An hour passed, dragging its linked minutes like a snake crawling lazily in the long grass under the summer sun.
Bess, bound fast to the chair, sat like one weak after a long illness, the sunlight falling on the floor, to be reflected upon the brown beams of the old room. The girl’s face looked white and apathetic1 against the dark background of an old linen-press. Her eyes stared out steadily2 through the window at the green woods bathed in sunshine, and the white clouds sailing slowly north across the infinite azure3 of the June sky. The life fire had burned low in her since Dan had struck her down in the woods. The shock of the night had not yet lifted from her heart. Old Isaac’s pitiless gray eyes still haunted her, and she remembered the gleam of the barrel of the gun.
This same evening she was to have met Jeffray at Holy Cross, and the thought stirred the blood in her a little. She lay back in the chair, resting her head upon the rail, and taking her breath in deeply with slow, sighing inspirations. The memories of her last meeting with Jeffray began to work in her with quickening force. All the sweet complicity of the plot set the cords of her heart vibrating. If he but knew, if he had but guessed how Dan had treated her! If he were only wise as to her present peril4!
With the increasing sense of her own powerlessness the spirit of revolt in her waxed but the more importunate5. Why should she be made the creature of this man’s passions? She seemed to feel again the great fist, swinging with all the brutality6 of the man’s nature, and crashing into her face. All the ignominies of the past weeks rose up to taunt7 and madden her. All her hate and loathing8 waxed fiercer as she thought of her helpless yearning9 towards Jeffray. She began to struggle and twist in the chair, striving to get her teeth to the knots about her wrist. Dan had fastened them down to the front stretcher of the chair, and wrestle10 and strain as she would she could not reach them.
What could she do to free herself from the shame and the dread11 that encompassed12 her? Scream! Yes, but who would hear her, and who would help her if they heard? Ursula? Poor doddering Ursula! Doubtless she had been locked safely in her cottage, and Bess mistrusted the old woman’s courage when Isaac’s will had been declared law. Incensed13 the more by her own thoughts, she struggled again and again with the cords, twisting and straining till the oak chair rocked and creaked. The muscles stood out under the brown skin of her forearms. Her bruised14 lips began to bleed again as she held her breath, struggling and working her body from side to side.
Another hour passed. The bees droned on, the smell of the garden came in upon the breeze. Not a voice reached her from the hamlet. Silence prevailed save for the murmur15 of the insects, the vague rustling16 of the leaves, the steady, mocking tick of the old clock against the wall. The woods rolled up before her, their green splendor17 heightened by the blaze of the June sunlight. The very calm of the place seemed to intensify18 the passionate19 despair in her own heart.
Suddenly some new sound drifted to Bess’s ears. She twisted forward in the chair, straining at the cords. Some one was moving towards the cottage; Bess heard the rustle20 of feet in the long grass. Was it Dan returning, or old Isaac with those pistols in his belt? The footsteps stopped at the garden-gate. Bess could see neither the gate nor the path from where she sat. The latch21 lifted; some one was coming up the brick-paved path. She heard the sound of breathing, the sound of a hand trying the locked door. For a moment silence held. Then with the rustling of clothes against the wall of the cottage a round-backed figure showed blurred22 by the sunlight at the window, a hook-nosed face looked in at Bess through the open lattice.
It was Ursula.
Bess, leaning forward in the chair, stared at the old woman with a swift flooding of blood into her face.
“Is that you, mother?”
Instinctively23 she had chosen the word that she had used to Ursula when she was a child. There was a husky and vibrating wistfulness in the voice that seemed to carry strange and simple pathos24.
Ursula was standing25 at the window, wringing26 her hands together. For two hours past she had been the creature of indecision, halting between fear of Isaac and great dread of the hints that the old man had cast into her ears.
“Mother!”
Ursula began to whimper as she looked in at the girl, the impotence of her dotage27 showing in her face.
“What!—they have bound ye to the chair?”
“I can’t stir, mother.”
“Oh, dear Lord! what shall I do?”
“Are we alone?”
“They be all away save Solomon,” she answered.
Bess’s face strained painfully towards the window.
“Where is Solomon?” she asked.
Ursula still twisted her hands together and peered round her suspiciously.
“Chopping firewood in his shed. I slipped round through the trees. Lord o’ mercy, what’s to be done—what’s to be done!”
Bess’s strength of purpose increased with Ursula’s indecision.
“Mother,” she said, in a whisper.
“Ay, child.”
“Ye’ve always been kind to me. Will ye let them bury me in the forest with a bullet in my heart?”
