There was one development in connection with all of this of which Cowperwood was as yet unaware1. The same day that brought Edward Butler the anonymous2 communication in regard to his daughter, brought almost a duplicate of it to Mrs. Frank Algernon Cowperwood, only in this case the name of Aileen Butler had curiously3 been omitted.
Perhaps you don’t know that your husband is running with another woman. If you don’t believe it, watch the house at 931 North Tenth Street.
Mrs. Cowperwood was in the conservatory4 watering some plants when this letter was brought by her maid Monday morning. She was most placid5 in her thoughts, for she did not know what all the conferring of the night before meant. Frank was occasionally troubled by financial storms, but they did not see to harm him.
“Lay it on the table in the library, Annie. I’ll get it.”
She thought it was some social note.
In a little while (such was her deliberate way), she put down her sprinkling-pot and went into the library. There it was lying on the green leather sheepskin which constituted a part of the ornamentation of the large library table. She picked it up, glanced at it curiously because it was on cheap paper, and then opened it. Her face paled slightly as she read it; and then her hand trembled — not much. Hers was not a soul that ever loved passionately6, hence she could not suffer passionately. She was hurt, disgusted, enraged7 for the moment, and frightened; but she was not broken in spirit entirely8. Thirteen years of life with Frank Cowperwood had taught her a number of things. He was selfish, she knew now, self-centered, and not as much charmed by her as he had been. The fear she had originally felt as to the effect of her preponderance of years had been to some extent justified9 by the lapse10 of time. Frank did not love her as he had — he had not for some time; she had felt it. What was it?— she had asked herself at times — almost, who was it? Business was engrossing11 him so.
Finance was his master. Did this mean the end of her regime, she queried12. Would he cast her off? Where would she go? What would she do? She was not helpless, of course, for she had money of her own which he was manipulating for her. Who was this other woman? Was she young, beautiful, of any social position? Was it —? Suddenly she stopped. Was it? Could it be, by any chance — her mouth opened — Aileen Butler?
She stood still, staring at this letter, for she could scarcely countenance13 her own thought. She had observed often, in spite of all their caution, how friendly Aileen had been to him and he to her. He liked her; he never lost a chance to defend her. Lillian had thought of them at times as being curiously suited to each other temperamentally. He liked young people. But, of course, he was married, and Aileen was infinitely14 beneath him socially, and he had two children and herself. And his social and financial position was so fixed15 and stable that he did not dare trifle with it. Still she paused; for forty years and two children, and some slight wrinkles, and the suspicion that we may be no longer loved as we once were, is apt to make any woman pause, even in the face of the most significant financial position. Where would she go if she left him? What would people think? What about the children? Could she prove this liaison16? Could she entrap17 him in a compromising situation? Did she want to?
She saw now that she did not love him as some women love their husbands. She was not wild about him. In a way she had been taking him for granted all these years, had thought that he loved her enough not to be unfaithful to her; at least fancied that he was so engrossed18 with the more serious things of life that no petty liaison such as this letter indicated would trouble him or interrupt his great career. Apparently19 this was not true. What should she do? What say? How act? Her none too brilliant mind was not of much service in this crisis. She did not know very well how either to plan or to fight.
The conventional mind is at best a petty piece of machinery20. It is oyster-like in its functioning, or, perhaps better, clam-like. It has its little siphon of thought-processes forced up or down into the mighty21 ocean of fact and circumstance; but it uses so little, pumps so faintly, that the immediate22 contiguity23 of the vast mass is not disturbed. Nothing of the subtlety24 of life is perceived. No least inkling of its storms or terrors is ever discovered except through accident. When some crude, suggestive fact, such as this letter proved to be, suddenly manifests itself in the placid flow of events, there is great agony or disturbance25 and clogging26 of the so-called normal processes. The siphon does not work right. It sucks in fear and distress27. There is great grinding of maladjusted parts — not unlike sand in a machine — and life, as is so often the case, ceases or goes lamely28 ever after.
