All that evening the clouds gathered, until they closed entirely1 overthe blue of the sky. They seemed to narrow the space between earthand heaven, so that there was no room for the air to move in freely;and the waves, too, lay flat, and yet rigid2, as if they were restrained.
The leaves on the bushes and trees in the garden hung closely together,and the feeling of pressure and restraint was increased by the shortchirping sounds which came from birds and insects.
So strange were the lights and the silence that the busy humof voices which usually filled the dining-room at meal timeshad distinct gaps in it, and during these silences the clatterof the knives upon plates became audible. The first roll of thunderand the first heavy drop striking the pane3 caused a little stir.
"It's coming!" was said simultaneously4 in many different languages.
There was then a profound silence, as if the thunder had withdrawninto itself. People had just begun to eat again, when a gust5 of coldair came through the open windows, lifting tablecloths6 and skirts,a light flashed, and was instantly followed by a clap of thunderright over the hotel. The rain swished with it, and immediatelythere were all those sounds of windows being shut and doors slammingviolently which accompany a storm.
The room grew suddenly several degrees darker, for the windseemed to be driving waves of darkness across the earth. No oneattempted to eat for a time, but sat looking out at the garden,with their forks in the air. The flashes now came frequently,lighting up faces as if they were going to be photographed,surprising them in tense and unnatural7 expressions. The clapfollowed close and violently upon them. Several women half rosefrom their chairs and then sat down again, but dinner was continueduneasily with eyes upon the garden. The bushes outside wereruffled and whitened, and the wind pressed upon them so that theyseemed to stoop to the ground. The waiters had to press dishesupon the diners' notice; and the diners had to draw the attentionof waiters, for they were all absorbed in looking at the storm.
As the thunder showed no signs of withdrawing, but seemed massedright overhead, while the lightning aimed straight at the gardenevery time, an uneasy gloom replaced the first excitement.
Finishing the meal very quickly, people congregated8 in the hall,where they felt more secure than in any other place because they couldretreat far from the windows, and although they heard the thunder,they could not see anything. A little boy was carried away sobbingin the arms of his mother.
While the storm continued, no one seemed inclined to sit down,but they collected in little groups under the central skylight,where they stood in a yellow atmosphere, looking upwards10.
Now and again their faces became white, as the lightning flashed,and finally a terrific crash came, making the panes11 of the skylightlift at the joints12.
"Ah!" several voices exclaimed at the same moment.
"Something struck," said a man's voice.
The rain rushed down. The rain seemed now to extinguish the lightningand the thunder, and the hall became almost dark.
After a minute or two, when nothing was heard but the rattle13 of waterupon the glass, there was a perceptible slackening of the sound,and then the atmosphere became lighter14.
"It's over," said another voice.
At a touch, all the electric lights were turned on, and revealeda crowd of people all standing15, all looking with rather strained facesup at the skylight, but when they saw each other in the artificiallight they turned at once and began to move away. For some minutesthe rain continued to rattle upon the skylight, and the thundergave another shake or two; but it was evident from the clearingof the darkness and the light drumming of the rain upon the roof,that the great confused ocean of air was travelling away from them,and passing high over head with its clouds and its rods of fire,out to sea. The building, which had seemed so small in the tumultof the storm, now became as square and spacious16 as usual.
As the storm drew away, the people in the hall of the hotel sat down;and with a comfortable sense of relief, began to tell each other storiesabout great storms, and produced in many cases their occupationsfor the evening. The chess-board was brought out, and Mr. Elliot,who wore a stock instead of a collar as a sign of convalescence17, but wasotherwise much as usual, challenged Mr. Pepper to a final contest.
Round them gathered a group of ladies with pieces of needlework,or in default of needlework, with novels, to superintend the game,much as if they were in charge of two small boys playing marbles.
Every now and then they looked at the board and made some encouragingremark to the gentlemen.
Mrs. Paley just round the corner had her cards arranged in long laddersbefore her, with Susan sitting near to sympathise but not to correct,and the merchants and the miscellaneous people who had never beendiscovered to possess names were stretched in their arm-chairswith their newspapers on their knees. The conversation in thesecircumstances was very gentle, fragmentary, and intermittent,but the room was full of the indescribable stir of life. Every nowand then the moth9, which was now grey of wing and shiny of thorax,whizzed over their heads, and hit the lamps with a thud.
A young woman put down her needlework and exclaimed, "Poor creature!
it would be kinder to kill it." But nobody seemed disposed to rousehimself in order to kill the moth. They watched it dash from lampto lamp, because they were comfortable, and had nothing to do.
On the sofa, beside the chess-players, Mrs. Elliot was impartinga new stitch in knitting to Mrs. Thornbury, so that their headscame very near together, and were only to be distinguishedby the old lace cap which Mrs. Thornbury wore in the evening.
Mrs. Elliot was an expert at knitting, and disclaimed18 a complimentto that effect with evident pride.
"I suppose we're all proud of something," she said, "and I'm proud ofmy knitting. I think things like that run in families. We all knit well.
