At dinner that evening Madame de Chantelle's slendermonologue was thrown out over gulfs of silence. Owen wasstill in the same state of moody1 abstraction as when Darrowhad left him at the piano; and even Anna's face, to herfriend's vigilant2 eye, revealed not, perhaps, a personalpreoccupation, but a vague sense of impending3 disturbance4.
She smiled, she bore a part in the talk, her eyes dwelt onDarrow's with their usual deep reliance; but beneath thesurface of her serenity5 his tense perceptions detected ahidden stir.
He was sufficiently6 self-possessed to tell himself that itwas doubtless due to causes with which he was not directlyconcerned. He knew the question of Owen's marriage was soonto be raised, and the abrupt7 alteration8 in the young man'smood made it seem probable that he was himself the centre ofthe atmospheric9 disturbance, For a moment it occurred toDarrow that Anna might have employed her afternoon inpreparing Madame de Chantelle for her grandson's impendingannouncement; but a glance at the elder lady's uncloudedbrow showed that he must seek elsewhere the clue to Owen'staciturnity and his step-mother's concern. Possibly Annahad found reason to change her own attitude in the matter,and had made the change known to Owen. But this, again, wasnegatived by the fact that, during the afternoon's shooting,young Leath had been in a mood of almost extravagantexpansiveness, and that, from the moment of his late returnto the house till just before dinner, there had been, toDarrow's certain knowledge, no possibility of a private talkbetween himself and his step-mother.
This obscured, if it narrowed, the field of conjecture10; andDarrow's gropings threw him back on the conclusion that hewas probably reading too much significance into the moods ofa lad he hardly knew, and who had been described to him assubject to sudden changes of humour. As to Anna's fanciedperturbation, it might simply be due to the fact that shehad decided11 to plead Owen's cause the next day, and hadperhaps already had a glimpse of the difficulties awaitingher. But Darrow knew that he was too deep in his ownperplexities to judge the mental state of those about him.
It might be, after all, that the variations he felt in thecurrents of communication were caused by his own inwardtremor.
Such, at any rate, was the conclusion he had reached when,shortly after the two ladies left the drawing-room, he badeOwen good-night and went up to his room. Ever since therapid self-colloquy which had followed on his first sight ofSophy Viner, he had known there were other questions to befaced behind the one immediately confronting him. On thescore of that one, at least, his mind, if not easy, wasrelieved. He had done what was possible to reassure12 thegirl, and she had apparently13 recognized the sincerity14 of hisintention. He had patched up as decent a conclusion as hecould to an incident that should obviously have had nosequel; but he had known all along that with the securing ofMiss Viner's peace of mind only a part of his obligation wasdischarged, and that with that part his remaining duty wasin conflict. It had been his first business to convince thegirl that their secret was safe with him; but it was farfrom easy to square this with the equally urgent obligationof safe-guarding Anna's responsibility toward her child.
Darrow was not much afraid of accidental disclosures. Bothhe and Sophy Viner had too much at stake not to be on theirguard. The fear that beset15 him was of another kind, and hada profounder source. He wanted to do all he could for thegirl, but the fact of having had to urge Anna to confideEffie to her was peculiarly repugnant to him. His own ideasabout Sophy Viner were too mixed and indeterminate for himnot to feel the risk of such an experiment; yet he foundhimself in the intolerable position of appearing to press iton the woman he desired above all others to protect...
Till late in the night his thoughts revolved16 in a turmoil17 ofindecision. His pride was humbled18 by the discrepancybetween what Sophy Viner had been to him and what he hadthought of her. This discrepancy19, which at the time hadseemed to simplify the incident, now turned out to be itsmost galling20 complication. The bare truth, indeed, was thathe had hardly thought of her at all, either at the time orsince, and that he was ashamed to base his judgement of heron his meagre memory of their adventure.
The essential cheapness of the whole affair--as far as hisshare in it was concerned--came home to him with humiliatingdistinctness. He would have liked to be able to feel that,at the time at least, he had staked something more on it,and had somehow, in the sequel, had a more palpable loss toshow. But the plain fact was that he hadn't spent a pennyon it; which was no doubt the reason of the prodigious21 scoreit had since been rolling up. At any rate, beat about thecase as he would, it was clear that he owed it to Anna--andincidentally to his own peace of mind--to find some way ofsecuring Sophy Viner's future without leaving her installedat Givre when he and his wife should depart for their newpost.
The night brought no aid to the solving of this problem; butit gave him, at any rate, the clear conviction that no timewas to be lost. His first step must be to obtain from MissViner the chance of another and calmer talk; and he resolvedto seek it at the earliest hour.
