When Constance came to bed, half an hour later, Sophia was already in bed. The room was fairly spacious1. It had been the girls' retreat and fortress2 since their earliest years. Its features seemed to them as natural and unalterable as the features of a cave to a cave-dweller. It had been repapered twice in their lives, and each papering stood out in their memories like an epoch3; a third epoch was due to the replacing of a drugget by a resplendent old carpet degraded from the drawing-room. There was only one bed, the bedstead being of painted iron; they never interfered4 with each other in that bed, sleeping with a detachment as perfect as if they had slept on opposite sides of St. Luke's Square; yet if Constance had one night lain down on the half near the window instead of on the half near the door, the secret nature of the universe would have seemed to be altered. The small fire- grate was filled with a mass of shavings of silver paper; now the rare illnesses which they had suffered were recalled chiefly as periods when that silver paper was crammed5 into a large slipper- case which hung by the mantelpiece, and a fire of coals unnaturally6 reigned7 in its place--the silver paper was part of the order of the world. The sash of the window would not work quite properly, owing to a slight subsidence in the wall, and even when the window was fastened there was always a narrow slit8 to the left hand between the window and its frame; through this slit came draughts9, and thus very keen frosts were remembered by the nights when Mrs. Baines caused the sash to be forced and kept at its full height by means of wedges--the slit of exposure was part of the order of the world.
They possessed10 only one bed, one washstand, and one dressing- table; but in some other respects they were rather fortunate girls, for they had two mahogany wardrobes; this mutual11 independence as regards wardrobes was due partly to Mrs. Baines's strong commonsense12, and partly to their father's tendency to spoil them a little. They had, moreover, a chest of drawers with a curved front, of which structure Constance occupied two short drawers and one long one, and Sophia two long drawers. On it stood two fancy work-boxes, in which each sister kept jewellery, a savings-bank book, and other treasures, and these boxes were absolutely sacred to their respective owners. They were different, but one was not more magnificent than the other. Indeed, a rigid13 equality was the rule in the chamber14, the single exception being that behind the door were three hooks, of which Constance commanded two.
"Well," Sophia began, when Constance appeared. "How's darling Mr. Povey?" She was lying on her back, and smiling at her two hands, which she held up in front of her.
"Asleep," said Constance. "At least mother thinks so. She says sleep is the best thing for him."
"'It will probably come on again,'" said Sophia.
"What's that you say?" Constance asked, undressing.
"'It will probably come on again.'"
These words were a quotation15 from the utterances16 of darling Mr. Povey on the stairs, and Sophia delivered them with an exact imitation of Mr. Povey's vocal17 mannerism18.
"Sophia," said Constance, firmly, approaching the bed, "I wish you wouldn't be so silly!" She had benevolently19 ignored the satirical note in Sophia's first remark, but a strong instinct in her rose up and objected to further derision. "Surely you've done enough for one day!" she added.
For answer Sophia exploded into violent laughter, which she made no attempt to control. She laughed too long and too freely while Constance stared at her.
"_I_ don't know what's come over you!" said Constance.
"It's only because I can't look at it without simply going off into fits!" Sophia gasped20 out. And she held up a tiny object in her left hand.
Constance started, flushing. "You don't mean to say you've kept it!" she protested earnestly. "How horrid21 you are, Sophia! Give it me at once and let me throw it away. I never heard of such doings. Now give it me!"
"No," Sophia objected, still laughing. "I wouldn't part with it for worlds. It's too lovely."
She had laughed away all her secret resentment22 against Constance for having ignored her during the whole evening and for being on such intimate terms with their parents. And she was ready to be candidly23 jolly with Constance.
"Give it me," said Constance, doggedly24.
Sophia hid her hand under the clothes. "You can have his old stump25, when it comes out, if you like. But not this. What a pity it's the wrong one!"
"Sophia, I'm ashamed of you! Give it me."
Then it was that Sophia first perceived Constance's extreme seriousness. She was surprised and a little intimidated26 by it. For the expression of Constance's face, usually so benign28 and calm, was harsh, almost fierce. However, Sophia had a great deal of what is called "spirit," and not even ferocity on the face of mild Constance could intimidate27 her for more than a few seconds. Her gaiety expired and her teeth were hidden.
"I've said nothing to mother---" Constance proceeded.
"I should hope you haven't," Sophia put in tersely29.
"But I certainly shall if you don't throw that away," Constance finished.
"You can say what you like," Sophia retorted, adding contemptuously a term of opprobrium30 which has long since passed out of use: "Cant31!"
"Will you give it me or won't you?"
"No!"
It was a battle suddenly engaged in the bedroom. The atmosphere had altered completely with the swiftness of magic. The beauty of Sophia, the angelic tenderness of Constance, and the youthful, naive32, innocent charm of both of them, were transformed into something sinister33 and cruel. Sophia lay back on the pillow amid her dark-brown hair, and gazed with relentless34 defiance35 into the angry eyes of Constance, who stood threatening by the bed. They could hear the gas singing over the dressing-table, and their hearts beating the blood wildly in their veins36. They ceased to be young without growing old; the eternal had leapt up in them from its sleep.