Ursula began to sway to and fro, pressing her hands to her bosom28, whimpering and muttering like one demented.
“Isaac wanted to shoot me by the Monk’s Grave.”
“He be a fierce man, be Isaac.”
“Dan stood for me then; he’ll not stand for me again. Isaac will shoot me; I’ve seen death in his eyes.”
Ursula stretched herself across the window-sill with her head between her hands. Her distress30 was pitiable in its impotence. Bess watched her, realizing that her one hope rested on the feeble and faltering31 courage of this crooked32 and half-witless creature.
“Climb in through the window.”
“Lord have mercy on me, how can a poor old cripple climb in to ye?”
“Mother, you must.”
“I can’t, I can’t, wench; how can I?”
“Try, now try for Bess’s sake. My blood will be upon you if Isaac has his way.”
The words seemed to strike Ursula full in the face. She stood shaking, blinking her eyes, and working her loose, inturned lips together. Then she thrust her arms over the sill, gripped the wooden ledge35 within, and tried to drag herself to the level of the window. Bess watched the wrinkled and trembling head straining forward upon its yellow neck. The sinews stood out in the sticks of forearms, the feet scraped and worked against the wall. Slowly Ursula dragged herself up and through so that she could get one knee upon the ledge. She lay there panting a moment, looking at Bess.
“Quick, mother, quick!”
Ursula drew her left knee up on to the window-ledge, knelt, and, getting on her feet, crouched36 half within the opening of the lattice. There was a wooden stool under the window. Ursula caught one foot in her petticoat in the descent, lurched forward, and came tumbling on the floor. Her forehead struck the brick-work heavily. For a moment she lay groaning37 and twitching38, Bess gazing at her in an agony of helpless dread.
Ursula was shaken but not stunned39. She struggled up on her hands and knees, looking round her with a vacant pathos that might have appeared ludicrous at any other time. Bess was bending forward in the chair.
“Quick, mother, a knife!”
Ursula picked herself up, and went tottering40 round the room, holding her head between her hands. She moved to the dresser, dragged out one drawer after another, and came back at last with a horn-handled knife in her hand. Bess never shifted her eyes from the old woman’s face.
“My wrist, here, the cord—cut it.”
Ursula tumbled on her knees, sawed at the rope shakily, and stabbed Bess’s wrist in her clumsy fright. The sight of blood startled her. She dropped the knife, and sat on her heels, gaping41 at Bess.
“Cut the rope, mother; ye haven’t hurt me.”
Ursula picked up the knife and sawed at the cord again, Bess straining at it to keep it taut42. Blood was trickling43 slowly down her fingers; that was nothing. Strand44 by strand the thin rope gave under the edge of the knife. A last twist of the girl’s strong arm and her hand was free.
She took the knife from Ursula instantly, cut the cords about her other wrist and ankles, careless of how she hurt herself in her haste. A stifled45 cry came from Ursula as Bess rose free of the oak chair. The old woman had tottered46 forward and fallen in a faint upon the floor.
Bess stood staring at her in mute vexation, then went on her knees beside her, turning Ursula upon her back, and chafing47 her hands. The old woman gave no single sign of consciousness, but lay there with her mouth open and her eyes shut, the pallor of her face contrasting with the red bricks in the floor. Bess gazed at her, hesitating. What should she do? Leave Ursula to Isaac’s anger, and take time and its precious fortune to herself? Solomon Grimshaw might be hanging about the cottage; every moment Bess thought to see a face looking at her through the open lattice.
Desperate, she ran to the window and looked out. The garden seemed asleep in the sunshine; no one was to be seen. In the distance she fancied she could catch the sharp play of Solomon’s bill as he split the pine-boughs in his woodshed. With necessity for her inspiration, she turned back to Ursula, lifted her easily in her strong arms, carried her to the window, and lowered her unceremoniously by her skirts into the garden. Then she climbed out after her, picked Ursula up again, for she was nothing but a sack of skin and bone, and, passing round to the back of the garden, broke away into the woods that rose close about the cottage. Casting a half circle through the trees, breathing hard through her set teeth, and stopping often to listen, she drew towards Ursula’s cottage with the woman still unconscious in her arms. Interminable minutes seemed to pass before she came through the pine-thickets to the cottage, raised the latch of the door, and carried Ursula within.
Bess laid her down on the settle before the fire, and, kneeling, saw that Ursula showed signs of a return to consciousness. The eyes opened, the hands groped out towards the girl’s face. Bess bent48 and kissed the old woman upon the mouth.
“Mother, mother—”
Ursula stared at her vacantly as though trying to remember what had happened. Bess gave her no moment to delay. She was fearful, and grew more fearful each instant of Dan’s return.
