Dr. Mallison came to Wimperfield at the same hour as on the occasion of his first visit. He was with the patient for nearly half-an-hour, and he confabulated with Mr. Fosbroke for at least another half hour, so it could not be said that he performed the physician’s duty in a careless or perfunctory manner. But his opinion was not hopeful; and there was a gravity in his manner when he talked to Ida and her stepmother which was evidently intended to prepare them for the worst. He gave a peremptory2 order for a second nurse, an able-bodied experienced woman, who could relieve Towler in his now most onerous3 duties — duties growing hourly more painful, since the last development of the patient’s delirium4 was a violent hatred5 of his attendant, who, as he believed, was always lying in wait to do him some injury. Dr. Mallison also advised that Mrs. Wendover should no longer occupy the bedroom adjoining her husband’s. Upon this point he was very firm, when Ida urged her anxiety to forego no duty which she owed to her husband.
‘I am so sorry for him,’ she said. ‘I would do anything in the world to help or to comfort him.’
‘Unhappily, dear madam, you can do neither. ‘When these paroxysms are upon him he will mistake his best friend for his worst enemy — he was quite violent to Towler just now. You can do absolutely nothing, and your presence is even likely to irritate him. He must be given over entirely6 to his nurses. Towler will obey my directions implicitly7, and the female attendant — Mr. Fosbroke tells me he can find a thoroughly8 competent person — will assist him in carrying them out. If we can stimulate9 the patient’s vital power, which is just now at the lowest ebb10, and if we can induce natural sleep, why, there may still be a favourable11 result. But I do not conceal12 from you that Mr. Wendover’s condition is critical — very critical. Lady Palliser, you will insist, I hope, that your daughter removes to an apartment at some distance from her husband’s for the present. A few days hence, when the delirium is subjugated13, as I trust it may be, by — ahem — the removal of the exciting cause, Mrs. Wendover may resume her attendance upon her husband. Just at present the less she sees of him the better for both.’
Ida could not disobey this injunction, especially as Lady Palliser and Mrs. Jardine took the matter into their own hands. Jane Dyson was ordered to convey all Mrs. Wendover’s belongings14 to a room on the second and topmost floor of the mansion15, exactly over that she now occupied — a fine airy apartment, with a magnificent view, but less lofty, and less ponderously16 furnished than the apartments of the first floor. Bessie vowed17 that this upper chamber18, with its French bedstead, and light chintz draperies, and maple19 furniture, was a much prettier room than the one below. She ran up and down stairs carrying flowers, Japanese fans, tea-tables, and other frivolities, until she made the new room a perfect bower20, and then carried Ida off triumphantly21 to inspect her new quarters.
‘Isn’t it lovely,’ she said, ‘such a nice change? Do let us have our tea up here, if that good Dyson won’t mind bringing it. Nearly six o’clock, and we haven’t had a cup of tea! I do so enjoy thoroughly new surroundings. We’ll have the table just in front of this window. What a sweet architect to give this room windows down to the ground, and a lovely balcony! You must have some large Japanese vases in the balcony, Ida. That lovely deep red, or orange tawny22. Oh, you poor pet, how wretched you look!’
‘I have just been talking to the new nurse, Bessie. She seems a good, honest creature. She has nursed other people in the same complaint, and — and — she thinks Brian is desperately23 ill.’
‘Oh, but he may get over it dear! The London doctor did not give him up; and there is no good in your making yourself ill with worry and fear. If you do, you won’t be able to wait upon Brian when he begins to get better; and convalescents want so much attention, don’t you know.’
The tea came, and Bessie persuaded her friend to take some, prattling25 on all the time in the hope of diverting Ida from the silent contemplation of her trouble. But the horror of the case had taken too stern a hold upon Ida’s brain. It was the dominant26 idea; as with the somnambulist whose perceptions are dead to every other subject save the one absorbing thought, and all subsidiary ideas linked with it by the subtle chain of association. Ida smiled a wan24 smile, and pretended to be interested in Bessie’s parochial anecdotes27 — the idiosyncrasies of the new curate, the fatuity28 of every young woman in the parish in running after him.
‘He is such a perfect stick; but then certainly there is no other single man in the parish under forty. He is like Robinson Crusoe. It is an awfully29 deceptive30 position for a young man to occupy. I know he is beginning to think himself quite handsome, while as for pimples31 — well, his face is like a Wiltshire meadow before it has been bush-harrowed.’