Mrs. Cowperwood was possessed29 of a conventional mind. She really knew nothing about life. And life could not teach her. Reaction in her from salty thought-processes was not possible. She was not alive in the sense that Aileen Butler was, and yet she thought that she was very much alive. All illusion. She wasn’t. She was charming if you loved placidity30. If you did not, she was not. She was not engaging, brilliant, or forceful. Frank Cowperwood might well have asked himself in the beginning why he married her. He did not do so now because he did not believe it was wise to question the past as to one’s failures and errors. It was, according to him, most unwise to regret. He kept his face and thoughts to the future.
But Mrs. Cowperwood was truly distressed31 in her way, and she went about the house thinking, feeling wretchedly. She decided32, since the letter asked her to see for herself, to wait. She must think how she would watch this house, if at all. Frank must not know. If it were Aileen Butler by any chance — but surely not — she thought she would expose her to her parents. Still, that meant exposing herself. She determined33 to conceal34 her mood as best she could at dinner-time — but Cowperwood was not able to be there. He was so rushed, so closeted with individuals, so closely in conference with his father and others, that she scarcely saw him this Monday night, nor the next day, nor for many days.
For on Tuesday afternoon at two-thirty he issued a call for a meeting of his creditors35, and at five-thirty he decided to go into the hands of a receiver. And yet, as he stood before his principal creditors — a group of thirty men — in his office, he did not feel that his life was ruined. He was temporarily embarrassed. Certainly things looked very black. The city-treasurership37 deal would make a great fuss. Those hypothecated city loan certificates, to the extent of sixty thousand, would make another, if Stener chose. Still, he did not feel that he was utterly38 destroyed.
“Gentlemen,” he said, in closing his address of explanation at the meeting, quite as erect39, secure, defiant40, convincing as he had ever been, “you see how things are. These securities are worth just as much as they ever were. There is nothing the matter with the properties behind them. If you will give me fifteen days or twenty, I am satisfied that I can straighten the whole matter out. I am almost the only one who can, for I know all about it. The market is bound to recover. Business is going to be better than ever. It’s time I want. Time is the only significant factor in this situation. I want to know if you won’t give me fifteen or twenty days — a month, if you can. That is all I want.”
He stepped aside and out of the general room, where the blinds were drawn41, into his private office, in order to give his creditors an opportunity to confer privately42 in regard to his situation. He had friends in the meeting who were for him. He waited one, two, nearly three hours while they talked. Finally Walter Leigh, Judge Kitchen, Avery Stone, of Jay Cooke & Co., and several others came in. They were a committee appointed to gather further information.
“Nothing more can be done to-day, Frank,” Walter Leigh informed him, quietly. “The majority want the privilege of examining the books. There is some uncertainty43 about this entanglement44 with the city treasurer36 which you say exists. They feel that you’d better announce a temporary suspension, anyhow; and if they want to let you resume later they can do so.”
“I’m sorry for that, gentlemen,” replied Cowperwood, the least bit depressed46. “I would rather do anything than suspend for one hour, if I could help it, for I know just what it means. You will find assets here far exceeding the liabilities if you will take the stocks at their normal market value; but that won’t help any if I close my doors. The public won’t believe in me. I ought to keep open.”
“Sorry, Frank, old boy,” observed Leigh, pressing his hand affectionately. “If it were left to me personally, you could have all the time you want. There’s a crowd of old fogies out there that won’t listen to reason. They’re panic-struck. I guess they’re pretty hard hit themselves. You can scarcely blame them. You’ll come out all right, though I wish you didn’t have to shut up shop. We can’t do anything with them, however. Why, damn it, man, I don’t see how you can fail, really. In ten days these stocks will be all right.”
Judge Kitchen commiserated47 with him also; but what good did that do? He was being compelled to suspend. An expert accountant would have to come in and go over his books. Butler might spread the news of this city-treasury connection. Stener might complain of this last city-loan transaction. A half-dozen of his helpful friends stayed with him until four o’clock in the morning; but he had to suspend just the same. And when he did that, he knew he was seriously crippled if not ultimately defeated in his race for wealth and fame.