I had an uncle who knitted his own socks to the day of his death--and he did it better than any of his daughters, dear old gentleman.
Now I wonder that you, Miss Allan, who use your eyes so much,don't take up knitting in the evenings. You'd find it such a relief,I should say--such a rest to the eyes--and the bazaars19 are so gladof things." Her voice dropped into the smooth half-conscious toneof the expert knitter; the words came gently one after another.
"As much as I do I can always dispose of, which is a comfort, for thenI feel that I am not wasting my time--"Miss Allan, being thus addressed, shut her novel and observedthe others placidly20 for a time. At last she said, "It is surelynot natural to leave your wife because she happens to be in lovewith you. But that--as far as I can make out--is what the gentlemanin my story does.""Tut, tut, that doesn't sound good--no, that doesn't soundat all natural," murmured the knitters in their absorbed voices.
"Still, it's the kind of book people call very clever," Miss Allan added.
"_Maternity_--by Michael Jessop--I presume," Mr. Elliot put in,for he could never resist the temptation of talking while heplayed chess.
"D'you know," said Mrs. Elliot, after a moment, "I don't think people_do_ write good novels now--not as good as they used to, anyhow."No one took the trouble to agree with her or to disagree with her.
Arthur Venning who was strolling about, sometimes looking at the game,sometimes reading a page of a magazine, looked at Miss Allan,who was half asleep, and said humorously, "A penny for your thoughts,Miss Allan."The others looked up. They were glad that he had not spoken to them.
But Miss Allan replied without any hesitation22, "I was thinkingof my imaginary uncle. Hasn't every one got an imaginary uncle?"she continued. "I have one--a most delightful23 old gentleman.
He's always giving me things. Sometimes it's a gold watch;sometimes it's a carriage and pair; sometimes it's a beautiful littlecottage in the New Forest; sometimes it's a ticket to the place I mostwant to see."She set them all thinking vaguely24 of the things they wanted.
Mrs. Elliot knew exactly what she wanted; she wanted a child;and the usual little pucker25 deepened on her brow.
"We're such lucky people," she said, looking at her husband.
"We really have no wants." She was apt to say this, partly in orderto convince herself, and partly in order to convince other people.
But she was prevented from wondering how far she carried convictionby the entrance of Mr. and Mrs. Flushing, who came through the halland stopped by the chess-board. Mrs. Flushing looked wilder than ever.
A great strand26 of black hair looped down across her brow, her cheekswere whipped a dark blood red, and drops of rain made wet marksupon them.
Mr. Flushing explained that they had been on the roof watchingthe storm.
"It was a wonderful sight," he said. "The lightning went rightout over the sea, and lit up the waves and the ships far away.
You can't think how wonderful the mountains looked too, with the lightson them, and the great masses of shadow. It's all over now."He slid down into a chair, becoming interested in the final struggleof the game.
"And you go back to-morrow?" said Mrs. Thornbury, looking atMrs. Flushing.
"Yes," she replied.
"And indeed one is not sorry to go back," said Mrs. Elliot,assuming an air of mournful anxiety, "after all this illness.""Are you afraid of dyin'?" Mrs. Flushing demanded scornfully.
"I think we are all afraid of that," said Mrs. Elliot with dignity.
"I suppose we're all cowards when it comes to the point,"said Mrs. Flushing, rubbing her cheek against the back of the chair.
"I'm sure I am.""Not a bit of it!" said Mr. Flushing, turning round, for Mr. Peppertook a very long time to consider his move. "It's not cowardlyto wish to live, Alice. It's the very reverse of cowardly.
Personally, I'd like to go on for a hundred years--granted, of course,that I had the full use of my faculties27. Think of all the things thatare bound to happen!" "That is what I feel," Mrs. Thornbury rejoined.
"The changes, the improvements, the inventions--and beauty.
D'you know I feel sometimes that I couldn't bear to die and ceaseto see beautiful things about me?""It would certainly be very dull to die before they have discoveredwhether there is life in Mars," Miss Allan added.
"Do you really believe there's life in Mars?" asked Mrs. Flushing,turning to her for the first time with keen interest. "Who tellsyou that? Some one who knows? D'you know a man called--?"Here Mrs. Thornbury laid down her knitting, and a look of extremesolicitude came into her eyes.
"There is Mr. Hirst," she said quietly.
St. John had just come through the swing door. He was ratherblown about by the wind, and his cheeks looked terribly pale,unshorn, and cavernous. After taking off his coat he was goingto pass straight through the hall and up to his room, but he couldnot ignore the presence of so many people he knew, especially asMrs. Thornbury rose and went up to him, holding out her hand.
But the shock of the warm lamp-lit room, together with the sightof so many cheerful human beings sitting together at their ease,after the dark walk in the rain, and the long days of strainand horror, overcame him completely. He looked at Mrs. Thornburyand could not speak.
Every one was silent. Mr. Pepper's hand stayed upon his Knight28.