“See, I have brought you back to your own cottage,” she said; “now—I must go. Remember, when Isaac comes back—you know nothing, you have not been near Dan’s house. They may think I broke free by myself.”
Ursula nodded, sighed, and put her hands to her head.
“I’ve saved ye, child,” she said.
“God bless you for it, mother! I must go.”
Bess kissed Ursula again, smoothed her gray hair for her, and, starting up, turned towards the door. She closed it softly after her, and, looking round warily49, darted across the open stretch of grass-land for the farther woods. She would take the path for the Beacon50 Rock, strike across the heath, and reach the road for Rodenham. Her one hope of safety was with Jeffray. He would defend her against Isaac and against Dan.
Bess had barely reached the trees when Solomon Grimshaw sauntered out from the woodshed, wiping his forehead with his bare forearm. He caught sight of Bess as she slipped into the woods, gave a shout, and started after her. Bess heard the shout, stopped, and glanced back over her shoulder. She saw Solomon running towards her, shaking his fist. One look was sufficient. Bess gathered up her skirts and ran, her gray cloak melting away amid the trees, her ankles in their red stockings flashing under her green petticoat. Solomon was but a lame51 old horse; she could out-distance him easily in the woods.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
apathetic
|
|
| adj.冷漠的，无动于衷的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
steadily
|
|
| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
azure
|
|
| adj.天蓝色的，蔚蓝色的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
peril
|
|
| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
importunate
|
|
| adj.强求的；纠缠不休的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
brutality
|
|
| n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
taunt
|
|
| n.辱骂，嘲弄；v.嘲弄 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
loathing
|
|
| n.厌恶，憎恨v.憎恨，厌恶( loathe的现在分词)；极不喜欢 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
yearning
|
|
| a.渴望的；向往的；怀念的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
wrestle
|
|
| vi.摔跤，角力；搏斗；全力对付 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
dread
|
|
| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
encompassed
|
|
| v.围绕( encompass的过去式和过去分词 )；包围；包含；包括 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
incensed
|
|
| 盛怒的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
bruised
|
|
| [医]青肿的，瘀紫的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
murmur
|
|
| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
rustling
|
|
| n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
splendor
|
|
| n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
intensify
|
|
| vt.加强；变强；加剧 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
passionate
|
|
| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
rustle
|
|
| v.沙沙作响；偷盗(牛、马等)；n.沙沙声声 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
latch
|
|
| n.门闩，窗闩；弹簧锁 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
blurred
|
|
| v.（使）变模糊( blur的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）难以区分；模模糊糊；迷离 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
instinctively
|
|
| adv.本能地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
pathos
|
|
| n.哀婉，悲怆 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
standing
|
|
| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
wringing
|
|
| 淋湿的，湿透的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
dotage
|
|
| n.年老体衰；年老昏聩 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
bosom
|
|
| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
meddle
|
|
| v.干预，干涉，插手 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
distress
|
|
| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
faltering
|
|
| 犹豫的，支吾的，蹒跚的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
crooked
|
|
| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
hoarsely
|
|
| adv.嘶哑地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
darted
|
|
| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
ledge
|
|
| n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
crouched
|
|
| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
groaning
|
|
| adj. 呜咽的, 呻吟的 动词groan的现在分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
twitching
|
|
| n.颤搐 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
stunned
|
|
| adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
tottering
|
|
| adj.蹒跚的，动摇的v.走得或动得不稳( totter的现在分词 )；踉跄；蹒跚；摇摇欲坠 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
gaping
|
|
| 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 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
taut
|
|
| adj.拉紧的，绷紧的，紧张的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
trickling
|
|
| n.油画底色含油太多而成泡沫状突起v.滴( trickle的现在分词 )；淌；使)慢慢走；缓慢移动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
strand
|
|
| vt.使（船）搁浅，使（某人）困于（某地） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
stifled
|
|
| （使）窒息， （使）窒闷( stifle的过去式和过去分词 )； 镇压，遏制； 堵 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
tottered
|
|
| v.走得或动得不稳( totter的过去式和过去分词 )；踉跄；蹒跚；摇摇欲坠 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
chafing
|
|
| n.皮肤发炎v.擦热（尤指皮肤）( chafe的现在分词 )；擦痛；发怒；惹怒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
bent
|
|
| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
warily
|
|
| adv.留心地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
beacon
|
|
| n.烽火，（警告用的）闪火灯，灯塔 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
lame
|
|
| adj.跛的，(辩解、论据等)无说服力的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |