“A man to see you, sir.”
“His name?”
“’Tis Richard Breeds, sir, of the ‘Dog and Duck.’”
“Breeds?”
“The landlord, sir.”
“What does he want?”
“You don’t know, of course. Tell him to wait me in the hall.”
A few minutes later Mr. Tuke descended2 the stairs, and, happening to be in slippered3 feet, walked without sound in search of his visitor, whom, curiously4, he came upon comprehensively examining the fastenings of the oaken shutters5, his bullet-head bent6 low. At a cough the man started erect7, and, gasping8 with embarrassment9, ducked an awkward bow to the master of the house.
“They are of good, tough wrought-iron,” said the latter grimly.
“So I see, sir. I was takin’ a hint for my own little place with all respect. I’m lonely situated10, too.”
He lied, of course, with scarcely professional ease. He was a short, fleshy man, with an unwholesome damp skin like veal11, and rum-buds over his face in patches, as if he were stricken with a plague—which, indeed, he was, of a bibulous12 order. His manner was very nervous and self-depreciatory, and the only accent of character that marked his tumid physiognomy was in the expression of his ratty and restless little eyes.
Mr. Tuke took his measure during a moment of silence that was obviously disconcerting to him.
“Now, sir,” said the first, at length. “What is your business?”
“I called, your honour, to axe13 if I could supply your honour with liquor, milk, eggs and garden produce. I keep the ‘Dog and Duck’ on the Stockbridge road, and maybe, I thought, ’twould be handier to your honour and more reasonable-like to deal at a half-way house.”
“That depends. I leave these matters to my servant, who does his catering14, I believe, in the village. I know your house of call, and have marked one or two of the visitors you entertain.”
“Maybe, sir, maybe. It’s not my business, now is it, to put every gentleman as demands a measure of ale through his catechism?”
“That seems an odd answer. Did I make any reflections? Scarcely, I think. The law takes means to deal with rogues15 without consulting the prejudices of landlords.”
The visitor looked very ill at ease. Clearly the conversation had taken a turn entirely16 unexpected by him.
“Your honour’s perfectly17 right,” he said, pressing his damp hands together. “Yet the law gives us no licence to refuse a customer for the reason we don’t like his looks.”
Eliciting18 no response—“I’m a peaceable man,” he went on, with some anguish19 of protest. “Give me bowl and pipe and a snug20 ingle-corner, and Fortin may set her cap at me, and die a old maid despite. But ain’t it hard, sir—now ain’t it hard that I’m to be coloured with the reputation of them as takes shelter under my roof and find my character in question for the mere21 contact?”
“You enlarge greatly upon a hint,” said Mr. Tuke. “I understand, then, that you have unwelcome guests to entertain?”
“I don’t say that,” said he. “I speak on general premises23, as they calls ’em, and on behalf o’ the fraternity. Mr. Brander—him you may a’ seen—is to my knowledge a scholard and an angler; which is not, by your honour’s favour, indictable offences—no, not either of ’em.”
“Assuredly. And that other gentleman, with the beetroot face and venerable white hair?”
The landlord sucked his lips together, in an absurd affectation of perplexity.
“Oh, him!” he cried suddenly and jovially24. “That’s Mr. Fern, that is—a traveller, from abroad, come on a tower through the old country.”
Then, in the same breath, he went on deprecatingly, with a ludicrous decline of spirit:
“It’s all force the favour and take the blame with us, sir. I’m a peaceable soul that loves a pot, and circumstances conspire25 to upset me.”
Mr. Tuke looked at the man keenly. Somehow the latter seemed in travail26 with that he could not, or would not, give expression to. His hands shook, and beads27 of leaden perspiration28 stood on his forehead. By and by he glanced stealthily at the other, and went flaccid to see himself under scrutiny29.
