A strange maiden10, decidedly! Even at this age, when she was, as one might suppose, a mere12 slip of a girl, she was deeply conscious of herself, her sex, her significance, her possible social import. Armed with a fair skin, a few freckles13, an almost too high color at times, strange, deep, night-blue, cat-like eyes, a long nose, a rather pleasant mouth, perfect teeth, and a really good chin, she moved always with a feline14 grace that was careless, superior, sinuous15, and yet the acme16 of harmony and a rhythmic17 flow of lines. One of her mess-hall tricks, when unobserved by her instructors18, was to walk with six plates and a water-pitcher all gracefully19 poised21 on the top of her head after the fashion of the Asiatic and the African, her hips22 moving, her shoulders, neck, and head still. Girls begged weeks on end to have her repeat this “stunt,” as they called it. Another was to put her arms behind her and with a rush imitate the Winged Victory, a copy of which graced the library hall.
“You know,” one little rosy-cheeked satellite used to urge on her, adoringly, “she must have been like you. Her head must have been like yours. You are lovely when you do it.”
For answer Berenice’s deep, almost black-blue eyes turned on her admirer with solemn unflattered consideration. She awed23 always by the something that she did not say.
The school, for all the noble dames24 who presided over it—solemn, inexperienced owl-like conventionalists who insisted on the last tittle and jot25 of order and procedure—was a joke to Berenice. She recognized the value of its social import, but even at fifteen and sixteen she was superior to it. She was superior to her superiors and to the specimens26 of maidenhood—supposed to be perfect socially—who gathered about to hear her talk, to hear her sing, declaim, or imitate. She was deeply, dramatically, urgently conscious of the value of her personality in itself, not as connected with any inherited social standing27, but of its innate28 worth, and of the artistry and wonder of her body. One of her chief delights was to walk alone in her room—sometimes at night, the lamp out, the moon perhaps faintly illuminating29 her chamber—and to pose and survey her body, and dance in some naive30, graceful20, airy Greek way a dance that was singularly free from sex consciousness—and yet was it? She was conscious of her body—of every inch of it—under the ivory-white clothes which she frequently wore. Once she wrote in a secret diary which she maintained—another art impulse or an affectation, as you will: “My skin is so wonderful. It tingles31 so with rich life. I love it and my strong muscles underneath32. I love my hands and my hair and my eyes. My hands are long and thin and delicate; my eyes are a dark, deep blue; my hair is a brown, rusty33 red, thick and sleepy. My long, firm, untired limbs can dance all night. Oh, I love life! I love life!”
You would not have called Berenice Fleming sensuous—though she was—because she was self-controlled. Her eyes lied to you. They lied to all the world. They looked you through and through with a calm savoir faire, a mocking defiance34, which said with a faint curl of the lips, barely suggested to help them out, “You cannot read me, you cannot read me.” She put her head to one side, smiled, lied (by implication), assumed that there was nothing. And there was nothing, as yet. Yet there was something, too—her inmost convictions, and these she took good care to conceal35. The world—how little it should ever, ever know! How little it ever could know truly!
The first time Cowperwood encountered this Circe daughter of so unfortunate a mother was on the occasion of a trip to New York, the second spring following his introduction to Mrs. Carter in Louisville. Berenice was taking some part in the closing exercises of the Brewster School, and Mrs. Carter, with Cowperwood for an escort, decided11 to go East. Cowperwood having located himself at the Netherlands, and Mrs. Carter at the much humbler Grenoble, they journeyed together to visit this paragon36 whose picture he had had hanging in his rooms in Chicago for months past. When they were introduced into the somewhat somber37 reception parlor38 of the Brewster School, Berenice came slipping in after a few moments, a noiseless figure of a girl, tall and slim, and deliciously sinuous. Cowperwood saw at first glance that she fulfilled all the promise of her picture, and was delighted. She had, he thought, a strange, shrewd, intelligent smile, which, however, was girlish and friendly. Without so much as a glance in his direction she came forward, extending her arms and hands in an inimitable histrionic manner, and exclaimed, with a practised and yet natural inflection: “Mother, dear! So here you are really! You know, I’ve been thinking of you all morning. I wasn’t sure whether you would come to-day, you change about so. I think I even dreamed of you last night.”
Her skirts, still worn just below the shoe-tops, had the richness of scraping silk then fashionable. She was also guilty of using a faint perfume of some kind.
Cowperwood could see that Mrs. Carter, despite a certain nervousness due to the girl’s superior individuality and his presence, was very proud of her. Berenice, he also saw quickly, was measuring him out of the tail of her eye—a single sweeping39 glance which she vouchsafed40 from beneath her long lashes41 sufficing; but she gathered quite accurately42 the totality of Cowperwood’s age, force, grace, wealth, and worldly ability. Without hesitation43 she classed him as a man of power in some field, possibly finance, one of the numerous able men whom her mother seemed to know. She always wondered about her mother. His large gray eyes, that searched her with lightning accuracy, appealed to her as pleasant, able eyes. She knew on the instant, young as she was, that he liked women, and that probably he would think her charming; but as for giving him additional attention it was outside her code. She preferred to be interested in her dear mother exclusively.
“Berenice,” observed Mrs. Carter, airily, “let me introduce Mr. Cowperwood.”
Berenice turned, and for the fraction of a second leveled a frank and yet condescending44 glance from wells of what Cowperwood considered to be indigo45 blue.
“Your mother has spoken of you from time to time,” he said, pleasantly.
