'Care, thou canker.'
It is an evening at the beginning of October, and the mellowest1 of autumn sunsets irradiates London, even to its uttermost eastern end. Between the eye and the flaming West, columns of smoke stand up in the still air like tall trees. Everything in the shade is rich and misty2 blue.
Mr. and Mrs. Swancourt and Elfride are looking at these lustrous4 and lurid5 contrasts from the window of a large hotel near London Bridge. The visit to their friends at St. Leonards is over, and they are staying a day or two in the metropolis6 on their way home.
Knight7 spent the same interval8 of time in crossing over to Brittany by way of Jersey9 and St. Malo. He then passed through Normandy, and returned to London also, his arrival there having been two days later than that of Elfride and her parents.
So the evening of this October day saw them all meeting at the above-mentioned hotel, where they had previously10 engaged apartments. During the afternoon Knight had been to his lodgings11 at Richmond to make a little change in the nature of his baggage; and on coming up again there was never ushered12 by a bland13 waiter into a comfortable room a happier man than Knight when shown to where Elfride and her step-mother were sitting after a fatiguing14 day of shopping.
Elfride looked none the better for her change: Knight was as brown as a nut. They were soon engaged by themselves in a corner of the room. Now that the precious words of promise had been spoken, the young girl had no idea of keeping up her price by the system of reserve which other more accomplished15 maidens16 use. Her lover was with her again, and it was enough: she made her heart over to him entirely18.
Dinner was soon despatched. And when a preliminary round of conversation concerning their doings since the last parting had been concluded, they reverted19 to the subject of to-morrow's journey home.
'That enervating20 ride through the myrtle climate of South Devon-how I dread21 it to-morrow!' Mrs. Swancourt was saying. 'I had hoped the weather would have been cooler by this time.'
'Did you ever go by water?' said Knight.
'Never--by never, I mean not since the time of railways.'
'Then if you can afford an additional day, I propose that we do it,' said Knight. 'The Channel is like a lake just now. We should reach Plymouth in about forty hours, I think, and the boats start from just below the bridge here' (pointing over his shoulder eastward).
'Hear, hear!' said the vicar.
'It's an idea, certainly,' said his wife.
'Of course these coasters are rather tubby,' said Knight. 'But you wouldn't mind that?'
'No: we wouldn't mind.'
'And the saloon is a place like the fishmarket of a ninth-rate country town, but that wouldn't matter?'
'Oh dear, no. If we had only thought of it soon enough, we might have had the use of Lord Luxellian's yacht. But never mind, we'll go. We shall escape the worrying rattle22 through the whole length of London to-morrow morning--not to mention the risk of being killed by excursion trains, which is not a little one at this time of the year, if the papers are true.'
Elfride, too, thought the arrangement delightful23; and accordingly, ten o'clock the following morning saw two cabs crawling round by the Mint, and between the preternaturally high walls of Nightingale Lane towards the river side.
The first vehicle was occupied by the travellers in person, and the second brought up the luggage, under the supervision24 of Mrs. Snewson, Mrs. Swancourt's maid--and for the last fortnight Elfride's also; for although the younger lady had never been accustomed to any such attendant at robing times, her stepmother forced her into a semblance25 of familiarity with one when they were away from home.
Presently waggons26, bales, and smells of all descriptions increased to such an extent that the advance of the cabs was at the slowest possible rate. At intervals27 it was necessary to halt entirely, that the heavy vehicles unloading in front might be moved aside, a feat28 which was not accomplished without a deal of swearing and noise. The vicar put his head out of the window.
'Surely there must be some mistake in the way,' he said with great concern, drawing in his head again. 'There's not a respectable conveyance29 to be seen here except ours. I've heard that there are strange dens17 in this part of London, into which people have been entrapped30 and murdered--surely there is no conspiracy31 on the part of the cabman?'
'Oh no, no. It is all right,' said Mr. Knight, who was as placid32 as dewy eve by the side of Elfride.
'But what I argue from,' said the vicar, with a greater emphasis of uneasiness, 'are plain appearances. This can't be the highway from London to Plymouth by water, because it is no way at all to any place. We shall miss our steamer and our train too--that's what I think.'
'Depend upon it we are right. In fact, here we are.'
'Trimmer's Wharf33,' said the cabman, opening the door.
No sooner had they alighted than they perceived a tussle34 going on between the hindmost cabman and a crowd of light porters who had charged him in column, to obtain possession of the bags and boxes, Mrs. Snewson's hands being seen stretched towards heaven in the midst of the melee35. Knight advanced gallantly36, and after a hard struggle reduced the crowd to two, upon whose shoulders and trucks the goods vanished away in the direction of the water's edge with startling rapidity.
Then more of the same tribe, who had run on ahead, were heard shouting to boatmen, three of whom pulled alongside, and two being vanquished37, the luggage went tumbling into the remaining one.
