V
They walked down Regent Street almost in silence, enjoying simultaneously1 the silence and solitude2 of the curving thoroughfare and the memory of the bright, crowded, triumphant3 scene which they had left. At Piccadilly Circus George inquired for the new open motor-buses which had just begun to run between the Circus and Putney, passing the Redcliffe Arms. Already, within a year, the time was historically distant when a policeman had refused to allow the automobile4 of a Member of Parliament to enter Palace Yard, on the ground that there was no precedent5 for such a desecration6. The new motor-buses, however, did not run at night. Human daring had limits, and it was reported that at least one motor-driver, succumbing7 to the awful nervous strain of guiding these fast expresses through the traffic of the West End, had been taken to the lunatic asylum8. George called a hansom, of which there were dozens idling about. Marguerite seemed tacitly to object to this act as the germ of extravagance; but it was the only classic thing to do, and he did it.
The hansom rolled rapidly and smoothly9 along upon that well-established novelty, india-rubber tyres. Bits of the jingling10 harness oscillated regularly from side to side. At intervals11 the whip-thong dragged gently across the horse's back, and the horse lifted and shook its head. The shallow and narrow interior of the hansom was constructed with exactitude to hold two. Neither occupant could move in any direction, and neither desired to move. The splendidly lighted avenues, of which every detail could be discerned as by day, flowed evenly past the vehicle.
"I've never been in a hansom before," said Marguerite timidly—because the situation was so dismaying in its enchantment12.
He, from the height of two years of hansom-using, was touched, delighted, even impressed. The staggering fact increased her virginal charm and its protectiveness. He thought upon the simplicity13 of her existence. Of course she had never been in a hansom! Hansoms were obviously outside her scheme. He said nothing, but he sought for and found her hand beneath the apron14. She did not resist. He reflected "Can she resist? She cannot." Her hand was in a living swoon. Her hand was his; it was admittedly his. She could never deny it, now. He touched the button of the glove, and undid15 it. Then, moving her passive hand, he brought both his to it, and with infinitely16 delicate and considerate gestures he slowly drew off the glove, and he held her hand ungloved. She did not stir nor speak. Nothing so marvellous as her exquisite17 and confiding18 stillness had ever happened.... The hansom turned into Alexandra Grove19, and when it stopped he pushed the glove into her hand, which closed on it. As they descended20 the cabman, accustomed to peer down on loves pure and impure21, gave them a beneficent look.
"He's not come in," said Marguerite, glancing through the flap of the front door. She was exceedingly self-conscious, but beneath her self-consciousness could be noticed an indig nant accusation22 against old Haim. She had rung the bell and knocked.
"Are you sure? Can you see the hat-stand?"
"I can see it enough for that."
"Look here," George suggested, with false lightness, "I expect I could get in through my window." His room was on the ground floor, and not much agility23 was needed to clamber up to its ledge24 from the level of the area. He might have searched his pockets again and discovered his latchkey, but he would not. Sooner than admit a deception25 he would have remained at the door with her all night.
"Think you could?"
"Yes. I could slide the window-catch."
He jumped down the steps and showed her how he could climb. In two minutes he was opening the front door to her from the inside. She moved towards him in the gloom.
Then she busily lighted the little hall-lamp with his matches, and hurried down, taking the matches, to the kitchen. After a few moments George followed her; he was obliged to follow her. She had removed her coat; it lay on the sole chair. The hat and blouse which she wore seemed very vivid in the kitchen—vestiges of past glorious episodes in concert-halls and hansoms. She had lighted the kitchen-lamp and was standing28 apparently29 idle. The alarum-clock on the black mantelpiece ticked noisily. The cat sat indifferently on the corner of the clean, bare table. George hesitated in the doorway30. He was extremely excited, because the tremendous fact of what he had done and what she had permitted, with all the implications, had to be explicitly31 acknowledged between them. Of course it had to be acknowledged! They were both fully32 aware of the thing, she as well as he, but spoken words must authenticate33 its existence as only spoken words could.
"I do think this business of father and Mrs. Lobley is going rather far."