Mrs. Thornbury somehow moved him to a chair, sat herself beside him,and with tears in her own eyes said gently, "You have done everythingfor your friend."Her action set them all talking again as if they had never stopped,and Mr. Pepper finished the move with his Knight.
"There was nothing to be done," said St. John. He spoke21 very slowly.
"It seems impossible--"He drew his hand across his eyes as if some dream came between himand the others and prevented him from seeing where he was.
"And that poor fellow," said Mrs. Thornbury, the tears fallingagain down her cheeks.
"Impossible," St. John repeated.
"Did he have the consolation29 of knowing--?" Mrs. Thornbury beganvery tentatively.
But St. John made no reply. He lay back in his chair, half-seeingthe others, half-hearing what they said. He was terribly tired,and the light and warmth, the movements of the hands, and the softcommunicative voices soothed30 him; they gave him a strange senseof quiet and relief. As he sat there, motionless, this feelingof relief became a feeling of profound happiness. Without anysense of disloyalty to Terence and Rachel he ceased to thinkabout either of them. The movements and the voices seemed to drawtogether from different parts of the room, and to combine themselvesinto a pattern before his eyes; he was content to sit silentlywatching the pattern build itself up, looking at what he hardly saw.
The game was really a good one, and Mr. Pepper and Mr. Elliot werebecoming more and more set upon the struggle. Mrs. Thornbury,seeing that St. John did not wish to talk, resumed her knitting.
"Lightning again!" Mrs. Flushing suddenly exclaimed. A yellowlight flashed across the blue window, and for a second they sawthe green trees outside. She strode to the door, pushed it open,and stood half out in the open air.
But the light was only the reflection of the storm which was over.
The rain had ceased, the heavy clouds were blown away, and the airwas thin and clear, although vapourish mists were being driven swiftlyacross the moon. The sky was once more a deep and solemn blue,and the shape of the earth was visible at the bottom of the air,enormous, dark, and solid, rising into the tapering31 mass of the mountain,and pricked32 here and there on the slopes by the tiny lights of villas33.
The driving air, the drone of the trees, and the flashing lightwhich now and again spread a broad illumination over the earthfilled Mrs. Flushing with exultation34. Her breasts rose and fell.
"Splendid! Splendid!" she muttered to herself. Then she turned backinto the hall and exclaimed in a peremptory35 voice, "Come outsideand see, Wilfrid; it's wonderful."Some half-stirred; some rose; some dropped their balls of wooland began to stoop to look for them.
"To bed--to bed," said Miss Allan.
"It was the move with your Queen that gave it away, Pepper,"exclaimed Mr. Elliot triumphantly36, sweeping37 the pieces togetherand standing up. He had won the game.
"What? Pepper beaten at last? I congratulate you!" said ArthurVenning, who was wheeling old Mrs. Paley to bed.
All these voices sounded gratefully in St. John's ears as he layhalf-asleep, and yet vividly38 conscious of everything around him.
Across his eyes passed a procession of objects, black and indistinct,the figures of people picking up their books, their cards, their ballsof wool, their work-baskets, and passing him one after another ontheir way to bed.
The End
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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pane
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| n.窗格玻璃，长方块 | |
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simultaneously
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| adv.同时发生地，同时进行地 | |
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gust
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| n.阵风，突然一阵（雨、烟等），（感情的）迸发 | |
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tablecloths
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| n.桌布，台布( tablecloth的名词复数 ) | |
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unnatural
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| adj.不自然的；反常的 | |
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congregated
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| （使）集合，聚集( congregate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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moth
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| n.蛾，蛀虫 | |
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upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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panes
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| 窗玻璃( pane的名词复数 ) | |
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joints
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| 接头( joint的名词复数 )； 关节； 公共场所（尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所） （非正式）； 一块烤肉 （英式英语） | |
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13
rattle
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| v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓 | |
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lighter
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| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
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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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spacious
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| adj.广阔的，宽敞的 | |
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convalescence
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| n.病后康复期 | |
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disclaimed
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| v.否认( disclaim的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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bazaars
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| （东方国家的）市场( bazaar的名词复数 )； 义卖； 义卖市场； （出售花哨商品等的）小商品市场 | |
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placidly
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| adv.平稳地，平静地 | |
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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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hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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pucker
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| v.撅起，使起皱；n.（衣服上的）皱纹，褶子 | |
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strand
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| vt.使（船）搁浅，使（某人）困于（某地） | |
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faculties
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| n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院 | |
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knight
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| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
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consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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soothed
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| v.安慰( soothe的过去式和过去分词 )；抚慰；使舒服；减轻痛苦 | |
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tapering
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| adj.尖端细的 | |
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pricked
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| 刺，扎，戳( prick的过去式和过去分词 )； 刺伤； 刺痛； 使剧痛 | |
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33
villas
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| 别墅，公馆( villa的名词复数 )； （城郊）住宅 | |
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34
exultation
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| n.狂喜，得意 | |
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35
peremptory
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| adj.紧急的，专横的，断然的 | |
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triumphantly
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| ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地 | |
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sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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vividly
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| adv.清楚地，鲜明地，生动地 | |
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