'Never saw such a dreadful scene in my life--never!' said Mr. Swancourt, floundering into the boat. 'Worse than Famine and Sword upon one. I thought such customs were confined to continental38 ports. Aren't you astonished, Elfride?'
'Oh no,' said Elfride, appearing amid the dingy39 scene like a rainbow in a murky40 sky. 'It is a pleasant novelty, I think.'
'Where in the wide ocean is our steamer?' the vicar inquired. 'I can see nothing but old hulks, for the life of me.'
'Just behind that one,' said Knight; 'we shall soon be round under her.'
The object of their search was soon after disclosed to view--a great lumbering41 form of inky blackness, which looked as if it had never known the touch of a paint-brush for fifty years. It was lying beside just such another, and the way on board was down a narrow lane of water between the two, about a yard and a half wide at one end, and gradually converging42 to a point. At the moment of their entry into this narrow passage, a brilliantly painted rival paddled down the river like a trotting43 steed, creating such a series of waves and splashes that their frail44 wherry was tossed like a teacup, and the vicar and his wife slanted45 this way and that, inclining their heads into contact with a Punch-and-Judy air and countenance46, the wavelets striking the sides of the two hulls47, and flapping back into their laps.
'Dreadful! horrible!' Mr. Swancourt murmured privately48; and said aloud, I thought we walked on board. I don't think really I should have come, if I had known this trouble was attached to it.'
'If they must splash, I wish they would splash us with clean water,' said the old lady, wiping her dress with her handkerchief.
'I hope it is perfectly49 safe,' continued the vicar.
'O papa! you are not very brave,' cried Elfride merrily.
'Bravery is only obtuseness50 to the perception of contingencies,' Mr. Swancourt severely51 answered.
Mrs. Swancourt laughed, and Elfride laughed, and Knight laughed, in the midst of which pleasantness a man shouted to them from some position between their heads and the sky, and they found they were close to the Juliet, into which they quiveringly ascended52.
It having been found that the lowness of the tide would prevent their getting off for an hour, the Swancourts, having nothing else to do, allowed their eyes to idle upon men in blue jerseys53 performing mysterious mending operations with tar-twine; they turned to look at the dashes of lurid sunlight, like burnished54 copper55 stars afloat on the ripples56, which danced into and tantalized57 their vision; or listened to the loud music of a steamcrane at work close by; or to sighing sounds from the funnels58 of passing steamers, getting dead as they grew more distant; or to shouts from the decks of different craft in their vicinity, all of them assuming the form of 'Ah-he-hay!'
Half-past ten: not yet off. Mr. Swancourt breathed a breath of weariness, and looked at his fellow-travellers in general. Their faces were certainly not worth looking at. The expression 'Waiting' was written upon them so absolutely that nothing more could be discerned there. All animation59 was suspended till Providence60 should raise the water and let them go.
'I have been thinking,' said Knight, 'that we have come amongst the rarest class of people in the kingdom. Of all human characteristics, a low opinion of the value of his own time by an individual must be among the strangest to find. Here we see numbers of that patient and happy species. Rovers, as distinct from travellers.'
'But they are pleasure-seekers, to whom time is of no importance.'
'Oh no. The pleasure-seekers we meet on the grand routes are more anxious than commercial travellers to rush on. And added to the loss of time in getting to their journey's end, these exceptional people take their chance of sea-sickness by coming this way.'
'Can it be?' inquired the vicar with apprehension61. 'Surely not, Mr. Knight, just here in our English Channel--close at our doors, as I may say.'
'Entrance passages are very draughty places, and the Channel is like the rest. It ruins the temper of sailors. It has been aalculated by philosophers that more damns go up to heaven from the Channel, in the course of a year, than from all the five oceans put together.'
They really start now, and the dead looks of all the throng62 come to life immediately. The man who has been frantically63 hauling in a rope that bade fair to have no end ceases his labours, and they glide64 down the serpentine65 bends of the Thames.
Anything anywhere was a mine of interest to Elfride, and so was this.
'It is well enough now,' said Mrs. Swancourt, after they had passed the Nore, 'but I can't say I have cared for my voyage hitherto.' For being now in the open sea a slight breeze had sprung up, which cheered her as well as her two younger companions. But unfortunately it had a reverse effect upon the vicar, who, after turning a sort of apricot jam colour, interspersed66 with dashes of raspberry, pleaded indisposition, and vanished from their sight.
The afternoon wore on. Mrs. Swancourt kindly67 sat apart by herself reading, and the betrothed68 pair were left to themselves. Elfride clung trustingly to Knight's arm, and proud was she to walk with him up and down the deck, or to go forward, and leaning with him against the forecastle rails, watch the setting sun gradually withdrawing itself over their stern into a huge bank of livid cloud with golden edges that rose to meet it.
