ON the afternoon of the same day, Iris1 arrived at the village situated2 in the near neighbourhood of Arthur Mountjoy’s farm.
The infection of political excitement (otherwise the hatred3 of England) had spread even to this remote place. On the steps of his little chapel4, the priest, a peasant himself, was haranguing5 his brethren of the soil. An Irishman who paid his landlord was a traitor6 to his country; an Irishman who asserted his free birthright in the land that he walked on was an enlightened patriot7. Such was the new law which the reverend gentleman expounded8 to his attentive9 audience. If his brethren there would like him to tell them how they might apply the law, this exemplary Christian10 would point to the faithless Irishman, Arthur Mountjoy. “Buy not of him, sell not to him; avoid him if he approaches you; starve him out of the place. I might say more, boys — you know what I mean.”
To hear the latter part of this effort of oratory11, without uttering a word of protest, was a trial of endurance under which Iris trembled. The secondary effect of the priest’s address was to root the conviction of Arthur’s danger with tenfold tenacity12 in her mind. After what she had just heard, even the slightest delay in securing his safety might be productive of deplorable results. She astonished a barefooted boy, on the outskirts13 of the crowd, by a gift of sixpence, and asked her way to the farm. The little Irishman ran on before her, eager to show the generous lady how useful he could be. In less than half an hour, Iris and her maid were at the door of the farm-house. No such civilised inventions appeared as a knocker or a bell. The boy used his knuckles14 instead — and ran away when he heard the lock of the door turned on the inner side. He was afraid to be seen speaking to any living creature who inhabited the “evicted farm.”
A decent old woman appeared, and inquired suspiciously “what the ladies wanted.” The accent in which she spoke15 was unmistakably English. When Iris asked for Mr. Arthur Mountjoy the reply was: “Not at home.” The housekeeper16 inhospitably attempted to close the door. “Wait one moment,” Iris said. “Years have changed you; but there is something in your face which is not quite strange to me. Are you Mrs. Lewson?”
The woman admitted that this was her name. “But how is it that you are a stranger to me?” she asked distrustfully.
“If you have been long in Mr. Mountjoy’s service,” Iris replied, “you may perhaps have heard him speak of Miss Henley?”
Mrs. Lewson’s face brightened in an instant; she threw the door wide open with a glad cry of recognition.
“Come in, Miss, come in! Who would have thought of seeing you in this horrible place? Yes; I was the nurse who looked after you all three — when you and Mr. Arthur and Mr. Hugh were playfellows together.” Her eyes rested longingly17 on her favourite of bygone days. The sensitive sympathies of Iris interpreted that look. She prettily18 touched her cheek, inviting19 the nurse to kiss her. At this act of kindness the poor old woman broke down; she apologised quaintly20 for her tears: “Think, Miss, how I must remember that happy time — when you have not forgotten it.”
Shown into the parlour, the first object which the visitor noticed was the letter that she had written to Arthur lying unopened on the table.
“Then he is really out of the house?” she said with a feeling of relief.
He had been away from the farm for a week or more. Had he received a warning from some other quarter? and had he wisely sought refuge in flight? The amazement21 in the housekeeper’s face, when she heard these questions, pleaded for a word of explanation. Iris acknowledged without reserve the motives22 which had suggested her journey, and asked eagerly if she had been mistaken in assuming that Arthur was in danger of assassination23.
Mrs. Lewson shook her head. Beyond all doubt the young master was in danger. But Miss Iris ought to have known his nature better than to suppose that he would beat a retreat, if all the land-leaguers in Ireland threatened him together. No! It was his bold way to laugh at danger. He had left his farm to visit a friend in the next county; and it was shrewdly guessed that a young lady who was staying in the house was the attraction which had kept him so long away. “Anyhow, he means to come back to-morrow,” Mrs. Lewson said. “I wish he would think better of it, and make his escape to England while he has the chance. If the savages24 in these parts must shoot somebody, I’m here — an old woman that can’t last much longer. Let them shoot me.”
Iris asked if Arthur’s safety was assured in the next county, and in the house of his friend.
“I can’t say, Miss; I have never been to the house. He is in danger if he persists in coming back to the farm. There are chances of shooting him all along his road home. Oh, yes; he knows it, poor dear, as well as I do. But, there!— men like him are such perverse25 creatures. He takes his rides just as usual. No; he won’t listen to an old woman like me; and, as for friends to advise him, the only one of them that has darkened our doors is a scamp who had better have kept away. You may have heard tell of him. The old Earl, his wicked father, used to be called by a bad name. And the wild young lord is his father’s true son.”
