That same evening while Bess sat bound in Dan’s cottage in the deeps of Pevensel, there was much weighing of words in the dining-room at Hardacre.
Dr. Jessel, rector and chaplain, sat at the polished table, with paper, ink, and pouncet-box before him, and a much-nibbled quill1 in his fist. For years he had acted as the confidential2 scribe and scholarly supervisor3 of letters to the household of Hardacre, and he had been called in that morning to prepare a certain epistle, guided by the baronet’s personal discretion4. Sir Peter faced the parson across the table, and advised him magisterially5 as to the contents of the letter.
Mr. Lancelot was pacing the room behind his father’s chair, cocking his sword under his coat-tails, expanding his chest and swinging his shoulders with an air of exuberant6 self-satisfaction. He appeared to feel no little contempt for Parson Jessel and the baronet as they squabbled and argued over the phrasing of this momentous7 letter. The parson’s classic and elegant style was not flexible and fierce enough to adapt itself to Sir Peter’s temper. The chaplain was a diplomat8 and a literary sycophant9 by nature. His Ciceronian taste revolted from Sir Peter’s blunt and brutal10 methods of expression.
The baronet leaned back at last with his thumbs in his waistcoat-pockets, hiccoughed, and regarded Jessel with evident irritation11.
“Put it down, Jessel,” he said; “put it down—I say. I ain’t going to draw my ale mild for fear of scalding the young scoundrel’s stomach. Call a blackguard a blackguard, sir, when he deserves it. You’re too damned polite, Jessel. Give it him hot on the last page. I’m right there, ain’t I, Lot?”
Mr. Lancelot came to a halt behind his father’s chair, fixed12 his eyes on the parson’s face, and upheld Sir Peter.
“Put in plenty of brimstone, Jessel,” he said. “Rub it in, man—rub it in.”
“That’s the tune13, Lot,” said the baronet, warmly. “I’m dry to the lungs with haggling14 with ye. Confound this scholarly niceness, I say! Call a cur a cur, sir, and have done with it.”
The chaplain screwed up his mouth with a whimsical expression of resignation, shook his wig15, and put pen to paper. He scratched away for a minute or so to the baronet’s dictation, finished with a flourish, shook the pouncet-box over the page, and leaned back in his chair with the letter in his hand.
“Shall I read the epistle to you, gentlemen?” he asked, clearing his throat.
“Ay, fire away,” quoth Sir Peter; “it ought to be as good as swearing at the young devil in person.”
Dr. Jessel proceeded to the reading of the letter with full nasal unction, striving to crush its literary crudities beneath an episcopalic diction. Sir Peter twinkled and beamed, gurgling and patting his stomach suggestively when some very palatable16 sentence tickled17 his native sense of humor. Mr. Lot leaned his elbows on the back of his father’s chair, and joined heartily18 in the old gentleman’s enjoyment19 of the word-feast. At the conclusion of Dr. Jessel’s essay in declamation20 the baronet exploded with characteristic gusto.
“Deuce take it, sir, that ought to make the young devil shake in his shoes. He’ll feel a bit liverish after our brimstone, Jessel, eh? Seal it up, man. And may a good lifter on the rump go with it.”
The chaplain sealed up the letter gracefully21, and delivered it with a bow to Mr. Lot.
“May you shine, sir,” he said, “as the noble Achilles shone before Troy.”
Mr. Lot swaggered to the sideboard, poured himself out a glass of wine, and tossed it down with an emphatic22 tilt23 of the elbow.
“You’ll do, Lot—you’ll do,” said the baronet.
Mr. Hardacre appeared troubled by no doubts as to the triumph of his cause.
“The lad will just crawl, sir,” he said; “he ain’t fit for anything but scribbling24 verses.”
Love and hate being thus romantically mingled25, Bess’s woodland tenderness and Jilian’s sickly spite, Providence26, that cup-bearer to kings and peasants, prepared to deliver the goblet27 into Jeffray’s hands. Nor was there a league between the two influences as they approached the man that day; Bess skipping brown-footed over the heather, the Hardacre coach rolling with its heroic burden over the rough and dusty road.
Richard Jeffray, abandoning Wilson to Butler’s “Hudibras” and a pipe of Virginia in the library, had turned out to wander in the park. He was to meet Bess at Holy Cross that evening, and the vexed28 riddle29 with him was the riddle of the future. The thunder-cloud that he knew must be gathering30 at Hardacre loomed31 to his imagination across the northern sky. He would see the lightnings of the Sussex Zeus flashing vengeance32 out of the heavens. Lot Hardacre was not the demigod to remain idle for lack of bluster33. He would descend34 upon Rodenham, strut35 and swagger, ruffle36 it like any scoundrel modelled upon the manhood of old White Friars.