She was childishly full of life and spirits, though in walking up and down with him before the other passengers, and getting noticed by them, she was at starting rather confused, it being the first time she had shown herself so openly under that kind of protection. 'I expect they are envious69 and saying things about us, don't you?' she would whisper to Knight with a stealthy smile.
'Oh and what can they say?'
'Not any harm, of course,' Elfride replied, 'except such as this: "How happy those two are! she is proud enough now." What makes it worse,' she continued in the extremity70 of confidence, 'I heard those two cricketing men say just now, "She's the nobbiest girl on the boat." But I don't mind it, you know, Harry71.'
'I should hardly have supposed you did, even if you had not told me,' said Knight with great blandness72.
She was never tired of asking her lover questions and admiring his answers, good, bad, or indifferent as they might be. The evening grew dark and night came on, and lights shone upon them from the horizon and from the sky.
'Now look there ahead of us, at that halo in the air, of silvery brightness. Watch it, and you will see what it comes to.'
She watched for a few minutes, when two white lights emerged from the side of a hill, and showed themselves to be the origin of the halo.
'What a dazzling brilliance73! What do they mark?'
'The South Foreland: they were previously covered by the cliff.'
'What is that level line of little sparkles--a town, I suppose?'
'That's Dover.'
All this time, and later, soft sheet lightning expanded from a cloud in their path, enkindling their faces as they paced up and down, shining over the water, and, for a moment, showing the horizon as a keen line.
Elfride slept soundly that night. Her first thought the next morning was the thrilling one that Knight was as close at hand as when they were at home at Endelstow, and her first sight, on looking out of the cabin window, was the perpendicular74 face of Beachy Head, gleaming white in a brilliant six-o'clock-in-themorning sun. This fair daybreak, however, soon changed its aspect. A cold wind and a pale mist descended75 upon the sea, and seemed to threaten a dreary76 day.
When they were nearing Southampton, Mrs. Swancourt came to say that her husband was so ill that he wished to be put on shore here, and left to do the remainder of the journey by land. 'He will be perfectly well directly he treads firm ground again. Which shall we do--go with him, or finish our voyage as we intended?'
Elfride was comfortably housed under an umbrella which Knight was holding over her to keep off the wind. 'Oh, don't let us go on shore!' she said with dismay. 'It would be such a pity!'
'That's very fine,' said Mrs. Swancourt archly, as to a child. 'See, the wind has increased her colour, the sea her appetite and spirits, and somebody her happiness. Yes, it would be a pity, certainly.'
''Tis my misfortune to be always spoken to from a pedestal,' sighed Elfride.
'Well, we will do as you like, Mrs. Swancourt,' said Knight, 'but----'
'I myself would rather remain on board,' interrupted the elder lady. 'And Mr. Swancourt particularly wishes to go by himself. So that shall settle the matter.'
The vicar, now a drab colour, was put ashore77, and became as well as ever forthwith.
Elfride, sitting alone in a retired78 part of the vessel79, saw a veiled woman walk aboard among the very latest arrivals at this port. She was clothed in black silk, and carried a dark shawl upon her arm. The woman, without looking around her, turned to the quarter allotted80 to the second-cabin passengers. All the carnation81 Mrs. Swancourt had complimented her step-daughter upon possessing left Elfride's cheeks, and she trembled visibly.
She ran to the other side of the boat, where Mrs. Swancourt was standing82.
'Let us go home by railway with papa, after all,' she pleaded earnestly. 'I would rather go with him--shall we?'
Mrs. Swancourt looked around for a moment, as if unable to decide. 'Ah,' she exclaimed, 'it is too late now. Why did not you say so before, when we had plenty of time?'
The Juliet had at that minute let go, the engines had started, and they were gliding83 slowly away from the quay84. There was no help for it but to remain, unless the Juliet could be made to put back, and that would create a great disturbance85. Elfride gave up the idea and submitted quietly. Her happiness was sadly mutilated now.
The woman whose presence had so disturbed her was exactly like Mrs. Jethway. She seemed to haunt Elfride like a shadow. After several minutes' vain endeavour to account for any design Mrs. Jethway could have in watching her, Elfride decided86 to think that, if it were the widow, the encounter was accidental. She remembered that the widow in her restlessness was often visiting the village near Southampton, which was her original home, and it was possible that she chose water-transit with the idea of saving expense.
'What is the matter, Elfride?' Knight inquired, standing before her.
'Nothing more than that I am rather depressed87.'
'I don't much wonder at it; that wharf was depressing. We seemed underneath88 and inferior to everything around us. But we shall be in the sea breeze again soon, and that will freshen you, dear.'
The evening closed in and dusk increased as they made way down Southampton Water and through the Solent. Elfride's disturbance of mind was such that her light spirits of the foregoing four and twenty hours had entirely deserted89 her. The weather too had grown more gloomy, for though the showers of the morning had ceased, the sky was covered more closely than ever with dense90 leaden clouds. How beautiful was the sunset when they rounded the North Foreland the previous evening! now it was impossible to tell within half an hour the time of the luminary's going down. Knight led her about, and being by this time accustomed to her sudden changes of mood, overlooked the necessity of a cause in regarding the conditions-impressionableness and elasticity91.
Elfride looked stealthily to the other end of the vessel. Mrs. Jethway, or her double, was sitting at the stern--her eye steadily92 regarding Elfride.
'Let us go to the forepart,' she said quickly to Knight. 'See there--the man is fixing the lights for the night.'
Knight assented93, and after watching the operation of fixing the red and the green lights on the port and starboard bows, and the hoisting94 of the white light to the masthead, he walked up and down with her till the increase of wind rendered promenading95 difficult. Elfride's eyes were occasionally to be found furtively96 gazing abaft97, to learn if her enemy were really there. Nobody was visible now.
'Shall we go below?' said Knight, seeing that the deck was nearly deserted.
'No,' she said. 'If you will kindly get me a rug from Mrs. Swancourt, I should like, if you don't mind, to stay here.' She had recently fancied the assumed Mrs. Jethway might be a firstclass passenger, and dreaded98 meeting her by accident.
Knight appeared with the rug, and they sat down behind a weathercloth on the windward side, just as the two red eyes of the Needles glared upon them from the gloom, their pointed99 summits rising like shadowy phantom100 figures against the sky. It became necessary to go below to an eight-o'clock meal of nondescript kind, and Elfride was immensely relieved at finding no sign of Mrs. Jethway there. They again ascended, and remained above till Mrs. Snewson staggered up to them with the message that Mrs. Swancourt thought it was time for Elfride to come below. Knight accompanied her down, and returned again to pass a little more time on deck.
Elfride partly undressed herself and lay down, and soon became unconscious, though her sleep was light How long she had lain, she knew not, when by slow degrees she became cognizant of a whispering in her ear.
'You are well on with him, I can see. Well, provoke me now, but my day will come, you will find.' That seemed to be the utterance101, or words to that effect.
Elfride became broad awake and terrified. She knew the words, if real, could be only those of one person, and that person the widow Jethway.
The lamp had gone out and the place was in darkness. In the next berth102 she could hear her stepmother breathing heavily, further on Snewson breathing more heavily still. These were the only other legitimate103 occupants of the cabin, and Mrs. Jethway must have stealthily come in by some means and retreated again, or else she had entered an empty berth next Snewson's. The fear that this was the case increased Elfride's perturbation, till it assumed the dimensions of a certainty, for how could a stranger from the other end of the ship possibly contrive104 to get in? Could it have been a dream?
Elfride raised herself higher and looked out of the window. There was the sea, floundering and rushing against the ship's side just by her head, and thence stretching away, dim and moaning, into an expanse of indistinctness; and far beyond all this two placid lights like rayless stars. Now almost fearing to turn her face inwards again, lest Mrs. Jethway should appear at her elbow, Elfride meditated105 upon whether to call Snewson to keep her company. 'Four bells ' sounded, and she heard voices, which gave her a little courage. It was not worth while to call Snewson.
At any rate Elfride could not stay there panting longer, at the risk of being again disturbed by that dreadful whispering. So wrapping herself up hurriedly she emerged into the passage, and by the aid of a faint light burning at the entrance to the saloon found the foot of the stairs, and ascended to the deck. Dreary the place was in the extreme. It seemed a new spot altogether in contrast with its daytime self. She could see the glowworm light from the binnacle, and the dim outline of the man at the wheel; also a form at the bows. Not another soul was apparent from stem to stern.
Yes, there were two more--by the bulwarks107. One proved to be her Harry, the other the mate. She was glad indeed, and on drawing closer found they were holding a low slow chat about nautical108 affairs. She ran up and slipped her hand through Knight's arm, partly for love, partly for stability.
'Elfie! not asleep?' said Knight, after moving a few steps aside with her.
'No: I cannot sleep. May I stay here? It is so dismal109 down there, and--and I was afraid. Where are we now?'
'Due south of Portland Bill. Those are the lights abeam110 of us: look. A terrible spot, that, on a stormy night. And do you see a very small light that dips and rises to the right? That's a lightship on the dangerous shoal called the Shambles111, where many a good vessel has gone to pieces. Between it and ourselves is the Race-a place where antagonistic112 currents meet and form whirlpools--a spot which is rough in the smoothest weather, and terrific in a wind. That dark, dreary horizon we just discern to the left is the West Bay, terminated landwards by the Chesil Beach.'
'What time is it, Harry?'
'Just past two.'
'Are you going below?'
'Oh no; not to-night. I prefer pure air.'