He had gathered that Effie's lessons were preceded by anearly scamper22 in the park, and conjecturing23 that hergoverness might be with her he betook himself the nextmorning to the terrace, whence he wandered on to the gardensand the walks beyond.
The atmosphere was still and pale. The muffled24 sunlightgleamed like gold tissue through grey gauze, and the beechalleys tapered26 away to a blue haze27 blent of sky and forest.
It was one of those elusive28 days when the familiar forms ofthings seem about to dissolve in a prismatic shimmer29.
The stillness was presently broken by joyful30 barks, andDarrow, tracking the sound, overtook Effie flying down oneof the long alleys25 at the head of her pack. Beyond her hesaw Miss Viner seated near the stone-rimmed basin besidewhich he and Anna had paused on their first walk to theriver.
The girl, coming forward at his approach, returned hisgreeting almost gaily31. His first glance showed him that shehad regained32 her composure, and the change in her appearancegave him the measure of her fears. For the first time hesaw in her again the sidelong grace that had charmed hiseyes in Paris; but he saw it now as in a painted picture.
"Shall we sit down a minute?" he asked, as Effie trottedoff.
The girl looked away from him. "I'm afraid there's not muchtime; we must be back at lessons at half-past nine.""But it's barely ten minutes past. Let's at least walk alittle way toward the river."She glanced down the long walk ahead of them and then backin the direction of the house. "If you like," she said in alow voice, with one of her quick fluctuations33 of colour; butinstead of taking the way he proposed she turned toward anarrow path which branched off obliquely34 through the trees.
Darrow was struck, and vaguely35 troubled, by the change inher look and tone. There was in them an undefinable appeal,whether for help or forbearance he could not tell. Then itoccurred to him that there might have been somethingmisleading in his so pointedly36 seeking her, and he felt amomentary constraint37. To ease it he made an abrupt dash atthe truth.
"I came out to look for you because our talk of yesterdaywas so unsatisfactory. I want to hear more about you--aboutyour plans and prospects38. I've been wondering ever sincewhy you've so completely given up the theatre."Her face instantly sharpened to distrust. "I had to live,"she said in an off-hand tone.
"I understand perfectly39 that you should like it here--for atime." His glance strayed down the gold-roofed windingsahead of them. "It's delightful40: you couldn't be betterplaced. Only I wonder a little at your having so completelygiven up any idea of a different future."She waited for a moment before answering: "I suppose I'mless restless than I used to be.""It's certainly natural that you should be less restlesshere than at Mrs. Murrett's; yet somehow I don't seem to seeyou permanently41 given up to forming the young.""What--exactly--DO you seem to see me permanently givenup to? You know you warned me rather emphatically againstthe theatre." She threw off the statement withoutimpatience, as though they were discussing together the fateof a third person in whom both were benevolently42 interested.
Darrow considered his reply. "If I did, it was because youso emphatically refused to let me help you to a start."She stopped short and faced him "And you think I may let younow?"Darrow felt the blood in his cheek. He could not understandher attitude--if indeed she had consciously taken one, andher changes of tone did not merely reflect the involuntaryalternations of her mood. It humbled him to perceive oncemore how little he had to guide him in his judgment43 of her.
He said to himself: "If I'd ever cared a straw for her Ishould know how to avoid hurting her now"--and hisinsensibility struck him as no better than a vulgarobtuseness. But he had a fixed44 purpose ahead and could onlypush on to it.
"I hope, at any rate, you'll listen to my reasons. There'sbeen time, on both sides, to think them over since----" Hecaught himself back and hung helpless on the "since":
whatever words he chose, he seemed to stumble amongreminders of their past.
She walked on beside him, her eyes on the ground. "Then I'mto understand--definitely--that you DO renew youroffer?" she asked"With all my heart! If you'll only let me----"She raised a hand, as though to check him. "It's extremelyfriendly of you--I DO believe you mean it as a friend--but I don't quite understand why, finding me, as you say, sowell placed here, you should show more anxiety about myfuture than at a time when I was actually, and ratherdesperately, adrift.""Oh, no, not more!""If you show any at all, it must, at any rate, be fordifferent reasons.--In fact, it can only be," she went on,with one of her disconcerting flashes of astuteness46, "forone of two reasons; either because you feel you ought tohelp me, or because, for some reason, you think you owe itto Mrs. Leath to let her know what you know of me."Darrow stood still in the path. Behind him he heard Effie'scall, and at the child's voice he saw Sophy turn her headwith the alertness of one who is obscurely on the watch.
The look was so fugitive47 that he could not have said whereinit differed from her normal professional air of having herpupil on her mind.