Ida did not go down to dinner that evening. She felt utterly32 unequal to the effort of pretended cheerfulness, and she did not want to inflict33 a countenance34 of stony35 gloom upon Mr. and Mrs. Jardine, or on Vernie, who was going to dine late for the first time since his illness. So she sat by the open window overlooking the woods, gray in the universal twilight36 grayness, and she read Victor Cousin’s ‘History of Philosophy,’ which was a great deal more comforting than fiction or poetry wou’d have been, as it carried her into regions of abstract thought where human troubles entered not.
For the next three days things went on quietly enough. Brian never left his own apartments, now an ample range, since Ida’s bedroom had been thrown into the suite37, so as to give him space and verge38 enough for his roaming when the restless fit was on him: and, alas39! how seldom did he cease from his restlessness. He now saw scarcely anyone but his nurses and Mr. Fosbroke, who called three times a day, and was altogether devoted40 in his watchfulness41 of the case.
Ida had not ceased from visiting the invalid42 until it became too obvious that her presence was irritating to him. He recalled the most painful scenes of their past experience, raved43 about his marriage, and accused his wife of cruelty and greed of wealth, wept, stormed, blasphemed, until Ida rushed shuddering44 from the room. To the nurses this wild talk was only part and parcel of the patient’s hallucinations; to Ida it was too real.
Mr. Jardine and his wife stayed till the end of the week, but on Saturday the Vicar was compelled to go back to his parishioners; and although Bessie wanted to remain at Wimperfield, separating herself from her husband for the first time in her wedded45 life, Ida would not consent to such a sacrifice. Vernon, who was pronounced thoroughly convalescent, was to go back to Salisbury Plain with the Jardines, everybody being agreed that Wimperfield Park was no place for him under existing circumstances. If Brian’s malady46 were doomed47 to end fatally, it was well that the boy should be gone before the dreaded49 guest crossed the threshold.
Ida saw her friends depart with a sense of despair too deep for words. She hugged Vernie with the passionate50 fervour of one who never hoped to see him more. She felt as if it were she whose hours were numbered, she for whom the thin thread of life was gradually dwindling51 to nothingness. The very atmosphere was charged with the odour of death. The light was shadowed by the gloom of the grave. Again and again in troubled dreams she had recalled that dreadful scene in the church with Brian; and she had seen the worms crawling out through the mouldering52 timbers of the church-floor — she had smelt53 the sickening taint54 of corruption55.
She stood in the portico56 in the early summer morning, watching Mr. Jardine’s phaeton dwindle57 to a speck58 in the distance of the avenue, and then she went slowly back to the house, feeling as if she were quite alone in her misery59. It was not that Fanny Palliser was wanting in kindness or sympathy, but she was wanting in comprehension of Ida’s feelings, and the stronger nature could not lean upon the weaker; and then the mother would be absorbed in her grief at the loss of her boy, who had become doubly precious since his illness. No, Ida felt that now John Jardine was gone she must bear her burden alone. Help for her, strength outside her own courageous60 nature, there was none.
She longed on this exquisite61 morning to be roaming about the park and woods, or riding far afield; but she had made up her mind that, so long as her husband remained in his present critical condition, it was her duty to stay close at hand, within call, lest at any moment there might be a return to reason, and she might again have power to soothe62 and support him, as she had done many a time in the long down-hill progress of his malady.
With this idea she spent the greater part of her day in the bedroom which Bessie had made so bright and so comfortable. Here she was within easy reach of the nurse in the rooms below, and could be summoned to her husband without a minute’s delay. Here she had her favourite books, and the view of park and woods in all their summer glory. She could sit out in her balcony, reading, or looking idly at the wide expanse of hill and valley, brooding sadly over days that were gone, full of fear for the immediate63 present, and not daring to face the dreaded future.
‘Don’t think me unsociable,’ she said to Lady Palliser, before going back to her room after a hasty breakfast; ‘but I am too completely miserable64 to put on the faintest show of cheerfulness, and I should only make you wretched if I were with you. Go out for a drive, and pay a few visits, mamma. You have had a trying time, and you must want a little change of scene.’
‘I believe I do, Ida,’ replied Lady Palliser, gravely. ‘I feel that I am below par1, and that I really want sea air. What should you think of our going to Bournemouth directly after the funeral?’
‘The funeral!’ murmured Ida, pale as death.
‘Yes, dear. Mr. Fosbroke has quite given up all hope, I know; and after the funeral you will want a change as badly as I do. I thought it would be as well to write to the Bournemouth agent to secure nice apartments, for I shouldn’t care about staying at an hotel.’