She fancied he might be displeased113 with her for coming to him at this unearthly hour. 'I should like to stay here too, if you will allow me,' she said timidly.
'I want to ask you things.'
'Allow you, Elfie!' said Knight, putting his arm round her and drawing her closer. 'I am twice as happy with you by my side. Yes: we will stay, and watch the approach of day.'
So they again sought out the sheltered nook, and sitting down wrapped themselves in the rug as before.
'What were you going to ask me?' he inquired, as they undulated up and down.
'Oh, it was not much--perhaps a thing I ought not to ask,' she said hesitatingly. Her sudden wish had really been to discover at once whether he had ever before been engaged to be married. If he had, she would make that a ground for telling him a little of her conduct with Stephen. Mrs. Jethway's seeming words had so depressed the girl that she herself now painted her flight in the darkest colours, and longed to ease her burdened mind by an instant confession114. If Knight had ever been imprudent himself, he might, she hoped, forgive all.
'I wanted to ask you,' she went on, 'if--you had ever been engaged before.' She added tremulously, 'I hope you have--I mean, I don't mind at all if you have.'
'No, I never was,' Knight instantly and heartily115 replied. 'Elfride'--and there was a certain happy pride in his tone--'I am twelve years older than you, and I have been about the world, and, in a way, into society, and you have not. And yet I am not so unfit for you as strict-thinking people might imagine, who would assume the difference in age to signify most surely an equal addition to my practice in love-making.'
Elfride shivered.
'You are cold--is the wind too much for you?'
'No,' she said gloomily. The belief which had been her sheetanchor in hoping for forgiveness had proved false. This account of the exceptional nature of his experience, a matter which would have set her rejoicing two years ago, chilled her now like a frost.
'You don't mind my asking you?' she continued.
'Oh
'And have you never kissed many ladies?' she whispered, hoping he would say a hundred at the least.
The time, the circumstances, and the scene were such as to draw confidences from the most reserved. 'Elfride,' whispered Knight in reply, 'it is strange you should have asked that question. But I'll answer it, though I have never told such a thing before. I have been rather absurd in my avoidance of women. I have never given a woman a kiss in my life, except yourself and my mother.' The man of two and thirty with the experienced mind warmed all over with a boy's ingenuous116 shame as he made the confession.
'What, not one?' she faltered117.
'No; not one.'
'How very strange!'
'Yes, the reverse experience may be commoner. And yet, to those who have observed their own sex, as I have, my case is not remarkable118. Men about town are women's favourites--that's the postulate--and superficial people don't think far enough to see that there may be reserved, lonely exceptions.'
'Are you proud of it, Harry?'
'No, indeed. Of late years I have wished I had gone my ways and trod out my measure like lighter-hearted men. I have thought of how many happy experiences I may have lost through never going to woo.'
'Then why did you hold aloof119?'
'I cannot say. I don't think it was my nature to: circumstance hindered me, perhaps. I have regretted it for another reason. This great remissness120 of mine has had its effect upon me. The older I have grown, the more distinctly have I perceived that it was absolutely preventing me from liking121 any woman who was not as unpractised as I; and I gave up the expectation of finding a nineteenth-century young lady in my own raw state. Then I found you, Elfride, and l felt for the first time that my fastidiousness was a blessing122. And it helped to make me worthy123 of you. I felt at once that, differing as we did in other experiences, in this matter I resembled you. Well, aren't you glad to hear it, Elfride?'
'Yes, I am,' she answered in a forced voice. 'But I always had thought that men made lots of engagements before they married-especially if they don't marry very young.'
'So all women think, I suppose--and rightly, indeed, of the majority of bachelors, as I said before. But an appreciable124 minority of slow-coach men do not--and it makes them very awkward when they do come to the point. However, it didn't matter in my case.'
'Why?' she asked uneasily.
'Because you know even less of love-making and matrimonial prearrangement than I, and so you can't draw invidious comparisons if I do my engaging improperly125.'
'I think you do it beautifully!'
'Thank you, dear. But,' continued Knight laughingly, 'your opinion is not that of an expert, which alone is of value.'
Had she answered, 'Yes, it is,' half as strongly as she felt it, Knight might have been a little astonished.
'If you had ever been engaged to be married before,' he went on, 'I expect your opinion of my addresses would be different. But then, I should not----'
'Should not what, Harry?'
'Oh, I was merely going to say that in that case I should never have given myself the pleasure of proposing to you, since your freedom from that experience was your attraction, darling.'
'You are severe on women, are you not?'
'No, I think not. I had a right to please my taste, and that was for untried lips. Other men than those of my sort acquire the taste as they get older--but don't find an Elfride----'
'What horrid127 sound is that we hear when we pitch forward?'