“Mr. Tuke—your honour,” said he, in a hoarse30, vibrative voice, “I weren’t never fitted to be a landlord—that’s the solemn truth. A man as keeps a inn stands balanced between his custom and his conscience; and then comes an extry pot and bowls him off of his legs. Give me your word to compensate31 me agen the loss, and I’ll shut up the ‘Dog and Duck’ to-morrow and set the place a-fire.”
He said it in a tentative, apologetic way, and was quite ready to join in the other’s cackle of merriment over the suggestion.
“No, no, my friend,” said Mr. Tuke. “I’ve plenty on my conscience without the guardianship32 of a scrupulous33 innkeeper.”
Then he added sternly:
“You’ve said much or little, but enough. Dree your pothouse weird34, my friend; and take the consequences if you knowingly harbour law-breakers. We’ve talked round the subject; and now you can hardly expect me, upon my soul, to fall in with your offer of a half-way market.”
“Very well, sir,” said the landlord, chapfallen; and, “Bear in mind, Mr. Breeds,” said the other, “that to be caught examining a householder’s shutters is scarcely a recommendation to his favour.”
He saw the fellow off the premises—marked his going till he was well out of sight; then returned to the hall and pondered the interview.
This seemed to him, as regarded the visitor’s share in it, a confirmation35 of his suspicions that there was a certain mystery toward which he was the indefinite subject and centre. More—it convinced him that if mischief36 of any sort was somewhere in process of incubation the tavern37 of which Mr. Breeds was landlord was the place most likely to contain the egg.
Now, as a man who had once already taken his own life in hand, he was not greatly sensitive to alarms that might have unnerved persons of a more precise conduct. Indeed, in the tasteless monotony of his present days, he would have welcomed, perhaps, the necessity of some vigorous action justly undertaken on his own behalf. But it was this blind search for a clue to the intangible—this turning round and round in a vain effort to grasp a chimera39, that at first worried and depressed40 him.
If he could only have received certain confirmation of his surmises41 that some rascal42 intrigue43 was afoot; if in all his little world there had been a single soul he could trust and depend upon, his course would have been easier. As it was, how did the case stand? A very desert loneliness had begotten44 in him already a distrust of his neighbours, of whom, undoubtedly45, were a few of shady visage and equipment. But, here, surely every ale-house had its personnel of loafers and idle rogues; and it seemed monstrous46 to assume that in broad day, within call, as it were, of a considerable village, a plot—of which a private gentleman, making out life meagrely in a near empty house, was the object—could be hatching at his very door.
That was so; yet his reckoning must include those two enigmatical visitors, the professed47 end of each of which was far from being, he felt positive, its real one; and must include Mr. Joseph Corby’s pregnant allusions—to the crazed girl—to some unknown quantity with a fanciful title.
Considering all this from each and every aspect, he did so work himself up to a state of savage48 irritation49 over the intolerable strain it entailed50 upon a mind prone51 to pre-occupation in less morbid52 matters, that he must have in the unfortunate Whimple and ease upon him his burden of annoyance53.
“Tell me,” said he. “Do you know anything of this man Breeds by reputation?”
“I know—yes, sir; I have heard of him.”
“Oh! for heaven’s sake, man, give a straightforward54 answer for once. I ask you what is his reputation?”
“Again and again. Isn’t it a mere slander57 to impute58 evil and back from specifying59 it? What is he charged with?”
“And is it on that account you make a sealed coffin61 of ‘Delsrop’ o’ nights and would have me suffocate62 in my bedroom?”
“Is it, I say?” persisted his master.
“Yes, sir—indeed—that is—oh, sir! ’tis an old habit with me. The house is isolated—dark; it lies in the shadow—my God! in what a shadow.”
Mr. Tuke stared in positive amazement65. Was the fellow crazed like his sister? A pretty thing if he should discover himself the keeper of a private lunatic asylum66.
“Control your emotions,” he said coolly. Whimple’s lips were trembling. The man had permitted himself an outburst of which for hours he would feel the effects.
“I would ask you,” said Mr. Tuke, with an irrepressible little sneer—“if the question is unexciting—when did the present owner of the ‘Dog and Duck’ come into possession?”
