To Geoffrey perhaps the coming ordeal4 bears a deeper shade; as Mona hardly understands all that awaits her. That Lady Rodney is a little displeased5 at her son's marriage she can readily believe, but that she has made up her mind beforehand to dislike her, and intends waging with her war to the knife, is more than has ever entered into her gentle mind.
"Is it a long drive, Geoff?" she asks, presently, in a trembling tone, slipping her hand into his in the old fashion. "About six miles. I say, darling, keep up your spirits; if we don't like it, we can leave, you know. But"—alluding to her subdued6 voice—"don't be imagining evil."
"I don't think I am," says Mona; "but the thought of meeting people for the first time makes me feel nervous. Is your mother tall, Geoffrey?"
"Very."
"And severe-looking? You said she was like you."
"Well, so she is; and yet I suppose our expressions are dissimilar. Look here," says Geoffrey, suddenly, as though compelled at the last moment to give her a hint of what is coming. "I want to tell you about her,—my mother I mean: she is all right, you know, in every way, and very charming in general, but just at first one might imagine her a little difficult!"
"I mean she seems a trifle cold, unfriendly, and—er—that," says Geoffrey. "Perhaps it would be a wise thing for you to make up your mind what you will say to her on first meeting her. She will come up to you, you know, and give you her hand like this," taking hers, "and——"
"Yes, I know," said Mona, eagerly interrupting him. "And then she will put her arms round me, and kiss me just like this," suiting the action to the word.
"Like that? Not a bit of it," says Geoffrey, who had given her two kisses for her one: "you mustn't expect it. She isn't in the least like that. She will meet you probably as though she saw you yesterday, and say, 'How d'ye do? I'm afraid you have had a very long and cold drive.' And then you will say——"
A pause.
"Yes, I shall say——" anxiously.
"You—will—say——" Here he breaks down ignominiously9, and confesses by his inability to proceed that he doesn't in the least know what it is she can say.
"I know," says Mona, brightening, and putting on an air so different from her own usual unaffected one as to strike her listener with awe10. "I shall say, 'Oh! thanks, quite too awfully11 much, don't you know? but Geoffrey and I didn't find it a bit long, and we were as warm as wool all the time.'"
At this appalling12 speech Geoffrey's calculations fall through, and he gives himself up to undisguised mirth.
"If you say all that," he says, "there will be wigs13 on the green: that's Irish, isn't it? or something like it, and very well applied14 too. The first part of your speech sounded like Toole or Brough, I'm not sure which."
"Well, it was in a theatre I heard it," confesses Mona, meekly15: "it was a great lord who said it on the stage, so I thought it would be all right."
"Great lords are not necessarily faultlessly correct, either on or off the stage," says Geoffrey. "But, just for choice, I prefer them off it. No, that will not do at all. When my mother addresses you, you are to answer her back again in tones even colder than her own, and say——"
"But, Geoffrey, why should I be cold to your mother? Sure you wouldn't have me be uncivil to her, of all people?"
"Not uncivil, but cool. You will say to her, 'It was rather better than I anticipated, thank you.' And then, if you can manage to look bored, it will be quite correct, so far, and you may tell yourself you have scored one."
"I may say that horrid16 speech, but I certainly can't pretend I was bored during our drive, because I am not," says Mona.
"I know that. If I was not utterly17 sure of it I should instantly commit suicide by precipitating18 myself under the carriage-wheels," says Geoffrey. "Still—'let us dissemble.' Now say what I told you."
So Mrs. Rodney says, "It was rather better than I anticipated, thank you," in a tone so icy that his is warm beside it.
"But suppose she doesn't say a word about the drive?" says Mona, thoughtfully. "How will it be then?"
"She is safe to say something about it, and that will do for anything," says Rodney, out of the foolishness of his heart.
And now the horses draw up before a brilliantly-lighted hall, the doors of which are thrown wide as though in hospitable19 expectation of their coming.
Geoffrey, leading his wife into the hall, pauses beneath a central swinging lamp, to examine her critically. The footman who is in attendance on them has gone on before to announce their coming: they are therefore for the moment alone.
Mona is looking lovely, a little pale perhaps from some natural agitation20, but her pallor only adds to the lustre21 of her great blue eyes and lends an additional sweetness to the ripeness of her lips. Her hair is a little loose, but eminently22 becoming, and altogether she looks as like an exquisite23 painting as one can conceive.
