THERE now remained but one other person in Lord Harry1’s household whose presence on the scene was an obstacle to be removed.
This person was the cook. On condition of her immediate2 departure (excused by alleged3 motives4 of economy), she received a month’s wages from her master, in advance of the sum due to her, and a written character which did ample justice to her many good qualities. The poor woman left her employment with the heartiest6 expressions of gratitude7. To the end of her days, she declared the Irish lord to be a nobleman by nature. Republican principles, inherited from her excellent parents, disinclined her to recognise him as a nobleman by birth.
But another sweet and simple creature was still left to brighten the sinister8 gloom in the cottage.
The good Dane sorely tried the patience of Fanny Mere9. This countryman of Hamlet, as he liked to call himself, was a living protest against the sentiments of inveterate10 contempt and hatred11, with which his nurse was accustomed to regard the men. When pain spared him at intervals12, Mr. Oxbye presented the bright blue eyes and the winning smile which suggested the resemblance to the Irish lord. His beardless face, thin towards the lower extremities13, completed the likeness14 in some degree only. The daring expression of Lord Harry, in certain emergencies, never appeared. Nursing him carefully, on the severest principles of duty as distinguished15 from inclination16, Fanny found herself in the presence of a male human being, who in the painless intervals of his malady17, wrote little poems in her praise; asked for a few flowers from the garden, and made prettily18 arranged nosegays of them devoted19 to herself; cried, when she told him he was a fool, and kissed her hand five minutes afterwards, when she administered his medicine, and gave him no pleasant sweet thing to take the disagreeable taste out of his mouth. This gentle patient loved Lord Harry, loved Mr. Vimpany, loved the furious Fanny, resist it as she might. On her obstinate20 refusal to confide21 to him the story of her life — after he had himself set her the example at great length — he persisted in discovering for himself that “this interesting woman was a victim of sorrows of the heart.” In another state of existence, he was offensively certain that she would be living with him. “You are frightfully pale, you will soon die; I shall break a blood-vessel, and follow you; we shall sit side by side on clouds, and sing together everlastingly22 to accompaniment of celestial23 harps24. Oh, what a treat!” Like a child, he screamed when he was in pain; and, like a child, he laughed when the pain had gone away. When she was angry enough with him to say, “If I had known what sort of man you were, I would never have undertaken to nurse you,” he only answered, “my dear, let us thank God together that you did not know.” There was no temper in him to be roused; and, worse still, on buoyant days, when his spirits were lively, there was no persuading him that he might not live long enough to marry his nurse, if he only put the question to her often enough. What was to be done with such a man as this? Fanny believed that she despised her feeble patient. At the same time, the food that nourished him was prepared by her own hands — while the other inhabitants of the cottage were left (in the absence of the cook) to the tough mercies of a neighbouring restaurant. First and foremost among the many good deeds by which the conduct of women claims the gratitude of the other sex, is surely the manner in which they let an unfortunate man master them, without an unworthy suspicion of that circumstance to trouble the charitable serenity26 of their minds.
Carefully on the look-out for any discoveries which might enlighten her, Fanny noticed with ever-increasing interest the effect which the harmless Dane seemed to produce on my lord and the doctor.
Every morning, after breakfast, Lord Harry presented himself in the bedroom. Every morning, his courteous27 interest in his guest expressed itself mechanically in the same form of words:
“Mr. Oxbye, how do you find yourself to-day?”
Sometimes the answer would be: “Gracious lord, I am suffering pain.” Sometimes it was: “Dear and admirable patron, I feel as if I might get well again.” On either occasion, Lord Harry listened without looking at Mr. Oxbye — said he was sorry to hear a bad account or glad to hear a good account, without looking at Mr. Oxbye — made a remark on the weather, and took his leave, without looking at Mr. Oxbye. Nothing could be more plain than that his polite inquiries28 (once a day) were unwillingly29 made, and that it was always a relief to him to get out of the room. So strongly was Fanny’s curiosity excited by this strange behaviour, that she ventured one day to speak to her master.
“I am afraid, my lord, you are not hopeful of Mr. Oxbye’s recovering?”
“Mind your own business,” was the savage30 answer that she received.
Fanny never again took the liberty of speaking to him; but she watched him more closely than ever. He was perpetually restless. Now he wandered from one room to another, and walked round and round the garden, smoking incessantly31. Now he went out riding, or took the railway to Paris and disappeared for the day. On the rare occasions when he was in a state of repose32, he always appeared to have taken refuge in his wife’s room; Fanny’s keyhole-observation discovered him, thinking miserably33, seated in his wife’s chair. It seemed to be possible that he was fretting34 after Lady Harry. But what did his conduct to Mr. Oxbye mean? What was the motive5 which made him persist, without an attempt at concealment35, in keeping out of Mr. Vimpany’s way? And, treated in this rude manner, how was it that his wicked friend seemed to be always amused, never offended?
