It was about the close of the month, that, yielding at length to the urgent importunities of Rose, I accompanied her in a visit to Wildfell Hall. To our surprise, we were ushered1 into a room where the first object that met the eye was a painter's easel, with a table beside it covered with rolls of canvas, bottles of oil and varnish2, palette, brushes, paints, &c. Leaning against the wall were several sketches4 in various stages of progression, and a few finished paintings - mostly of landscapes and figures.
'I must make you welcome to my studio,' said Mrs. Graham; 'there is no fire in the sitting-room5 to-day, and it is rather too cold to show you into a place with an empty grate.'
And disengaging a couple of chairs from the artistical lumber6 that usurped7 them, she bid us be seated, and resumed her place beside the easel - not facing it exactly, but now and then glancing at the picture upon it while she conversed8, and giving it an occasional touch with her brush, as if she found it impossible to wean her attention entirely9 from her occupation to fix it upon her guests. It was a view of Wildfell Hall, as seen at early morning from the field below, rising in dark relief against a sky of clear silvery blue, with a few red streaks10 on the horizon, faithfully drawn11 and coloured, and very elegantly and artistically12 handled.
'I see your heart is in your work, Mrs. Graham,' observed I: 'I must beg you to go on with it; for if you suffer our presence to interrupt you, we shall be constrained13 to regard ourselves as unwelcome intruders.'
'Oh, no!' replied she, throwing her brush on to the table, as if startled into politeness. 'I am not so beset14 with visitors but that I can readily spare a few minutes to the few that do favour me with their company.'
'You have almost completed your painting,' said I, approaching to observe it more closely, and surveying it with a greater degree of admiration15 and delight than I cared to express. 'A few more touches in the foreground will finish it, I should think. But why have you called it Fernley Manor16, Cumberland, instead of Wildfell Hall, -shire?' I asked, alluding17 to the name she had traced in small characters at the bottom of the canvas.
But immediately I was sensible of having committed an act of impertinence in so doing; for she coloured and hesitated; but after a moment's pause, with a kind of desperate frankness, she replied:-
'Because I have friends - acquaintances at least - in the world, from whom I desire my present abode18 to be concealed19; and as they might see the picture, and might possibly recognise the style in spite of the false initials I have put in the corner, I take the precaution to give a false name to the place also, in order to put them on a wrong scent20, if they should attempt to trace me out by it.'
'Then you don't intend to keep the picture?' said I, anxious to say anything to change the subject.
'No; I cannot afford to paint for my own amusement.'
'Mamma sends all her pictures to London,' said Arthur; 'and somebody sells them for her there, and sends us the money.'
In looking round upon the other pieces, I remarked a pretty sketch3 of Linden-hope from the top of the hill; another view of the old hall basking21 in the sunny haze22 of a quiet summer afternoon; and a simple but striking little picture of a child brooding, with looks of silent but deep and sorrowful regret, over a handful of withered23 flowers, with glimpses of dark low hills and autumnal fields behind it, and a dull beclouded sky above.
'You see there is a sad dearth24 of subjects,' observed the fair artist. 'I took the old hall once on a moonlight night, and I suppose I must take it again on a snowy winter's day, and then again on a dark cloudy evening; for I really have nothing else to paint. I have been told that you have a fine view of the sea somewhere in the neighbourhood. Is it true? - and is it within walking distance?'
'Yes, if you don't object to walking four miles - or nearly so - little short of eight miles, there and back - and over a somewhat rough, fatiguing25 road.'
'In what direction does it lie?'
I described the situation as well as I could, and was entering upon an explanation of the various roads, lanes, and fields to be traversed in order to reach it, the goings straight on, and turnings to the right and the left, when she checked me with, -
'Oh, stop! don't tell me now: I shall forget every word of your directions before I require them. I shall not think about going till next spring; and then, perhaps, I may trouble you. At present we have the winter before us, and - '
She suddenly paused, with a suppressed exclamation26, started up from her seat, and saying, 'Excuse me one moment,' hurried from the room, and shut the door behind her.
Curious to see what had startled her so, I looked towards the window - for her eyes had been carelessly fixed27 upon it the moment before - and just beheld28 the skirts of a man's coat vanishing behind a large holly-bush that stood between the window and the porch.
'It's mamma's friend,' said Arthur.
Rose and I looked at each other.
'I don't know what to make of her at all,' whispered Rose.
The child looked at her in grave surprise. She straightway began to talk to him on indifferent matters, while I amused myself with looking at the pictures. There was one in an obscure corner that I had not before observed. It was a little child, seated on the grass with its lap full of flowers. The tiny features and large blue eyes, smiling through a shock of light brown curls, shaken over the forehead as it bent29 above its treasure, bore sufficient resemblance to those of the young gentleman before me to proclaim it a portrait of Arthur Graham in his early infancy30.
In taking this up to bring it to the light, I discovered another behind it, with its face to the wall. I ventured to take that up too. It was the portrait of a gentleman in the full prime of youthful manhood - handsome enough, and not badly executed; but if done by the same hand as the others, it was evidently some years before; for there was far more careful minuteness of detail, and less of that freshness of colouring and freedom of handling that delighted and surprised me in them. Nevertheless, I surveyed it with considerable interest. There was a certain individuality in the features and expression that stamped it, at once, a successful likeness31. The bright blue eyes regarded the spectator with a kind of lurking32 drollery33 - you almost expected to see them wink34; the lips - a little too voluptuously35 full - seemed ready to break into a smile; the warmly-tinted cheeks were embellished36 with a luxuriant growth of reddish whiskers; while the bright chestnut37 hair, clustering in abundant, wavy38 curls, trespassed39 too much upon the forehead, and seemed to intimate that the owner thereof was prouder of his beauty than his intellect - as, perhaps, he had reason to be; and yet he looked no fool.
