Several miles from the manor1 of Luckenough, upon a hill not far from the seacoast, stood the cottage of the Old Fields.
The property was an appendage2 to the Manor of Luckenoug—, and was at this time occupied by a poor relation of Commodore Waugh, his niece, Mary L'Oiseau, the widow of a Frenchman. Mrs. L'Oiseau had but one child, a little girl, Jacquelina, now about eight or nine years of age.
Commodore Waugh had given them the cottage to live in, permission to make a living, if they could, out of the poor land attached to it. This was all the help he had afforded his poor niece, and all, as she said, that she could reasonably expect from one who had so many dependents. For several years past the little property had afforded her a bare subsistence.
And now this year the long drought had parched3 up her garden and corn-field, and her cows had failed in their yield of milk for the want of grass.
It was upon a dry and burning day, near the last of August, that Mary L'Oiseau and her daughter sat down to their frugal4 breakfast. And such a frugal breakfast! The cheapest tea, with brown sugar, and a corn cake baked upon the griddle, and a little butter—that was all! It was spread upon a plain pine table without a tablecloth6.
The furniture of the room was in keeping—a sanded floor, a chest of drawers, with a small looking-glass, ornamented7 by a sprig of asparagus, a dresser of rough pine shelves on the right of the fireplace, and a cupboard on the left, a half-dozen chip-bottomed chairs, a spinning-wheel, and a reel and jack8, completed the appointments.
"MARY, MY DEAR! I feel as if I had somewhat neglected you, but, the truth is, my arm is not long enough to stretch from Luckenough to Old Fields. That being the case, and myself and Old Hen being rather lonesome since Edith's ungrateful desertion, we beg you to take little Jacko, and come live with us as long as we may live—and of what may come after that we will talk at some time. If you will be ready I will send the carriage for you on Saturday.
"YOUR UNCLE NICK."
Mrs. L'Oiseau read this letter with a changing cheek—when she finished it she folded and laid it aside in silence.
Then she called to her side her child—her Jacquelina—her Sans Souci—as for her gay, thoughtless temper she was called. I should here describe the mother and daughter to you. The mother needs little description—a pale, black-haired, black-eyed woman, who should have been blooming and sprightly10, but that care had damped her spirits, and cankered the roses in her cheeks.
But Jacquelina—Sans Souci—merits a better portrait. She was small and slight for her years, and, though really near nine, would have been taken for six or seven. She was fair-skinned, blue-eyed and golden-haired. And her countenance11, full of spirit, courage and audacity12. As she would dart13 her face upward toward the sun, her round, smooth, highly polished white forehead would seem to laugh in light between its clustering curls of burnished14 gold, that, together with the little, slightly turned-up nose, and short, slightly protruded15 upper lip, gave the charm of inexpressible archness to the most mischievous16 countenance alive. In fact her whole form, features, expression and gestures seemed instinct with mischief17—mischief lurked18 in the kinked tendrils of her bright hair; mischief looked out and laughed in the merry, malicious19 blue eyes; mischief crept slyly over the bows of her curbed20 and ruby21 lips, and mischief played at hide and seek among the rosy22 dimples of her blooming cheeks.
"Now, Jacquelina," said Mrs. L'Oiseau, "you must cure yourself of these hoydenish23 tricks of yours before you expose them to your uncle—remember how whimsical and eccentric he is."
"So am I! Just as whimsical! I'll do him dirt," said the young lady.
"Good heaven! Where did you ever pick up such a phrase, and what upon earth does doing any one 'dirt' mean?" asked the very much shocked lady.
"I mean I'll grind his nose on the ground, I'll hurry him and worry him, and upset him, and cross him, and make him run his head against the wall, and butt5 his blundering brains out. What did he turn Fair Edith away for? Oh! I'll pay him off! I'll settle with him! Fair Edith shan't be in his debt for her injuries very long."
From her pearly brow and pearly cheeks, "Fair Edith" was the name by which the child had heard her cousin once called, and she had called her thus ever since.
Mrs. L'Oiseau answered gravely.
"Your uncle gave Edith a fair choice between his own love and protection, and the great benefits he had in store for her, and the love of a stranger and foreigner, whom he disapproved24 and hated. Edith deliberately25 chose the latter. And your uncle had a perfect right to act upon her unwise decision."