"Take off your hat," says Geoffrey, in a tone that gladdens her heart, so full it is of love and admiration24; and, having removed her hat, she follows him though halls and one or two anterooms until they reach the library, into which the man ushers25 them.
It is a very pretty room, filled with a subdued light, and with a blazing fire at one end. All bespeaks26 warmth, and home, and comfort, but to Mona in her present state it is desolation itself. The three occupants of the room rise as she enters, and Mona's heart dies within her as a very tall statuesque woman, drawing herself up languidly from a lounging-chair, comes leisurely27 up to her. There is no welcoming haste in her movements, no gracious smile, for which her guest is thirsting, upon her thin lips.
She is dressed in black velvet28, and has a cap of richest old lace upon her head. To the quick sensibilities of the Irish girl it becomes known without a word that she is not to look for love from this stately woman, with her keen scrutinizing29 glance and cold unsmiling lips.
A choking sensation, rising from her heart, almost stops Mona's breath; her mouth feels parched30 and dry; her eyes widen. A sudden fear oppresses her. How is it going to be in all the future? Is Geoffrey's—her own husband's—mother to be her enemy?
Lady Rodney holds out her hand, and Mona lays hers within it.
"So glad you have come," says Lady Rodney, in a tone that belies31 her words, and in a sweet silvery voice that chills the heart of her listener. "We hardly thought we should see you so soon, the trains here are so unpunctual. I hope the carriage was in time?"
She waits apparently32 for an answer, at which Mona grows desperate. For in reality she has heard not one word of the labored33 speech made to her, and is too frightened to think of anything to say except the unfortunate lesson learned in the carriage and repeated secretly so often since. She looks round helplessly for Geoffrey; but he is laughing with his brother, Captain Rodney, whom he has not seen since his return from India, and so Mona, cast upon her own resources, says,—
"It was rather better than I anticipated, thank you," not in the haughty34 tone adopted by her half an hour ago, but, in an unnerved and frightened whisper.
At this remarkable35 answer to a very ordinary and polite question, Lady Rodney stares at Mona for a moment, and then turns abruptly36 away to greet Geoffrey. Whereupon Captain Rodney, coming forward, tells Mona he is glad to see her, kindly37 but carelessly; and then a young man, who has been standing38 up to this silently upon the hearthrug, advances, and takes Mona's hand in a warm clasp, and looks down upon her with very friendly eyes.
At his touch, at his glance, the first sense of comfort Mona has felt since her entry into the room falls upon her. This man, at least, is surely of the same kith and kin7 as Geoffrey, and to him her heart opens gladly, gratefully.
He has heard the remarkable speech made to his mother, and has drawn39 his own conclusions therefrom. "Geoffrey has been coaching the poor little soul, and putting absurd words into her mouth, with—as is usual in all such cases—a very brilliant result." So he tells himself, and is, as we know, close to the truth.
He tells Mona she is very welcome, and, still holding her hand, draws her over to the fire, and moves a big arm-chair in front of it, in which he ensconces her, bidding her warm herself, and make herself (as he says with a kindly smile that has still kinder meaning in it) "quite at home."
Then he stoops and unfastens her sealskin jacket, and takes it off her, and in fact pays her all the little attentions that lie in his power.
"You are Sir Nicholas?" questions she at last, gaining courage to speak, and raising her eyes to his full of entreaty41, and just a touch of that pathos42 that seems of right to belong to the eyes of all Irishwomen.
"Yes," returns he with a smile. "I am Nicholas." He ignores the formal title. "Geoffrey, I expect, spoke43 to you of me as 'old Nick;' he has never called me anything else since we were boys."
"He has often called you that; but,"—shyly,—"now that I have seen you, I don't think the name suits you a bit."
Sir Nicholas is quite pleased. There is a sort of unconscious flattery in the gravity of her tone and expression that amuses almost as much as it pleases him. What a funny child she is! and how unspeakably lovely! Will Doatie like her?
But there is yet another introduction to be gone through. From the doorway44 Violet Mansergh comes up to Geoffrey clad in some soft pale shimmering45 stuff, and holds out to him her hand.
"What a time you have been away!" she says, with a pretty, slow smile, that has not a particle of embarrassment46 or consciousness in it, though she is quite aware that Jack40 Rodney is watching her closely. Perhaps, indeed, she is secretly amused at his severe scrutiny47.
"You will introduce me to your wife?" she asks, after a few minutes, in her even, trainante voice, and is then taken up to the big arm-chair before the fire, and is made known to Mona.