When he was really and finally quite alone in his private bedroom he stared at himself in the mirror. His face was pale and tired, he thought, but strong and effective. “Pshaw!” he said to himself, “I’m not whipped. I’m still young. I’ll get out of this in some way yet. Certainly I will. I’ll find some way out.”
And so, cogitating48 heavily, wearily, he began to undress. Finally he sank upon his bed, and in a little while, strange as it may seem, with all the tangle45 of trouble around him, slept. He could do that — sleep and gurgle most peacefully, the while his father paced the floor in his room, refusing to be comforted. All was dark before the older man — the future hopeless. Before the younger man was still hope.
And in her room Lillian Cowperwood turned and tossed in the face of this new calamity49. For it had suddenly appeared from news from her father and Frank and Anna and her mother-in-law that Frank was about to fail, or would, or had — it was almost impossible to say just how it was. Frank was too busy to explain. The Chicago fire was to blame. There was no mention as yet of the city treasurership. Frank was caught in a trap, and was fighting for his life.
In this crisis, for the moment, she forgot about the note as to his infidelity, or rather ignored it. She was astonished, frightened, dumbfounded, confused. Her little, placid, beautiful world was going around in a dizzy ring. The charming, ornate ship of their fortune was being blown most ruthlessly here and there. She felt it a sort of duty to stay in bed and try to sleep; but her eyes were quite wide, and her brain hurt her. Hours before Frank had insisted that she should not bother about him, that she could do nothing; and she had left him, wondering more than ever what and where was the line of her duty. To stick by her husband, convention told her; and so she decided. Yes, religion dictated50 that, also custom. There were the children. They must not be injured. Frank must be reclaimed51, if possible. He would get over this. But what a blow!
收听单词发音 |
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unaware
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| a.不知道的，未意识到的 | |
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anonymous
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| adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的 | |
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curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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conservatory
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| n.温室，音乐学院；adj.保存性的，有保存力的 | |
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placid
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| adj.安静的，平和的 | |
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passionately
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| ad.热烈地，激烈地 | |
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enraged
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| 使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 )； 歜； 激愤 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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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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engrossing
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| adj.使人全神贯注的，引人入胜的v.使全神贯注( engross的现在分词 ) | |
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queried
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| v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 )；询问 | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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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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liaison
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| n.联系，（未婚男女间的）暖昧关系，私通 | |
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entrap
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| v.以网或陷阱捕捉，使陷入圈套 | |
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engrossed
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| adj.全神贯注的 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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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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contiguity
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| n.邻近，接壤 | |
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subtlety
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| n.微妙，敏锐，精巧；微妙之处，细微的区别 | |
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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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clogging
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| 堵塞，闭合 | |
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distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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lamely
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| 一瘸一拐地，不完全地 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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placidity
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| n.平静，安静，温和 | |
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distressed
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| 痛苦的 | |
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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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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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creditors
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| n.债权人，债主( creditor的名词复数 ) | |
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treasurer
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| n.司库，财务主管 | |
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treasurership
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| 会计员的职位 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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defiant
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| adj.无礼的，挑战的 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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privately
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| adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地 | |
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uncertainty
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| n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物 | |
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entanglement
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| n.纠缠，牵累 | |
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tangle
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| n.纠缠；缠结；混乱；v.(使)缠绕；变乱 | |
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depressed
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| adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的 | |
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commiserated
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| v.怜悯，同情( commiserate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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cogitating
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| v.认真思考，深思熟虑( cogitate的现在分词 ) | |
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calamity
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| n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件 | |
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dictated
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| v.大声讲或读( dictate的过去式和过去分词 )；口授；支配；摆布 | |
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51
reclaimed
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| adj.再生的；翻造的；收复的；回收的v.开拓( reclaim的过去式和过去分词 )；要求收回；从废料中回收（有用的材料）；挽救 | |
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