"And for my part, I know he hadn't—all of my own thoughts. Oh! I'll do him—"
"Hush26! Jacquelina. You shall not use such expressions. So much comes of my letting you have your own way, running down to the beach and watching the boats, and hearing the vulgar talk of the fishermen."
On Saturday, at the hour specified27, the carriage came to Old Field Cottage, and conveyed Mrs. L'Oiseau and her child to Luckenough. They were very kindly28 received by the commodore, and affectionately embraced by Henrietta, who conducted them to a pleasant room, where they could lay off their bonnets29, and which they were thenceforth to consider as their own apartment. This was not the one which had been occupied by Edith. Edith's chamber30 had been left undisturbed and locked up by Mrs. Waugh, and was kept ever after sacred to her memory.
The sojourn31 of Mrs. L'Oiseau and Jacquelina at Luckenough was an experiment on the part of the commodore. He did not mean to commit himself hastily, as in the case of his sudden choice of Edith as his heiress. He intended to take a good, long time for what he called "mature deliberation"—often one of the greatest enemies to upright, generous, and disinterested32 action—to hope, faith, and charity, that I know of, by the way. Commodore Waugh also determined33 to have his own will in all things, this time at least. He had the vantage ground now, and was resolved to keep it. He had caught Sans Souci young, before she could possibly have formed even a childish predilection34 for one of the opposite sex, and he was determined to raise and educate a wife for his beloved Grim.
点击收听单词发音
1 manor | |
n.庄园,领地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
2 appendage | |
n.附加物 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
3 parched | |
adj.焦干的;极渴的;v.(使)焦干 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
4 frugal | |
adj.节俭的,节约的,少量的,微量的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
5 butt | |
n.笑柄;烟蒂;枪托;臀部;v.用头撞或顶 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
6 tablecloth | |
n.桌布,台布 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
7 ornamented | |
adj.花式字体的v.装饰,点缀,美化( ornament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
8 jack | |
n.插座,千斤顶,男人;v.抬起,提醒,扛举;n.(Jake)杰克 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
9 devouring | |
吞没( devour的现在分词 ); 耗尽; 津津有味地看; 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
10 sprightly | |
adj.愉快的,活泼的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
11 countenance | |
n.脸色,面容;面部表情;vt.支持,赞同 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
12 audacity | |
n.大胆,卤莽,无礼 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
13 dart | |
v.猛冲,投掷;n.飞镖,猛冲 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
14 burnished | |
adj.抛光的,光亮的v.擦亮(金属等),磨光( burnish的过去式和过去分词 );被擦亮,磨光 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
15 protruded | |
v.(使某物)伸出,(使某物)突出( protrude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
16 mischievous | |
adj.调皮的,恶作剧的,有害的,伤人的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
17 mischief | |
n.损害,伤害,危害;恶作剧,捣蛋,胡闹 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
18 lurked | |
vi.潜伏,埋伏(lurk的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
19 malicious | |
adj.有恶意的,心怀恶意的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
20 curbed | |
v.限制,克制,抑制( curb的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
21 ruby | |
n.红宝石,红宝石色 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
22 rosy | |
adj.美好的,乐观的,玫瑰色的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
23 hoydenish | |
adj.顽皮的,爱嬉闹的,男孩子气的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
24 disapproved | |
v.不赞成( disapprove的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
25 deliberately | |
adv.审慎地;蓄意地;故意地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
26 hush | |
int.嘘,别出声;n.沉默,静寂;v.使安静 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
27 specified | |
adj.特定的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
28 kindly | |
adj.和蔼的,温和的,爽快的;adv.温和地,亲切地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
29 bonnets | |
n.童帽( bonnet的名词复数 );(烟囱等的)覆盖物;(苏格兰男子的)无边呢帽;(女子戴的)任何一种帽子 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
30 chamber | |
n.房间,寝室;会议厅;议院;会所 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
31 sojourn | |
v./n.旅居,寄居;逗留 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
32 disinterested | |
adj.不关心的,不感兴趣的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
33 determined | |
adj.坚定的;有决心的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
34 predilection | |
n.偏好 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
欢迎访问英文小说网 |