Well, go thy ways, old Nick Machiavel, there will never be the peer of thee for wholesome1 policy and good counsel: thou took'st pains to chalk men out the dark paths and hidden plots of murther and deceit, and no man has the grace to follow thee. The age is unthankful, thy principles are quite forsaken2, and worn out of memory.
---SHAKERLEY MARMION'S Antiquary.
Sybil's sudden entrance filled the group that surrounded Miss Mowbray with new dismay. But she saw them not. Her soul seemed riveted3 by Eleanor, towards whom she rushed; and while her eye wandered over her beauty, she raised the braided hair from her brow, revealing the clear, polished forehead. Wonder, awe4, devotion, pity, usurped5 the place of hatred6. The fierce expression that had lit up her dark orbs7 was succeeded by tender commiseration8. She looked an imploring9 appeal at Barbara.
"Ay, ay," returned the old gipsy, extending at the same time the phial; "I understand. Here is that will bring the blood once more into her pallid10 cheeks, and kindle11 the fire within her eyes. Give her of this."
The effect of the potion was almost instantaneous, amply attesting12 Barbara's skill in its concoction13. Stifled14 respiration15 first proclaimed Eleanor's recovery. She opened her large and languid eyes; her bosom16 heaved almost to bursting; her pulses throbbed17 quickly and feverishly18; and as the stimulant19 operated, the wild lustre20 of excitement blazed in her eyes.
Sybil took her hand to chafe21 it. The eyes of the two maidens23 met. They gazed upon each other steadfastly24 and in silence. Eleanor knew not whom she regarded, but she could not mistake that look of sympathy; she could not mistake the tremulous pressure of her hand; she felt the silent trickling25 tears. She returned the sympathizing glance, and gazed with equal wonder upon the ministering fairy, for such she almost seemed, that knelt before her. As her looks wandered from the kindly26 glance of Sybil to the withered27 and inauspicious aspect of the gipsy queen, and shifted thence to the dusky figures of her attendants, filled with renewed apprehension29, she exclaimed, "Who are these, and where am I?"
"You are in safety," replied Luke. "This is the ruined priory of St. Francis; and those strange personages are a horde30 of gipsies. You need fear no injury from them."
"My deliverer!" murmured Eleanor; when all at once the recollection that he had avowed31 himself a Rookwood, and the elder brother of Ranulph, flashed across her memory. "Gipsies! did you not say these people were gipsies? Your own attire32 is the same as theirs. You are not, cannot be, the brother of Ranulph."
"I do not boast the same mother," returned Luke, proudly, "but my father was Sir Piers33 Rookwood, and I am his elder born."
He turned away. Dark thoughts swept across his brain. Maddened by the beauty of Eleanor, stung by her slights, and insensible to the silent agony of Sybil, who sought in vain to catch his eye, he thought of nothing but of revenge, and the accomplishment34 of his purposes. All within was a wild and fearful turmoil35. His better principles were stifled by the promptings of evil. "Methinks," cried he, half aloud, "if the Tempter were near to offer the maiden22 to me, even at the peril36 of my soul's welfare, I could not resist it."
The Tempter was at hand. He is seldom absent on occasions like the present. The sexton stood beside his grandson. Luke started. He eyed Peter from head to foot, almost expecting to find the cloven foot, supposed to be proper to the fiend. Peter grinned in ghastly derision.
"Soh! you would summon hell to your aid; and lo! the devil is at your elbow. Well, she is yours."
"Make good your words," cried Luke, impatiently.
"Softly--softly," returned Peter. "Moderate yourself, and your wishes shall be accomplished37. Your own desires chime with those of others; nay38, with those of Barbara. She would wed28 you to Miss Mowbray. You stare. But it is so. This is a cover for some deeper plot; no matter. It shall go hard, despite her cunning, if I foil her not at her own weapons. There is more mischief39 in that old woman's brain than was ever hatched within the crocodile's egg; yet she shall find her match. Do not thwart40 her; leave all to me. She is about it now," added he, noticing Barbara and Mrs. Mowbray in conference together. "Be patient--I will watch her." And he quitted his grandson for the purpose of scanning more closely the man[oe]uvres of the old gipsy.
Barbara, meanwhile, had not remained inactive.
"You need fear no relapse in your daughter; I will answer for that," said the old gipsy to Mrs. Mowbray; "Sybil will tend her. Quit not the maiden's side," continued she, addressing her grandchild, adding, in a whisper, "Be cautious--alarm her not--mine eye will be upon you--drop not a word."
So saying, she shuffled41 to a little distance with Mrs. Mowbray, keeping Sybil in view, and watching every motion, as the panther watches the gambols42 of a fawn43.
"Know you who speaks to you?" said the old crone, in the peculiar44 low and confidential45 tone assumed by her tribe to strangers. "Have you forgotten the name of Barbara Lovel?"
