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CHAPTER XXIV THE CRUELTY OF THE FATES
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 THE Duchessa di Corleone was on her way back from Italy. She had said good-bye with a little pang1 to the gallery, and to the courtyard with its golden oranges and marble statues, but once on her way to England the thought of Paul completely obliterated2 any trace of sorrow. She was joyfully3 ready to give up everything—the Casa di Corleone, her house on the Embankment, and her thousands a year for the man who had taken her heart into his keeping.
 
Throughout the journey her heart sang little songs of happiness, which had as their refrain the one word, “Paul.” The express train rushing across the country bathed in the July sun could hardly carry her with sufficient swiftness. When, at last, Calais was reached and she was on board the boat she felt happier.
 
With the cliffs of Dover in sight her heart was singing a Te Deum. Till that moment she had felt that some accident might happen to prevent her getting to him. Now, in less than four hours she would be in his studio.
 
She had written to tell him not to meet her at the station. She wanted their first meeting to be alone, without the eyes of curious porters upon them.
 
“Just you and I together, my darling,” she wrote. “I can see the room in my mind, and you coming forward to meet me. There has not been a moment day and night when you have been absent from my thoughts. Our love transfigures everything for me. Life has become a magic book on every page of which your name is written....”
 
That letter had reached Paul in his studio the morning of the day Sara would arrive. And now, an hour before her arrival, he was sitting with it crumpled4 tightly in his hand, his eyes staring blankly before him.
 
The Fates had struck suddenly, dealing5 sorrow as they had dealt joy, silently and swiftly. That very morning he had heard of the complete failure of the Mexican bank in which his money was invested.
 
At first the news had stunned6 him. In the afternoon he had gone down to a friend in the city to make fuller enquiries. He found his worst fears realized. His income, which altogether had amounted to about fourteen hundred a year, had been suddenly reduced to less than half. In fact, to merely the six hundred or so he earned by his painting.
 
Paul went back to his studio and sat down trying to realize what it would mean. And because he was a man whose steady grey eyes had always looked facts clearly in the face, he even took pencil and paper and jotted8 down certain figures. But the sum total always remained the same—his marriage with Sara had become impossible.
 
He never for an instant did her the wrong of thinking that his loss of income would make any difference to her love for him. He believed in her love as implicitly9 as he believed in his own. That, however, did not alter the one fact that marriage was out of the question. Even if he reduced his mother’s allowance by a hundred a year—which, however, he had no intention of doing—the three hundred left him would not justify10 him taking any woman to wife, and assuredly not a woman like the Duchessa di Corleone. He knew the impossibility of transplanting a hot-house flower to the open air of a wintry garden. The thing could not be done. No amount of care could save it; it must die.
 
And with the irony11 of fate, this news had reached him by the very same post as her letter.
 
He took it again from his pocket and re-read it. A spasm12 of pain that was almost physical pierced him. His hand tightened13 on the paper till it was crumpled and twisted. And in less than an hour she would be in the studio with him.
 
 
“My God,” said Paul to himself, “the Fates are very cruel!”
 
And then because throughout the day his first thought had been of Sara he began to plan how best to break the news to her. He determined14 that for a few hours at least she should not know. She should have the complete joy of the meeting unmarred. They were going out to dine together. When they returned to the studio it would be time enough to tell her. With the decision all the old quiet endurance he had learnt through days and nights of hardship came back to Paul. He would hide the knowledge of their parting in his own heart. Till he bade her good-bye that evening she should never guess what the world would really mean to them both.
 
Something caught at his throat and a mist swam before his eyes. He got up and began to walk quickly up and down the room. Every now and then his hand, still holding the letter, clenched15 tightly.
 
Suddenly he realized what he held. He stopped in his walk and put the letter on the table. He smoothed it out tenderly, as if it had been some living thing he had injured. He folded it and put it in his pocket-book. And once more he began his walk.
 
