‘Good morning, Mamsey! why, you’re looking as fresh as a daisy this morning. You’re getting young again’, said Mr. Dempster, looking up from his newspaper when the little old lady entered. A very little old lady she was, with a pale, scarcely wrinkled face, hair of that peculiar16 white which tells that the locks have once been blond, a natty17 pure white cap on her head, and a white shawl pinned over her shoulders. You saw at a glance that she had been a mignonne blonde, strangely unlike her tall, ugly, dingy-complexioned son; unlike her daughter-in-law, too, whose large-featured brunette beauty seemed always thrown into higher relief by the white presence of little Mamsey. The unlikeness between Janet and her mother-in-law went deeper than outline and complexion18, and indeed there was little sympathy between them, for old Mrs. Dempster had not yet learned to believe that her son, Robert, would have gone wrong if he had married the right woman—a meek19 woman like herself, who would have borne him children, and been a deft20, orderly housekeeper21. In spite of Janet’s tenderness and attention to her, she had had little love for her daughter-in-law from the first, and had witnessed the sad growth of home-misery through long years, always with a disposition22 to lay the blame on the wife rather than on the husband, and to reproach Mrs. Raynor for encouraging her daughter’s faults by a too exclusive sympathy. But old Mrs. Dempster had that rare gift of silence and passivity which often supplies the absence of mental strength; and, whatever were her thoughts, she said no word to aggravate23 the domestic discord24. Patient and mute she sat at her knitting through many a scene of quarrel and anguish25; resolutely26 she appeared unconscious of the sounds that reached her ears, and the facts she divined after she had retired27 to her bed; mutely she witnessed poor Janet’s faults, only registering them as a balance of excuse on the side of her son. The hard, astute28, domineering attorney was still that little old woman’s pet, as he had been when she watched with triumphant29 pride his first tumbling effort to march alone across the nursery floor. ‘See what a good son he is to me!’ she often thought. ‘Never gave me a harsh word. And so he might have been a good husband.’
O it is piteous—that sorrow of aged women! In early youth, perhaps, they said to themselves, ‘I shall be happy when I have a husband to love me best of all’; then, when the husband was too careless, ‘My child will comfort me’; then, through the mother’s watching and toil30, ‘My child will repay me all when it grows up.’ And at last, after the long journey of years has been wearily travelled through, the mother’s heart is weighed down by a heavier burthen, and no hope remains31 but the grave.
But this morning old Mrs. Dempster sat down in her easy-chair without any painful, suppressed remembrance of the preceding night.
‘I declare mammy looks younger than Mrs. Crewe, who is only sixty-five,’ said Janet. ‘Mrs. Crewe will come to see you to-day, mammy, and tell you all about her troubles with the Bishop32 and the collation33. She’ll bring her knitting, and you’ll have a regular gossip together.’
‘The gossip will be all on one side, then, for Mrs. Crewe gets so very deaf, I can’t make her hear a word. And if I motion to her, she always understands me wrong.’
‘O, she will have so much to tell you to-day, you will not want to speak yourself. You, who have patience to knit those wonderful counterpanes, mammy, must not be impatient with dear Mrs. Crewe. Good old lady! I can’t bear her to think she’s ever tiresome35 to people, and you know she’s very ready to fancy herself in the way. I think she would like to shrink up to the size of a mouse, that she might run about and do people good without their noticing her.’
‘It isn’t patience I want, God knows; it’s lungs to speak loud enough. But you’ll be at home yourself, I suppose, this morning; and you can talk to her for me.’
‘No, mammy; I promised poor Mrs. Lowme to go and sit with her. She’s confined to her room, and both the Miss Lowmes are out; so I’m going to read the newspaper to her and amuse her.’
‘Couldn’t you go another morning? As Mr. Armstrong and that other gentleman are coming to dinner, I should think it would be better to stay at home. Can you trust Betty to see to everything? She’s new to the place.’
‘O I couldn’t disappoint Mrs. Lowme; I promised her. Betty will do very well, no fear.’
Old Mrs. Dempster was silent after this, and began to sip34 her tea. The breakfast went on without further conversation for some time, Mr. Dempster being absorbed in the papers. At length, when he was running over the advertisements, his eye seemed to be caught by something that suggested a new thought to him. He presently thumped36 the table with an air of exultation37, and, said turning to Janet,—‘I’ve a capital idea, Gypsy!’ (that was his name for his dark-eyed wife when he was in an extraordinarily38 good humour), ‘and you shall help me. It’s just what you’re up to.’
‘What is it?’ said Janet, her face beaming at the sound of the pet name, now heard so seldom. ‘Anything to do with conveyancing?’
‘It’s a bit of fun worth a dozen fees—a plan for raising a laugh against Tryan and his gang of hypocrites.’
‘What is it? Nothing that wants a needle and thread, I hope, else I must go and tease mother.’
‘No, nothing sharper than your wit—except mine. I’ll tell you what it is. We’ll get up a programme of the Sunday evening lecture, like a play-bill, you know—“Grand Performance of the celebrated39 Mountebank,” and so on. We’ll bring in the Tryanites—old Landor and the rest—in appropriate characters. Proctor shall print it, and we’ll circulate it in the town. It will be a capital hit.’
‘Bravo!’ said Janet, clapping her hands. She would just then have pretended to like almost anything, in her pleasure at being appealed to by her husband, and she really did like to laugh at the Tryanites. ‘We’ll set about it directly, and sketch40 it out before you go to the office. I’ve got Tryan’s sermons up-stairs, but I don’t think there’s anything in them we can use. I’ve only just looked into them; they’re not at all what I expected—dull, stupid things—nothing of the roaring fire-and-brimstone sort that I expected.’
