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CHAPTER XXII. THE RIDE HOME.
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A scream of terror broke from Lizzie’s lips when she saw her aunt fall back fainting, but she did not know the cause. Neither did Frank or Mr. Legare. Not even had Mr. W——, who sat talking with Frank, heard her repeat the name: “Jessie Albemarle.”
 
Only Hattie Butler had heard it, and seen that her agitation1 commenced only when told who the likeness2 had been taken from, and though a lightning flash could not have passed quicker than a certain thought crossed her mind, she dare not utter it then or there.
 
“Quick, some water!” she cried, retaining her presence of mind perfectly3, as she held the head of the swooning lady on her bosom4, “and some cologne—hartshorn—anything pungent5. She has fainted!”
 
“Frank, run for our family doctor, quick! He lives but a block away. Go yourself—don’t send a servant!” cried Mr. Legare, and he hurried to get iced water from a pitcher6 in the room, while Lizzie ran to her room after cologne and ammonia.
 
But the swoon seemed so death-like that Hattie was alarmed. She began to fear that it was death. She forced a little water between the white lips, and bathed the good lady’s temples with cologne, while by her directions Lizzie put ammonia on her handkerchief and held it under her nostrils7.
 
When the doctor arrived, in less than ten minutes, these active efforts had barely produced a tremulous sign of life.
 
[110]
 
“Let her be conveyed instantly to bed!” was the doctor’s first order. “It is one of her old nervous spasms8, and they grow dangerous. She must remain perfectly quiet, free from all excitement, when she is restored to consciousness. She will soon come to. The color is coming back to her cheeks.”
 
Mrs. Emory was carried to a chamber9 on the same floor, and Lizzie and Hattie prepared her for rest, not allowing a servant to come near, and then Hattie, fearing she would be questioned by the invalid10, before others, when it might not really be the wish of Mrs. Emory, expressed a wish to go home, saying she would come again should Mrs. Emory desire it. She would not reach her boarding-house, as it was, much before ten o’clock.
 
“You’ll come to see me again, will you not, dear? For I do love you so!” said Lizzie, when Mr. Legare ordered his carriage to the door to take Hattie to her boarding-house.
 
“Yes—I hope so. I wish I had a fit place to receive your visits in, but I fear you would be ashamed of me in my little bedroom.”
 
“No, no, now that I know you, I wouldn’t be ashamed of you anywhere. I’ll go to the bindery to see you, if Mr. W—— will permit visitors there.”
 
And Lizzie looked appealingly at him.
 
“I surely shall ever be glad to see you at the bindery, and Miss Hattie will not be chided for any time she spends with you, either here or there, nor will her salary be lessened11.”
 
“Oh, you good soul! Frank always said you were one of nature’s noblemen,” cried the impulsive12 girl.
 
“I thank Frank for his good words,” said Mr. W——, laughing, yet blushing at the same time.
 
The doctor came down just before Hattie started,[111] and said Mrs. Emory was better, but very weak. She begged that Miss Butler would come and see her on the afternoon of to-morrow, when she hoped she would be well; at least able to sit up and receive her. She was much afflicted13 with the palpitation of the heart, and this now followed her fainting spell.
 
Hattie, told by Mr. W—— that she could have all the time she wished, sent word to Mrs. Emory that she would come, and now, escorted by Frank, Lizzie and their father, she went down to the carriage. Mr. W—— accompanied, for he was to see her safely to her boarding-house, and then ride home in the carriage.
 
A kind good-night from all of the Legares went with the poor working girl, and it seemed as if they really regarded her visit as a favor, though through the sudden illness of Mrs. Emory it had turned out sadly.
 
Mr. W—— was silent and thoughtful during the brief time taken by the swift horses to draw the carriage to Miss Scrimp’s door. Without a doubt his mind was upon the letter then in Hattie’s pocket, and what might be her answer.
 
She was thinking of Mrs. Emory, and what had caused her sudden pallor and terrible agitation, resulting in a swoon at the mere14 mention of the name of poor little Jessie Albemarle. Could it be that a brighter future was about to dawn for the poor little bound girl?
 
Ten strokes of the great clock bell on St. Paul’s, echoed all over the city by other clocks, told Hattie Butler that the hour for closing was up, just as the carriage stopped in front of Miss Scrimp’s door.
 
Hattie did not know that Miss Scrimp had been[112] waiting and watching at that door for almost an hour, peeping through the crack, for it was not quite closed, to see how and with whom she would return. But this was a fact. And when the street lamp close by shone on the grand carriage and noble horses, with their gold-mounted harness, Miss Scrimp saw, with envy rankling15 in her heart, the tall footman leap down and open the carriage door, and Mr. W——, even him on whom she had bent16 longing17 thoughts, hand Hattie Butler out with his gloved hands, as daintily as if she were a princess and he a lord in waiting.
 
