The estuary1, in all the colours of unsettled, mild, bright weather, lay at her feet beneath a high arch of changing blue and white. The capricious wind moved in her hair, moved in the rich grasses of the sea-wall, bent2 at a curtseying angle the red-sailed barges3, put caps on the waves in the middle distance, and drew out into long horizontal scarves the smoke of faint steamers in the offing.
Audrey was dressed in black, but her raiment had obviously not been fashioned in the village, nor even at Colchester, nor yet at Ipswich, that great and stylish4 city. She looked older; she certainly had acquired something of an air of knowledge, assurance, domination, sauciness5 and challenge, which qualities were all partly illustrated6 in her large, audacious hat. The spirit which the late Mr. Moze had so successfully suppressed was at length coming to the surface for all beholders to see, and the process of evolution begun at the moment when Audrey had bounced up and prevented an authoritative7 solicitor8 from leaving the study was already advanced. Nevertheless, at frequent intervals9 Audrey’s eyes changed, and she seemed for an instant to be a very naive10, very ingenuous11 and wistful little thing—and this though she had reached the age of twenty. Perhaps she was feeling sorry for the girl she used to be.
And no doubt she was also thinking of her mother, who had died within eight hours of their nocturnal interview. The death of Mrs. Moze surprised everyone, except possibly Mrs. Moze. As an unsuspected result of the operation upon her, an embolism had been wandering in her veins12; it reached the brain, and she expired, to the great loss of the National Reformation Society. Such was the brief and simple history. When Audrey stood by the body, she had felt that if it could have saved her mother she would have enriched the National Reformation Society with all she possessed13.
Gradually the sense of freedom had grown paramount14 in her, and she had undertaken the enterprise of completely subduing15 Mr. Foulger to her own ends.
The back hall was carpetless and pictureless, and the furniture in it was draped in grey-white. Every room in the abode16 was in the same state, and, since all the windows were shuttered, every room lay moribund17 in a ghostly twilight18. Only the clocks remained alive, probably thinking themselves immortal19. The breakfast things were washed up and stored away. The last two servants had already gone. Behind Audrey, forming a hilly background, were trunks and boxes, a large bunch of flowers encased in paper, and a case of umbrellas and parasols; the whole strikingly new, and every single item except the flowers labelled “Paris via Charing20 Cross and Calais.”
Audrey opened her black Russian satchel21, and the purse within it. Therein were a little compartment22 full of English gold, another full of French gold, another full of multicoloured French bank-notes; and loose in the satchel was a blue book of credit-notes, each for five hundred francs, or twenty pounds—a thick book! And she would not have minded much if she had lost the whole satchel —it would be so easy to replace the satchel with all its contents.
Then a small brougham came very deliberately23 up the drive. It was the vehicle in which Miss Ingate went her ways; in accordance with Miss Ingate’s immemorial command, it travelled at a walking pace up all the hills to save the horse, and at a walking pace down all hills lest the horse should stumble and Miss Ingate be destroyed. It was now followed by a luggage-cart on which was a large trunk.
At the same moment Aguilar, the gardener, appeared from somewhere—he who had been robbed of a legacy24 of ten pounds, but who by his ruthless and incontestable integrity had secured the job of caretaker of Flank Hall.
The drivers touched their hats to Audrey and jumped down, and Miss Ingate, with a blue veil tied like a handkerchief round her bonnet25 and chin—sign that she was a traveller—emerged from the brougham, sardonically26 smiling at her own and everybody’s expense, and too excited to be able to give greetings. The three men started to move the trunks, and the two women whispered together in the back-hall.
“Audrey,” demanded Miss Ingate, with a start, “what are those rings on your finger?”
Audrey replied:
“One’s a wedding ring and the other’s a mourning ring. I bought them yesterday at Colchester.... Hsh!” She stilled further exclamations27 from Miss Ingate until the men were out of the hall.
“Look here! Quick!” she whispered, hastily unlocking a large hat-case that was left. And Miss Ingate looked and saw a block toque, entirely28 unsuitable for a young girl, and a widow’s veil.
“I look bewitching in them,” said Audrey, relocking the case.
“But, my child, what does it mean?”
“It means that I’m not silly enough to go to Paris as a girl. I’ve had more than enough of being a girl. I’m determined29 to arrive in Paris as a young widow. It will be much better in every way, and far easier for you. In fact, you’ll have no chaperoning to do at all. I shall be the chaperon. Now don’t say you won’t go, because you will.”
“You ought to have told me before.”
“No, I oughtn’t. Nothing could have been more foolish.”
“But who are you the widow of?”
“Hurrah!” cried Audrey. “You are a sport, Winnie! I’ll tell you all the interesting details in the train.”
In another minute Aguilar, gloomy and unbending, had received the keys of Flank Hall, and the procession crunched30 down the drive on its way to the station.
《Anna of the Five Towns》
《Anna of the Five Towns》
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1
estuary
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| n.河口，江口 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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barges
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| 驳船( barge的名词复数 ) | |
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stylish
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| adj.流行的，时髦的；漂亮的，气派的 | |
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sauciness
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| n.傲慢，鲁莽 | |
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illustrated
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| adj. 有插图的，列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词 | |
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7
authoritative
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| adj.有权威的，可相信的；命令式的；官方的 | |
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8
solicitor
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| n.初级律师，事务律师 | |
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9
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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10
naive
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| adj.幼稚的，轻信的；天真的 | |
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11
ingenuous
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| adj.纯朴的，单纯的；天真的；坦率的 | |
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12
veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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13
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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paramount
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| a.最重要的，最高权力的 | |
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15
subduing
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| 征服( subdue的现在分词 )； 克制； 制服； 色变暗 | |
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16
abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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moribund
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| adj.即将结束的，垂死的 | |
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twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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immortal
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| adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的 | |
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charing
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| n.炭化v.把…烧成炭，把…烧焦( char的现在分词 )；烧成炭，烧焦；做杂役女佣 | |
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21
satchel
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| n.(皮或帆布的)书包 | |
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22
compartment
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| n.卧车包房，隔间；分隔的空间 | |
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deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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legacy
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| n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西 | |
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bonnet
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| n.无边女帽；童帽 | |
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sardonically
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| adv.讽刺地，冷嘲地 | |
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27
exclamations
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| n.呼喊( exclamation的名词复数 )；感叹；感叹语；感叹词 | |
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28
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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29
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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30
crunched
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| v.嘎吱嘎吱地咬嚼( crunch的过去式和过去分词 )；嘎吱作响；（快速大量地）处理信息；数字捣弄 | |
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