“Not Lord Harry26?” Iris exclaimed.
The outbreak of agitation27 in her tone and manner was silently noticed by her maid. The housekeeper did not attempt to conceal28 the impression that had been produced upon her. “I hope you don’t know such a vagabond as that?” she said very seriously. “Perhaps you are thinking of his brother — the eldest29 son — a respectable man, as I have been told?”
Miss Henley passed over these questions without notice. Urged by the interest in her lover, which was now more than ever an interest beyond her control, she said: “Is Lord Harry in danger, on account of his friend?”
“He has nothing to fear from the wretches30 who infest31 our part of the country,” Mrs. Lewson replied. “Report says he’s one of themselves. The police — there’s what his young lordship has to be afraid of, if all’s true that is said about him. Anyhow, when he paid his visit to my master, he came secretly like a thief in the night. And I heard Mr. Arthur, while they were together here in the parlour, loud in blaming him for something that he had done. No more, Miss, of Lord Harry! I have something particular to say to you. Suppose I promise to make you comfortable — will you please wait here till to-morrow, and see Mr. Arthur and speak to him? If there’s a person living who can persuade him to take better care of himself, I do believe it will be you.”
Iris readily consented to wait for Arthur Mountjoy’s return. Left together, while Mrs. Lewson was attending to her domestic duties, the mistress noticed an appearance of pre-occupation in the maid’s face.
“Are you beginning to wish, Rhoda,” she said, “that I had not brought you to this strange place, among these wild people?”
The maid was a quiet amiable32 girl, evidently in delicate health. She smiled faintly. “I was thinking, Miss, of another nobleman besides the one Mrs. Lewson mentioned just now, who seems to have led a reckless life. It was printed in a newspaper that I read before we left London.”
“Was his name mentioned?” Iris asked.
“No, Miss; I suppose they were afraid of giving offence. He tried so many strange ways of getting a living — it was almost like reading a story-book.”
The suppression of the name suggested a suspicion from which Iris recoiled33. Was it possible that her maid could be ignorantly alluding34 to Lord Harry?
“Do you remember this hero’s adventures?” she said.
“I can try, Miss, if you wish to hear about him.”
The newspaper narrative35 appeared to have produced a vivid impression on Rhoda’s mind. Making allowance for natural hesitations36 and mistakes, and difficulties in expressing herself correctly, she repeated with a singularly clear recollection the substance of what she had read.
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iris
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| n.虹膜，彩虹 | |
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situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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chapel
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| n.小教堂，殡仪馆 | |
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haranguing
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| v.高谈阔论( harangue的现在分词 ) | |
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traitor
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| n.叛徒，卖国贼 | |
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patriot
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| n.爱国者，爱国主义者 | |
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expounded
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| 论述，详细讲解( expound的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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attentive
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| adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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oratory
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| n.演讲术；词藻华丽的言辞 | |
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tenacity
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| n.坚韧 | |
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outskirts
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| n.郊外，郊区 | |
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knuckles
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| n.（指人）指关节( knuckle的名词复数 )；（指动物）膝关节，踝v.（指人）指关节( knuckle的第三人称单数 )；（指动物）膝关节，踝 | |
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spoke
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| 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 | |
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housekeeper
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| n.管理家务的主妇，女管家 | |
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longingly
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| adv. 渴望地 热望地 | |
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prettily
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| adv.优美地；可爱地 | |
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inviting
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| adj.诱人的，引人注目的 | |
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quaintly
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| adv.古怪离奇地 | |
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amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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assassination
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| n.暗杀；暗杀事件 | |
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savages
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| 未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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perverse
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| adj.刚愎的；坚持错误的，行为反常的 | |
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harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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wretches
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| n.不幸的人( wretch的名词复数 )；可怜的人；恶棍；坏蛋 | |
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infest
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| v.大批出没于；侵扰；寄生于 | |
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amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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recoiled
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| v.畏缩( recoil的过去式和过去分词 )；退缩；报应；返回 | |
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alluding
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| 提及，暗指( allude的现在分词 ) | |
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narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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hesitations
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| n.犹豫( hesitation的名词复数 )；踌躇；犹豫（之事或行为）；口吃 | |
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