The Hardacre problem was plain enough to him; its solution rested on a frank flouting37 of Mr. Lancelot’s tyranny. With Bess, however, Jeffray’s thoughts found themselves groping through twilight38 towards a distant dawn. The play had opened with all the fair inevitableness that makes for tragedy. How was it to be developed? Above all, how was it to end? Three alternatives met Jeffray at the moment. Renunciation, mere39 intrigue40, and a grand defying of the gods.
Turning back at last towards the house, whose tall chimney-stacks and gables glimmered41 between the chestnuts42 and the cedars43 of the park, Jeffray followed a path that led by a rough bridge over a brook44 into a short stretch of woodland on the side of the hill. It appeared to be a fragment of the old forest of the weald that had escaped through the centuries from the iron-founder’s furnaces. The oaks stood at a noble distance from one another, the short and mighty45 boles breaking into the giant grandeur46 of their knotted limbs. The sweeping47 canopies48 of foliage49 rolled and met from tree to tree. Beneath them bracken grew. Beyond, panels of blue sky and silvery landscape closed in this sylvan50 temple of old Time.
As Jeffray idled through the wood he heard a voice calling him suddenly by name. The cry startled him as though it had echoed the voices of his inmost thoughts. He started back, looked, and saw a woman’s figure moving towards him under the trees. She came on swiftly, a kind of tired endurance on her face, her eyes turned steadily51 towards him, like the eyes of one straining towards sanctuary52. It was Bess.
Jeffray felt the hot blood streaming to his face. He went forward to meet her, the green-wood filling for him with a double mystery. Bess held out a hand towards him. He saw that she looked white and tired, her eyes shining in her pale face with the fever of some strong emotion. He marked her bruised53 lips, the strip of blood-stained linen54 round her wrist. The girl’s face told him that something grim had happened.
She came straight to him with no hesitating look, came to him as though he were the one man on earth whom she could trust. Her strength seemed to fail her when she was within reach of Jeffray’s hands. She tottered55 and caught her breath. In a moment the man’s arms were holding her. The impulse justified56 him, as did the tired head that drooped57 towards his shoulder.
“What has happened, Bess? Tell me everything.”
Jeffray’s eyes had lost all the shadows of indecision. The girl was leaning on him, trusting her womanhood within his arms.
“Bess.”
“Ah—!”
It was a great sigh of contentment that escaped her. Jeffray’s arms drew yet closer. He would not have loosed her at that moment had twenty Lots set their swords at his throat.
“Tell me, Bess, what has happened.”
He spoke58 with the quiet tenderness of a man sure of his own strength. She turned up her face and looked at him wearily, yet with a shimmer59 of mystery in her eyes.
“I have half-discovered a secret.”
“The brooch?”
“I cannot tell the meaning of it yet. They caught me, Dan and Isaac, watching them uncovering money in the woods. It was last night, and I had followed Dan, and Isaac tried to shoot me, but Dan saved me then.”
“Yes, yes.”
“They brought me back to the cottage, and left me tied to a chair. Ursula came and cut the rope while they were away, and so—I escaped and came to you.”
She hung with a kind of happy languor60 in the man’s arms now that her heart could unburden itself of all bitterness. The mouth had softened61 and was no longer petulant62. Their eyes held each other in one long, steady look. Neither desired to have it otherwise.
“Bess.”
She thrilled a little, and colored under her brown skin.
“You are safe with me.”
“You will not send me away? You will not send me away?”
Jeffray drew a deep breath, and knew in his heart that the riddle was solving itself as he had prayed.
“How can I send you away from me?” he said.
“Mr. Jeffray!”
“Do you not know? My God, I ought not to speak to you like this! And yet—I cannot help myself.”
“It is the dream,” she said. “We cannot help it; no, we cannot kill the truth.”
“The dream?”
“The dream I had on the saint’s night of you at Holy Cross. It has come true, in spite of Dan. I would not change it for all the gold in the wide world.”
Suddenly she put Jeffray’s arms gently away from her, and drew apart with a simple dignity that preserved her womanhood from any air of wantonness. Jeffray felt the subtle change in her, and respected her the more for it.
He took his inspiration from her on the instant.
“Bess,” he said, “do with me what you will. My honor is yours. You will trust me?”
She smiled at him, a soft light of pride and joy shining in her eyes.
“I will do all that you tell me,” she answered, with a sense of dependence64.
“You are tired.”
“No, not now.”
So engrossed65 were they with each other that neither Bess nor Jeffray had heard the distant sound of wheels as the Hardacre coach rolled up from the lodge-gates towards the priory. The road was hidden from the two in the oak-wood. Only the gables and the tall chimneys showed between the trunks of the trees.
Jeffray took the path that led through beech-thickets to the north wall of the great garden. Bess set herself at his side as though this slightly built man held the threads of her fate firmly in his delicate yet sinewy66 hands. They walked together under the trees with the sunlight splashing through the fresh, green foliage, Bess telling Jeffray of her night’s adventure in Pevensel, and of the perils67 she had dared thereby68.