Effie sprang past them, and Darrow took up the girl'schallenge.
"What you suggest about Mrs. Leath is hardly worthanswering. As to my reasons for wanting to help you, a gooddeal depends on the words one uses to define ratherindefinite things. It's true enough that I want to helpyou; but the wish isn't due to...to any past kindness onyour part, but simply to my own interest in you. Why notput it that our friendship gives me the right to intervenefor what I believe to be your benefit?"She took a few hesitating steps and then paused again.
Darrow noticed that she had grown pale and that there wererings of shade about her eyes.
"You've known Mrs. Leath a long time?" she asked himsuddenly.
He paused with a sense of approaching peril48. "A long time--yes.""She told me you were friends--great friends""Yes," he admitted, "we're great friends.""Then you might naturally feel yourself justified49 in tellingher that you don't think I'm the right person for Effie."He uttered a sound of protest, but she disregarded it. "Idon't say you'd LIKE to do it. You wouldn't: you'd hateit. And the natural alternative would be to try to persuademe that I'd be better off somewhere else than here. Butsupposing that failed, and you saw I was determined50 to stay?
THEN you might think it your duty to tell Mrs. Leath."She laid the case before him with a cold lucidity51. "Ishould, in your place, I believe," she ended with a littlelaugh.
"I shouldn't feel justified in telling her, behind yourback, if I thought you unsuited for the place; but I shouldcertainly feel justified," he rejoined after a pause, "intelling YOU if I thought the place unsuited to you.""And that's what you're trying to tell me now?""Yes; but not for the reasons you imagine.""What, then, are your reasons, if you please?""I've already implied them in advising you not to give upall idea of the theatre. You're too various, too gifted,too personal, to tie yourself down, at your age, to thedismal drudgery52 of teaching.""And is THAT what you've told Mrs. Leath?"She rushed the question out at him as if she expected totrip him up over it. He was moved by the simplicity53 of thestratagem.
"I've told her exactly nothing," he replied.
"And what--exactly--do you mean by 'nothing'? You and shewere talking about me when I came into her sitting-roomyesterday."Darrow felt his blood rise at the thrust.
"I've told her, simply, that I'd seen you once or twice atMrs. Murrett's.""And not that you've ever seen me since?""And not that I've ever seen you since...""And she believes you--she completely believes you?"He uttered a protesting exclamation54, and his flush reflecteditself in the girl's cheek.
"Oh, I beg your pardon! I didn't mean to ask you that." Shehalted, and again cast a rapid glance behind and ahead ofher. Then she held out her hand. "Well, then, thank you--and let me relieve your fears. I sha'n't be Effie'sgoverness much longer."At the announcement, Darrow tried to merge55 his look ofrelief into the expression of friendly interest with whichhe grasped her hand. "You really do agree with me, then?
And you'll give me a chance to talk things over with you?"She shook her head with a faint smile. "I'm not thinking ofthe stage. I've had another offer: that's all."The relief was hardly less great. After all, his personalresponsibility ceased with her departure from Givre.
"You'll tell me about that, then--won't you?"Her smile flickered56 up. "Oh, you'll hear about it soon...Imust catch Effie now and drag her back to the blackboard."She walked on for a few yards, and then paused again andconfronted him. "I've been odious57 to you--and not quitehonest," she broke out suddenly.
"Not quite honest?" he repeated, caught in a fresh wave ofwonder.
"I mean, in seeming not to trust you. It's come over meagain as we talked that, at heart, I've always KNOWN Icould..."Her colour rose in a bright wave, and her eyes clung to hisfor a swift instant of reminder45 and appeal. For the samespace of time the past surged up in him confusedly; then aveil dropped between them.
"Here's Effie now!" she exclaimed.
He turned and saw the little girl trotting58 back to them, herhand in Owen Leath's.
Even through the stir of his subsiding59 excitement Darrow wasat once aware of the change effected by the young man'sapproach. For a moment Sophy Viner's cheeks burned redder;then they faded to the paleness of white petals60. She lost,however, nothing of the bright bravery which it was her wayto turn on the unexpected. Perhaps no one less familiarwith her face than Darrow would have discerned the tensionof the smile she transferred from himself to Owen Leath, orhave remarked that her eyes had hardened from misty61 grey toa shining darkness. But her observer was less struck bythis than by the corresponding change in Owen Leath. Thelatter, when he came in sight, had been laughing and talkingunconcernedly with Effie; but as his eye fell on Miss Vinerhis expression altered as suddenly as hers.
The change, for Darrow, was less definable; but, perhaps forthat reason, it struck him as more sharply significant.