And George had a sudden new sense of the purely35 feminine adroitness36 of women. In those words she had clearly conceded that their relations were utterly37 changed. Never before had she made even the slightest, most distant reference to the monstrous38 household actuality, unadmitted and yet patent, of the wooing of Mrs. Lobley the charwoman by her father, the widower39 of her mother. If Mr. Haim stayed away from home of an evening, Mrs. Lobley was the siren who deflected40 him from the straight domestic path. She knew it; George surmised41 it; the whole street had its suspicions. But hitherto Marguerite had given no sign. She now created George the confidant of her resentment42. And her smile was not an earnest of some indulgence for her father—her smile was for George alone.
He went boldly up to her, put his arms round her, and kissed her. She did not kiss. But she allowed herself to be kissed, and she let her body loose in his embrace. She looked at him with her eyes nearly upon his, and her eyes glittered with a mysterious burning; he knew that she was content. That she should be content, that it should please her to let him have the unimaginable experience of holding that thrilled and thrilling body close to his, seemed to him to be a marvellous piece of sheer luck and overwhelming good fortune. She was so sensuous43 and yet so serious. Her gaze stimulated44 not only love but conscience. In him ambition was superlatively vigorous. Nevertheless he felt then as though he had never really known ambition till that moment. He thought of the new century and of a new life. He perceived the childishness and folly45 of his favourite idea that an artist ought to pass through a phase of Don Juanism. He knew that the task of satisfying the lofty and exacting46 and unique girl would be immense, and that he could fulfil it, but on the one condition that it monopolized47 his powers. Thus he was both modest and proud, anxious and divinely elated. His mind was the scene of innumerable impulses and sensations over which floated the banner of the male who has won an impassioned allegiance.
"Don't let's tell anyone yet," she murmured.
"No."
"I mean for a long time," she insisted.
"No, we won't," he agreed, and added scornfully: "They'd only say we're too young."
She cut magic cake and poured out magic milk. And they ate and drank together, for they were hungry. And at this point the cat began to show an interest in their doings.
And after they were both in their beds, but not after they were asleep, Mr. Haim, by the clicking of a latchkey in a lock, reminded them of something which they had practically forgotten—his disordered existence.
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1
simultaneously
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| adv.同时发生地，同时进行地 | |
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solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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3
triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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4
automobile
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| n.汽车，机动车 | |
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5
precedent
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| n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的 | |
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6
desecration
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| n. 亵渎神圣, 污辱 | |
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7
succumbing
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| 不再抵抗（诱惑、疾病、攻击等）( succumb的现在分词 )； 屈从； 被压垮； 死 | |
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8
asylum
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| n.避难所，庇护所，避难 | |
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9
smoothly
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| adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地 | |
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10
jingling
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| 叮当声 | |
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11
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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12
enchantment
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| n.迷惑，妖术，魅力 | |
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13
simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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14
apron
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| n.围裙；工作裙 | |
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15
Undid
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| v. 解开, 复原 | |
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16
infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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17
exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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18
confiding
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| adj.相信人的，易于相信的v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的现在分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等） | |
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19
grove
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| n.林子，小树林，园林 | |
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20
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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21
impure
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| adj.不纯净的，不洁的；不道德的，下流的 | |
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22
accusation
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| n.控告，指责，谴责 | |
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23
agility
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| n.敏捷，活泼 | |
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24
ledge
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| n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁 | |
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25
deception
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| n.欺骗，欺诈；骗局，诡计 | |
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26
portfolio
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| n.公事包；文件夹；大臣及部长职位 | |
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27
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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28
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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29
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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30
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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31
explicitly
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| ad.明确地，显然地 | |
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32
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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33
authenticate
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| vt.证明…为真，鉴定 | |
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34
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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35
purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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36
adroitness
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37
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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38
monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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39
widower
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| n.鳏夫 | |
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40
deflected
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| 偏离的 | |
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41
surmised
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| v.臆测，推断( surmise的过去式和过去分词 )；揣测；猜想 | |
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42
resentment
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| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
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43
sensuous
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| adj.激发美感的；感官的，感觉上的 | |
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44
stimulated
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| a.刺激的 | |
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45
folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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46
exacting
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| adj.苛求的，要求严格的 | |
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47
monopolized
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| v.垄断( monopolize的过去式和过去分词 )；独占；专卖；专营 | |
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48
secrecy
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| n.秘密，保密，隐蔽 | |
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49
enchanting
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| a.讨人喜欢的 | |
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