'Only the screw--don't find an Elfride as I did. To think that I should have discovered such an unseen flower down there in the West--to whom a man is as much as a multitude to some women, and a trip down the English Channel like a voyage round the world!'
'And would you,' she said, and her voice was tremulous, 'have given up a lady--if you had become engaged to her--and then found she had had ONE kiss before yours--and would you have--gone away and left her?'
'One kiss,--no, hardly for that.'
'Two?'
'Well--I could hardly say inventorially like that. Too much of that sort of thing certainly would make me dislike a woman. But let us confine our attention to ourselves, not go thinking of might have beens.'
So Elfride had allowed her thoughts to 'dally128 with false surmise,' and every one of Knight's words fell upon her like a weight. After this they were silent for a long time, gazing upon the black mysterious sea, and hearing the strange voice of the restless wind. A rocking to and fro on the waves, when the breeze is not too violent and cold, produces a soothing129 effect even upon the most highly-wrought mind. Elfride slowly sank against Knight, and looking down, he found by her soft regular breathing that she had fallen asleep. Not wishing to disturb her, he continued still, and took an intense pleasure in supporting her warm young form as it rose and fell with her every breath.
Knight fell to dreaming too, though he continued wide awake. It was pleasant to realize the implicit130 trust she placed in him, and to think of the charming innocence131 of one who could sink to sleep in so simple and unceremonious a manner. More than all, the musing132 unpractical student felt the immense responsibility he was taking upon himself by becoming the protector and guide of such a trusting creature. The quiet slumber133 of her soul lent a quietness to his own. Then she moaned, and turned herself restlessly. Presently her mutterings became distinct:
'Don't tell him--he will not love me....I did not mean any disgrace--indeed I did not, so don't tell Harry. We were going to be married--that was why I ran away....And he says he will not have a kissed woman....And if you tell him he will go away, and I shall die. I pray have mercy--Oh!'
Elfride started up wildly.
The previous moment a musical ding-dong had spread into the air from their right hand, and awakened134 her.
'What is it?' she exclaimed in terror.
'Only "eight bells,"' said Knight soothingly135. 'Don't be frightened, little bird, you are safe. What have you been dreaming about?'
'I can't tell, I can't tell!' she said with a shudder136. 'Oh, I don't know what to do!'
'Stay quietly with me. We shall soon see the dawn now. Look, the morning star is lovely over there. The clouds have completely cleared off whilst you have been sleeping. What have you been dreaming of?'
'A woman in our parish.'
'Don't you like her?'
'I don't. She doesn't like me. Where are we?'
'About south of the Exe.'
Knight said no more on the words of her dream. They watched the sky till Elfride grew calm, and the dawn appeared. It was mere126 wan3 lightness first. Then the wind blew in a changed spirit, and died away to a zephyr137. The star dissolved into the day.
'That's how I should like to die,' said Elfride, rising from her seat and leaning over the bulwark106 to watch the star's last expiring gleam.
'As the lines say,' Knight replied---
'"To set as sets the morning star, which goes
Not down behind the darken'd west, nor hides
Obscured among the tempests of the sky,
But melts away into the light of heaven."'
'Oh, other people have thought the same thing, have they? That's always the case with my originalities--they are original to nobody but myself.'
'Not only the case with yours. When I was a young hand at reviewing I used to find that a frightful138 pitfall--dilating upon subjects I met with, which were novelties to me, and finding afterwards they had been exhausted139 by the thinking world when I was in pinafores.'
'That is delightful. Whenever I find you have done a foolish thing I am glad, because it seems to bring you a little nearer to me, who have done many.' And Elfride thought again of her enemy asleep under the deck they trod.
All up the coast, prominences140 singled themselves out from recesses141. Then a rosy142 sky spread over the eastern sea and behind the low line of land, flinging its livery in dashes upon the thin airy clouds in that direction. Every projection143 on the land seemed now so many fingers anxious to catch a little of the liquid light thrown so prodigally144 over the sky, and after a fantastic time of lustrous yellows in the east, the higher elevations145 along the shore were flooded with the same hues146. The bluff147 and bare contours of Start Point caught the brightest, earliest glow of all, and so also did the sides of its white lighthouse, perched upon a shelf in its precipitous front like a mediaeval saint in a niche148. Their lofty neighbour Bolt Head on the left remained as yet ungilded, and retained its gray.
Then up came the sun, as it were in jerks, just to seaward of the easternmost point of land, flinging out a Jacob's-ladder path of light from itself to Elfride and Knight, and coating them with rays in a few minutes. The inferior dignitaries of the shore-Froward Point, Berry Head, and Prawle--all had acquired their share of the illumination ere this, and at length the very smallest protuberance of wave, cliff, or inlet, even to the innermost recesses of the lovely valley of the Dart149, had its portion; and sunlight, now the common possession of all, ceased to be the wonderful and coveted150 thing it had been a short half hour before.
