Now, before Mr. Tuke was called upon to reap the full embarrassment1 arising from that impulsive2 confession3 of his to Miss Royston, events came to so crowd themselves upon the little stage of his history as that he was spared what might have been otherwise a very complicated situation. For, indeed, he had not thought in what matter Betty Pollack, unchaperoned and living, so to speak, under his protection, was to find her due of respect from his servants and of consideration from his guests.
In this latter question, however, when he came to face it, he was to suffer relief of his apprehensions4 in a treatment that was, nevertheless, a little galling5; for, whether from offended dignity, or from any policy of indifference6, Miss Royston made no allusion7 to the subject before others, and, indeed, to all appearance, gave herself no least concern about it. Still, Betty’s honour being his, and his desire great that she should be placed by no private selfishness in a false position, he was determined8 at the first convenient opportunity to proclaim her his betrothed9.
With regard to the present predicament, the morning of his restoration to his friends saw much barren counsel and a dearth10 of decision. Therefore, dispensing11 with informal advice, he went to examine his defences and his commissariat. Given his adequate garrison12, the former were impregnable to any assault the rogues13 could venture; and, locked in the coach-house was such store of fallow-deer meat as would provision the company for months. The difficulty of feeding these poor brutes14 was a matter that bothered him. They may have been a score in number; and, should they once eat him out of hay and corn, there would be nothing for it but to make a battue of them, and salt or smoke as much of their flesh as circumstances would permit. As for the human needs, his larder15 was for the present well stocked.
For protective purposes he could now number in all—not counting Dunlone and the women—six men and a boy, a fighting strength sufficient to justify16 him in taking action on his own account, did he care to risk the lives of honest people in so indifferent a business. He did not, of course. What need was there to put a termination to conditions whose favour was all for the besieged17? And he was conscious, moreover, of that weakness of his party that lay in a lack of fire-arms. Three fowling-pieces and a brace18 of duelling pistols—such was his artillery19, and a very limited supply of ammunition20 to the back of it.
But they could afford to lie, and snugly21, in these their winter quarters till the snow should melt. When he came to look at the great drifts piled all about the house; when he had made himself acquainted with the excellence22 of Master Cutwater’s defences; when he compared his position with that of the ruffians in their broken sty, and thought of the improvidence23 of the typical bravo, and of how there, in the lodge24, food and fire would be sure to fail in the course of a day or two—he could only marvel25 at the audacity26 of villainy that could ever have dreamed of prevailing27 in a contest of such unequal forces—of the desperate courage, or the magnificence of a cupidity28, that could still wait on in the face of so stubbornly forlorn a hope. Yet surely, were Fern once acquainted of the extent of his opponent’s resources, he would elect to withdraw his troop of cut-throats.
Still, he would not concede anything to a sense of security. He had had his sufficient lesson, and he took his little garrison in hand masterfully. The guns he committed to Sir David, to Jim, and the elder groom29, while he and Luvaine took a pistol apiece. A guard was constantly posted upon the roof, and another in the hall, and every man was enjoined30 to be awake to surprises of whatever description.
Satisfied on all these points, he could condescend31 to some relapse into the social conditions; and three o’clock saw him ushering32 his company into the dining-hall, where a meal was served.
The master of the house was the last to enter the room, and he led in by the hand no less a person than his pretty maid of the inn. Miss Royston stared amazed at the sight; but Betty herself—a very Hebe, for all her homely33 gown—looked ready to burst into tears. For any shame-faced agony she might suffer, her dear lord’s word was become a thing to be answered to like a whistle to a dog; and at his nod she sank into a chair at his right hand and drooped34 her sweet head, while he stood erect35, the light shining on his face.
“I wish to tell you all,” he said, in a clear, bold voice, “that this lady hath included herself in her gift to me of my life, and that we are plighted36 maid and man.”
Angela fell back in her chair, very white and smiling.
“For what we are about to receive,” she whispered to the Viscount who sat next to her. “Why does the creature take us into his confidence? We will accent the lady’s character on trust, though she dips her fingers into the dish.”
“He’s always so cursed convinced we’re thinking about him,” said the lord.
But Sir David Blythewood was risen to his feet, and faced his Bohemian friend with a wrathful face.
“The times excuse some jesting,” he began.
“I am in dead earnest, Blythewood.”
“Then, so am I, sir; and I’ll beg the favour of a word with you by and by.”
“At your pleasure. And now, having called the grace, we’ll drink the soup.”
At all this Luvaine looked plentifully37 surprised. He stared from one to the other of the company with his melancholy38 frown; and of a sudden he was on his feet.
“Since none will congratulate you, sir,” he said, “I will venture the statement that I never read man’s happiness in a purer face. I know nothing but this; and I drink the lady’s fair health with all my heart.”
Here in truth was an unexpected champion. With a radiant smile Tuke turned to one of the gaping39 servants.
The poor girl shot a timid, grateful glance across the table. Her eyes swam with tears. For her, indeed, the ordeal41 was the severest. Gifted with a natural grace of refinement42, she yet would hardly venture to eat or drink, lest she should offend by some little solecism against taste. She would not question her lord’s insistence43 that she should come and sit at his table and take her right rank that was to be the mistress of it; but, oh! how she had longed to be spared the trial until he had loved her and coaxed44 her and disciplined her into a grave knowledge of the proprieties45.
And, for himself, he was not long in recognizing how his impulsiveness46 had again thrown him at the jump. For, to satisfy his own scruples47 of high-mindedness, he had submitted his sweet maid to insult and his guests to embarrassment; and there the situation stuck, and a very awkward and unappetizing one it was.
