As she said the last word, a startled look came into the glazed3 eyes of the old gipsy; and with a quick gesture she flung back the hand she had been holding. The pretty, fair-haired girl who was having her fortune told laughed nervously4, and shot an anxious glance at the young man who stood near her. He was tall and dark and masterful; also he was in love with the girl, as could be seen from the tenderness in his eyes and the smile on his lips. But as the sibyl spoke5, as the girl started, he changed the smile to a frown, and caught the woman roughly by the arm. She was on the point of hobbling away; but, on feeling the man's grip, she turned doggedly6 to face him. With her rags and wrinkles, red cloak, and Oriental countenance7, she looked like the Witch of Endor--at bay.
"Not so fast, gran!" said the young man, severely8. "Miss Lester has given you a shilling, so you must earn it by telling her fortune--if you can," he added, in a scoffing9 tone, which savoured of scepticism.
"Ef I can!" repeated gran, looking contemptuously from under bushy gray eyebrows11. "Eh, young gentl'man, that han' be asy raidin' tu I. But fur all this," she waved her stick round the gorse-besprinkled common upon which they were standing--"for all that"--she pointed12 towards the blue arch of the July sky--"I w'uldn't freeze th' blood o' this gude maid."
"How you do go on, Mother Jimboy!" giggled13 the girl, with an affectation of carelessness. "I don't believe a bit in hand-reading; I'm sure I don't, so there! I know my own fortune well. Don't I, Mr. Lovel?" and again she shot a glance at the young man--this time a coquettish one.
"An' I know both o' mum!" cried Mrs. Jimboy, striking her stick on the ground. "Hee! hee! 'tis gran as cud fright the smile from they pretty faces, I du say. Haw be young squire15, Miss Milly?"
"Insolent16!" muttered Lovel, wrathfully. "Hold your tongue, you old hag, and tell Miss Lester's fortune at once!"
"I's feared for sure, dearies both; I's mortal feared."
"You silly old witch!" said Milly, with scornful bravery. "I'm not. I shall know what is in my hand; though I shan't believe a single word you say."
"Tis as ye plase, miss; belave or not, 'tis all one. But the skein will run till 'tis clipped for all that!"
"What do you mean by this jargon17?" cried Lovel, still furious at the late illusion to the squire. "Speak plainly, or I'll hand you over to the police as an impostor!"
The last word touched the old dame18 nearly, and she reared up her bent19 frame to point a crooked20 finger at Lovel; but she spoke generally to the one and the other.
"Imposter, am I? Hee! hee! An you don't belave, Miss Milly? Hee! hee! I'll spare ye no more! Gimme th' han', dear soul alive, give th' han'; and if ye weep blood fur the tellings o' mum--well, I warned ye, I warned ye!"
Milly stamped a dainty foot, and held out a dainty hand to be seized by gran's brown claws.
"Do your worst!" said she petulantly21. "I'm sure I shan't believe a single nasty thing you tell me!"
"Aye! eh!" mumbled22 Mrs. Jimboy, tracing the pink palm lines with a dirty forefinger23; "but Fate, you zee, be stronger nor young things, dearie; aw, yis, fur sure. Here mum be, ef ye mus' now"--man and girl bent their comely24 heads, while gran continued--"you'm bound to one; you'm loved by another; but none o' mum shall call ye wife."
"Why not?" demanded Lovel roughly, while Milly drew back her hand with an ejaculation of alarm.
"Why?" cried the gipsy fiercely--"'cause the grave 'ull be her bridal bed, for sure; an' worms 'ull feast on the beauty ye love. Death, dearie; death an' murder, I du tell 'ee; an' murder, dear souls, an' yis," she concluded, with a relish25 for her evil speaking.
Enraged26 by this speech, which made Milly cling to him in a tremor27 of nervous excitement, Lovel raised his cane28 threateningly. With an activity wonderful in one so old, gran shuffled29 nimbly back, spitting and snarling30 like a cat. Her eyes fairly sparkled with fury.
"Duvel!" she flashed out, using the Romany oath with a shaking of her stick; "the black curse on the pair o' ye! Death to her, an' sorrow to ye. One shall be taken, the other left. Ho, ho! how will ye look then, my delicate rye? you an' the squire, wi' death houlding your gude maid in his maw. I overlook mum, I du; an' so ye've the worth of your gowld from the impostor!"