‘Oh, mamma, don’t make your plans so much beforehand! Wait till he is dead,’ said Ida, bitterly.
There seemed to her something ghoulish and stony-hearted in this prevision of coming doom48, this arrangement for making the best of life and being comfortable when the sufferer upstairs should have ceased from the struggle with man’s last foe65.
Lady Palliser contrived66 to get on without her step-daughter’s society. She had Jane Dyson, who was a person of considerable conversational67 powers, and who had an inexhaustible well-spring of interesting discourse68 in her recollections of the Archbishop’s wife’s lingering illness. The mistress and maid spent the morning not unpleasantly in conversation of the charnel house order, and in looking over Lady Palliser’s wardrobe, with a view to discovering what new mourning she would require in the event of Brian’s death. She had liked him, and had been kind to him in life, and she was not going to stint69 him in death by any false economy in crape or bugles70.
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par
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| n.标准，票面价值，平均数量；adj.票面的，平常的，标准的 | |
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peremptory
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| adj.紧急的，专横的，断然的 | |
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onerous
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| adj.繁重的 | |
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delirium
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| n. 神智昏迷,说胡话;极度兴奋 | |
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hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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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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implicitly
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| adv. 含蓄地, 暗中地, 毫不保留地 | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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stimulate
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| vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋 | |
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ebb
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| vi.衰退，减退；n.处于低潮，处于衰退状态 | |
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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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conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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subjugated
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| v.征服，降伏( subjugate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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belongings
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| n.私人物品，私人财物 | |
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mansion
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| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
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ponderously
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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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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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maple
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| n.槭树，枫树，槭木 | |
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bower
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| n.凉亭，树荫下凉快之处；闺房；v.荫蔽 | |
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triumphantly
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| ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地 | |
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tawny
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| adj.茶色的，黄褐色的；n.黄褐色 | |
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desperately
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| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
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wan
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| (wide area network)广域网 | |
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prattling
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| v.（小孩般）天真无邪地说话( prattle的现在分词 )；发出连续而无意义的声音；闲扯；东拉西扯 | |
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dominant
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| adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因 | |
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anecdotes
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| n.掌故，趣闻，轶事( anecdote的名词复数 ) | |
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fatuity
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| n.愚蠢，愚昧 | |
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awfully
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| adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地 | |
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deceptive
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| adj.骗人的，造成假象的，靠不住的 | |
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pimples
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| n.丘疹，粉刺，小脓疱( pimple的名词复数 ) | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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inflict
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| vt.(on)把…强加给，使遭受，使承担 | |
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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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stony
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| adj.石头的，多石头的，冷酷的，无情的 | |
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twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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suite
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| n.一套(家具)；套房；随从人员 | |
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verge
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| n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临 | |
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alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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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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watchfulness
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| 警惕，留心； 警觉（性） | |
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invalid
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| n.病人，伤残人；adj.有病的，伤残的；无效的 | |
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raved
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| v.胡言乱语( rave的过去式和过去分词 )；愤怒地说；咆哮；痴心地说 | |
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shuddering
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| v.战栗( shudder的现在分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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wedded
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| adj.正式结婚的；渴望…的，执著于…的v.嫁，娶，（与…）结婚( wed的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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malady
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| n.病，疾病(通常做比喻) | |
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doomed
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| 命定的 | |
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doom
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| n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定 | |
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dreaded
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| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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dwindling
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| adj.逐渐减少的v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的现在分词 ) | |
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mouldering
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| v.腐朽( moulder的现在分词 )；腐烂，崩塌 | |
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smelt
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| v.熔解，熔炼；n.银白鱼，胡瓜鱼 | |
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taint
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| n.污点；感染；腐坏；v.使感染；污染 | |
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corruption
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| n.腐败，堕落，贪污 | |
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portico
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| n.柱廊，门廊 | |
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dwindle
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| v.逐渐变小（或减少） | |
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speck
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| n.微粒，小污点，小斑点 | |
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misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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courageous
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| adj.勇敢的，有胆量的 | |
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exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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soothe
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| v.安慰；使平静；使减轻；缓和；奉承 | |
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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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miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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conversational
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| adj.对话的，会话的 | |
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discourse
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| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
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stint
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| v.节省，限制，停止；n.舍不得化，节约，限制；连续不断的一段时间从事某件事 | |
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bugles
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| 妙脆角，一种类似薯片但做成尖角或喇叭状的零食； 号角( bugle的名词复数 )； 喇叭； 匍匐筋骨草； （装饰女服用的）柱状玻璃（或塑料）小珠 | |
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