Constance walked away from the bed to the dressing-table and began to loose her hair and brush it, holding back her head, shaking it, and bending forward, in the changeless gesture of that rite37. She was so disturbed that she had unconsciously reversed the customary order of the toilette. After a moment Sophia slipped out of bed and, stepping with her bare feet to the chest of drawers, opened her work-box and deposited the fragment of Mr. Povey therein; she dropped the lid with an uncompromising bang, as if to say, "We shall see if I am to be trod upon, miss!" Their eyes met again in the looking-glass. Then Sophia got back into bed.
Five minutes later, when her hair was quite finished, Constance knelt down and said her prayers. Having said her prayers, she went straight to Sophia's work-box, opened it, seized the fragment of Mr. Povey, ran to the window, and frantically38 pushed the fragment through the slit into the Square.
"There!" she exclaimed nervously39.
She had accomplished40 this inconceivable transgression41 of the code of honour, beyond all undoing42, before Sophia could recover from the stupefaction of seeing her sacred work-box impudently43 violated. In a single moment one of Sophia's chief ideals had been smashed utterly44, and that by the sweetest, gentlest creature she had ever known. It was a revealing experience for Sophia--and also for Constance. And it frightened them equally. Sophia, staring at the text, "Thou God seest me," framed in straw over the chest of drawers, did not stir. She was defeated, and so profoundly moved in her defeat that she did not even reflect upon the obvious inefficacy of illuminated45 texts as a deterrent46 from evil-doing. Not that she eared a fig47 for the fragment of Mr. Povey! It was the moral aspect of the affair, and the astounding48, inexplicable49 development in Constance's character, that staggered her into silent acceptance of the inevitable50.
Constance, trembling, took pains to finish undressing with dignified51 deliberation. Sophia's behaviour under the blow seemed too good to be true; but it gave her courage. At length she turned out the gas and lay down by Sophia. And there was a little shuffling52, and then stillness for a while.
"And if you want to know," said Constance in a tone that mingled53 amicableness54 with righteousness, "mother's decided55 with Aunt Harriet that we are BOTH to leave school next term."
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spacious
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| adj.广阔的，宽敞的 | |
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fortress
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| n.堡垒，防御工事 | |
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epoch
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| n.(新)时代；历元 | |
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interfered
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| v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉 | |
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crammed
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| adj.塞满的，挤满的；大口地吃；快速贪婪地吃v.把…塞满；填入；临时抱佛脚( cram的过去式) | |
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unnaturally
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| adv.违反习俗地；不自然地；勉强地；不近人情地 | |
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reigned
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| vi.当政，统治（reign的过去式形式） | |
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slit
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| n.狭长的切口；裂缝；vt.切开，撕裂 | |
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draughts
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| n. <英>国际跳棋 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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commonsense
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| adj.有常识的；明白事理的；注重实际的 | |
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rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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quotation
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| n.引文，引语，语录；报价，牌价，行情 | |
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utterances
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| n.发声( utterance的名词复数 )；说话方式；语调；言论 | |
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vocal
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| adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目 | |
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mannerism
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| n.特殊习惯，怪癖 | |
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benevolently
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| adv.仁慈地，行善地 | |
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gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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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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resentment
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| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
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candidly
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| adv.坦率地，直率而诚恳地 | |
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doggedly
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| adv.顽强地，固执地 | |
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stump
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| n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走 | |
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intimidated
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| v.恐吓；威胁adj.害怕的；受到威胁的 | |
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intimidate
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| vt.恐吓，威胁 | |
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benign
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| adj.善良的，慈祥的；良性的，无危险的 | |
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tersely
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| adv. 简捷地, 简要地 | |
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opprobrium
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| n.耻辱，责难 | |
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cant
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| n.斜穿，黑话，猛扔 | |
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naive
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| adj.幼稚的，轻信的；天真的 | |
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sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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relentless
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| adj.残酷的，不留情的，无怜悯心的 | |
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defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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rite
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| n.典礼，惯例，习俗 | |
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frantically
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| ad.发狂地, 发疯地 | |
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nervously
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| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
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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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transgression
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| n.违背；犯规；罪过 | |
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undoing
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| n.毁灭的原因，祸根；破坏，毁灭 | |
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impudently
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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illuminated
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| adj.被照明的；受启迪的 | |
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deterrent
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| n.阻碍物，制止物；adj.威慑的，遏制的 | |
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fig
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| n.无花果(树) | |
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astounding
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| adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊，使大吃一惊astound的现在分词) | |
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inexplicable
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| adj.无法解释的，难理解的 | |
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50
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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51
dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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52
shuffling
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| adj. 慢慢移动的, 滑移的 动词shuffle的现在分词形式 | |
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53
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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54
amicableness
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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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