After which fiery31 speech Mrs. Jimboy crawled away without as much as a glance behind her. Soon she dwindled32 to a scarlet33 spot on the distant greenness; and Milly, hitherto motionless, began to recover from her fears. Some red-tiled houses were visible on the edge of the common; through the golden glories of gorse blossom wound the high-road, broad and dusty; and over all arched the cloudless azure34 of the sky. Save the two young people, no human being was in sight; and they looked silently at one another, weighing and considering the ominous35 words of the gipsy--her early refusal to speak; her pointed use of the sinister36 word "murder;" and her fierce casting of words and money. These were the things which took the colour from the cheeks of the couple, and made them eye each other with secret apprehensions37.
"I'll go home now," said Milly abruptly38, and she turned her face towards the square tower of a distant church.
Lovel walked quickly after her and laid a detaining hand on her arm. "Don't go yet," he entreated39. "My dear Milly----"
"You have no right to call me so!" she interrupted sharply.
"Then give me the right."
"I can't; you know I can't. Why do you say such silly things?"
"Why?" burst out Lovel--"because I love you. Listen to me, Milly--now, it is no use your frowning--I shall call you by that name: I love you--I love you!"
"Oh!" said Miss Lester with great coolness, "then Miss Clyde----"
"I know what you are about to say," he said quickly--"that I love Miss Clyde. But you are wrong. It is true that I admired her, but when you came----" He flung out his hands and caught those of the girl's. "Milly," said he earnestly, "you have brought me to your feet for a jest; that jest must become--earnest. You must marry me."
"How you talk!" said Milly fretfully. "You know I can't marry you."
"Because of Mr. Herne--a man you don't care for?"
"Because of Mr. Herne--to whom I have been engaged for six months."
"But you don't care for him!" persisted Lovel.
"I care for him sufficiently40 to marry him," answered the girl evasively.
"What is the use of trying to deceive me, Milly? You marry Herne for his money and position."
"Well, and what if I do!" cried Miss Lester, flushing; "is it not my duty to do the best I can for myself and my people? What is father?--a poor country doctor with a miserable41 income. Our house should be called Poverty Villa42, it is so wretched; and Iris44 worries me morn, noon, and night."
"But if your sister----"
"She is not my sister!" interrupted Milly wrathfully. "Iris Link is the daughter of my father's second wife; she is no kin10 of mine, and has no right to domineer over me like she does. I tell you I am thoroughly45 miserable at home!" cried Miss Lester with a stamp of her foot; "and I marry Darcy Herne to get away from Poverty Villa."
"Will you be any happier with Herne?"
"Why not? I shall have position and money and society."
"Pardon me," contradicted Lovel, "but you will have none of the three. Herne is as mad as a March hare, with his aspirations46 for a higher life, and his socialistic ideas that all are equal? Position! He gave that up long ago. Money! Well, he has money, but it will be spent in charity--not in pandering47 to your vanity. Society! Oh, yes! the society of the halt, the lame48, the blind, and the religious! That's the set you'll move in. I tell you, Milly," cried Lovel vehemently49, "that Herne does not love you; he loves no one and nothing but his mission, as he calls it. He marries you simply to experiment on you--to lead you into the narrow path, no doubt."
"I know all you tell me," rejoined Milly, coolly, "but I'll alter Darcy's conduct when I am Mrs. Herne!"
"I rather think he'll alter yours, my dear. Now, if you marry me----"
"Yes!" interrupted Milly, disdainfully; "if I marry you, what then?"
"You would be happy," finished Lovel, turning red.
Milly laughed and shrugged50 her shoulders. "Really, Mr. Lovel, you have a good opinion of yourself! I have known you eight months as a painter, but beyond that I am ignorant. Who are you?"
"A painter--an artist, as you say," said the young man, sulkily.
"Are you rich?"
"No; I have two hundred a year."
"Oh! So you have no money, no position, and--so far as I can see--no name; only your good looks, Mr. Lovel; and on these you wish to marry me. No, thank you, Mr. Egotist," sneered53 Miss Lester, with a curtsey. "I prefer to marry the squire of Barnstead."
Lovel was goaded55 into a retort. "You'll never marry him," he said, sharply, "if Gran Jimboy is to be believed."
"How horrid56 of you to talk like that, just when I was trying to forget what that old wretch43 said! Lucas"--she said the name with a glint of terror in her blue eyes--"do you believe in palmistry?"
"No," he responded, indifferently--"no more than I believe in Fate."
"But Gran Jimboy said that I should be killed--murdered!"
Lovel looked at her, and laughed in an ugly manner. "As to that, my dear girl," he said with a sneer54, "I hope it may be true. I would rather see you dead than the wife of Squire Herne!"
"You cruel wretch!" cried Milly, vehemently. "Why--why?"
"In the first place, because I love you; in the second, because Herne, the Apostle of the Higher Culture, is an unprincipled blackguard!"