"I have no distinct remembrance of it," returned Mrs. Mowbray.
"Think again," said Barbara; "and though years are flown, you may perchance recall the black gipsy woman, who, when you were surrounded with gay gallants, with dancing plumes46, perused47 your palm, and whispered in your ear the favored suitor's name. Bide48 with me a moment, madam," said Barbara, seeing that Mrs. Mowbray shrank from the recollection thus conjured49 up; "I am old--very old; I have survived the shows of flattery, and being vested with a power over my people, am apt, perchance, to take too much upon myself with others." The old gipsy paused here, and then, assuming a more familiar tone, exclaimed, "The estates of Rookwood are ample----"
"Woman, what mean you?"
"They should have been yours, lady, and would have been, but for that marriage. You would have beseemed them bravely. Sir Reginald was wilful50, and erased51 the daughter's name to substitute that of his son. Pity it is that so fair a creature as Miss Mowbray should lack the dower her beauty and her birth entitle her to expect. Pity that Ranulph Rookwood should lose his title, at the moment when he deemed it was dropping into his possession. Pity that those broad lands should pass away from you and your children, as they will do, if Ranulph and Eleanor are united."
"They never shall be united," replied Mrs. Mowbray, hastily.
"'Twere indeed to wed your child to beggary," said Barbara.
Mrs. Mowbray sighed deeply.
"There is a way," continued the old crone, in a deep whisper, "by which the estates might still be hers and yours."
"Indeed!" said Mrs. Mowbray, eagerly.
"Sir Piers Rookwood had two sons."
"Ha!"
"The elder is here."
"Luke--Sir Luke. He brought us hither."
"He loves your daughter. I saw his gaze of passion just now. I am old now, but I have some skill in lovers' glances. Why not wed her to him? I read hands--read hearts, you know. They were born for each other. Now, madam, do you understand me?"
"But," returned Mrs. Mowbray, with hesitation52, "though I might wish for--though I might sanction this, Eleanor is betrothed53 to Ranulph--she loves him."
"Think not of her, if you are satisfied. She cannot judge so well for herself as you can for her. She is a child, and knows not what she loves. Her affection will soon be Luke's. He is a noble youth--the image of his grandfather, your father, Sir Reginald; and if your daughter be betrothed to any one, 'twas to the heir of Rookwood. That was an essential part of the contract. Why should the marriage not take place at once, and here?"
"Here! How were that possible?"
"You are within sacred walls. I will take you where an altar stands. There is no lack of holy priest to join their hands together. Your companion, Father Ambrose, as you call him, will do the office fittingly. He has essayed his clerkly skill already on others of your house."
"To Sir Piers and Susan Bradley," returned Barbara. "That priest united them."
"Indeed! He never told me this."
"He dared not do so; he had an oath which bound him to concealment55. The time is coming when greater mysteries will be revealed."
"'Tis strange I should not have heard of this before," said Mrs. Mowbray, musingly56; "and yet I might have guessed as much from his obscure hints respecting Ranulph. I see it all now. I see the gulf57 into which I might have been plunged58; but I am warned in time. Father Ambrose," continued she, to the priest, who was pacing the chamber59 at some little distance from them, "is it true that my brother was wedded60 by you to Susan Bradley?"
Ere the priest could reply the sexton presented himself.
"Ha, the very father of the girl!" said Mrs. Mowbray, "whom I met within our family vault61, and who was so strangely moved when I spoke62 to him of Alan Rookwood. Is he here likewise?"
"Alan Rookwood!" echoed Barbara, upon whom a light seemed suddenly to break; "ha! what said he of him?"
"Ill-boding raven," interposed Peter, fiercely, "be content with what thou knowest of the living, and trouble not the repose63 of the dead. Let them rest in their infamy64."
"The dead!" echoed Barbara, with a chuckling65 laugh; "ha! ha! he is dead, then; and what became of his fair wife--his brother's minion66? 'Twas a foul67 deed, I grant, and yet there was expiation68. Blood flowed--blood----"
"Silence, thou night hag!" thundered Peter, "or I will have thee burned at the stake for the sorcery thou practisest. Beware," added he, in a deep tone--"I am thy friend."
Barbara's withered countenance69 exhibited for an instant the deepest indignation at the sexton's threat. The malediction70 trembled on her tongue; she raised her staff to smite71 him, but she checked the action. In the same tone, and with a sharp, suspicious look, she replied, "My friend, sayest thou? See that it prove so, or beware of me."
And, with a malignant72 scowl73, the gipsy queen slowly shuffled towards her satellites, who were stationed at the door.
