting an extreme case, but itmight be so. If so, it were better that he knew nothing. Betterfor common sense, better for him, better for me. I must take allthis into account, and it combines to render a decision verydifficult."She stands looking out at the same stars without a word. They arebeginning to pale, and she looks as if their coldness froze her.
"My experience teaches me," says Mr. Tulkinghorn, who has by thistime got his hands in his pockets and is going on in his businessconsideration of the matter like a machine. "My experience teachesme, Lady Dedlock, that most of the people I know would do farbetter to leave marriage alone. It is at the bottom of threefourths of their troubles. So I thought when Sir Leicestermarried, and so I always have thought since. No more about that.
I must now be guided by circumstances. In the meanwhile I must begyou to keep your own counsel, and I will keep mine.""I am to drag my present life on, holding its pains at yourpleasure, day by day?" she asks, still looking at the distant sky.
"Yes, I am afraid so, Lady Dedlock.""It is necessary, you think, that I should be so tied to thestake?""I am sure that what I recommend is necessary.""I am to remain on this gaudy36 platforna on which my miserabledeception has been so long acted, and it is to fall beneath me whenyou give the signal?" she said slowly.
"Not without notice, Lady Dedlock. I shall take no step withoutforewarning you."She asks all her questions as if she were repeating them frommemory or calling them over in her sleep.
"We are to meet as usual?""Precisely37 as usual, if you please.""And I am to hide my guilt38, as I have done so many years?""As you have done so many years. I should not have made thatreference myself, Lady Dedlock, but I may now remind you that yoursecret can be no heavier to you than it was, and is no worse and nobetter than it was. I know it certainly, but I believe we havenever wholly trusted each other."She stands absorbed in the same frozen way for some little timebefore asking, "Is there anything more to be sald to-night?""Why," Mr. Tulkinghorn returns methodically as he softly rubs hishands, "I should like to be assured of your acquiescence39 in myarrangements, Lady Dedlock.""You may be assured of it.""Good. And I would wish in conclusion to remind you, as a businessprecaution, in case it should be necessary to recall the fact inany communication with Sir Leicester, that throughout our interviewI have expressly stated my sole consideration to be Sir Leicester'sfeelings and honour and the family reputation. I should have beenhappy to have made Lady Dedlock a prominent consideration, too, ifthe case had admitted of it; but unfortunately it does not.""I can attest40 your fidelity41, sir."Both before and after saving it she remains absorbed, but at lengthmoves, and turns, unshaken in her natural and acquired presence,towards the door. Mr. Tulkinghorn opens both the doors exactly ashe would have done yesterday, or as he would have done ten yearsago, and makes his old-fashioned bow as she passes out. It is notan ordinary look that he receives from the handsome face as it goesinto the darkness, and it is not an ordinary movement, though avery slight one, that acknowledges his courtesy. But as hereflects when he is left alone, the woman has been putting nocommon constraint42 upon herself.
He would know it all the better if he saw the woman pacing her ownrooms with her hair wildly thrown from her flung-back face, herhands clasped behind her head, her figure twisted as if by pain.
He would think so all the more if he saw the woman thus hurrying upand down for hours, without fatigue43, without intermission, followedby the faithful step upon the Ghost's Walk. But he shuts out thenow chilled air, draws the window-curtain, goes to bed, and fallsasleep. And truly when the stars go out and the wan22 day peeps intothe turret-chamber, finding him at his oldest, he looks as if thedigger and the spade were both commissioned and would soon bedigging.
The same wan day peeps in at Sir Leicester pardoning the repentantcountry in a majestically44 condescending45 dream; and at the cousinsentering on various public employments, principally receipt ofsalary; and at the chaste46 Volumnia, bestowing47 a dower of fiftythousand pounds upon a hideous48 old general with a mouth of falseteeth like a pianoforte too full of keys, long the admiration49 ofBath and the terror of every other commuuity. Also into rooms highin the roof, and into offices in court-yards, and over stables,where humbler ambition dreams of bliss50, in keepers' lodges51, and inholy matrimony with Will or Sally. Up comes the bright sun,drawing everything up with it--the Wills and Sallys, the latentvapour in the earth, the drooping52 leaves and flowers, the birds andbeasts and creeping things, the gardeners to sweep the dewy turfand unfold emerald velvet53 where the roller passes, the smoke of thegreat kitchen fire wreathing itself straight and high into thelightsome air. Lastly, up comes the flag over Mr. Tulkinghorn'sunconscious head cheerfully proclaiming that Sir Leicester and LadyDedlock are in their happy home and that there is hospitality atthe place in Lincolnshire.
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leisurely
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| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
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severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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injustice
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| n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利 | |
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sedately
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| adv.镇静地，安详地 | |
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bestow
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| v.把…赠与，把…授予；花费 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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defective
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| adj.有毛病的，有问题的，有瑕疵的 | |
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subside
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| vi.平静，平息；下沉，塌陷，沉降 | |
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rustily
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| 锈蚀地，声音沙哑地 | |
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deference
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| n.尊重，顺从；敬意 | |
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eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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attentive
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| adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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patronage
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| n.赞助，支援，援助；光顾，捧场 | |
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certifying
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| （尤指书面）证明( certify的现在分词 )； 发证书给…； 证明（某人）患有精神病； 颁发（或授予）专业合格证书 | |
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watchful
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| adj.注意的，警惕的 | |
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remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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wrought
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repentance
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| n.懊悔 | |
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remorse
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| n.痛恨，悔恨，自责 | |
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wan
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| (wide area network)广域网 | |
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disappearance
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| n.消失，消散，失踪 | |
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blot
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| vt.弄脏（用吸墨纸）吸干；n.污点，污渍 | |
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deigning
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| v.屈尊，俯就( deign的现在分词 ) | |
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falters
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| （嗓音）颤抖( falter的第三人称单数 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃 | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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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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ledge
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| n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁 | |
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implicit
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| a.暗示的，含蓄的，不明晰的，绝对的 | |
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inflicted
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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emphatic
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| adj.强调的，着重的；无可置疑的，明显的 | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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gaudy
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| adj.华而不实的；俗丽的 | |
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precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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guilt
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| n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责 | |
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acquiescence
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| n.默许；顺从 | |
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attest
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| vt.证明，证实；表明 | |
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fidelity
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| n.忠诚，忠实；精确 | |
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constraint
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| n.(on)约束，限制；限制(或约束)性的事物 | |
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fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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majestically
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| 雄伟地； 庄重地； 威严地； 崇高地 | |
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condescending
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| adj.谦逊的,故意屈尊的 | |
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chaste
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| adj.贞洁的；有道德的；善良的；简朴的 | |
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bestowing
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| 砖窑中砖堆上层已烧透的砖 | |
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hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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bliss
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| n.狂喜，福佑，天赐的福 | |
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lodges
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| v.存放( lodge的第三人称单数 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属 | |
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drooping
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| adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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velvet
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| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
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