After breakfast, Plymouth arose into view, and grew distincter to their nearing vision, the Breakwater appearing like a streak151 of phosphoric light upon the surface of the sea. Elfride looked furtively around for Mrs. Jethway, but could discern no shape like hers. Afterwards, in the bustle152 of landing, she looked again with the same result, by which time the woman had probably glided153 upon the quay unobserved. Expanding with a sense of relief, Elfride waited whilst Knight looked to their luggage, and then saw her father approaching through the crowd, twirling his walking-stick to catch their attention. Elbowing their way to him they all entered the town, which smiled as sunny a smile upon Elfride as it had done between one and two years earlier, when she had entered it at precisely154 the same hour as the bride-elect of Stephen Smith.
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1
mellowest
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| 成熟的( mellow的最高级 )； （水果）熟透的； （颜色或声音）柔和的； 高兴的 | |
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misty
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| adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的 | |
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wan
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| (wide area network)广域网 | |
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lustrous
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| adj.有光泽的；光辉的 | |
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lurid
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| adj.可怕的；血红的；苍白的 | |
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metropolis
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| n.首府；大城市 | |
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knight
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| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
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interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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jersey
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| n.运动衫 | |
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previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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lodgings
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| n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍 | |
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ushered
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| v.引，领，陪同( usher的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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bland
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| adj.淡而无味的，温和的，无刺激性的 | |
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fatiguing
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| a.使人劳累的 | |
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accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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maidens
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| 处女( maiden的名词复数 )； 少女； 未婚女子； （板球运动）未得分的一轮投球 | |
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dens
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| n.牙齿，齿状部分；兽窝( den的名词复数 )；窝点；休息室；书斋 | |
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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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reverted
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| 恢复( revert的过去式和过去分词 )； 重提； 回到…上； 归还 | |
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enervating
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| v.使衰弱，使失去活力( enervate的现在分词 ) | |
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dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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rattle
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| v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓 | |
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delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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supervision
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| n.监督，管理 | |
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semblance
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| n.外貌，外表 | |
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waggons
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| 四轮的运货马车( waggon的名词复数 )； 铁路货车； 小手推车 | |
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intervals
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| 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 | |
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feat
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| n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的 | |
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conveyance
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| n.(不动产等的)转让，让与；转让证书；传送；运送；表达；（正）运输工具 | |
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entrapped
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| v.使陷入圈套，使入陷阱( entrap的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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conspiracy
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| n.阴谋，密谋，共谋 | |
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placid
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| adj.安静的，平和的 | |
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wharf
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| n.码头，停泊处 | |
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tussle
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| n.&v.扭打，搏斗，争辩 | |
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melee
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| n.混战；混战的人群 | |
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gallantly
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| adv. 漂亮地，勇敢地，献殷勤地 | |
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vanquished
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| v.征服( vanquish的过去式和过去分词 )；战胜；克服；抑制 | |
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continental
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| adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的 | |
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dingy
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| adj.昏暗的，肮脏的 | |
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murky
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| adj.黑暗的，朦胧的；adv.阴暗地，混浊地；n.阴暗；昏暗 | |
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41
lumbering
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| n.采伐林木 | |
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42
converging
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| adj.收敛[缩]的，会聚的，趋同的v.（线条、运动的物体等）会于一点( converge的现在分词 )；（趋于）相似或相同；人或车辆汇集；聚集 | |
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43
trotting
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| 小跑，急走( trot的现在分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走 | |
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44
frail
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| adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的 | |
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45
slanted
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| 有偏见的； 倾斜的 | |
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46
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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47
hulls
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| 船体( hull的名词复数 )； 船身； 外壳； 豆荚 | |
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48
privately
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| adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地 | |
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49
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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50
obtuseness
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| 感觉迟钝 | |
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51
severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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52
ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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53
jerseys
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| n.运动衫( jersey的名词复数 ) | |
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54
burnished
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| adj.抛光的，光亮的v.擦亮（金属等），磨光( burnish的过去式和过去分词 )；被擦亮，磨光 | |
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55
copper
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| n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的 | |
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56
ripples
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| 逐渐扩散的感觉( ripple的名词复数 ) | |
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57
tantalized
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| v.逗弄，引诱，折磨( tantalize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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58
funnels
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| 漏斗( funnel的名词复数 )； （轮船，火车等的）烟囱 | |
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59
animation
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| n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作 | |
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60
providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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61
apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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62
throng
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| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
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63
frantically
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| ad.发狂地, 发疯地 | |
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64
glide
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| n./v.溜，滑行；(时间)消逝 | |
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65
serpentine
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| adj.蜿蜒的，弯曲的 | |
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66
interspersed
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| adj.[医]散开的；点缀的v.intersperse的过去式和过去分词 | |
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67
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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68
betrothed
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| n. 已订婚者 动词betroth的过去式和过去分词 | |
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69
envious
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| adj.嫉妒的，羡慕的 | |
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70
extremity
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| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
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71
harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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72
blandness
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| n.温柔，爽快 | |
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73
brilliance
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| n.光辉，辉煌，壮丽，（卓越的）才华，才智 | |
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74
perpendicular
