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Chapter 48
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’Tis law as stedfast as the throne of Zeus —

Our days are heritors of days gone by.’

AESCHYLUS: Agamemnon.

A LITTLE after five o’clock that day, Harold arrived at Transome Court. As he was winding1 along the broad road of the park, some parting gleams of the March sun pierced the trees here and there, and threw on the grass a long shadow of himself and the groom2 riding, and illuminated3 a window or two of the home he was approaching. But the bittemess in his mind made these sunny gleams almost as odious4 as an artificial smile. He wished he had never come back to this pale English sunshine.

In the course of his eighteen miles’ drive, he had made up his mind what he would do. He understood now, as he had never understood before, the neglected solitariness5 of his mother’s life, the allusions6 and innuendoes7 which had come out during the election. But with a proud insurrection against the hardship of an ignominy which was not of his own making, he inwardly said, that if the circumstances of his birth were such as to warrant any man in regarding his character of gentleman with ready suspicion, that character should be the more strongly asserted in his conduct. No one should be able to allege8 with any show of proof that he had inherited meanness.

As he stepped from the carriage and entered the hall, there were the voice and the trotting9 feet of little Harry10 as usual, and the rush to clasp his father’s leg and make his joyful11 puppy-like noises. Harold just touched the boy’s head, and then said to Dominic in a weary voice —

‘Take the child away. Ask where my mother is.’

Mrs Transome, Dominic said, was upstairs. He had seen her go up after coming in from her walk with Miss Lyon, and she had not come down again.

Harold, throwing off his hat and greatcoat, went straight to his mother’s dressing-room. There was still hope in his mind. He might be suffering simply from a lie. There is much misery12 created in the world by mere13 mistake or slander14, and he might have been stunned15 by a lie suggested by such slander. He rapped at his mother’s door.

Her voice said immediately, ‘Come in.’

Mrs Transome was resting in her easy-chair, as she often did between an afternoon walk and dinner. She had taken off her walking-dress and wrapped herself in a soft dressinggown. She was neither more nor less empty of joy than usual. But when she saw Harold, a dreadful certainty took possession of her. It was as if a long-expected letter, with a black seal, had come at last.

Harold’s face told her what to fear the more decisively, because she had never before seen it express a man’s deep agitation16. Since the time of its pouting17 childhood and careless youth she had seen only the confident strength and good-humoured imperiousness of maturity18. The last five hours had made a change as great as illness makes. Harold looked as if he had been wrestling, and had had some terrible blow. His eyes had that sunken look which, because it is unusual, seems to intensify19 expression.

He looked at his mother as he entered, and her eyes followed him as he moved, till he came and stood in front of her, she looking up at him, with white lips.

‘Mother,’ he said, speaking with a distant slowness, in strange contrast with his habitual20 manner, ‘tell me the truth, that I may know how to act.’

He paused a moment, and then said, ‘Who is my father?’

She was mute: her lips only trembled. Harold stood silent for a few moments, as if waiting. Then he spoke21 again.

‘He has said — said it before others — that he is my father.’

He looked still at his mother. She seemed as if age was striking her with a sudden wand — as if her trembling face were getting haggard before him. She was mute. But her eyes had not fallen; they looked up in helpless misery at her son.

Her son turned away his eyes from her, and left her. In that moment Harold felt hard: he could show no pity. All the pride of his nature rebelled against his sonship.


