CHAPTER XLIV.

Two days later Olga zu Lynar was seated by her fireside in the home of her choice in the Swabian Alb, where the March day had none of the sunlight and fragrance¹ of Monte Carlo. Snow was still deep in the passes of the hills, and blocks of ice were breaking up on all the rivers. The great oak and pine-woods were black against heavy storm clouds, and enclosed the landscape on all sides save one, where they were cleft² abruptly³ by a narrow gorge⁴, which alone gave access to the world beyond.

 

The news of her father’s end at Monte Carlo had intensified⁵ the melancholy⁶ of her thoughts. She had always hoped whilst he lived that some revelation, some atonement, might come from him.

 

He was dead; and death carries with it its own depression, its own hopelessness. Death in her father’s case seemed to her intensified in horror, because it was the end of a base, valueless, miserable⁷ life. It filled her with the same sort of despair which Hurstmanceaux had felt on hearing that Cocky was dying at Staghurst.

 

Nothing could be undone⁸; nothing could be atoned⁹ for; nothing could be explained: he was dead in a gambling¹⁰ place; and had left no message for her. The German consul¹¹ had telegraphed to her that there had been no papers found anywhere except the official declarations of his birth and rank.

 

She had never expected anything, and yet now that he was dead, in unforgiving and unconfessing silence, she felt as if some added hopelessness settled down on her. She was still young in years, she had the kind of beauty which never wholly passes away, she had wealth, and she could have found many who would have willingly aided her to forget and make her life anew. But she had no wish to do so. She was proud, and she would not have returned to the world on sufferance, to be pointed¹² out and whispered about. She preferred the sombre, mediæval[552] loneliness of her Swabian solitude¹³, where the household honored and the peasantry loved her. To them she was the Countess Olga zu Lynar, whom they had served and cherished and admired ever since she had been a young child riding through the forests and climbing up the braes. For them she was the daughter of their dear and revered¹⁴ lady; of Prince Khris they had known little. Their affection and respect were feudal¹⁵; and if any stranger had said an injurious word of her in the woods round Schloss Lynar, he would have found a deep and a sure grave in the rushing waters of their mountain streams.

 

Here, if she did not find peace, she found what most resemble it: security, repose¹⁶, and uninterrupted thought.

 

The death of her father rudely disturbed that calmness, because it awakened¹⁷ the passion and sorrows of the past as a single rifleshot would wake all the sleeping echoes of the hills and woods.

 

She sat beside the hearth¹⁸, a boarhound stretched out in the warmth at her feet; the dull grey day seeming evening as its light came through the panes¹⁹ of the deep mullioned windows. Where she sat was the old Rittersaäl of the castle, with the armor, the shields, and the banners of a hundred forgotten battles ranged down the oaken walls. She had touched nothing. She had left it all as her grandfather had found and left it. It was gloomy, but she liked the gloom. It hurt her less than light and movement and modern luxuries, which were in such cruelly ironical²⁰ mockery of her own sorrow.

 

As she sat thus, her long cloth fur-bordered skirts falling about her feet, and the fire light shining on her face, the dog sprang up with a loud rolling bark and rushed from the hall. She heard wheels on the rarely used and lonely drive, which passed round under the trees to the chief entrance on the other side of the house.

 

Who could it be? No one ever came there except some man of business. No doubt it was some consul, or some lawyer, come to speak of Prince Khristof’s funeral, and be paid for it.

 

But she heard a voice say in the outer hall beyond in speaking to the dog:

 

“What Oscar, good Oscar, have you not forgotten?”

 

[553]The sound of the voice made her heart stand still.

 

It was eight long years since she had heard it. Was she sane²¹? Was she in her senses? Did she only dream, awake, as she had so often dreamed in sleep all vainly?

 

She stood in the centre of the great dark hall and saw, as through a mist, a person enter. She saw him put back the servants with a gesture, she saw him turn and close the door and remain motionless, the dog leaping upon him; but she saw it all as in a cloud, as though many, many miles away, and she felt that it was only a vision which would fade and pass, like so many other visions of her lonely nights.

 

He who had entered hesitated still some moments; then he drew nearer.

 

“Olga,” he said timidly: “Olga, can you forgive?”

 

She fell forward insensible into his outstretched arms.