The whole place seemed full of her presence. Everything reminded him of her, the chair in which she sat, the glass at which she had been wont16 to arrange her hat when she was sitting for him, the vases on a bookshelf, for which she insisted that he should buy flowers. There were flowers in them to-day, real crimson17 roses—General Jacqueminot, with its sweet old-fashioned scent18. For the future they would remain empty. It would be useless to buy flowers if she was not to see them. It seemed to him as if his whole life he had been doing everything for her, and that now nothing would seem worth while. He caught at his underlip with his teeth, biting it hard. It seemed as if he were being asked to bear more than human strength could endure. Then all at once he stopped in his walk, for the hoot19 of a taxi near at hand struck on his ears.
 
A moment later he heard a light step crossing the courtyard. The door opened. She was in the doorway—radiant, living.
 
“Paul.”
 
“My beloved.”
 
She was in his arms. He was holding her as if he would never let her go.
 
Love, so say the chroniclers—and wrongly—is blind. It is keen-sighted as an eagle, which from afar discerns objects invisible to the sight of man.
 
When Paul at last held Sara away from him, she looked into his eyes, and though he had hidden his sorrow deep down in his heart she saw suddenly into the depths, and her own heart momentarily stood still. But also with her love and her quick woman’s instinct she saw that it was something he wished to keep hidden, and so she did not ask him then what it was he was hiding from her, but smiled at him, and in her turn hid what she had guessed.
 
So throughout the evening the two played a game of pretence20, she knowing that they both were playing it, and he—man-like—believing that he was the sole performer.
 
They went to an hotel together and dined, and listened to a band which was making music, and they talked nonsensically about the food they were eating and the people they saw, and all the time her heart was crying to him to drop the terrible mask of gaiety and tell her his sorrow. But as she saw he meant to play the game she told him of her journey, and the portrait that was hanging in the gallery, and she said that she had kissed the fauns good-bye. And then quite suddenly she stopped, because she saw a look of such pain come into his eyes that for the moment she was dumb, and pretence seemed useless. But almost at once he laughed and made some little light speech; and she laughed too, and bravely, because she knew he wished it.
 
But when at last they were back in the studio she could play the terrible little game no longer. And he too knew that the moment had come for it to cease.
 
 
“Paul,” she said steadily21, “what is it?”
 
“You guessed?” he asked.
 
“My dear,” she said, with a sad laugh, “I knew at once.”
 
“Then the harlequin game has been no good,” he said. And so he told her. And when he had ended there was a long silence.
 
Sara was the first to break it.
 
“There is no need for me to tell you,” she said, “that this makes no difference to our love.”
 
“But,” said Paul, and in spite of himself his voice was bitter, “it does to our marriage. There is no way out.”
 
And with the words silence again fell. And in the silence Sara felt a slow hatred22 of Giuseppe creep into her heart. He could have made this happiness possible to her, and he had made it impossible.
 
She did not dream of suggesting that they should marry in spite of everything. She knew it would be mere7 mockery to do so. But her heart rebelled fiercely against fate and against the late Duca di Corleone. It was the arrant23 selfishness of his deed that angered her. She had been his wife faithful and courteous24 when he was living, and in return he claimed her life when he was dead, or made a pauper25 of her.
 
She got up from her chair and began to move about the room. In mind and body she felt like [Pg 245]a caged animal beating against the bars which kept it from freedom.
 
She paused near the window. Paul saw her figure silhouetted26 against the night sky. He watched her. And suddenly her love for Paul and every fighting instinct within her rose up against the injustice27 of the Fates. Defiance28 of their decree and intense love overwhelmed her.
 
“There—is a way,” she said slowly. She did not turn her head. Paul saw her profile immovable against the square of grey-blue window.
 
He got up from his chair and came across to her. He took her hand and held it hard against his lips.
 
“You honour me, Beloved,” he said. “But it cannot be.”
 
She turned towards him then.
 
“Why not?” she cried almost fiercely. “We love each other. Is not that enough? Let us defy Giuseppe. Do you think I care what the world would say of me?”
 
“But I care,” said Paul simply.
 
“More than you care for me?” she asked.
 
“Beloved,” said Paul huskily, “it is because I love you—because you are more than the whole world to me that I cannot let there be the smallest stain upon your honour. I—my God, how I worship you!” The words came from him like a cry.
 
“Ah, Paul.” The bitterness in her heart had [Pg 246]melted, and with it her strength. He held her in his arms.
 
“Was—was I horrible?” she asked.
 
