IT was a fine sunshiny day; Mrs. Lewson’s spirits began to improve. “I have always held the belief,” the worthy1 old woman confessed, “that bright weather brings good luck — of course provided the day is not a Friday. This is Wednesday. Cheer up, Miss.”
The messenger returned with good news. Mr. Arthur had been as merry as usual. He had made fun of another letter of good advice, received without a signature. “But Mrs. Lewson must have her way,” he said. “My love to the old dear — I’ll start two hours later, and be back to dinner at five.”
“Where did Mr. Arthur give you that message?” Iris2 inquired.
“At the stables, Miss, while I was putting up the horse. The men about were all on the broad grin when they heard Mr. Arthur’s message.”
Still in a morbid3 state of mind, Iris silently regretted that the message had not been written, instead of being delivered by word of mouth. Here, again, she (like the wild lord) had been afraid of listeners.
The hours wore slowly on until it was past four o’clock. Iris could endure the suspense4 no longer. “It’s a lovely afternoon,” she said to Mrs. Lewson. “Let us take a walk along the road, and meet Arthur.” To this proposal the housekeeper5 readily agreed.
It was nearly five o’clock when they reached a place at which a by-road branched off, through a wood, from the highway which they had hitherto followed. Mrs. Lewson found a seat on a felled tree. “We had better not go any farther,” she said.
Iris asked if there was any reason for this.
There was an excellent reason. A few yards farther on, the high road had been diverted from the straight line (in the interest of a large agricultural village), and was then directed again into its former course. The by-road through the wood served as a short cut, for horsemen and pedestrians6, from one divergent point to the other. It was next to a certainty that Arthur would return by the short cut. But if accident or caprice led to his preferring the highway, it was clearly necessary to wait for him within view of both the roads.
Too restless to submit to a state of passive expectation, Iris proposed to follow the bridle7 path through the wood for a little way, and to return if she failed to see anything of Arthur. “You are tired,” she said kindly8 to her companion: “pray don’t move.”
Mrs. Lewson looked needlessly uneasy: “You might lose yourself, Miss. Mind you keep to the path!”
Iris followed the pleasant windings9 of the woodland track. In the hope of meeting Arthur she considerably10 extended the length of her walk. The white line of the high road, as it passed the farther end of the wood, showed itself through the trees. She turned at once to rejoin Mrs. Lewson.
On her way back she made a discovery. A ruin which she had not previously11 noticed showed itself among the trees on her left hand. Her curiosity was excited; she strayed aside to examine it more closely. The crumbling12 walls, as she approached them, looked like the remains13 of an ordinary dwelling-house. Age is essential to the picturesque14 effect of decay: a modern ruin is an unnatural15 and depressing object — and here the horrid16 thing was.
As she turned to retrace17 her steps to the road, a man walked out of the inner space enclosed by all that was left of the dismantled18 house. A cry of alarm escaped her. Was she the victim of destiny, or the sport of chance? There was the wild lord whom she had vowed19 never to see again: the master of her heart — perhaps the master of her fate!
Any other man would have been amazed to see her, and would have asked how it had happened that the English lady presented herself to him in an Irish wood. This man enjoyed the delight of seeing her, and accepted it as a blessing20 that was not to be questioned. “My angel has dropped from Heaven,” he said. “May Heaven be praised!”
He approached her; his arms closed round her. She struggled to free herself from his embrace. At that moment they both heard the crackle of breaking underwood among the trees behind them. Lord Harry21 looked round. “This is a dangerous place,” he whispered; “I’m waiting to see Arthur pass safely. Submit to be kissed, or I am a dead man.” His eyes told her that he was truly and fearfully in earnest. Her head sank on his bosom22. As he bent23 down and kissed her, three men approached from their hiding-place among the trees. They had no doubt been watching him, under orders from the murderous brotherhood24 to which they belonged. Their pistols were ready in their hands — and what discovery had they made? There was the brother who had been denounced as having betrayed them, guilty of no worse treason than meeting his sweetheart in a wood! “We beg your pardon, my lord,” they cried, with a thoroughly25 Irish enjoyment26 of their own discomfiture27 — and burst into a roar of laughter — and left the lovers together. For the second time, Iris had saved Lord Harry at a crisis in his life.
“Let me go!” she pleaded faintly, trembling with superstitious28 fear for the first time in her experience of herself.
He held her to him as if he would never let her go again. “Oh, my Sweet, give me a last chance. Help me to be a better man! You have only to will it, Iris, and to make me worthy of you.”
His arms suddenly trembled round her, and dropped. The silence was broken by a distant sound, like the report of a shot. He looked towards the farther end of the wood. In a minute more, the thump29 of a horse’s hoofs30 at a gallop31 was audible, where the bridlepath was hidden among the trees. It came nearer — nearer —— the creature burst into view, wild with fright, and carrying an empty saddle. Lord Harry rushed into the path and seized the horse as it swerved32 at the sight of him. There was a leather pocket attached to the front of the saddle. “Search it!” he cried to Iris, forcing the terrified animal back on its haunches. She drew out a silver travelling-flask. One glance at the name engraved33 on it told him the terrible truth. His trembling hands lost their hold. The horse escaped; the words burst from his lips:
“Oh, God, they’ve killed him!”
收听单词发音 |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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iris
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| n.虹膜，彩虹 | |
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morbid
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| adj.病的；致病的；病态的；可怕的 | |
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suspense
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| n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑 | |
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housekeeper
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| n.管理家务的主妇，女管家 | |
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pedestrians
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| n.步行者( pedestrian的名词复数 ) | |
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7
bridle
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| n.笼头，束缚；vt.抑制，约束；动怒 | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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windings
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| （道路、河流等）蜿蜒的，弯曲的( winding的名词复数 )； 缠绕( wind的现在分词 )； 卷绕； 转动（把手） | |
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considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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crumbling
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| adj.摇摇欲坠的 | |
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remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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unnatural
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| adj.不自然的；反常的 | |
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horrid
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| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
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retrace
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| v.折回；追溯，探源 | |
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dismantled
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| 拆开( dismantle的过去式和过去分词 )； 拆卸； 废除； 取消 | |
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vowed
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| 起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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brotherhood
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| n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊 | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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discomfiture
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| n.崩溃；大败；挫败；困惑 | |
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superstitious
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| adj.迷信的 | |
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thump
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| v.重击，砰然地响；n.重击，重击声 | |
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hoofs
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| n.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的名词复数 )v.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的第三人称单数 ) | |
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gallop
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| v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔；飞速发展 | |
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swerved
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| v.（使）改变方向，改变目的( swerve的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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engraved
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| v.在（硬物）上雕刻（字，画等）( engrave的过去式和过去分词 )；将某事物深深印在（记忆或头脑中） | |
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