The meal passed to a stiff accompaniment of formalities of both speech and behaviour. Angela assumed, perhaps, a superlative manner of deportment, and she laughed extremely, on a high note, at some very stupid things Dunlone said to her. It would have been all dreadfully prosaic48 and worldly, had not a touch of tragedy been introduced suddenly from a quite unexpected quarter.
The wine had been placed on the table and the servants were withdrawn49, when Tuke was aware that the crazed girl had come into the room and was standing50 motionless behind his chair. He turned sharply round. Darda, her hands clasped at her back, was gazing at him with an intense look.
“What is it?” he said. “Have you news?”
“Oh! yes,” she answered, nodding her head—“bad news—very, very bad.”
He thought he saw an expression in her eyes that was strange to him, though he fancied himself familiar with most of her moods.
“Tell it me,” he said, hastily rising—to the good fortune of one of the company.
“Don’t you know ’twas I tried to save you?” she asked him in a low voice. “But there was something false—the shadow; it was the shadows that were false. Are you going to throw me away for that? How could I help it? I did my best. You were enchanted51, and I walked singing into the castle of the giants to save you; and when I came you were flown. Who tempted52 you away?”
“Go now, Darda,” he said gently. “I will talk to you by and by.”
“I must know first. They said; but my brain burst like glass, and then I could not remember.”
He took a step towards her; but she backed from him, and cried out in a sudden triumphant53 voice:
“I can tell her!—the white woman who would set her wit against steel. See now if she can!”
In a moment she had snapped her hands to the front—and a bright blade was in one of them—and she was running to where Miss Angela was seated at the table.
Tuke was upon the mad creature’s heels—his hand clutched at her shoulder. The lady, unconscious that she was the destined54 victim, was only turned about in her chair with a curious face. It all passed in an instant—a very dramatic episode. The vicious arm lunged out—the pursuer struck up—there flashed an arc of light as the blade somersaulted in the shine of the candles, and there broke a shrill55 scream and a jarring flurry of chair-legs as the company scrambled56 to its feet. Then were to be seen Darda standing passively in the grasp of her captor, and the victim fallen into a faint against the shoulder of her neighbour, who looked down upon her with a face all quivering with fright and fury.
And: “Curse me!” cried Lord Dunlone; “why doesn’t somebody come and take her? I never was in such a nest of cursed brigands57 in my life before.”
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1
embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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impulsive
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| adj.冲动的，刺激的；有推动力的 | |
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confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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apprehensions
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| 疑惧 | |
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galling
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| adj.难堪的,使烦恼的,使焦躁的 | |
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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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allusion
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| n.暗示，间接提示 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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betrothed
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| n. 已订婚者 动词betroth的过去式和过去分词 | |
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dearth
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| n.缺乏，粮食不足，饥谨 | |
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dispensing
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| v.分配( dispense的现在分词 )；施与；配（药） | |
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12
garrison
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| n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防 | |
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13
rogues
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| n.流氓( rogue的名词复数 )；无赖；调皮捣蛋的人；离群的野兽 | |
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14
brutes
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| 兽( brute的名词复数 )； 畜生； 残酷无情的人； 兽性 | |
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larder
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| n.食物贮藏室，食品橱 | |
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16
justify
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| vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护 | |
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besieged
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| 包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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18
brace
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| n. 支柱,曲柄,大括号; v. 绷紧,顶住,(为困难或坏事)做准备 | |
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19
artillery
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| n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队) | |
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ammunition
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| n.军火，弹药 | |
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21
snugly
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| adv.紧贴地；贴身地；暖和舒适地；安适地 | |
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22
excellence
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| n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德 | |
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improvidence
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| n.目光短浅 | |
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24
lodge
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| v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆 | |
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25
marvel
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| vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事 | |
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26
audacity
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| n.大胆，卤莽，无礼 | |
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prevailing
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| adj.盛行的；占优势的；主要的 | |
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28
cupidity
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| n.贪心，贪财 | |
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29
groom
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| vt.给（马、狗等）梳毛，照料，使...整洁 | |
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30
enjoined
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| v.命令( enjoin的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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31
condescend
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| v.俯就，屈尊；堕落，丢丑 | |
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32
ushering
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| v.引，领，陪同( usher的现在分词 ) | |
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33
homely
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| adj.家常的，简朴的；不漂亮的 | |
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34
drooped
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| 弯曲或下垂，发蔫( droop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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36
plighted
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| vt.保证，约定（plight的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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37
plentifully
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| adv. 许多地，丰饶地 | |
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38
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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39
gaping
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| adj.口的；张口的；敞口的；多洞穴的v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的现在分词 )；张开，张大 | |
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40
rim
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| n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界 | |
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41
ordeal
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| n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验 | |
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42
refinement
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| n.文雅；高尚；精美；精制；精炼 | |
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43
insistence
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| n.坚持；强调；坚决主张 | |
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44
coaxed
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| v.哄，用好话劝说( coax的过去式和过去分词 )；巧言骗取；哄劝，劝诱 | |
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45
proprieties
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| n.礼仪，礼节；礼貌( propriety的名词复数 )；规矩；正当；合适 | |
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46
impulsiveness
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| n.冲动 | |
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47
scruples
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| n.良心上的不安( scruple的名词复数 )；顾虑，顾忌v.感到于心不安，有顾忌( scruple的第三人称单数 ) | |
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48
prosaic
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| adj.单调的，无趣的 | |
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49
withdrawn
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| vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出 | |
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50
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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51
enchanted
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| adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
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52
tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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53
triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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54
destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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55
shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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56
scrambled
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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57
brigands
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| n.土匪，强盗( brigand的名词复数 ) | |
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