He kissed her lips fiercely. “You were wonderful, my darling. God knows the generosity29 of women. But there are some sacrifices a man cannot accept.”
 
“It would have been none,” she whispered.
 
He held her closer. “You think not now, my darling. But later—— Dearest, I could not bear to see your whiteness stained by the mud the world would throw at you.” He kissed her eyes and hair.
 
“What is to be the end of it?” she asked. “What must we do?”
 
He laughed sadly. “There is only one thing left for us to do—we must say good-bye.”
 
She put her arms round him. “Ah, not that, Paul—not that.”
 
“But listen, dearest,” he said. “We’ve got to look at things as they are. There is no profession open to me in which I am likely to make more than I can by my painting. I have lost every penny of capital. God! how sordid30 it seems that the lack of money should keep us apart. But there it is. It may be years before I make more, though Heaven knows I’d paint every commonplace creature in creation in return for shekels now. I hate my own fastidiousness. I’ve lost dozens of commissions and made not a [Pg 247]few enemies. It will take ages to make up for my folly31. At the best it must be years before I have anything like a decent income.” He stopped. He had loathed32 having to speak the bare commonplace facts.
 
“I will wait,” she said.
 
“Dearest,” he said, and his voice was shaking, “it would not be fair to let you. There will be other men, rich, who——”
 
She interrupted by a gesture.
 
“Do you count my love as little as that?” she said. “Cannot you understand that there is nothing in the world for me but my love for you and your love for me. If you believe as I do that we belong to each other for time and eternity33, then how can you——?” She could get no further. He stopped her with such kisses that she was frightened at his vehemence34.
 
“Enough,” he said. “We belong to each other. One day I will claim you.”
 
“And till then?” she asked.
 
“For a time,” he said steadily, “we must not meet. It is—wiser not.”
 
“Because—of what I said?” she asked. The crimson colour had covered her face and neck.
 
“No,” he answered quietly, “but because I am only a man, and very human.”
 
And there was something in his voice that told her not to gainsay35 him.
 
“But at least we will write,” she said.
 
 
“No.”
 
“Why not?”
 
“It would be almost the same as seeing you. There would come a day when the sight of your writing would shake my resolve. You, if you wrote, could only tell me all that was in your heart. What use else to write? I should hear your heart calling mine, as mine will call to you. And then one day my resolution would fail. And if it did I should hate myself, and count myself unworthy to come near you again.”
 
“Then never, dear heart,” she whispered.
 
And there was a little silence too sad for words or tears. It was Sara who broke it.
 
“Christopher used to say,” she said, with a little shaky laugh, “that I could cheat the Fates. This time I cannot. They have dealt me a hand full of little spades, and every one of them is digging the grave of my happiness.”
 
“Ah, my dearest,” he said.
 
She disengaged herself gently from him.
 
“And since for a time at least we both must die,” she said, “we had better die at once. A lingering death is so painful.” Her voice shook. “Good-bye, Paul. Don’t come with me. I want to go home alone.”
 
“Good-bye, Beloved.”
 
Again their eyes met. And he caught her to him. She felt his body shaking.
 
“Paul,” she whispered.
 
 
“Beloved.”
 
And then he took her to the door and held it open for her. She went out through the courtyard in the twilight36 of the summer evening.
 