There was a courteous18 “good-night” passed between Hattie and her escort, then he sprang into the carriage, and it was driven off, while Hattie ran lightly up the old stone steps in front of the house and laid her hand on the bell-pull.
 
“Oh, you needn’t yank at that bell!” cried Miss Scrimp, throwing the door open. “It’s after hours, but I was up, and a-waitin’ for you!”
 
“You did not have to wait long, Miss Scrimp. Not half the city clocks are yet done striking ten. I may be thirty seconds late by the City Hall!”
 
“Long enough, in a chilly19 night like this. Where have you been?”
 
“You have no right to ask, Miss Scrimp. But having nothing to conceal20, I will reply—to Mr. Legare’s, on Fifth-avenue.”
 
“Sakes alive. What did them grand folks want of you?”
 
“To take tea with them, and to purchase a few drawings of mine for a thousand dollars!” said Hattie, well knowing this last stroke would almost annihilate21 Miss Scrimp.
 
“Sakes alive! you’re joking!” screamed Miss[113] Scrimp, snatching up the hand-lamp she had left on the hall table.
 
“Does that look like a joke?” asked Hattie, and she placed the thousand-dollar check which Mr. Legare had handed to her after tea, right under Miss Scrimp’s cross-eyes.
 
“Mercy on me! You’ll never go the bindery no more, will you?”
 
“Yes, I shall go there to my work in the morning, just as I always do,” said Hattie, and she was off up stairs before Miss Scrimp could ask another question.
 
“Well, well! Wonders will never stop a-comin’!” ejaculated Miss Scrimp. “If I hadn’t seen her go in the carriage and come in the carriage, and seen Mr. W—— help her out, I wouldn’t have believed my eyes. One thousand dollars—in a real check, too—I knew it soon as I saw it. Aren’t I dreamin’?”
 
She actually bit her finger to see if she was awake or not.
 
Then she sighed.
 
“It’s luck. Some people are always havin’ luck,” she said. “Here have I been a-makin’ and a-savin’, a-scrimpin’ and a-studyin’ all the time for forty years or more, and I haven’t had a bit o’ luck. It’s all been hard, stupid work. And that baby-faced thing will jump right into a fortune, I’ll bet, and like as not marry that handsome book-bindery man right before my face and eyes. Sakes alive! it chokes me to think of it. If I wasn’t afraid of what might happen I’d spoil her beauty for her. I’d put arsenic22 into her tea, or pison her some way. She a-ridin’ around with my man, that ought to be, in a carriage, while I stand here a-shiverin’ like a thief in a corner a-waitin’ for her. But I mustn’t make her[114] mad. She has got a thousand dollars, and I’ll raise on her board, and make her come down, too. She can afford it, and she shall.”
 