“’Twas last Martinmas, sir. The tavern then had been long to let. ’Twas last Martinmas.”
“And whence did he come? Do you know?”
“No, sir. I don’t know.”
“Now, Mr. Whimple, I want to ask you another question. Have you any reason to understand what is implied by the Lake of Wine?”
If he had accused the man of murder, the latter could not have gone a more ghastly white, or have more by his expression associated himself with that he disowned. He even staggered a little where he stood; and it was painful to witness his sick effort at self-control.
“None whatever?” echoed Mr. Tuke, closely scrutinizing67 the servant’s face, and interpreting the tortured answer from the motion of his lips.
“Your reply,” he went on, biting as acid, “is convincing, of course. Why should you know? I don’t myself, and I am as much interested in the matter as you, maybe. I only asked, because I seek the clue to a mystery that vents68 itself in strange visits, and secret interviews, and unaccountable sounds at night. Then, too, there is a footprint on the flower-bed under the hall-window this morning; but what of that when I have a caretaker so zealous69 and so scrupulous? Only, I take some amusement out of puzzles; but I am impatient, and very apt, at the last, to cut a knot that bothers me with a bullet. You can go.”
He had to repeat his permission before the servant seemed to understand and to gather the nerve to retreat. But, the moment he was vanished, the baronet clapped his hand on the table, with an oath.
“The fellow is in the league against me, whatever it is!” he cried in inward fierceness; and his soul rejoiced that at last it had some tangible38 justification70 for its innate71 antipathy72 to the man.
It was patent that this Lake of Wine was the clue to the riddle73 and the pass-word of the conspirators74. But with the last how deeply was the caretaker involved; and to what extent was he to be depended on in the performance of his nightly services? Probably his officiousness in that respect was employed as a blind. Not probably was his habitual75 nervousness assumed. In greatest likelihood he was in weak process of corruption—one hand held to his duty, the other to his interest; and, if this were so, no doubt was as to which way his constitutional depravity would eventually decide him to incline.
Then would it be wise to here and now give him short shrift of notice, and so rid the house of an incubus76 and an embarrassment? Scarcely; for so should he—Robert Tuke—not only advertise himself in apprehension77 of his surroundings, whereby his enemies might be tempted78 to a bolder policy; but he should drive from his camp an informer, whose uses, so long as he assumed himself undetected, must all be for his intended victim.
No; the fellow must stay for the present, and be treated with a show of consideration, too; else would mistrust awakened79 in him greatly complicate80 the situation.
It was a maddening hotch-potch of confusion; the more so as all this fabric81 of suspicion, being builded on conjecture82, might at any moment resolve itself into thin air.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
wriggled
|
|
| v.扭动，蠕动，蜿蜒行进( wriggle的过去式和过去分词 )；（使身体某一部位）扭动；耍滑不做，逃避（应做的事等） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
descended
|
|
| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
slippered
|
|
| 穿拖鞋的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
curiously
|
|
| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
shutters
|
|
| 百叶窗( shutter的名词复数 )； （照相机的）快门 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
bent
|
|
| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
erect
|
|
| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
gasping
|
|
| adj. 气喘的, 痉挛的 动词gasp的现在分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
embarrassment
|
|
| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
situated
|
|
| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
veal
|
|
| n.小牛肉 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
bibulous
|
|
| adj.高度吸收的，酗酒的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
axe
|
|
| n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
catering
|
|
| n. 给养 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
rogues
|
|
| n.流氓( rogue的名词复数 )；无赖；调皮捣蛋的人；离群的野兽 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
entirely
|
|
| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
perfectly
|
|
| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
eliciting
|
|
| n. 诱发, 引出 动词elicit的现在分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
anguish
|
|
| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
snug
|
|
| adj.温暖舒适的，合身的，安全的；v.使整洁干净，舒适地依靠，紧贴；n.（英）酒吧里的私房 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
mere
|
|
| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
winced
|
|
| 赶紧避开，畏缩( wince的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
premises
|
|