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| adj.垂直的，直立的；n.垂直线，垂直的位置 | |
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75
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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76
dreary
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| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
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77
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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78
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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79
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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80
allotted
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| 分配，拨给，摊派( allot的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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81
carnation
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| n.康乃馨（一种花） | |
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82
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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83
gliding
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| v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的 | |
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84
quay
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| n.码头，靠岸处 | |
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85
disturbance
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| n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调 | |
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86
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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87
depressed
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| adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的 | |
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88
underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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89
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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90
dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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91
elasticity
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| n.弹性，伸缩力 | |
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92
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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93
assented
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| 同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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94
hoisting
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| 起重，提升 | |
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95
promenading
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| v.兜风( promenade的现在分词 ) | |
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96
furtively
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| adv. 偷偷地, 暗中地 | |
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97
abaft
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| prep.在…之后；adv.在船尾，向船尾 | |
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98
dreaded
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| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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99
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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100
phantom
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| n.幻影，虚位，幽灵；adj.错觉的，幻影的，幽灵的 | |
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101
utterance
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| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
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102
berth
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| n.卧铺，停泊地，锚位；v.使停泊 | |
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103
legitimate
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| adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法 | |
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104
contrive
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| vt.谋划，策划；设法做到；设计，想出 | |
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105
meditated
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| 深思，沉思，冥想( meditate的过去式和过去分词 )； 内心策划，考虑 | |
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106
bulwark
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| n.堡垒，保障，防御 | |
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107
bulwarks
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| n.堡垒( bulwark的名词复数 )；保障；支柱；舷墙 | |
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108
nautical
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| adj.海上的，航海的，船员的 | |
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109
dismal
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| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
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110
abeam
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| adj.正横着(的) | |
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111
shambles
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| n.混乱之处；废墟 | |
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112
antagonistic
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| adj.敌对的 | |
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113
displeased
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| a.不快的 | |
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114
confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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115
heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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116
ingenuous
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| adj.纯朴的，单纯的；天真的；坦率的 | |
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117
faltered
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| （嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃 | |
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118
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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119
aloof
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| adj.远离的；冷淡的，漠不关心的 | |
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120
remissness
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| n.玩忽职守；马虎；怠慢；不小心 | |
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121
liking
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| n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢 | |
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122
blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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123
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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124
appreciable
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| adj.明显的，可见的，可估量的，可觉察的 | |
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125
improperly
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| 不正确地，不适当地 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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127
horrid
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| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
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128
dally
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| v.荒废(时日)，调情 | |
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129
soothing
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| adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的 | |
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130
implicit
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| a.暗示的，含蓄的，不明晰的，绝对的 | |
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131
innocence
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| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
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132
musing
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| n. 沉思，冥想 adj. 沉思的, 冥想的 动词muse的现在分词形式 | |
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133
slumber
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| n.睡眠，沉睡状态 | |
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134
awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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135
soothingly
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| adv.抚慰地，安慰地；镇痛地 | |
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136
shudder
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| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
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137
zephyr
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| n.和风，微风 | |
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138
frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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139
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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140
prominences
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| n.织物中凸起的部分；声望( prominence的名词复数 )；突出；重要；要事 | |
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141
recesses
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| n.壁凹( recess的名词复数 )；（工作或业务活动的）中止或暂停期间；学校的课间休息；某物内部的凹形空间v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的第三人称单数 )；将（墙）做成凹形，在（墙）上做壁龛；休息，休会，休庭 | |
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142
rosy
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| adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的 | |
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143
projection
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| n.发射，计划，突出部分 | |
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144
prodigally
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| adv.浪费地，丰饶地 | |
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145
elevations
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| （水平或数量）提高( elevation的名词复数 )； 高地； 海拔； 提升 | |
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146
hues
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| 色彩( hue的名词复数 )； 色调； 信仰； 观点 | |
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147
bluff
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| v.虚张声势，用假象骗人；n.虚张声势，欺骗 | |
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148
niche
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| n.壁龛；合适的职务(环境、位置等) | |
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149
dart
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| v.猛冲，投掷；n.飞镖，猛冲 | |
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150
coveted
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| adj.令人垂涎的；垂涎的，梦寐以求的v.贪求，觊觎(covet的过去分词)；垂涎；贪图 | |
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151
streak
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| n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动 | |
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152
bustle
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| v.喧扰地忙乱，匆忙，奔忙；n.忙碌；喧闹 | |
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153
glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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154
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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