"Darcy! Mr. Herne!"
"Yes. Oh, I have heard tales about him in London!"
"What kind of tales?
"Tales of profligacy57. He uses his name here to cloak his London wickednesses."
"I don't believe it," cried Miss Lester after a pause. "He is too good a man to be wicked. I don't love him, but I respect him. And if he is as wicked as you say," added Milly, with an afterthought, "he wouldn't be the friend of Mr. Chaskin."
"The Rev58. Francis Chaskin," sneered Lovel, "who was an officer of the army before he became a vicar in the Church. Oh, I know all about him!"
"Is he bad also?"
"Herne and he are a pair of--mysteries."
"I think you are a third one," said Milly, in a puzzled tone. "Explain!"
"No--not here; there is no time, and I have no proofs. Meet me to-morrow night in the Winding59 Lane at half-past eight, and I'll give you the prenuptial character of your future husband."
"To-morrow will be Sunday."
"What of that? You can meet me after evening service."
"Oh!" Milly looked terrified. "What would Darcy say if he knew that I met you at so late an hour?"
"H'm! What would Darcy say if he knew that all his iniquities60 were about to be laid bare? Come or not, as you like."
Miss Lester considered. "Darcy is in London, and won't be back for four days," she said at length. "I'll come--if you promise to tell no one."
"I promise. At half-past eight, in the Winding Lane."
"Yes; but I won't believe what you tell me."
"You said the same thing about Gran Jimboy's prophecy!" said Lovel, drily; "but you believe it for all that."
"I don't--I don't! Do you?"
When Milly put this question, Lovel looked at her gravely.
"I'll answer that question to-morrow night," said he; and then they parted.
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1
crass
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| adj.愚钝的，粗糙的；彻底的 | |
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nought
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| n.／adj.无，零 | |
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glazed
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| adj.光滑的，像玻璃的；上过釉的；呆滞无神的v.装玻璃( glaze的过去式)；上釉于，上光；（目光）变得呆滞无神 | |
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nervously
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| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
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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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doggedly
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| adv.顽强地，固执地 | |
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7
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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9
scoffing
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| n. 嘲笑, 笑柄, 愚弄 v. 嘲笑, 嘲弄, 愚弄, 狼吞虎咽 | |
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10
kin
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| n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的 | |
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eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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giggled
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| v.咯咯地笑( giggle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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assented
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| 同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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squire
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| n.护卫, 侍从, 乡绅 | |
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insolent
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| adj.傲慢的，无理的 | |
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jargon
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| n.术语，行话 | |
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dame
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| n.女士 | |
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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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crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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petulantly
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mumbled
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| 含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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forefinger
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| n.食指 | |
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comely
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| adj.漂亮的，合宜的 | |
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relish
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| n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味 | |
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26
enraged
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| 使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 )； 歜； 激愤 | |
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tremor
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| n.震动，颤动，战栗，兴奋，地震 | |
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cane
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| n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的 | |
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29
shuffled
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| v.洗（纸牌）( shuffle的过去式和过去分词 )；拖着脚步走；粗心地做；摆脱尘世的烦恼 | |
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30
snarling
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| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的现在分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
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31
fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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32
dwindled
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| v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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azure
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| adj.天蓝色的，蔚蓝色的 | |
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ominous
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| adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的 | |
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sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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apprehensions
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| 疑惧 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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39
entreated
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| 恳求，乞求( entreat的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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40
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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41
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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villa
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| n.别墅，城郊小屋 | |
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wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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iris
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| n.虹膜，彩虹 | |
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45
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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46
aspirations
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| 强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音 | |
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47
pandering
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| v.迎合（他人的低级趣味或淫欲）( pander的现在分词 )；纵容某人；迁就某事物 | |
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48
lame
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| adj.跛的，(辩解、论据等)无说服力的 | |
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vehemently
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| adv. 热烈地 | |
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50
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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51
scoffed
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| 嘲笑，嘲弄( scoff的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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52
orphan
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| n.孤儿；adj.无父母的 | |
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53
sneered
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| 讥笑，冷笑( sneer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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54
sneer
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| v.轻蔑；嘲笑；n.嘲笑，讥讽的言语 | |
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55
goaded
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| v.刺激( goad的过去式和过去分词 )；激励；（用尖棒）驱赶；驱使（或怂恿、刺激）某人 | |
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56
horrid
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| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
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profligacy
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| n.放荡，不检点，肆意挥霍 | |
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rev
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| v.发动机旋转，加快速度 | |
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winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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iniquities
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| n.邪恶( iniquity的名词复数 )；极不公正 | |
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