So Dom Silvius came to the beech6 wood above Goldspur, and followed the main ride, talking to himself like a happy starling, for he rode alone that morning. And he would lean forward and fondle his nag’s ears, for the beast was provided by one of the tenants, and Dom Silvius loved the horse because he had not to feed him.
“A little more roundly, my good Dobbin,” he prattled7. “But beware of worldliness, for the sake of my dignity; we must not bump like a butcher to market. What will Sancta Denise say to us this morning? The child should not set herself alone here like a white dove for any hawk9 to swoop10 at. Mea culpa, but the girl has hair like dead beech leaves touched by the sun, saving, Dobbin, that the leaves have no glitter of gold. And what eyes! God bless us, but we may hope for miracles. And if the folk flock to be healed, they shall lodge11 in the Abbey, and surely their gratitude12 will make us rich.”
The almoner sobered himself however when he turned aside by the white stone that marked the path leading to the hermitage. The woodlands might have eyes and ears, and it would not be seemly for a man of Silvius’s age and estate to be overheard babbling13 like a lover who must talk even though it be only to his horse. So he rode very demurely14 into Denise’s glade15, with his chin on his chest, and his lips moving as though he said a prayer for every furlong.
The door of Denise’s cell was shut, nor could Dom Silvius see her stirring in her garden. “Perhaps she is abroad,” thought he, “or maybe she is at her prayers,” so he rode up quietly, dismounted, and looped his bridle16 over the post of the wicket gate. Then he went in and up the path, and was about to knock softly, when the door opened under his very hand, and Silvius saw a figure in grey standing17 upon the threshold.
Dom Silvius dropped his eyes suddenly as though he blamed himself for being surprised into staring at a woman’s face.
“The grace of Our Lady to you, Sister,” he said. “I was in doubt whether I should find you at home or no.”
Now Silvius was not a shred18 embarrassed, though he pretended to a kind of saintly coyness. He had his eyes on the sandalled feet that showed under the hem19 of the grey gown. They were very comely20 feet, with the brown straps21 of the sandals contrasting with the nut brown of the skin, and Dom Silvius was thinking how different these feet were with their arched insteps and straight toes from the gouty and behumped members that shuffled22 and progressed in the Abbey cloisters23. Yet in looking at Denise’s feet the almoner missed the first shadows of a tragedy.
Denise stood very still, her hood24 drawn25 forward, one hand holding the edge of the door. The face under the hood expressed nothing, if despair be nothing more than a pale, mute mask. Yet the eyes that looked at the monk26 were the eyes of one whose blood was full of a spiritual fever.
“It is Dom Silvius?” she asked at last, and her voice sounded steady and even tame.
Silvius folded his hands together, and raised his eyes to the level of Denise’s knees.
“You may remember, my Sister, how I said that I might ride this way again.”
She was silent, as though absorbed by some memory that pervaded27 all her consciousness. Silvius’s eyes climbed a little higher and rested upon her bosom28.
“We did not agree then, Sancta Denise. It may be that you still love the life in the wilderness29. The winter is past with us, for which God be thanked; you will have summer here, and the woods are pleasant in summer. Perhaps you have your birds to feed. The fruit promises well. I am never one for importunities.”
He spoke30 like a man who had rushed too quickly towards the point aimed at, and who covered up his retreat with irrelevancies. For Dom Silvius felt that his wisdom had slipped for the once, and that he should have begun with a digression. Women like love tokens hidden in a posy of flowers, and passion pledged in a song. But Denise’s directness saved Silvius from tracking her whims31 through a maze32.
“Your words have been with me,” she said.
Her voice surprised him, so much so that he looked up sharply into her face. The hood was drawn, but an immovable mute pallor, a kind of deadness, struck on Silvius’s eyes like the whiteness of a whitened wall.
“I am not unthankful for that, Sister.”
“And you are of the same mind?”
“What God and the Church offer is ever an offer,” he said, dropping his eyes again, and finding his intuition in touch with something that was invisible, and yet to be felt.
He heard Denise draw her breath in deeply.
“Sometimes we seem wise, sometimes foolish,” she said. “Life teaches the heart many things. You offer me some such place as this to lodge in? And that I shall be alone?”
“It is a sweet place,” said he. “With a garden, and fruit trees, and a croft below it. The garden has a good quick hedge all about it. As to the flesh, your soul shall be as Solomon’s lily, Sanctissima. We have no ritual for those whose eyes see into Paradise.”
So as the great purple cloud shadows drifted over the young green of the beech wood, and the sun shone forth35 with moments of gold, Dom Silvius warmed with his own words, and in his kindling36 never so much as saw that Denise listened like one who struggled against some inward anguish37. What light and shade were there over her own soul as Silvius put his visions into his voice? The monk thought her calm and sensible, a little cold perhaps, but then the snow of her chastity would make her that. Silvius was no coarse colourist, no noisy twanger of strings38. There should be mysticism, aloofness39, a play of pearly light about such a part. His exultation40 burnt delicate flattery. For Silvius knew that many sacred souls loved their sanctity as a gay quean loves her clothes. How many Magdalenes were there who dreamt of being seen while they washed the feet of God and the Saints! And Silvius wished to lead this child of the Miraculous41 Heart so that she should walk in a path of his own conceiving, a sweet saint who should draw the country, aye far countrysides, as the moon draws the sea. The coming of Denise to the bounds of Battle should be as the coming of the Bride to the Church of God. It should be a pageant42, and a poem. For in those days pageantry preached to the people, and through the eyes the heart was persuaded.
Denise heard him, like one very weary, one who listens because there is no escape. And in good season Silvius had the wit to see that he had pressed wine enough for the day. Denise had given him her promise, and he took his leave of her with sweetness, and all reverence43, putting himself beneath her, and speaking of her wishes as commands.
“Would their most blessed Sister take up her new cell soon?”
Denise leant her weight against the door, feeling that if she were not rid of Silvius she would drop at his feet and weep.
“Before the moon is full,” she answered.
And the monk mounted his horse, and rode away like one who has received a pallium, dreaming miraculous dreams, and beholding44 innumerable pilgrims, peasant and prince, knight45 and lady, riding and journeying towards Senlac over hill and dale.
As for Denise she stood at the door of her cell long after Silvius had left her, as though she lacked even the power to move. What help was there, what other means should she devise? This cell of stone had become a den8 of evil dreams for her; the tenderness and mystery had fled. She had no heart to live there any longer, no heart to meet those who had knelt to her before this thing had happened.
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1
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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2
orchard
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| n.果园，果园里的全部果树，(美俚)棒球场 | |
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3
foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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4
tenants
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| n.房客( tenant的名词复数 )；佃户；占用者；占有者 | |
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5
miser
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| n.守财奴，吝啬鬼 (adj.miserly) | |
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6
beech
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| n.山毛榉；adj.山毛榉的 | |
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7
prattled
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| v.（小孩般）天真无邪地说话( prattle的过去式和过去分词 )；发出连续而无意义的声音；闲扯；东拉西扯 | |
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8
den
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| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
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9
hawk
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| n.鹰，骗子；鹰派成员 | |
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swoop
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| n.俯冲，攫取；v.抓取，突然袭击 | |
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11
lodge
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| v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆 | |
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12
gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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13
babbling
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| n.胡说，婴儿发出的咿哑声adj.胡说的v.喋喋不休( babble的现在分词 )；作潺潺声（如流水）；含糊不清地说话；泄漏秘密 | |
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14
demurely
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| adv.装成端庄地，认真地 | |
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15
glade
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| n.林间空地，一片表面有草的沼泽低地 | |
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16
bridle
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| n.笼头，束缚；vt.抑制，约束；动怒 | |
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17
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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18
shred
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| v.撕成碎片，变成碎片；n.碎布条，细片，些少 | |
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19
hem
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| n.贴边，镶边；vt.缝贴边；(in)包围，限制 | |
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20
comely
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| adj.漂亮的，合宜的 | |
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21
straps
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| n.带子( strap的名词复数 )；挎带；肩带；背带v.用皮带捆扎( strap的第三人称单数 )；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带 | |
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22
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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23
cloisters
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| n.（学院、修道院、教堂等建筑的）走廊( cloister的名词复数 )；回廊；修道院的生活；隐居v.隐退，使与世隔绝( cloister的第三人称单数 ) | |
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24
hood
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| n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖 | |
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25
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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26
monk
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| n.和尚，僧侣，修道士 | |
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27
pervaded
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| v.遍及，弥漫( pervade的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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28
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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29
wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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30
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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31
WHIMS
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| 虚妄，禅病 | |
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32
maze
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| n.迷宫，八阵图，混乱，迷惑 | |
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33
conjectures
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| 推测，猜想( conjecture的名词复数 ) | |
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34
coveted
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| adj.令人垂涎的；垂涎的，梦寐以求的v.贪求，觊觎(covet的过去分词)；垂涎；贪图 | |
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35
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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36
kindling
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| n. 点火, 可燃物 动词kindle的现在分词形式 | |
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37
anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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38
strings
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| n.弦 | |
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39
aloofness
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| 超然态度 | |
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40
exultation
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| n.狂喜，得意 | |
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41
miraculous
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| adj.像奇迹一样的，不可思议的 | |
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42
pageant
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| n.壮观的游行；露天历史剧 | |
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43
reverence
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| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
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44
beholding
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| v.看，注视( behold的现在分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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45
knight
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| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
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