They crossed the wooded hollow of the park, and entered the garden by a little gate in the red brick wall. To Jeffray the whole passage seemed a dream—strange, tragic69, yet infinitely70 sweet. His hand touched Bess’s as they walked side by side amid the rose-trees. His fingers closed on hers for one swift moment, tightened71 as his eyes met hers, and then relaxed with pure regret. They approached the stairway leading to the terrace, holding a little apart, yet very conscious of each other’s nearness.
On the top step of the stair Jeffray halted suddenly. A coach was standing72 on the gravel73 drive before the house. On the terrace, not twenty paces away, and walking towards them, came Lot Hardacre with Mr. Robert Beaty at his side. Jeffray turned to Bess, but realized in an instant that all hope of concealment74 had gone. He pointed75 her to a stone seat at the end of the terrace, and, gathering his dignity, walked on to meet Lot Hardacre.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
quill
|
|
| n.羽毛管；v.给（织物或衣服）作皱褶 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
confidential
|
|
| adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
supervisor
|
|
| n.监督人，管理人，检查员，督学，主管，导师 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
discretion
|
|
| n.谨慎；随意处理 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
magisterially
|
|
| adv.威严地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
exuberant
|
|
| adj.充满活力的；（植物）繁茂的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
momentous
|
|
| adj.重要的，重大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
diplomat
|
|
| n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
sycophant
|
|
| n.马屁精 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
brutal
|
|
| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
irritation
|
|
| n.激怒，恼怒，生气 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
fixed
|
|
| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
tune
|
|
| n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
haggling
|
|
| v.讨价还价( haggle的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
wig
|
|
| n.假发 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
palatable
|
|
| adj.可口的，美味的；惬意的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
tickled
|
|
| （使）发痒( tickle的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）愉快，逗乐 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
heartily
|
|
| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
enjoyment
|
|
| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
declamation
|
|
| n. 雄辩，高调 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
gracefully
|
|
| ad.大大方方地；优美地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
emphatic
|
|
| adj.强调的，着重的；无可置疑的，明显的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
tilt
|
|
| v.(使)倾侧；(使)倾斜；n.倾侧；倾斜 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
scribbling
|
|
| n.乱涂[写]胡[乱]写的文章[作品]v.潦草的书写( scribble的现在分词 )；乱画；草草地写；匆匆记下 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
mingled
|
|
| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
providence
|
|
| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
goblet
|
|
| n.高脚酒杯 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
vexed
|
|
| adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
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： |
|
|
|
|
30
gathering
|
|
| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
loomed
|
|
| v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
vengeance
|
|
| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
bluster
|
|
| v.猛刮；怒冲冲的说；n.吓唬，怒号；狂风声 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
descend
|
|
| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
strut
|
|
| v.肿胀，鼓起；大摇大摆地走；炫耀；支撑；撑开；n.高视阔步；支柱，撑杆 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
ruffle
|
|
| v.弄皱，弄乱；激怒，扰乱；n.褶裥饰边 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
flouting
|
|
| v.藐视，轻视( flout的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
twilight
|
|
| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
mere
|
|
| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
intrigue
|
|
| vt.激起兴趣，迷住；vi.耍阴谋；n.阴谋，密谋 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
glimmered
|
|
| v.发闪光，发微光( glimmer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
chestnuts
|
|
| n.栗子( chestnut的名词复数 )；栗色；栗树；栗色马 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
cedars
|
|
| 雪松，西洋杉( cedar的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
brook
|
|
| n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
mighty
|
|
| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
grandeur
|
|
| n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
sweeping
|
|
| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
canopies
|
|
| （宝座或床等上面的）华盖( canopy的名词复数 )； （飞行器上的）座舱罩； 任何悬于上空的覆盖物； 森林中天棚似的树荫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
foliage
|
|
| n.叶子，树叶，簇叶 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
sylvan
|
|
| adj.森林的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
steadily
|
|
| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
sanctuary
|
|
| n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
bruised
|
|
| [医]青肿的，瘀紫的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
linen
|
|
| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
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： |
|
|
|
|
56
justified
|
|
| a.正当的，有理的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
drooped
|
|
| 弯曲或下垂，发蔫( droop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
spoke
|
|
| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
shimmer
|
|
| v./n.发微光，发闪光；微光 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
languor
|
|
| n.无精力，倦怠 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
softened
|
|
| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
petulant
|
|
| adj.性急的，暴躁的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
bosom
|
|
| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
dependence
|
|
| n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
engrossed
|
|
| adj.全神贯注的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
sinewy
|
|
| adj.多腱的，强壮有力的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
perils
|
|
| 极大危险( peril的名词复数 )； 危险的事（或环境） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
thereby
|
|
| adv.因此，从而 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
tragic
|
|
| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
infinitely
|
|
| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
tightened
|
|
| 收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）变紧； （使）绷紧； 加紧 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
standing
|
|
| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
gravel
|
|
| n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
concealment
|
|
| n.隐藏, 掩盖，隐瞒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
pointed
|
|
| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |