Charles Stow (as his name was), despite his disdainful indifference2 to things, was very careful of appearances, and made the journey independently of her though in the same train. He told her where she could get board and lodgings3 in the city; and with merely a distant nod to her of a provisional kind, went off to his own quarters, and to see about the licence.
On Sunday she saw him in the morning across the nave5 of the pro-cathedral. In the afternoon they walked together in the fields, where he told her that the licence would be ready next day, and would be available the day after, when the ceremony could be performed as early after eight o’clock as they should choose.
His courtship, thus renewed after an interval6 of two years, was as impetuous, violent even, as it was short. The next day came and passed, and the final arrangements were made. Their agreement was to get the ceremony over as soon as they possibly could the next morning, so as to go on to Pen-zephyr at once, and reach that place in time for the boat’s departure the same day. It was in obedience7 to Baptista’s earnest request that Stow consented thus to make the whole journey to Lyonesse by land and water at one heat, and not break it at Pen-zephyr; she seemed to be oppressed with a dread8 of lingering anywhere, this great first act of disobedience to her parents once accomplished9, with the weight on her mind that her home had to be convulsed by the disclosure of it. To face her difficulties over the water immediately she had created them was, however, a course more desired by Baptista than by her lover; though for once he gave way.
The next morning was bright and warm as those which had preceded it. By six o’clock it seemed nearly noon, as is often the case in that part of England in the summer season. By nine they were husband and wife. They packed up and departed by the earliest train after the service; and on the way discussed at length what she should say on meeting her parents, Charley dictating11 the turn of each phrase. In her anxiety they had travelled so early that when they reached Pen-zephyr they found there were nearly two hours on their hands before the steamer’s time of sailing.
Baptista was extremely reluctant to be seen promenading12 the streets of the watering-place with her husband till, as above stated, the household at Giant’s Town should know the unexpected course of events from her own lips; and it was just possible, if not likely, that some Lyonessian might be prowling about there, or even have come across the sea to look for her. To meet any one to whom she was known, and to have to reply to awkward questions about the strange young man at her side before her well-framed announcement had been delivered at proper time and place, was a thing she could not contemplate13 with equanimity14. So, instead of looking at the shops and harbour, they went along the coast a little way.
The heat of the morning was by this time intense. They clambered up on some cliffs, and while sitting there, looking around at St. Michael’s Mount and other objects, Charles said to her that he thought he would run down to the beach at their feet, and take just one plunge15 into the sea.
Baptista did not much like the idea of being left alone; it was gloomy, she said. But he assured her he would not be gone more than a quarter of an hour at the outside, and she passively assented16.
Down he went, disappeared, appeared again, and looked back. Then he again proceeded, and vanished, till, as a small waxen object, she saw him emerge from the nook that had screened him, cross the white fringe of foam17, and walk into the undulating mass of blue. Once in the water he seemed less inclined to hurry than before; he remained a long time; and, unable either to appreciate his skill or criticize his want of it at that distance, she withdrew her eyes from the spot, and gazed at the still outline of St. Michael’s—now beautifully toned in grey.
Her anxiety for the hour of departure, and to cope at once with the approaching incidents that she would have to manipulate as best she could, sent her into a reverie. It was now Tuesday; she would reach home in the evening—a very late time they would say; but, as the delay was a pure accident, they would deem her marriage to Mr. Heddegan to-morrow still practicable. Then Charles would have to be produced from the background. It was a terrible undertaking18 to think of, and she almost regretted her temerity19 in wedding so hastily that morning. The rage of her father would be so crushing; the reproaches of her mother so bitter; and perhaps Charles would answer hotly, and perhaps cause estrangement20 till death. There had obviously been no alarm about her at St. Maria’s, or somebody would have sailed across to inquire for her. She had, in a letter written at the beginning of the week, spoken of the hour at which she intended to leave her country schoolhouse; and from this her friends had probably perceived that by such timing21 she would run a risk of losing the Saturday boat. She had missed it, and as a consequence sat here on the shore as Mrs. Charles Stow.
This brought her to the present, and she turned from the outline of St. Michael’s Mount to look about for her husband’s form. He was, as far as she could discover, no longer in the sea. Then he was dressing22. By moving a few steps she could see where his clothes lay. But Charles was not beside them.
Baptista looked back again at the water in bewilderment, as if her senses were the victim of some sleight23 of hand. Not a speck24 or spot resembling a man’s head or face showed anywhere. By this time she was alarmed, and her alarm intensified25 when she perceived a little beyond the scene of her husband’s bathing a small area of water, the quality of whose surface differed from that of the surrounding expanse as the coarse vegetation of some foul26 patch in a mead27 differs from the fine green of the remainder. Elsewhere it looked flexuous, here it looked vermiculated and lumpy, and her marine28 experiences suggested to her in a moment that two currents met and caused a turmoil29 at this place.
She descended30 as hastily as her trembling limbs would allow. The way down was terribly long, and before reaching the heap of clothes it occurred to her that, after all, it would be best to run first for help. Hastening along in a lateral31 direction she proceeded inland till she met a man, and soon afterwards two others. To them she exclaimed, ‘I think a gentleman who was bathing is in some danger. I cannot see him as I could. Will you please run and help him, at once, if you will be so kind?’
She did not think of turning to show them the exact spot, indicating it vaguely32 by the direction of her hand, and still going on her way with the idea of gaining more assistance. When she deemed, in her faintness, that she had carried the alarm far enough, she faced about and dragged herself back again. Before reaching the now dreaded33 spot she met one of the men.
‘We can see nothing at all, Miss,’ he declared.
Having gained the beach, she found the tide in, and no sign of Charley’s clothes. The other men whom she had besought34 to come had disappeared, it must have been in some other direction, for she had not met them going away. They, finding nothing, had probably thought her alarm a mere4 conjecture35, and given up the quest.
Baptista sank down upon the stones near at hand. Where Charley had undressed was now sea. There could not be the least doubt that he was drowned, and his body sucked under by the current; while his clothes, lying within high-water mark, had probably been carried away by the rising tide.
She remained in a stupor36 for some minutes, till a strange sensation succeeded the aforesaid perceptions, mystifying her intelligence, and leaving her physically37 almost inert38. With his personal disappearance39, the last three days of her life with him seemed to be swallowed up, also his image, in her mind’s eye, waned40 curiously41, receded10 far away, grew stranger and stranger, less and less real. Their meeting and marriage had been so sudden, unpremeditated, adventurous42, that she could hardly believe that she had played her part in such a reckless drama. Of all the few hours of her life with Charles, the portion that most insisted in coming back to memory was their fortuitous encounter on the previous Saturday, and those bitter reprimands with which he had begun the attack, as it might be called, which had piqued43 her to an unexpected consummation.
A sort of cruelty, an imperiousness, even in his warmth, had characterized Charles Stow. As a lover he had ever been a bit of a tyrant44; and it might pretty truly have been said that he had stung her into marriage with him at last. Still more alien from her life did these reflections operate to make him; and then they would be chased away by an interval of passionate45 weeping and mad regret. Finally, there returned upon the confused mind of the young wife the recollection that she was on her way homeward, and that the packet would sail in three-quarters of an hour.
Except the parasol in her hand, all she possessed46 was at the station awaiting her onward47 journey.
She looked in that direction; and, entering one of those undemonstrative phases so common with her, walked quietly on.
At first she made straight for the railway; but suddenly turning she went to a shop and wrote an anonymous48 line announcing his death by drowning to the only person she had ever heard Charles mention as a relative. Posting this stealthily, and with a fearful look around her, she seemed to acquire a terror of the late events, pursuing her way to the station as if followed by a spectre.
When she got to the office she asked for the luggage that she had left there on the Saturday as well as the trunk left on the morning just lapsed49. All were put in the boat, and she herself followed. Quickly as these things had been done, the whole proceeding50, nevertheless, had been almost automatic on Baptista’s part, ere she had come to any definite conclusion on her course.
Just before the bell rang she heard a conversation on the pier51, which removed the last shade of doubt from her mind, if any had existed, that she was Charles Stow’s widow. The sentences were but fragmentary, but she could easily piece them out.
‘A man drowned—swam out too far—was a stranger to the place—people in boat—saw him go down—couldn’t get there in time.’
The news was little more definite than this as yet; though it may as well be stated once for all that the statement was true. Charley, with the over-confidence of his nature, had ventured out too far for his strength, and succumbed52 in the absence of assistance, his lifeless body being at that moment suspended in the transparent53 mid-depths of the bay. His clothes, however, had merely been gently lifted by the rising tide, and floated into a nook hard by, where they lay out of sight of the passers-by till a day or two after.
该作者的其它作品
《Tess of the D‘Urbervilles德伯家的苔丝》
《韦塞克斯的故事 Wessex Tales》
《远离尘嚣 Far from the madding crowd》
《绿茵树下 Under the Greenwood Tree》
该作者的其它作品
《Tess of the D‘Urbervilles德伯家的苔丝》
《韦塞克斯的故事 Wessex Tales》
《远离尘嚣 Far from the madding crowd》
《绿茵树下 Under the Greenwood Tree》
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1
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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lodgings
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| n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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nave
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| n.教堂的中部；本堂 | |
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interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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7
obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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8
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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9
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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10
receded
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| v.逐渐远离( recede的过去式和过去分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题 | |
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11
dictating
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| v.大声讲或读( dictate的现在分词 )；口授；支配；摆布 | |
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12
promenading
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| v.兜风( promenade的现在分词 ) | |
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13
contemplate
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| vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视 | |
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14
equanimity
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| n.沉着，镇定 | |
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plunge
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| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
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16
assented
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| 同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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18
undertaking
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| n.保证，许诺，事业 | |
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temerity
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| n.鲁莽，冒失 | |
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20
estrangement
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| n.疏远，失和，不和 | |
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21
timing
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| n.时间安排，时间选择 | |
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22
dressing
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| n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料 | |
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23
sleight
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| n.技巧，花招 | |
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24
speck
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| n.微粒，小污点，小斑点 | |
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25
intensified
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| v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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26
foul
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| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
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27
mead
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| n.蜂蜜酒 | |
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marine
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| adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵 | |
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29
turmoil
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| n.骚乱，混乱，动乱 | |
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30
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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31
lateral
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| adj.侧面的，旁边的 | |
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32
vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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33
dreaded
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| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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34
besought
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| v.恳求，乞求（某事物）( beseech的过去式和过去分词 )；(beseech的过去式与过去分词) | |
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35
conjecture
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| n./v.推测，猜测 | |
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36
stupor
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| v.昏迷；不省人事 | |
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37
physically
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| adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律 | |
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38
inert
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| adj.无活动能力的，惰性的；迟钝的 | |
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39
disappearance
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| n.消失，消散，失踪 | |
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40
waned
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| v.衰落( wane的过去式和过去分词 )；（月）亏；变小；变暗淡 | |
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41
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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42
adventurous
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| adj.爱冒险的；惊心动魄的，惊险的，刺激的 | |
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43
piqued
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| v.伤害…的自尊心( pique的过去式和过去分词 )；激起（好奇心） | |
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44
tyrant
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| n.暴君，专制的君主，残暴的人 | |
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45
passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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46
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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47
onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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48
anonymous
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| adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的 | |
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49
lapsed
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| adj.流失的，堕落的v.退步( lapse的过去式和过去分词 )；陷入；倒退；丧失 | |
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50
proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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51
pier
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| n.码头；桥墩，桥柱；[建]窗间壁，支柱 | |
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52
succumbed
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| 不再抵抗（诱惑、疾病、攻击等）( succumb的过去式和过去分词 )； 屈从； 被压垮； 死 | |
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53
transparent
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| adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的 | |
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