I had not had the portrait in my hands two minutes before the fair artist returned.
'Only some one come about the pictures,' said she, in apology for her abrupt40 departure: 'I told him to wait.'
'I fear it will be considered an act of impertinence,' said 'to presume to look at a picture that the artist has turned to the wall; but may I ask -'
'It is an act of very great impertinence, sir; and therefore I beg you will ask nothing about it, for your curiosity will not be gratified,' replied she, attempting to cover the tartness41 of her rebuke42 with a smile; but I could see, by her flushed cheek and kindling43 eye, that she was seriously annoyed.
'I was only going to ask if you had painted it yourself,' said I, sulkily resigning the picture into her hands; for without a grain of ceremony she took it from me; and quickly restoring it to the dark corner, with its face to the wall, placed the other against it as before, and then turned to me and laughed.
But I was in no humour for jesting. I carelessly turned to the window, and stood looking out upon the desolate44 garden, leaving her to talk to Rose for a minute or two; and then, telling my sister it was time to go, shook hands with the little gentleman, coolly bowed to the lady, and moved towards the door. But, having bid adieu to Rose, Mrs. Graham presented her hand to me, saying, with a soft voice, and by no means a disagreeable smile, - 'Let not the sun go down upon your wrath45, Mr. Markham. I'm sorry I offended you by my abruptness46.'
When a lady condescends47 to apologise, there is no keeping one's anger, of course; so we parted good friends for once; and this time I squeezed her hand with a cordial, not a spiteful pressure.
1 ushered | |
v.引,领,陪同( usher的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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2 varnish | |
n.清漆;v.上清漆;粉饰 | |
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3 sketch | |
n.草图;梗概;素描;v.素描;概述 | |
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4 sketches | |
n.草图( sketch的名词复数 );素描;速写;梗概 | |
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5 sitting-room | |
n.(BrE)客厅,起居室 | |
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6 lumber | |
n.木材,木料;v.以破旧东西堆满;伐木;笨重移动 | |
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7 usurped | |
篡夺,霸占( usurp的过去式和过去分词 ); 盗用; 篡夺,篡权 | |
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8 conversed | |
v.交谈,谈话( converse的过去式 ) | |
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9 entirely | |
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地 | |
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10 streaks | |
n.(与周围有所不同的)条纹( streak的名词复数 );(通常指不好的)特征(倾向);(不断经历成功或失败的)一段时期v.快速移动( streak的第三人称单数 );使布满条纹 | |
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11 drawn | |
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的 | |
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12 artistically | |
adv.艺术性地 | |
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13 constrained | |
adj.束缚的,节制的 | |
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14 beset | |
v.镶嵌;困扰,包围 | |
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15 admiration | |
n.钦佩,赞美,羡慕 | |
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16 manor | |
n.庄园,领地 | |
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17 alluding | |
提及,暗指( allude的现在分词 ) | |
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18 abode | |
n.住处,住所 | |
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19 concealed | |
a.隐藏的,隐蔽的 | |
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20 scent | |
n.气味,香味,香水,线索,嗅觉;v.嗅,发觉 | |
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21 basking | |
v.晒太阳,取暖( bask的现在分词 );对…感到乐趣;因他人的功绩而出名;仰仗…的余泽 | |
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22 haze | |
n.霾,烟雾;懵懂,迷糊;vi.(over)变模糊 | |
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23 withered | |
adj. 枯萎的,干瘪的,(人身体的部分器官)因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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24 dearth | |
n.缺乏,粮食不足,饥谨 | |
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25 fatiguing | |
a.使人劳累的 | |
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26 exclamation | |
n.感叹号,惊呼,惊叹词 | |
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27 fixed | |
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的 | |
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28 beheld | |
v.看,注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 );瞧;看呀;(叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现)哎哟 | |
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29 bent | |
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的 | |
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30 infancy | |
n.婴儿期;幼年期;初期 | |
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31 likeness | |
n.相像,相似(之处) | |
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32 lurking | |
潜在 | |
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33 drollery | |
n.开玩笑,说笑话;滑稽可笑的图画(或故事、小戏等) | |
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34 wink | |
n.眨眼,使眼色,瞬间;v.眨眼,使眼色,闪烁 | |
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35 voluptuously | |
adv.风骚地,体态丰满地 | |
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36 embellished | |
v.美化( embellish的过去式和过去分词 );装饰;修饰;润色 | |
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37 chestnut | |
n.栗树,栗子 | |
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38 wavy | |
adj.有波浪的,多浪的,波浪状的,波动的,不稳定的 | |
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39 trespassed | |
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40 abrupt | |
adj.突然的,意外的;唐突的,鲁莽的 | |
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41 tartness | |
n.酸,锋利 | |
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42 rebuke | |
v.指责,非难,斥责 [反]praise | |
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43 kindling | |
n. 点火, 可燃物 动词kindle的现在分词形式 | |
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44 desolate | |
adj.荒凉的,荒芜的;孤独的,凄凉的;v.使荒芜,使孤寂 | |
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45 wrath | |
n.愤怒,愤慨,暴怒 | |
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46 abruptness | |
n. 突然,唐突 | |
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47 condescends | |
屈尊,俯就( condescend的第三人称单数 ); 故意表示和蔼可亲 | |
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