Miss Scrimp said this vehemently23, and then shuffled24 up stairs to her own room.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 agitation TN0zi     
n.搅动;搅拌;鼓动,煽动
参考例句:
  • Small shopkeepers carried on a long agitation against the big department stores.小店主们长期以来一直在煽动人们反对大型百货商店。
  • These materials require constant agitation to keep them in suspension.这些药剂要经常搅动以保持悬浮状态。
2 likeness P1txX     
n.相像,相似(之处)
参考例句:
  • I think the painter has produced a very true likeness.我认为这位画家画得非常逼真。
  • She treasured the painted likeness of her son.她珍藏她儿子的画像。
3 perfectly 8Mzxb     
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
  • Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。
4 bosom Lt9zW     
n.胸,胸部;胸怀;内心;adj.亲密的
参考例句:
  • She drew a little book from her bosom.她从怀里取出一本小册子。
  • A dark jealousy stirred in his bosom.他内心生出一阵恶毒的嫉妒。
5 pungent ot6y7     
adj.(气味、味道)刺激性的,辛辣的;尖锐的
参考例句:
  • The article is written in a pungent style.文章写得泼辣。
  • Its pungent smell can choke terrorists and force them out of their hideouts.它的刺激性气味会令恐怖分子窒息,迫使他们从藏身地点逃脱出来。
6 pitcher S2Gz7     
n.(有嘴和柄的)大水罐;(棒球)投手
参考例句:
  • He poured the milk out of the pitcher.他从大罐中倒出牛奶。
  • Any pitcher is liable to crack during a tight game.任何投手在紧张的比赛中都可能会失常。
7 nostrils 23a65b62ec4d8a35d85125cdb1b4410e     
鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Her nostrils flared with anger. 她气得两个鼻孔都鼓了起来。
  • The horse dilated its nostrils. 马张大鼻孔。
8 spasms 5efd55f177f67cd5244e9e2b74500241     
n.痉挛( spasm的名词复数 );抽搐;(能量、行为等的)突发;发作
参考例句:
  • After the patient received acupuncture treatment,his spasms eased off somewhat. 病人接受针刺治疗后,痉挛稍微减轻了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The smile died, squeezed out by spasms of anticipation and anxiety. 一阵阵预测和焦虑把她脸上的微笑挤掉了。 来自辞典例句
9 chamber wnky9     
n.房间,寝室;会议厅;议院;会所
参考例句:
  • For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说,牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
  • The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。
10 invalid V4Oxh     
n.病人,伤残人;adj.有病的,伤残的;无效的
参考例句:
  • He will visit an invalid.他将要去看望一个病人。
  • A passport that is out of date is invalid.护照过期是无效的。
11 lessened 6351a909991322c8a53dc9baa69dda6f     
减少的,减弱的
参考例句:
  • Listening to the speech through an interpreter lessened its impact somewhat. 演讲辞通过翻译的嘴说出来,多少削弱了演讲的力量。
  • The flight to suburbia lessened the number of middle-class families living within the city. 随着迁往郊外的风行,住在城内的中产家庭减少了。
12 impulsive M9zxc     
adj.冲动的,刺激的;有推动力的
参考例句:
  • She is impulsive in her actions.她的行为常出于冲动。
  • He was neither an impulsive nor an emotional man,but a very honest and sincere one.他不是个一冲动就鲁莽行事的人,也不多愁善感.他为人十分正直、诚恳。
13 afflicted aaf4adfe86f9ab55b4275dae2a2e305a     
使受痛苦,折磨( afflict的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • About 40% of the country's population is afflicted with the disease. 全国40%左右的人口患有这种疾病。
  • A terrible restlessness that was like to hunger afflicted Martin Eden. 一阵可怕的、跟饥饿差不多的不安情绪折磨着马丁·伊登。
14 mere rC1xE     
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过
参考例句:
  • That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
  • It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。
15 rankling 8cbfa8b9f5516c093f42c116712f049b     
v.(使)痛苦不已,(使)怨恨不已( rankle的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • Yet the knowledge imparted to him by the chambermaid was rankling in his mind. 可是女仆告诉他的消息刺痛着他的心。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
16 bent QQ8yD     
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的
参考例句:
  • He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
  • We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。
17 longing 98bzd     
n.(for)渴望
参考例句:
  • Hearing the tune again sent waves of longing through her.再次听到那首曲子使她胸中充满了渴望。
  • His heart burned with longing for revenge.他心中燃烧着急欲复仇的怒火。
18 courteous tooz2     
adj.彬彬有礼的,客气的
参考例句:
  • Although she often disagreed with me,she was always courteous.尽管她常常和我意见不一,但她总是很谦恭有礼。
  • He was a kind and courteous man.他为人友善,而且彬彬有礼。
19 chilly pOfzl     
adj.凉快的,寒冷的
参考例句:
  • I feel chilly without a coat.我由于没有穿大衣而感到凉飕飕的。
  • I grew chilly when the fire went out.炉火熄灭后,寒气逼人。
20 conceal DpYzt     
v.隐藏,隐瞒,隐蔽
参考例句:
  • He had to conceal his identity to escape the police.为了躲避警方,他只好隐瞒身份。
  • He could hardly conceal his joy at his departure.他几乎掩饰不住临行时的喜悦。
21 annihilate Peryn     
v.使无效;毁灭;取消
参考例句:
  • Archer crumpled up the yellow sheet as if the gesture could annihilate the news it contained.阿切尔把这张黄纸揉皱,好象用这个动作就会抹掉里面的消息似的。
  • We should bear in mind that we have to annihilate the enemy.我们要把歼敌的重任时刻记在心上。
22 arsenic 2vSz4     
n.砒霜,砷;adj.砷的
参考例句:
  • His wife poisoned him with arsenic.他的妻子用砒霜把他毒死了。
  • Arsenic is a poison.砒霜是毒药。
23 vehemently vehemently     
adv. 热烈地
参考例句:
  • He argued with his wife so vehemently that he talked himself hoarse. 他和妻子争论得很激烈,以致讲话的声音都嘶哑了。
  • Both women vehemently deny the charges against them. 两名妇女都激烈地否认了对她们的指控。
24 shuffled cee46c30b0d1f2d0c136c830230fe75a     
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
参考例句:
  • He shuffled across the room to the window. 他拖着脚走到房间那头的窗户跟前。
  • Simon shuffled awkwardly towards them. 西蒙笨拙地拖着脚朝他们走去。 来自《简明英汉词典》


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