It was a large room lit by two windows, one facing the south, the other to the west over-looking the wooded banks of the winding2 Nith. The flush of the sunset was tingeing3 the sky and flooding the room with a subdued4 light which mellowed5 and softened6 the deep black of the Indian furniture against the pale-gray walls and the deeper-gray carpet. A large fire, crowned with a halo of short blue flame, glowed in the grate, and a 'megilpy' odour, mingling7 with the faint, indescribable perfume which ladies carry with them, lingered around, and reminded me of a reception afternoon in a Queen Street studio of long ago.
I was conscious of these details in my surroundings, although my eyes had never wandered for a moment from the sweet face of my dream-lady, and followed her greedily as she walked forward to the firelight.
I explained to her that my partner, Mr Monteith, was engaged with Mrs Stuart on business, and that I had taken the opportunity of having a word with her on a similar subject.
She smiled, wearily I thought, and seated herself. 'I don't like business talks, Mr Russell,' she said. 'Neither did father. It must be a family trait. Still, I dare say they are incumbent8 on us sometimes. I trust it is pleasant business you wish to talk over.'
'Oh yes, it is pleasant enough,' I said, and her face brightened. 'Sitting here,' I continued, after a pause, 'and seeing you in such a perfect setting, I am strongly tempted9 to talk to you on a subject nearer my heart; but—well, I have already promised you to put my feelings into the background for the time being, and, hard though it may be, I will be true to my word. You remember I talked to you about your interest in the Banku Oil Company? Well, the last dividend10 was paid to us, one hundred pounds of which has been lodged11 in the local bank, and I have here a cheque-book which you can use from time to time as you may require.'
'You are very thoughtful for me, Mr Russell,' she said softly, 'and I thank you very, very much. One hundred pounds is surely a lot of money. I could do with less, you know, if'——
'Not at all, Miss Stuart. The money is yours; use it as you like, and just let me know when you need more. You—you don't mind asking me?'
'No,' she said promptly12, and as she trustfully looked me in the eyes her mouth retained the form of that little word long after it had passed her lips. She was sitting in profile against the firelit background, leaning slightly forward in her chair, her elbow on her knee and her chin resting lightly on the tips of her fingers. Her pose was so easy and graceful13, and her dear face, in its beauty of feature and earnestness of expression, so bewitching, that I could not conceal14 my longing15 and admiration16. I would have given the world to be allowed to kneel down beside her, and there, in the mystic glamour17 of the firelight, worship silently and reverently18 at her shrine19. My steady gaze disconcerted her, and I cursed my temerity20 when I saw a blush spreading over her half-averted face.
'Socrates has many disciples21 still, Mr Russell,' she said, without any sign of displeasure in her tone; and her eyes again sought mine.
'Yes. How so, Miss Stuart?'
'He sought the truth in doing good; so do you. Since father's death, and until—well, very lately, I haven't known what it is to have a joyous22 mind. I seem to have been walking among shadows, and a dread23 has always been knocking at my heart. You, by your kindly24 attention and your sympathy, have lightened my burden and brought a ray of hope to me; and, do you know, Mrs Jardine's little children every evening of their sweet young lives ask God to bless you for being kind to their dear daddy.'
Our line of business conversation had got a twist somehow, and I didn't very well know what to say in reply, or how best, without breaking away at a tangent, I could get back to the subject I had in my mind. 'I am sorry to hear you have had your troubles, Miss Stuart,' I said after reflection; 'but I am glad to know that even to a small degree I have made your burdens lighter25. I have promised to be your friend; you'll not find me wanting, I assure you. Doubtless your affairs have worried you, but daylight is showing through now, and in a few weeks I trust everything will be settled to your satisfaction. Do you know, we have with us to-day some one who knew your father, and who was present at his marriage ceremony.'
'Some one who knew my father, and who was present at his marriage ceremony!' she repeated slowly, as if she couldn't at once realise what it meant.
'Yes!' and, as I noted26 the colour gradually leaving her cheek, it came to me in a flash that I had erred27 in mentioning the fact in conjunction with a satisfactory settlement of her affairs. Even to an obtuse28 mind the inference was obvious, and I felt I had blundered grievously. Her agitation29 was unmistakable, and to relieve the situation I was about to make a remark, when she interrupted me.