She withdrew a cool, thin hand as limp and soft as wax, and turned to her mother again without comment, and yet without the least embarrassment46. Cowperwood seemed in no way important to her.
“What would you say, dear,” pursued Mrs. Carter, after a brief exchange of commonplaces, “if I were to spend next winter in New York?”
“It would be charming if I could live at home. I’m sick of this silly boarding-school.”
“Why, Berenice! I thought you liked it.”
“I hate it, but only because it’s so dull. The girls here are so silly.”
Mrs. Carter lifted her eyebrows47 as much as to say to her escort, “Now what do you think?” Cowperwood stood solemnly by. It was not for him to make a suggestion at present. He could see that for some reason—probably because of her disordered life—Mrs. Carter was playing a game of manners with her daughter; she maintained always a lofty, romantic air. With Berenice it was natural—the expression of a vain, self-conscious, superior disposition48.
“A rather charming garden here,” he observed, lifting a curtain and looking out into a blooming plot.
“Yes, the flowers are nice,” commented Berenice.
“Wait; I’ll get some for you. It’s against the rules, but they can’t do more than send me away, and that’s what I want.”
“Berenice! Come back here!”
It was Mrs. Carter calling.
The daughter was gone in a fling of graceful lines and flounces. “Now what do you make of her?” asked Mrs. Carter, turning to her friend.
“Youth, individuality, energy—a hundred things. I see nothing wrong with her.”
“If I could only see to it that she had her opportunities unspoiled.”
Already Berenice was returning, a subject for an artist in almost studied lines. Her arms were full of sweet-peas and roses which she had ruthlessly gathered.
“You wilful49 girl!” scolded her mother, indulgently. “I shall have to go and explain to your superiors. Whatever shall I do with her, Mr. Cowperwood?”
“Load her with daisy chains and transport her to Cytherea,” commented Cowperwood, who had once visited this romantic isle50, and therefore knew its significance.
Berenice paused. “What a pretty speech that is!” she exclaimed. “I have a notion to give you a special flower for that. I will, too.” She presented him with a rose.
For a girl who had slipped in shy and still, Cowperwood commented, her mood had certainly changed. Still, this was the privilege of the born actress, to change. And as he viewed Berenice Fleming now he felt her to be such—a born actress, lissome51, subtle, wise, indifferent, superior, taking the world as she found it and expecting it to obey—to sit up like a pet dog and be told to beg. What a charming character! What a pity it should not be allowed to bloom undisturbed in its make-believe garden! What a pity, indeed!
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1
inmate
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| n.被收容者；(房屋等的)居住人；住院人 | |
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tinge
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| vt.(较淡)着色于，染色；使带有…气息；n.淡淡色彩，些微的气息 | |
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allied
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| adj.协约国的；同盟国的 | |
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inexplicable
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| adj.无法解释的，难理解的 | |
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feverish
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| adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的 | |
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lesser
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| adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地 | |
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personalities
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| n. 诽谤，（对某人容貌、性格等所进行的）人身攻击； 人身攻击；人格, 个性, 名人( personality的名词复数 ) | |
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8
outlet
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| n.出口/路；销路；批发商店；通风口；发泄 | |
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9
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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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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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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12
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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13
freckles
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| n.雀斑，斑点( freckle的名词复数 ) | |
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feline
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| adj.猫科的 | |
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sinuous
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| adj.蜿蜒的，迂回的 | |
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acme
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| n.顶点，极点 | |
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rhythmic
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| adj.有节奏的，有韵律的 | |
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instructors
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| 指导者，教师( instructor的名词复数 ) | |
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gracefully
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| ad.大大方方地；优美地 | |
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graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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poised
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| a.摆好姿势不动的 | |
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hips
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| abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯，耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 )；[建筑学]屋脊；臀围（尺寸）；臀部…的 | |
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23
awed
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| adj.充满敬畏的，表示敬畏的v.使敬畏，使惊惧( awe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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24
dames
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| n.（在英国）夫人（一种封号），夫人（爵士妻子的称号）( dame的名词复数 )；女人 | |
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25
jot
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| n.少量；vi.草草记下；vt.匆匆写下 | |
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26
specimens
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| n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人 | |
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27
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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innate
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| adj.天生的，固有的，天赋的 | |
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illuminating
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| a.富于启发性的，有助阐明的 | |
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30
naive
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| adj.幼稚的，轻信的；天真的 | |
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31
tingles
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| n.刺痛感( tingle的名词复数 )v.有刺痛感( tingle的第三人称单数 ) | |
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32
underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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rusty
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| adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的 | |
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defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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paragon
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| n.模范，典型 | |
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somber
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| adj.昏暗的，阴天的，阴森的，忧郁的 | |
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parlor
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| n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅 | |
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39
sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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40
vouchsafed
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| v.给予，赐予( vouchsafe的过去式和过去分词 )；允诺 | |
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41
lashes
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| n.鞭挞( lash的名词复数 )；鞭子；突然猛烈的一击；急速挥动v.鞭打( lash的第三人称单数 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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42
accurately
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| adv.准确地，精确地 | |
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43
hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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44
condescending
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| adj.谦逊的,故意屈尊的 | |
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45
indigo
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| n.靛青，靛蓝 | |
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46
embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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47
eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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48
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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49
wilful
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| adj.任性的，故意的 | |
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50
isle
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| n.小岛，岛 | |
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51
lissome
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| adj.柔软的；敏捷的 | |
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