Only--just what did it signify? Owen, like Sophy Viner, hadthe kind of face which seems less the stage on whichemotions move than the very stuff they work in. In momentsof excitement his odd irregular features seemed to growfluid, to unmake and remake themselves like the shadows ofclouds on a stream. Darrow, through the rapid flight of theshadows, could not seize on any specific indication offeeling: he merely perceived that the young man wasunaccountably surprised at finding him with Miss Viner, andthat the extent of his surprise might cover all manner ofimplications.
Darrow's first idea was that Owen, if he suspected that theconversation was not the result of an accidental encounter,might wonder at his step-mother's suitor being engaged, atsuch an hour, in private talk with her little girl'sgoverness. The thought was so disturbing that, as the threeturned back to the house, he was on the point of saying toOwen: "I came out to look for your mother." But, in thecontingency he feared, even so simple a phrase might seemlike an awkward attempt at explanation; and he walked on insilence at Miss Viner's side. Presently he was struck bythe fact that Owen Leath and the girl were silent also; andthis gave a new turn to his thoughts. Silence may be asvariously shaded as speech; and that which enfolded Darrowand his two companions seemed to his watchful62 perceptions tobe quivering with cross-threads of communication. At firsthe was aware only of those that centred in his own troubledconsciousness; then it occurred to him that an equalactivity of intercourse63 was going on outside of it.
Something was in fact passing mutely and rapidly betweenyoung Leath and Sophy Viner; but what it was, and whither ittended, Darrow, when they reached the house, was but justbeginning to divine...
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moody
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| adj.心情不稳的，易怒的，喜怒无常的 | |
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vigilant
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| adj.警觉的，警戒的，警惕的 | |
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impending
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| a.imminent, about to come or happen | |
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disturbance
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| n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调 | |
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serenity
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| n.宁静，沉着，晴朗 | |
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sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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abrupt
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| adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的 | |
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alteration
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| n.变更，改变；蚀变 | |
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atmospheric
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| adj.大气的，空气的；大气层的；大气所引起的 | |
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conjecture
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| n./v.推测，猜测 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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reassure
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| v.使放心，使消除疑虑 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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sincerity
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| n.真诚，诚意；真实 | |
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beset
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| v.镶嵌；困扰，包围 | |
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revolved
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| v.（使）旋转( revolve的过去式和过去分词 )；细想 | |
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turmoil
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| n.骚乱，混乱，动乱 | |
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humbled
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| adj. 卑下的，谦逊的，粗陋的 vt. 使 ... 卑下，贬低 | |
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discrepancy
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| n.不同；不符；差异；矛盾 | |
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galling
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| adj.难堪的,使烦恼的,使焦躁的 | |
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prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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scamper
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| v.奔跑，快跑 | |
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conjecturing
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| v. & n. 推测，臆测 | |
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muffled
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| adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
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alleys
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| 胡同，小巷( alley的名词复数 )； 小径 | |
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tapered
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| adj. 锥形的，尖削的，楔形的，渐缩的，斜的 动词taper的过去式和过去分词 | |
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haze
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| n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊 | |
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elusive
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| adj.难以表达(捉摸)的；令人困惑的；逃避的 | |
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shimmer
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| v./n.发微光，发闪光；微光 | |
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joyful
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| adj.欢乐的，令人欢欣的 | |
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gaily
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| adv.欢乐地，高兴地 | |
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regained
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| 复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地 | |
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fluctuations
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| 波动，涨落，起伏( fluctuation的名词复数 ) | |
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obliquely
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| adv.斜； 倾斜； 间接； 不光明正大 | |
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vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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pointedly
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| adv.尖地，明显地 | |
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constraint
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| n.(on)约束，限制；限制(或约束)性的事物 | |
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prospects
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| n.希望，前途(恒为复数) | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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permanently
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| adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地 | |
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benevolently
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| adv.仁慈地，行善地 | |
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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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reminder
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| n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示 | |
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astuteness
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| n.敏锐；精明；机敏 | |
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fugitive
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| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 | |
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peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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lucidity
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| n.明朗，清晰，透明 | |
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drudgery
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| n.苦工，重活，单调乏味的工作 | |
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simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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merge
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| v.(使)结合，(使)合并，(使)合为一体 | |
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flickered
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| （通常指灯光）闪烁，摇曳( flicker的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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odious
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| adj.可憎的，讨厌的 | |
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trotting
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| 小跑，急走( trot的现在分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走 | |
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subsiding
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| v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的现在分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
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petals
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| n.花瓣( petal的名词复数 ) | |
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misty
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| adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的 | |
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watchful
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| adj.注意的，警惕的 | |
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intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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