'One moment, please;' and she turned her face away from me. 'This man, you say, was present when my father and mother were married, and you mention it as if it had a special significance. Does this affect me—I mean, would it make any difference to my name or prospects—my name particularly?'
'Oh yes, it would, Miss Stuart,' I said feelingly.
'Can you rely on what this man says?'
'Most emphatically, and we shall at once take steps to prove it.'
'When did you hear about this?'
'Quite lately.'
'I didn't know about it then. It was only the day before yesterday it came to my knowledge.'
There was silence between us for a time, and the ormolu clock on the marble mantelpiece ticked loudly.
Then she rose to her feet and looked toward me, smiling through tear-dimmed eyes. 'You have made me very happy, Mr Russell. I don't want to know anything further. I leave myself confidently in your hands. You'll find cigarettes on the table behind you; you may smoke here;' and she crossed the room and sat down at the piano. She struck a few chords, deep as her own feelings; then she rose and came toward me. 'Mr Russell, do you know I have never known the joy of a mother's caress31 or the blessing32 of a mother's good-night kiss. Such memories of childhood are not mine, and my past is empty—empty. My father, for reasons of which I know nothing, never mentioned my mother's name to me. I was brought up among strangers, kindly enough, but still strangers. I never came in contact with other children. In a way, I was isolated33 from everything heartfelt and human; it is only since I got to know your neighbours that I have had a glimpse of what is surely the truest, sweetest, and happiest side of life. I like your nurse, your Betty. She once put her hand on my arm, and it had such a motherly touch that I wanted to kiss her. Perhaps you are thinking that this has no connection with anything that has passed between us. Well, you may be right in thinking so; but it is on my mind and in my heart, and I just wanted to tell you now, as I feel my future is hanging by a thread—a very slender thread—and I may not have another opportunity of saying it.'
I understood her mood, and made no reply; but I took her hand, raised it to my lips, and kissed it.
We were standing34 together in the oriel, watching the sunset splendour through the leafless trees, when Mrs Stuart and Murray Monteith joined us. Once or twice I caught my partner admiringly following Miss Stuart's movements, and he looked several times at me with a mark of interrogation in his eye. I had a feeling that he 'jaloused,' as Betty would put it, and it set me a-thinking; only for a moment, however, and I soon dismissed him and his monocle from my mind.
We had afternoon tea and a pleasant chat on current topics, and then our carriage was called. Just before we started, when we were standing in the hall, Miss Stuart asked me, in an undertone, if she could see, just for a minute, the man who had known her father. I called Joe inside, and Miss Stuart took him into the drawing-room. When he joined us again there was a glad look in his eye, and I knew his heart was proud within him, for he had shaken hands with his old Major's daughter.
I sat quiet and preoccupied35 in the corner of the brougham when driving home.
Just as the first twinkling light shone out ahead from the Gillfoot turn, Monteith turned to me. 'Russell,' he said, 'pardon my interrupting the flow of your pleasant meditations36. You're a queer fellow in many ways; you—you don't say much till it suits you; but I can see as far through a brick wall as any one, and it may be—I say it may be—agreeable to you to know that Blackford Hall in Morningside will shortly be in the market. I've heard you say that if you ever settled down to married life you would like to live there.'
'Thank you, Monteith, for your information,' I said. 'It is agreeable to me to know this.'
Nothing further was said on the subject till we were seated at my cosy37 fireside. Then Murray Monteith, blowing clouds of fragrant38 smoke above him, and glancing round my clean, well-furnished walls, said, 'By Jove, Russell! you're a lucky fellow; an old doting39 nurse there,' inclining his head toward the kitchen, 'who loves you almost with a mother's affection, and who wouldn't allow the wind to blow on you if she could prevent it, and the love of a girl like—like'——and he hesitated and looked at me.
'Go on, Monteith; you're doing all right.'
'Go on! Hang it, man, you go on! Can't you speak, you—you dungeon40, and give me a tag on which to hang my congratulations?'
'You don't require a tag, Monteith. A gag would be more suitable in the circumstances.'