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 winding Ue7z09     
n.绕,缠,绕组,线圈
参考例句:
  • A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
  • The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。
2 groom 0fHxW     
vt.给(马、狗等)梳毛,照料,使...整洁
参考例句:
  • His father was a groom.他父亲曾是个马夫。
  • George was already being groomed for the top job.为承担这份高级工作,乔治已在接受专门的培训。
3 illuminated 98b351e9bc282af85e83e767e5ec76b8     
adj.被照明的;受启迪的
参考例句:
  • Floodlights illuminated the stadium. 泛光灯照亮了体育场。
  • the illuminated city at night 夜幕中万家灯火的城市
4 odious l0zy2     
adj.可憎的,讨厌的
参考例句:
  • The judge described the crime as odious.法官称这一罪行令人发指。
  • His character could best be described as odious.他的人格用可憎来形容最贴切。
5 solitariness 02b546c5b9162b2dd5727eb373f1669b     
n.隐居;单独
参考例句:
6 allusions c86da6c28e67372f86a9828c085dd3ad     
暗指,间接提到( allusion的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • We should not use proverbs and allusions indiscriminately. 不要滥用成语典故。
  • The background lent itself to allusions to European scenes. 眼前的情景容易使人联想到欧洲风光。
7 innuendoes 37b292d6336de1f9a847664d8f79a346     
n.影射的话( innuendo的名词复数 );讽刺的话;含沙射影;暗讽
参考例句:
  • innuendoes about her private life 对她私生活含沙射影的指责
  • I'm sure he thinks I stole the money—he kept making innuendoes about my \"new-found-wealth\". 我确信他一定以为钱是我偷的,因为他不断含沙射影地说我“新近发了财”。 来自《简明英汉词典》
8 allege PfEyT     
vt.宣称,申述,主张,断言
参考例句:
  • The newspaper reporters allege that the man was murdered but they have given no proof.新闻记者们宣称这个男人是被谋杀的,但他们没提出证据。
  • Students occasionally allege illness as the reason for absence.学生时不时会称病缺课。
9 trotting cbfe4f2086fbf0d567ffdf135320f26a     
小跑,急走( trot的现在分词 ); 匆匆忙忙地走
参考例句:
  • The riders came trotting down the lane. 这骑手骑着马在小路上慢跑。
  • Alan took the reins and the small horse started trotting. 艾伦抓住缰绳,小马开始慢跑起来。
10 harry heBxS     
vt.掠夺,蹂躏,使苦恼
参考例句:
  • Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天,人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
  • Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。
11 joyful N3Fx0     
adj.欢乐的,令人欢欣的
参考例句:
  • She was joyful of her good result of the scientific experiments.她为自己的科学实验取得好成果而高兴。
  • They were singing and dancing to celebrate this joyful occasion.他们唱着、跳着庆祝这令人欢乐的时刻。
12 misery G10yi     
n.痛苦,苦恼,苦难;悲惨的境遇,贫苦
参考例句:
  • Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
  • He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。
13 mere rC1xE     
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过
参考例句:
  • That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
  • It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。
14 slander 7ESzF     
n./v.诽谤,污蔑
参考例句:
  • The article is a slander on ordinary working people.那篇文章是对普通劳动大众的诋毁。
  • He threatened to go public with the slander.他威胁要把丑闻宣扬出去。
15 stunned 735ec6d53723be15b1737edd89183ec2     
adj. 震惊的,惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词
参考例句:
  • The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
  • The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。
16 agitation TN0zi     
n.搅动;搅拌;鼓动,煽动
参考例句:
  • Small shopkeepers carried on a long agitation against the big department stores.小店主们长期以来一直在煽动人们反对大型百货商店。
  • These materials require constant agitation to keep them in suspension.这些药剂要经常搅动以保持悬浮状态。
17 pouting f5e25f4f5cb47eec0e279bd7732e444b     
v.撅(嘴)( pout的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • The child sat there pouting. 那孩子坐在那儿,一副不高兴的样子。 来自辞典例句
  • She was almost pouting at his hesitation. 她几乎要为他这种犹犹豫豫的态度不高兴了。 来自辞典例句
18 maturity 47nzh     
n.成熟;完成;(支票、债券等)到期
参考例句:
  • These plants ought to reach maturity after five years.这些植物五年后就该长成了。
  • This is the period at which the body attains maturity.这是身体发育成熟的时期。
19 intensify S5Pxe     
vt.加强;变强;加剧
参考例句:
  • We must intensify our educational work among our own troops.我们必须加强自己部队的教育工作。
  • They were ordered to intensify their patrols to protect our air space.他们奉命加强巡逻,保卫我国的领空。
20 habitual x5Pyp     
adj.习惯性的;通常的,惯常的
参考例句:
  • He is a habitual criminal.他是一个惯犯。
  • They are habitual visitors to our house.他们是我家的常客。
21 spoke XryyC     
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
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。


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