"Dinner will be ready in a few minutes: of course we shall excuse your dressing48 to-night," says Lady Rodney, addressing her son far more than Mona, though the words presumably are meant for her. Whereupon Mona, rising from her chair with a sigh of relief, follows Geoffrey out of the room and upstairs.
"Well?" says Sir Nicholas, as a deadly silence continues for some time after their departure, "what do you think of her?"
"She is painfully deficient49; positively50 without brains," says Lady Rodney, with conviction. "What was the answer she made me when I asked about the carriage? Something utterly outside the mark."
"She is not brainless; she was only frightened. It certainly was an ordeal coming to a house for the first time to be, in effect, stared at. And she is very young."
"And perhaps unused to society," puts in Violet, mildly. As she speaks she picks up a tiny feather that has clung to her gown, and lightly blows it away from her into the air.
"She looked awfully cut up, poor little thing," says Jack, kindly. "You were the only one she opened her mind to, Nick What did she say? Did she betray the ravings of a lunatic or the inanities51 of a fool?"
"Neither."
"She said very little; but she looks good and true. After all, Geoffrey might have done worse."
"Worse!" repeats his mother, in a withering53 tone. In this mood she is not nice, and a very little of her suffices.
"She is decidedly good to look at, at all events," says Nicholas, shifting ground. "Don't you think so, Violet?"
"I think she is the loveliest woman I ever saw," returns Miss Mansergh, quietly, without enthusiasm, but with decision. If cold, she is just, and above the pettiness of disliking a woman because she may be counted more worthy54 of admiration than herself.
"I am glad you are all pleased," says Lady Rodney, in a peculiar55 tone; and then the gong sounds, and they all rise, as Geoffrey and Mona once more make their appearance. Sir Nicholas gives his arm to Mona, and so begins her first evening at the Towers.
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1
momentous
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| adj.重要的，重大的 | |
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exuberant
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| adj.充满活力的；（植物）繁茂的 | |
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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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ordeal
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| n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验 | |
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displeased
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| a.不快的 | |
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subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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kin
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| n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的 | |
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chromatic
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| adj.色彩的，颜色的 | |
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ignominiously
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| adv.耻辱地，屈辱地，丢脸地 | |
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10
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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11
awfully
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| adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地 | |
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appalling
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| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
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13
wigs
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| n.假发，法官帽( wig的名词复数 ) | |
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14
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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15
meekly
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| adv.温顺地，逆来顺受地 | |
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16
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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17
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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18
precipitating
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| adj.急落的，猛冲的v.（突如其来地）使发生( precipitate的现在分词 )；促成；猛然摔下；使沉淀 | |
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19
hospitable
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| adj.好客的；宽容的；有利的，适宜的 | |
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agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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lustre
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| n.光亮，光泽；荣誉 | |
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eminently
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| adv.突出地；显著地；不寻常地 | |
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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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24
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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ushers
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| n.引座员( usher的名词复数 )；招待员；门房；助理教员v.引，领，陪同( usher的第三人称单数 ) | |
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26
bespeaks
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| v.预定( bespeak的第三人称单数 )；订（货）；证明；预先请求 | |
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27
leisurely
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| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
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28
velvet
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| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
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29
scrutinizing
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| v.仔细检查，详审( scrutinize的现在分词 ) | |
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parched
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| adj.焦干的；极渴的；v.（使）焦干 | |
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31
belies
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| v.掩饰( belie的第三人称单数 )；证明（或显示）…为虚假；辜负；就…扯谎 | |
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32
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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33
labored
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| adj.吃力的，谨慎的v.努力争取(for)( labor的过去式和过去分词 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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34
haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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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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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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39
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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40
jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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41
entreaty
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| n.恳求，哀求 | |
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pathos
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| n.哀婉，悲怆 | |
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43
spoke
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| 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 | |
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44
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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45
shimmering
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| v.闪闪发光，发微光( shimmer的现在分词 ) | |
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46
embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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47
scrutiny
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| n.详细检查，仔细观察 | |
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48
dressing
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| n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料 | |
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49
deficient
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| adj.不足的，不充份的，有缺陷的 | |
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50
positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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51
inanities
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| n.空洞( inanity的名词复数 )；浅薄；愚蠢；空洞的言行 | |
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52
gems
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| growth； economy； management； and customer satisfaction 增长 | |
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53
withering
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| 使人畏缩的，使人害羞的，使人难堪的 | |
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54
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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55
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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