'Now, look here, Russell,' he said, as he flung his cigar-stump into the fire and fixed41 me through his monocle, 'you're not honest with me when you say that, and you know you are not. You and I are not strangers to each other, and there's no occasion for secrecy42. If you have no matrimonial news, I have. I thought, perhaps, if you had taken me into your confidence, it would have been a good opportunity for me to acquaint you, in a gradual, chatty way, with my plans. As you haven't—well, all I shall say now is that I am engaged.'
'My dear Monteith, I'm delighted to hear you say so, and I heartily43 congratulate you. You're the very best fellow I know, and you're marrying a lady in every way worthy44 of you. Miss Playfair is a'——
'Miss Playfair!' he exclaimed, in astonishment45. 'How do you know?'
'Oh, well, the last time I visited you, before leaving Edinburgh, I, like you, was confronted with a brick wall, and I saw a little way through it. But that's neither here nor there. What we have to do now is to signalise the event;' and for the second time within two days I tasted a liquid element at an unusual hour.
'And when does the great event come off, Monteith?' I asked.
'Well, Russell,' he said, 'that is a matter which in a way depends on you. You see, I shall need to wait till you are quite recovered and back to business again. A honeymoon46 would naturally follow the ceremony,' he laughingly said, 'and it wouldn't do for both the principals of Monteith & Russell to be away at the same time.'
Dr Grierson and Mr Crichton joined us later at supper. Monteith is a keen devotee of the chess-board; and while he was trying conclusions with the banker, Dr Grierson and I went upstairs into my own little room. I told him all that had taken place—of my meetings with Miss Stuart, and the turn in the tide of her affairs—and he congratulated me and gave me much encouragement. Then I asked him when he thought I should be sufficiently47 well to resume business.
'Well, William,' he said, 'you have to see Dr Balfour and get his permission before you can go back to town. Personally, I cannot give you even an approximate date. You are making splendid progress, and unless there are very urgent reasons for your return, I should advise you to keep free from worry on that score. Leave yourself in my hands, and before long, with Dr Balfour's concurrence48, I shall be able to say when you may with safety receive marching orders.'
Murray Monteith had to leave me without being able to arrange a particular date for his marriage. I am very sorry; but, after all, his great day may dawn sooner than he expects.
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1
briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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2
winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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tingeing
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| vt.着色，使…带上色彩（tinge的现在分词形式） | |
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subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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mellowed
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| （使）成熟( mellow的过去式和过去分词 )； 使色彩更加柔和，使酒更加醇香 | |
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6
softened
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| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
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7
mingling
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| adj.混合的 | |
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incumbent
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| adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的 | |
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tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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dividend
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| n.红利，股息；回报，效益 | |
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lodged
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| v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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15
longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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glamour
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| n.魔力，魅力；vt.迷住 | |
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reverently
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| adv.虔诚地 | |
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shrine
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| n.圣地，神龛，庙；v.将...置于神龛内，把...奉为神圣 | |
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temerity
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| n.鲁莽，冒失 | |
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disciples
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| n.信徒( disciple的名词复数 )；门徒；耶稣的信徒；（尤指）耶稣十二门徒之一 | |
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joyous
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| adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的 | |
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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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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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lighter
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| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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27
erred
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| 犯错误，做错事( err的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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obtuse
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| adj.钝的；愚钝的 | |
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agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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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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caress
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| vt./n.爱抚，抚摸 | |
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blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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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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preoccupied
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| adj.全神贯注的，入神的；被抢先占有的；心事重重的v.占据（某人）思想，使对…全神贯注，使专心于( preoccupy的过去式) | |
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meditations
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| 默想( meditation的名词复数 )； 默念； 沉思； 冥想 | |
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cosy
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| adj.温暖而舒适的，安逸的 | |
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fragrant
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| adj.芬香的，馥郁的，愉快的 | |
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doting
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| adj.溺爱的，宠爱的 | |
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dungeon
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| n.地牢，土牢 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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secrecy
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| n.秘密，保密，隐蔽 | |
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43
heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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44
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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45
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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46
honeymoon
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| n.蜜月（假期）；vi.度蜜月 | |
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47
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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48
concurrence
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| n.同意；并发 | |
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