‘Roaring? No; Tryan’s as soft as a sucking dove—one of your honey-mouthed hypocrites. Plenty of devil and malice41 in him, though, I could see that, while he was talking to the Bishop; but as smooth as a snake outside. He’s beginning a single-handed fight with me, I can see—persuading my clients away from me. We shall see who will be the first to cry peccavi. Milby will do better without Mr. Tryan than without Robert Dempster, I fancy! and Milby shall never be flooded with cant42 as long as I can raise a breakwater against it. But now, get the breakfast things cleared away, and let us set about the play-bill. Come, mamsey, come and have a walk with me round the garden, and let us see how the cucumbers are getting on. I’ve never taken you round the garden for an age. Come, you don’t want a bonnet43. It’s like walking in a greenhouse this morning.’
‘But she will want a parasol,’ said Janet. ‘There’s one on the stand against the garden-door, Robert.’
The little old lady took her son’s arm with placid44 pleasure. She could barely reach it so as to rest upon it, but he inclined a little towards her, and accommodated his heavy long-limbed steps to her feeble pace. The cat chose to sun herself too, and walked close beside them, with tail erect45, rubbing her sleek sides against their legs,—too well fed to be excited by the twittering birds. The garden was of the grassy46, shady kind, often seen attached to old houses in provincial47 towns; the apple-trees had had time to spread their branches very wide, the shrubs48 and hardy49 perennial50 plants had grown into a luxuriance that required constant trimming to prevent them from intruding51 on the space for walking. But the farther end, which united with green fields, was open and sunny.
It was rather sad, and yet pretty, to see that little group passing out of the shadow into the sunshine, and out of the sunshine into the shadow again: sad, because this tenderness of the son for the mother was hardly more than a nucleus52 of healthy life in an organ hardening by disease, because the man who was linked in this way with an innocent past, had become callous53 in worldliness, fevered by sensuality, enslaved by chance impulses; pretty, because it showed how hard it is to kill the deep-down fibrous roots of human love and goodness—how the man from whom we make it our pride to shrink, has yet a close brotherhood54 with us through some of our most sacred feelings.
As they were returning to the house, Janet met them, and said, ‘Now, Robert, the writing things are ready. I shall be clerk, and Mat Paine can copy it out after.’
Mammy once more deposited in her arm-chair, with her knitting in her hand, and the cat purring at her elbow, Janet seated herself at the table, while Mr. Dempster placed himself near her, took out his snuff-box, and plentifully55 suffusing56 himself with the inspiring powder, began to dictate57.
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1
consultation
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| n.咨询；商量；商议；会议 | |
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helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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augury
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| n.预言，征兆，占卦 | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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lucrative
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| adj.赚钱的，可获利的 | |
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lawsuit
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| n.诉讼，控诉 | |
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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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aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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caresses
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| 爱抚，抚摸( caress的名词复数 ) | |
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orator
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| n.演说者，演讲者，雄辩家 | |
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tyrant
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| n.暴君，专制的君主，残暴的人 | |
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dreary
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| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
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sleek
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| adj.光滑的，井然有序的；v.使光滑，梳拢 | |
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acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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incumbent
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| adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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natty
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| adj.整洁的，漂亮的 | |
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complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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meek
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| adj.温顺的，逆来顺受的 | |
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deft
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| adj.灵巧的，熟练的（a deft hand 能手） | |
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housekeeper
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| n.管理家务的主妇，女管家 | |
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disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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aggravate
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| vt.加重(剧)，使恶化；激怒，使恼火 | |
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discord
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| n.不和，意见不合，争论，（音乐）不和谐 | |
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anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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resolutely
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| adj.坚决地，果断地 | |
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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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astute
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| adj.机敏的，精明的 | |
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triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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collation
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| n.便餐；整理 | |
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sip
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| v.小口地喝，抿，呷；n.一小口的量 | |
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tiresome
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| adj.令人疲劳的，令人厌倦的 | |
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thumped
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| v.重击， （指心脏）急速跳动( thump的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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exultation
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| n.狂喜，得意 | |
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extraordinarily
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| adv.格外地；极端地 | |
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celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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sketch
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| n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述 | |
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malice
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| n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋 | |
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cant
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| n.斜穿，黑话，猛扔 | |
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bonnet
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| n.无边女帽；童帽 | |
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placid
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| adj.安静的，平和的 | |
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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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grassy
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| adj.盖满草的；长满草的 | |
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provincial
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| adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人 | |
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48
shrubs
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| 灌木( shrub的名词复数 ) | |
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49
hardy
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| adj.勇敢的，果断的，吃苦的；耐寒的 | |
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perennial
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| adj.终年的；长久的 | |
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51
intruding
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| v.侵入，侵扰，打扰( intrude的现在分词)；把…强加于 | |
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52
nucleus
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| n.核，核心，原子核 | |
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callous
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| adj.无情的，冷淡的，硬结的，起老茧的 | |
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brotherhood
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| n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊 | |
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55
plentifully
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| adv. 许多地，丰饶地 | |
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56
suffusing
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| v.（指颜色、水气等）弥漫于，布满( suffuse的现在分词 ) | |
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57
dictate
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| v.口授；(使)听写；指令，指示，命令 | |
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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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