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收听单词发音
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1
wholesome
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| adj.适合；卫生的；有益健康的；显示身心健康的 | |
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2
Forsaken
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| adj. 被遗忘的, 被抛弃的 动词forsake的过去分词 | |
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3
riveted
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| 铆接( rivet的过去式和过去分词 )； 把…固定住； 吸引； 引起某人的注意 | |
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awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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5
usurped
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| 篡夺，霸占( usurp的过去式和过去分词 )； 盗用； 篡夺，篡权 | |
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hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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7
orbs
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| abbr.off-reservation boarding school 在校寄宿学校n.球，天体，圆形物( orb的名词复数 ) | |
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8
commiseration
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| n.怜悯，同情 | |
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imploring
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| 恳求的，哀求的 | |
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pallid
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| adj.苍白的，呆板的 | |
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11
kindle
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| v.点燃，着火 | |
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12
attesting
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| v.证明( attest的现在分词 )；证实；声称…属实；使宣誓 | |
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13
concoction
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| n.调配(物)；谎言 | |
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14
stifled
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| （使）窒息， （使）窒闷( stifle的过去式和过去分词 )； 镇压，遏制； 堵 | |
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15
respiration
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| n.呼吸作用；一次呼吸；植物光合作用 | |
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16
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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17
throbbed
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| 抽痛( throb的过去式和过去分词 )； （心脏、脉搏等）跳动 | |
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18
feverishly
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| adv. 兴奋地 | |
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19
stimulant
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| n.刺激物，兴奋剂 | |
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lustre
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| n.光亮，光泽；荣誉 | |
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21
chafe
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| v.擦伤；冲洗；惹怒 | |
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22
maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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23
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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24
steadfastly
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| adv.踏实地，不变地；岿然；坚定不渝 | |
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25
trickling
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| n.油画底色含油太多而成泡沫状突起v.滴( trickle的现在分词 )；淌；使)慢慢走；缓慢移动 | |
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26
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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27
withered
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| 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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28
wed
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| v.娶，嫁，与…结婚 | |
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29
apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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30
horde
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| n.群众，一大群 | |
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31
avowed
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| adj.公开声明的，承认的v.公开声明，承认( avow的过去式和过去分词) | |
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32
attire
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| v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装 | |
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33
piers
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| n.水上平台( pier的名词复数 )；（常设有娱乐场所的）突堤；柱子；墙墩 | |
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34
accomplishment
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| n.完成，成就，（pl.）造诣，技能 | |
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35
turmoil
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| n.骚乱，混乱，动乱 | |
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36
peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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37
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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38
nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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39
mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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40
thwart
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| v.阻挠，妨碍，反对；adj.横(断的) | |
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41
shuffled
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| v.洗（纸牌）( shuffle的过去式和过去分词 )；拖着脚步走；粗心地做；摆脱尘世的烦恼 | |
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42
gambols
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| v.蹦跳，跳跃，嬉戏( gambol的第三人称单数 ) | |
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43
fawn
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| n.未满周岁的小鹿；v.巴结，奉承 | |
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44
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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45
confidential
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| adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的 | |
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46
plumes
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| 羽毛( plume的名词复数 )； 羽毛饰； 羽毛状物； 升上空中的羽状物 | |
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47
perused
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| v.读（某篇文字）( peruse的过去式和过去分词 )；（尤指）细阅；审阅；匆匆读或心不在焉地浏览（某篇文字） | |
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48
bide
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| v.忍耐；等候；住 | |
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49
conjured
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| 用魔术变出( conjure的过去式和过去分词 )； 祈求，恳求； 变戏法； （变魔术般地） 使…出现 | |
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50
wilful
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| adj.任性的，故意的 | |
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51
erased
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| v.擦掉( erase的过去式和过去分词 )；抹去；清除 | |
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52
hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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53
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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54
allude
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| v.提及，暗指 | |
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55
concealment
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| n.隐藏, 掩盖，隐瞒 | |
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56
musingly
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| adv.沉思地，冥想地 | |
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57
gulf
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| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
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58
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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59
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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60
wedded
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| adj.正式结婚的；渴望…的，执著于…的v.嫁，娶，（与…）结婚( wed的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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61
vault
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| n.拱形圆顶，地窖，地下室 | |
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62
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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63
repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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64
infamy
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| n.声名狼藉，出丑，恶行 | |
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65
chuckling
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的现在分词 ) | |
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66
minion
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| n.宠仆；宠爱之人 | |
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67
foul
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| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
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68
expiation
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| n.赎罪，补偿 | |
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69
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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70
malediction
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| n.诅咒 | |
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71
smite
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| v.重击；彻底击败；n.打；尝试；一点儿 | |
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72
malignant
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| adj.恶性的，致命的；恶意的，恶毒的 | |
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73
scowl
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| vi.(at)生气地皱眉，沉下脸，怒视；n.怒容 | |
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