As for the doctor’s behaviour to his patient, it was, in Fanny’s estimation, worthy25 of a savage.
He appeared to feel no sort of interest in the man who had been sent to him from the hospital at his own request, and whose malady it was supposed to be the height of his ambition to cure. When Mr. Oxbye described his symptoms, Mr. Vimpany hardly even made a pretence36 at listening. With a frowning face he applied37 the stethoscope, felt the pulse, looked at the tongue — and drew his own conclusions in sullen38 silence. If the nurse had a favourable39 report to make, he brutally40 turned his back on her. If discouraging results of the medical treatment made their appearance at night, and she felt it a duty to mention them, he sneered41 as if he doubted whether she was speaking the truth. Mr. Oxbye’s inexhaustible patience and amiability42 made endless allowances for his medical advisor43. “It is my misfortune to keep my devoted doctor in a state of perpetual anxiety,” he used to say; “and we all know what a trial to the temper is the consequence of unrelieved suspense44. I believe in Mr. Vimpany.” Fanny was careful not to betray her own opinion by making any reply; her doubts of the doctor had, by this time, become terrifying doubts even to herself. Whenever an opportunity favoured her, she vigilantly45 watched him. One of his ways of finding amusement, in his leisure hours, was in the use of a photographic apparatus46. He took little pictures of the rooms in the cottage, which were followed by views in the garden. Those having come to an end, he completed the mystification of the nurse by producing a portrait of the Dane, while he lay asleep one day after he had been improving in health for some little time past. Fanny asked leave to look at the likeness when it had been “printed” from the negative, in the garden. He first examined it himself — and then deliberately47 tore it up and let the fragments fly away in the wind. “I am not satisfied with it,” was all the explanation he offered. One of the garden chairs happened to be near him; he sat down, and looked like a man in a state of torment48 under his own angry thoughts.
If the patient’s health had altered for the worse, and if the tendency to relapse had proved to be noticeable after medicine had been administered, Fanny’s first suspicions might have taken a very serious turn. But the change in Oxbye — sleeping in purer air and sustained by better food than he could obtain at the hospital — pointed50 more and more visibly to a decided51 gain of vital strength. His hollow checks were filling out, and colour was beginning to appear again on the pallor of his skin. Strange as the conduct of Lord Harry and Mr. Vimpany might be, there was no possibility, thus far, of connecting it with the position occupied by the Danish guest. Nobody who had seen his face, when he was first brought to the cottage, could have looked at him again, after the lapse49 of a fortnight, and have failed to discover the signs which promise recovery of health.
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harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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alleged
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| a.被指控的，嫌疑的 | |
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motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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heartiest
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| 亲切的( hearty的最高级 )； 热诚的； 健壮的； 精神饱满的 | |
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gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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inveterate
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| adj.积习已深的，根深蒂固的 | |
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hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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extremities
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| n.端点( extremity的名词复数 )；尽头；手和足；极窘迫的境地 | |
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likeness
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| n.相像，相似（之处） | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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malady
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| n.病，疾病(通常做比喻) | |
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prettily
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| adv.优美地；可爱地 | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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obstinate
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| adj.顽固的，倔强的，不易屈服的，较难治愈的 | |
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confide
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| v.向某人吐露秘密 | |
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everlastingly
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| 永久地，持久地 | |
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celestial
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| adj.天体的；天上的 | |
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harps
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| abbr.harpsichord 拨弦古钢琴n.竖琴( harp的名词复数 ) | |
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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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serenity
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| n.宁静，沉着，晴朗 | |
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courteous
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| adj.彬彬有礼的，客气的 | |
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inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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unwillingly
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| adv.不情愿地 | |
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savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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incessantly
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| ad.不停地 | |
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repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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miserably
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| adv.痛苦地；悲惨地；糟糕地；极度地 | |
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fretting
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| n. 微振磨损 adj. 烦躁的, 焦虑的 | |
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concealment
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| n.隐藏, 掩盖，隐瞒 | |
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pretence
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| n.假装，作假；借口，口实；虚伪；虚饰 | |
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applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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favourable
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| adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的 | |
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brutally
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| adv.残忍地，野蛮地，冷酷无情地 | |
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sneered
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| 讥笑，冷笑( sneer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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amiability
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| n.和蔼可亲的，亲切的，友善的 | |
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advisor
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| n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者 | |
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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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vigilantly
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| adv.警觉地，警惕地 | |
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apparatus
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| n.装置，器械；器具，设备 | |
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deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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48
torment
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| n.折磨；令人痛苦的东西(人)；vt.折磨；纠缠 | |
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49
lapse
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| n.过失，流逝，失效，抛弃信仰，间隔；vi.堕落，停止，失效，流逝；vt.使失效 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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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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