And the little faun, holding his pipe to his lips, made no sound, for he knew at that moment no music however tender could bring comfort to her heart.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 pang OKixL     
n.剧痛,悲痛,苦闷
参考例句:
  • She experienced a sharp pang of disappointment.她经历了失望的巨大痛苦。
  • She was beginning to know the pang of disappointed love.她开始尝到了失恋的痛苦。
2 obliterated 5b21c854b61847047948152f774a0c94     
v.除去( obliterate的过去式和过去分词 );涂去;擦掉;彻底破坏或毁灭
参考例句:
  • The building was completely obliterated by the bomb. 炸弹把那座建筑物彻底摧毁了。
  • He began to drink, drank himself to intoxication, till he slept obliterated. 他一直喝,喝到他快要迷糊地睡着了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
3 joyfully joyfully     
adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地
参考例句:
  • She tripped along joyfully as if treading on air. 她高兴地走着,脚底下轻飘飘的。
  • During these first weeks she slaved joyfully. 在最初的几周里,她干得很高兴。
4 crumpled crumpled     
adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式
参考例句:
  • She crumpled the letter up into a ball and threw it on the fire. 她把那封信揉成一团扔进了火里。
  • She flattened out the crumpled letter on the desk. 她在写字台上把皱巴巴的信展平。
5 dealing NvjzWP     
n.经商方法,待人态度
参考例句:
  • This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
  • His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。
6 stunned 735ec6d53723be15b1737edd89183ec2     
adj. 震惊的,惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词
参考例句:
  • The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
  • The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。
7 mere rC1xE     
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过
参考例句:
  • That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
  • It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。
8 jotted 501a1ce22e59ebb1f3016af077784ebd     
v.匆忙记下( jot的过去式和过去分词 );草草记下,匆匆记下
参考例句:
  • I jotted down her name. 我匆忙记下了她的名字。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The policeman jotted down my address. 警察匆匆地将我的地址记下。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
9 implicitly 7146d52069563dd0fc9ea894b05c6fef     
adv. 含蓄地, 暗中地, 毫不保留地
参考例句:
  • Many verbs and many words of other kinds are implicitly causal. 许多动词和许多其他类词都蕴涵着因果关系。
  • I can trust Mr. Somerville implicitly, I suppose? 我想,我可以毫无保留地信任萨莫维尔先生吧?
10 justify j3DxR     
vt.证明…正当(或有理),为…辩护
参考例句:
  • He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
  • Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗?
11 irony P4WyZ     
n.反语,冷嘲;具有讽刺意味的事,嘲弄
参考例句:
  • She said to him with slight irony.她略带嘲讽地对他说。
  • In her voice we could sense a certain tinge of irony.从她的声音里我们可以感到某种讥讽的意味。
12 spasm dFJzH     
n.痉挛,抽搐;一阵发作
参考例句:
  • When the spasm passed,it left him weak and sweating.一阵痉挛之后,他虚弱无力,一直冒汗。
  • He kicked the chair in a spasm of impatience.他突然变得不耐烦,一脚踢向椅子。
13 tightened bd3d8363419d9ff838bae0ba51722ee9     
收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 ); (使)变紧; (使)绷紧; 加紧
参考例句:
  • The rope holding the boat suddenly tightened and broke. 系船的绳子突然绷断了。
  • His index finger tightened on the trigger but then relaxed again. 他的食指扣住扳机,然后又松开了。
14 determined duszmP     
adj.坚定的;有决心的
参考例句:
  • I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
  • He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。
15 clenched clenched     
v.紧握,抓紧,咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He clenched his fists in anger. 他愤怒地攥紧了拳头。
  • She clenched her hands in her lap to hide their trembling. 她攥紧双手放在腿上,以掩饰其颤抖。 来自《简明英汉词典》
16 wont peXzFP     
adj.习惯于;v.习惯;n.习惯
参考例句:
  • He was wont to say that children are lazy.他常常说小孩子们懒惰。
  • It is his wont to get up early.早起是他的习惯。
17 crimson AYwzH     
n./adj.深(绯)红色(的);vi.脸变绯红色
参考例句:
  • She went crimson with embarrassment.她羞得满脸通红。
  • Maple leaves have turned crimson.枫叶已经红了。
18 scent WThzs     
n.气味,香味,香水,线索,嗅觉;v.嗅,发觉
参考例句:
  • The air was filled with the scent of lilac.空气中弥漫着丁香花的芬芳。
  • The flowers give off a heady scent at night.这些花晚上散发出醉人的芳香。
19 hoot HdzzK     
n.鸟叫声,汽车的喇叭声; v.使汽车鸣喇叭
参考例句:
  • The sudden hoot of a whistle broke into my thoughts.突然响起的汽笛声打断了我的思路。
  • In a string of shrill hoot of the horn sound,he quickly ran to her.在一串尖声鸣叫的喇叭声中,他快速地跑向她。
20 pretence pretence     
n.假装,作假;借口,口实;虚伪;虚饰
参考例句:
  • The government abandoned any pretence of reform. 政府不再装模作样地进行改革。
  • He made a pretence of being happy at the party.晚会上他假装很高兴。
21 steadily Qukw6     
adv.稳定地;不变地;持续地
参考例句:
  • The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
  • Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。
22 hatred T5Gyg     
n.憎恶,憎恨,仇恨
参考例句:
  • He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
  • The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。
23 arrant HNJyA     
adj.极端的;最大的
参考例句:
  • He is an arrant fool.他是个大傻瓜。
  • That's arrant nonsense.那完全是一派胡言。
24 courteous tooz2     
adj.彬彬有礼的,客气的
参考例句:
  • Although she often disagreed with me,she was always courteous.尽管她常常和我意见不一,但她总是很谦恭有礼。
  • He was a kind and courteous man.他为人友善,而且彬彬有礼。
25 pauper iLwxF     
n.贫民,被救济者,穷人
参考例句:
  • You lived like a pauper when you had plenty of money.你有大把钱的时候,也活得像个乞丐。
  • If you work conscientiously you'll only die a pauper.你按部就班地干,做到老也是穷死。
26 silhouetted 4f4f3ccd0698303d7829ad553dcf9eef     
显出轮廓的,显示影像的
参考例句:
  • We could see a church silhouetted against the skyline. 我们可以看到一座教堂凸现在天际。
  • The stark jagged rocks were silhouetted against the sky. 光秃嶙峋的岩石衬托着天空的背景矗立在那里。
27 injustice O45yL     
n.非正义,不公正,不公平,侵犯(别人的)权利
参考例句:
  • They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
  • All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。
28 defiance RmSzx     
n.挑战,挑衅,蔑视,违抗
参考例句:
  • He climbed the ladder in defiance of the warning.他无视警告爬上了那架梯子。
  • He slammed the door in a spirit of defiance.他以挑衅性的态度把门砰地一下关上。
29 generosity Jf8zS     
n.大度,慷慨,慷慨的行为
参考例句:
  • We should match their generosity with our own.我们应该像他们一样慷慨大方。
  • We adore them for their generosity.我们钦佩他们的慷慨。
30 sordid PrLy9     
adj.肮脏的,不干净的,卑鄙的,暗淡的
参考例句:
  • He depicts the sordid and vulgar sides of life exclusively.他只描写人生肮脏和庸俗的一面。
  • They lived in a sordid apartment.他们住在肮脏的公寓房子里。
31 folly QgOzL     
n.愚笨,愚蠢,蠢事,蠢行,傻话
参考例句:
  • Learn wisdom by the folly of others.从别人的愚蠢行动中学到智慧。
  • Events proved the folly of such calculations.事情的进展证明了这种估计是愚蠢的。
32 loathed dbdbbc9cf5c853a4f358a2cd10c12ff2     
v.憎恨,厌恶( loathe的过去式和过去分词 );极不喜欢
参考例句:
  • Baker loathed going to this red-haired young pup for supplies. 面包师傅不喜欢去这个红头发的自负的傻小子那里拿原料。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Therefore, above all things else, he loathed his miserable self! 因此,他厌恶不幸的自我尤胜其它! 来自英汉文学 - 红字
33 eternity Aiwz7     
n.不朽,来世;永恒,无穷
参考例句:
  • The dull play seemed to last an eternity.这场乏味的剧似乎演个没完没了。
  • Finally,Ying Tai and Shan Bo could be together for all of eternity.英台和山伯终能双宿双飞,永世相随。
34 vehemence 2ihw1     
n.热切;激烈;愤怒
参考例句:
  • The attack increased in vehemence.进攻越来越猛烈。
  • She was astonished at his vehemence.她对他的激昂感到惊讶。
35 gainsay ozAyL     
v.否认,反驳
参考例句:
  • She is a fine woman-that nobody can gainsay.她是个好女人无人能否认。
  • No one will gainsay his integrity.没有人对他的正直有话可讲。
36 twilight gKizf     
n.暮光,黄昏;暮年,晚期,衰落时期
参考例句:
  • Twilight merged into darkness.夕阳的光辉融于黑暗中。
  • Twilight was sweet with the smell of lilac and freshly turned earth.薄暮充满紫丁香和新翻耕的泥土的香味。


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