 

She had dreamed vainly of reunion for so long; and at last the dream had come true.

1 fragrance   

n.芬芳，香味，香气

参考例句：

• The apple blossoms filled the air with their fragrance.苹果花使空气充满香味。
• The fragrance of lavender filled the room.房间里充满了薰衣草的香味。

2 cleft   

n.裂缝；adj.裂开的

参考例句：

• I hid the message in a cleft in the rock.我把情报藏在石块的裂缝里。
• He was cleft from his brother during the war.在战争期间，他与他的哥哥分离。

3 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

4 gorge   

n.咽喉，胃，暴食，山峡；v.塞饱，狼吞虎咽地吃

参考例句：

• East of the gorge leveled out.峡谷东面地势变得平坦起来。
• It made my gorge rise to hear the news.这消息令我作呕。

5 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 melancholy   

n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的

参考例句：

• All at once he fell into a state of profound melancholy.他立即陷入无尽的忧思之中。
• He felt melancholy after he failed the exam.这次考试没通过，他感到很郁闷。

7 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

8 undone   

a.未做完的，未完成的

参考例句：

• He left nothing undone that needed attention.所有需要注意的事他都注意到了。

9 atoned   

v.补偿，赎（罪）( atone的过去式和过去分词 )；补偿，弥补，赎回

参考例句：

• He atoned for his sin with life. 他以生命赎罪。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• She had atoned for everything by the sacrifice she had made of her life. 她用牺牲生命来抵偿了一切。 来自辞典例句

10 gambling   

n.赌博；投机

参考例句：

• They have won a lot of money through gambling.他们赌博赢了很多钱。
• The men have been gambling away all night.那些人赌了整整一夜。

11 consul   

n.领事；执政官

参考例句：

• A consul's duty is to help his own nationals.领事的职责是帮助自己的同胞。
• He'll hold the post of consul general for the United States at Shanghai.他将就任美国驻上海总领事(的职务)。

12 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

13 solitude   

n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方

参考例句：

• People need a chance to reflect on spiritual matters in solitude. 人们需要独处的机会来反思精神上的事情。
• They searched for a place where they could live in solitude. 他们寻找一个可以过隐居生活的地方。

14 revered   

v.崇敬，尊崇，敬畏( revere的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• A number of institutions revered and respected in earlier times have become Aunt Sally for the present generation. 一些早年受到尊崇的惯例，现在已经成了这代人嘲弄的对象了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Chinese revered corn as a gift from heaven. 中国人将谷物奉为上天的恩赐。 来自辞典例句

15 feudal   

adj.封建的，封地的，领地的

参考例句：

• Feudal rulers ruled over the country several thousand years.封建统治者统治这个国家几千年。
• The feudal system lasted for two thousand years in China.封建制度在中国延续了两千年之久。

16 repose   

v.(使)休息；n.安息

参考例句：

• Don't disturb her repose.不要打扰她休息。
• Her mouth seemed always to be smiling,even in repose.她的嘴角似乎总是挂着微笑，即使在睡眠时也是这样。

17 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：

• She awakened to the sound of birds singing. 她醒来听到鸟的叫声。
• The public has been awakened to the full horror of the situation. 公众完全意识到了这一状况的可怕程度。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 hearth   

n.壁炉炉床，壁炉地面

参考例句：

• She came and sat in a chair before the hearth.她走过来，在炉子前面的椅子上坐下。
• She comes to the hearth,and switches on the electric light there.她走到壁炉那里，打开电灯。

19 panes   

窗玻璃( pane的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sun caught the panes and flashed back at him. 阳光照到窗玻璃上，又反射到他身上。
• The window-panes are dim with steam. 玻璃窗上蒙上了一层蒸汽。

20 ironical   

adj.讽刺的，冷嘲的

参考例句：

• That is a summary and ironical end.那是一个具有概括性和讽刺意味的结局。
• From his general demeanour I didn't get the impression that he was being ironical.从他整体的行为来看，我不觉得他是在讲反话。

21 sane   

adj.心智健全的，神志清醒的，明智的，稳健的

参考例句：

• He was sane at the time of the murder.在凶杀案发生时他的神志是清醒的。
• He is a very sane person.他是一个很有头脑的人。