| n.建筑物，房屋 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
jovially
|
|
| adv.愉快地，高兴地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
conspire
|
|
| v.密谋，（事件等）巧合，共同导致 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
travail
|
|
| n.阵痛；努力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
beads
|
|
| n.（空心）小珠子( bead的名词复数 )；水珠；珠子项链 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
perspiration
|
|
| n.汗水；出汗 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
scrutiny
|
|
| n.详细检查，仔细观察 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
hoarse
|
|
| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
compensate
|
|
| vt.补偿，赔偿；酬报 vi.弥补；补偿；抵消 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
guardianship
|
|
| n. 监护, 保护, 守护 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
scrupulous
|
|
| adj.审慎的，小心翼翼的，完全的，纯粹的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
weird
|
|
| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
confirmation
|
|
| n.证实，确认，批准 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
mischief
|
|
| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
tavern
|
|
| n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
tangible
|
|
| adj.有形的，可触摸的，确凿的，实际的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
chimera
|
|
| n.神话怪物；梦幻 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
depressed
|
|
| adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
surmises
|
|
| v.臆测，推断( surmise的第三人称单数 )；揣测；猜想 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
rascal
|
|
| n.流氓；不诚实的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
intrigue
|
|
| vt.激起兴趣，迷住；vi.耍阴谋；n.阴谋，密谋 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
begotten
|
|
| v.为…之生父( beget的过去分词 )；产生，引起 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
undoubtedly
|
|
| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
monstrous
|
|
| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
professed
|
|
| 公开声称的，伪称的，已立誓信教的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
savage
|
|
| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
irritation
|
|
| n.激怒，恼怒，生气 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
entailed
|
|
| 使…成为必要( entail的过去式和过去分词 )； 需要； 限定继承； 使必需 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
prone
|
|
| adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
morbid
|
|
| adj.病的；致病的；病态的；可怕的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
annoyance
|
|
| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
straightforward
|
|
| adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
nought
|
|
| n.／adj.无，零 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
discredit
|
|
| vt.使不可置信；n.丧失信义；不信，怀疑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
slander
|
|
| n./v.诽谤，污蔑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
impute
|
|
| v.归咎于 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
specifying
|
|
| v.指定( specify的现在分词 )；详述；提出…的条件；使具有特性 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
gentry
|
|
| n.绅士阶级，上层阶级 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
coffin
|
|
| n.棺材，灵柩 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
suffocate
|
|
| vt.使窒息，使缺氧，阻碍；vi.窒息，窒息而亡，阻碍发展 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
distressed
|
|
| 痛苦的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
hesitation
|
|
| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
amazement
|
|
| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
asylum
|
|
| n.避难所，庇护所，避难 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
scrutinizing
|
|
| v.仔细检查，详审( scrutinize的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
vents
|
|
| （气体、液体等进出的）孔、口( vent的名词复数 )； （鸟、鱼、爬行动物或小哺乳动物的）肛门； 大衣等的)衩口； 开衩 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
zealous
|
|
| adj.狂热的，热心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
justification
|
|
| n.正当的理由；辩解的理由 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
innate
|
|
| adj.天生的，固有的，天赋的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
antipathy
|
|
| n.憎恶；反感，引起反感的人或事物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
riddle
|
|
| n.谜，谜语，粗筛；vt.解谜，给…出谜，筛，检查，鉴定，非难，充满于；vi.出谜 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
conspirators
|
|
| n.共谋者，阴谋家( conspirator的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
habitual
|
|
| adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
incubus
|
|
| n.负担；恶梦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
apprehension
|
|
| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
tempted
|
|
| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
awakened
|
|
| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
complicate
|
|
| vt.使复杂化，使混乱，使难懂 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
81
fabric
|
|
| n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
82
conjecture
|
|
| n./v.推测，猜测 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |