The Comic Muse1, though able to look after her own interests, did not disdain2 the assistance of Mr. Vyse. His idea of bringing the Emersons to Windy Corner struck her as decidedly good, and she carried through the negotiations3 without a hitch4. Sir Harry5 Otway signed the agreement, met Mr. Emerson, who was duly disillusioned6. The Miss Alans were duly offended, and wrote a dignified7 letter to Lucy, whom they held responsible for the failure. Mr. Beebe planned pleasant moments for the new-comers, and told Mrs. Honeychurch that Freddy must call on them as soon as they arrived. Indeed, so ample was the Muse's equipment that she permitted Mr. Harris, never a very robust8 criminal, to droop9 his head, to be forgotten, and to die.
Lucy--to descend10 from bright heaven to earth, whereon there are shadows because there are hills--Lucy was at first plunged11 into despair, but settled after a little thought that it did not matter the very least. Now that she was engaged, the Emersons would scarcely insult her and were welcome into the neighbourhood. And Cecil was welcome to bring whom he would into the neighbourhood. Therefore Cecil was welcome to bring the Emersons into the neighbourhood. But, as I say, this took a little thinking, and--so illogical are girls--the event remained rather greater and rather more dreadful than it should have done. She was glad that a visit to Mrs. Vyse now fell due; the tenants12 moved into Cissie Villa13 while she was safe in the London flat.
"Cecil--Cecil darling," she whispered the evening she arrived, and crept into his arms.
Cecil, too, became demonstrative. He saw that the needful fire had been kindled14 in Lucy. At last she longed for attention, as a woman should, and looked up to him because he was a man.
"So you do love me, little thing?" he murmured.
"Oh, Cecil, I do, I do! I don't know what I should do without you."
Several days passed. Then she had a letter from Miss Bartlett. A coolness had sprung up between the two cousins, and they had not corresponded since they parted in August. The coolness dated from what Charlotte would call "the flight to Rome," and in Rome it had increased amazingly. For the companion who is merely uncongenial in the mediaeval world becomes exasperating15 in the classical. Charlotte, unselfish in the Forum16, would have tried a sweeter temper than Lucy's, and once, in the Baths of Caracalla, they had doubted whether they could continue their tour. Lucy had said she would join the Vyses--Mrs. Vyse was an acquaintance of her mother, so there was no impropriety in the plan and Miss Bartlett had replied that she was quite used to being abandoned suddenly. Finally nothing happened; but the coolness remained, and, for Lucy, was even increased when she opened the letter and read as follows. It had been forwarded from Windy Corner.
"Tunbridge Wells,
September.
"Dearest Lucia,
"I have news of you at last! Miss Lavish17 has been bicycling in your parts, but was not sure whether a call would be welcome. Puncturing18 her tire near Summer Street, and it being mended while she sat very woebegone in that pretty churchyard, she saw to her astonishment19, a door open opposite and the younger Emerson man come out. He said his father had just taken the house. He SAID he did not know that you lived in the neighbourhood (?). He never suggested giving Eleanor a cup of tea. Dear Lucy, I am much worried, and I advise you to make a clean breast of his past behaviour to your mother, Freddy, and Mr. Vyse, who will forbid him to enter the house, etc. That was a great misfortune, and I dare say you have told them already. Mr. Vyse is so sensitive. I remember how I used to get on his nerves at Rome. I am very sorry about it all, and should not feel easy unless I warned you.
"Believe me,
"Your anxious and loving cousin,
Charlotte."
Lucy was much annoyed, and replied as follows:
"Dear Charlotte,
"Many thanks for your warning. When Mr. Emerson forgot himself on the mountain, you made me promise not to tell mother, because you said she would blame you for not being always with me. I have kept that promise, and cannot possibly tell her now. I have said both to her and Cecil that I met the Emersons at Florence, and that they are respectable people--which I do think--and the reason that he offered Miss Lavish no tea was probably that he had none himself. She should have tried at the Rectory. I cannot begin making a fuss at this stage. You must see that it would be too absurd. If the Emersons heard I had complained of them, they would think themselves of importance, which is exactly what they are not. I like the old father, and look forward to seeing him again. As for the son, I am sorry for him when we meet, rather than for myself. They are known to Cecil, who is very well and spoke22 of you the other day. We expect to be married in January.
"Miss Lavish cannot have told you much about me, for I am not at Windy Corner at all, but here. Please do not put 'Private' outside your envelope again. No one opens my letters.
"Yours affectionately,
"L. M. Honeychurch."
Secrecy23 has this disadvantage: we lose the sense of proportion; we cannot tell whether our secret is important or not. Were Lucy and her cousin closeted with a great thing which would destroy Cecil's life if he discovered it, or with a little thing which he would laugh at? Miss Bartlett suggested the former. Perhaps she was right. It had become a great thing now. Left to herself, Lucy would have told her mother and her lover ingenuously24, and it would have remained a little thing. "Emerson, not Harris"; it was only that a few weeks ago. She tried to tell Cecil even now when they were laughing about some beautiful lady who had smitten25 his heart at school. But her body behaved so ridiculously that she stopped.
She and her secret stayed ten days longer in the deserted26 Metropolis27 visiting the scenes they were to know so well later on. It did her no harm, Cecil thought, to learn the framework of society, while society itself was absent on the golf-links or the moors28. The weather was cool, and it did her no harm. In spite of the season, Mrs. Vyse managed to scrape together a dinner-party consisting entirely29 of the grandchildren of famous people. The food was poor, but the talk had a witty30 weariness that impressed the girl. One was tired of everything, it seemed. One launched into enthusiasms only to collapse31 gracefully32, and pick oneself up amid sympathetic laughter. In this atmosphere the Pension Bertolini and Windy Corner appeared equally crude, and Lucy saw that her London career would estrange33 her a little from all that she had loved in the past.
The grandchildren asked her to play the piano.
She played Schumann. "Now some Beethoven" called Cecil, when the querulous beauty of the music had died. She shook her head and played Schumann again. The melody rose, unprofitably magical. It broke; it was resumed broken, not marching once from the cradle to the grave. The sadness of the incomplete--the sadness that is often Life, but should never be Art--throbbed in its disjected phrases, and made the nerves of the audience throb34. Not thus had she played on the little draped piano at the Bertolini, and "Too much Schumann" was not the remark that Mr. Beebe had passed to himself when she returned.
When the guests were gone, and Lucy had gone to bed, Mrs. Vyse paced up and down the drawing-room, discussing her little party with her son. Mrs. Vyse was a nice woman, but her personality, like many another's, had been swamped by London, for it needs a strong head to live among many people. The too vast orb20 of her fate had crushed her; and she had seen too many seasons, too many cities, too many men, for her abilities, and even with Cecil she was mechanical, and behaved as if he was not one son, but, so to speak, a filial crowd.
"Make Lucy one of us," she said, looking round intelligently at the end of each sentence, and straining her lips apart until she spoke again. "Lucy is becoming wonderful--wonderful."
"Her music always was wonderful."
"Yes, but she is purging35 off the Honeychurch taint36, most excellent Honeychurches, but you know what I mean. She is not always quoting servants, or asking one how the pudding is made."
"Italy has done it."
"Perhaps," she murmured, thinking of the museum that represented Italy to her. "It is just possible. Cecil, mind you marry her next January. She is one of us already."
"But her music!" he exclaimed. "The style of her! How she kept to Schumann when, like an idiot, I wanted Beethoven. Schumann was right for this evening. Schumann was the thing. Do you know, mother, I shall have our children educated just like Lucy. Bring them up among honest country folks for freshness, send them to Italy for subtlety37, and then--not till then--let them come to London. I don't believe in these London educations--" He broke off, remembering that he had had one himself, and concluded, "At all events, not for women."
"Make her one of us," repeated Mrs. Vyse, and processed to bed.
As she was dozing38 off, a cry--the cry of nightmare--rang from Lucy's room. Lucy could ring for the maid if she liked but Mrs. Vyse thought it kind to go herself. She found the girl sitting upright with her hand on her cheek.
"I am so sorry, Mrs. Vyse--it is these dreams."
"Bad dreams?"
"Just dreams."
The elder lady smiled and kissed her, saying very distinctly: "You should have heard us talking about you, dear. He admires you more than ever. Dream of that."
Lucy returned the kiss, still covering one cheek with her hand. Mrs. Vyse recessed39 to bed. Cecil, whom the cry had not awoke, snored. Darkness enveloped40 the flat.
喜剧女神虽然懂得照看自己的利益，但是也不蔑视维斯先生的帮助。他要把艾默森父子带到风角来的主意使她认为十分高明，她便顺顺当当地进行了磋商。哈里·奥特韦爵士签署了协议书，同艾默森先生会了面，却感到相当失望。两位艾伦小姐相当生气，写了一封义正词严的信给露西，她们认为露西应该对这次租赁失败负责。毕比先生为新房客们设想好如何提供愉快的时刻，对霍尼彻奇太太说，等他们一到，弗雷迪就该去拜访他们。说真的，哈里斯先生这名罪魁祸首，从来就不是身强力壮的人，而女神神通广大，因此就让他垂下了头，被大家遗忘，最后死去。
露西从光芒万丈的天上落到了地面上，因为那里有山，这样就有了阴影。露西起先沉进了失望的深渊，经过了一番思索，觉得这件事实在无关紧要，心情便平静了下来。她既然已订婚，艾默森父子就不会欺负她了，当然该欢迎他们搬到这一带来居住。而塞西尔也大可把他喜欢的人带到这里来。因此塞西尔可以把艾默森父子带到这里来。不过，我已说过，这需要一番思考，然而——姑娘们是很不符合逻辑的——这件事原本没什么，但是对她说来却关系重大，而且很可怕。因此她很高兴原先约好去探望维斯太太的日子已到来；这样当新房客迁入希西别墅时，她已经安安全全地在伦敦的公寓里了。
到达伦敦的傍晚，她轻声地呼唤着“塞西尔——塞西尔我的宝贝”，投入了他的怀抱。
塞西尔也表现出他的热情。他发现那股必不可少的火已在露西心中点燃。她终于渴望他的温存了，女人原是应该这样的，她很器重他，因为他是个男人。
“这么说你是真爱我的啰，小东西？”他低声说。
“哦，塞西尔，我爱你，我爱你！我不知道没有了你该怎么办。”
几天过去了。露西收到巴特利特小姐的一封来信。
两位表姐妹之间关系变得冷淡起来，自从八月分手以来，她们没有通过信。关系冷淡是从夏绿蒂称之为“逃往罗马”开始的。而在罗马这种冷淡惊人地加深了。因为这位同伴，如果处在中世纪社会，还不过是格格不入而已，但一到古典的环境里，却变得叫人难以容忍了。夏绿蒂在古罗马广场遗址上可能被认为是个大公无私的人，但是即使换了个性情比露西温柔的人，也会感到难以承受这考验，而到了卡拉卡拉（译注：卡拉卡拉（188 -217），古罗马皇帝）浴池，她们甚至怀疑两人是否能继续做伴旅行。露西说过她将和维斯一家一起走——她母亲认识维斯太太。因此这打算并没有什么不当之处——而巴特利特小姐则回答说，她已习惯于被人突然抛弃了。结果并没有发生这类事情；但是她们之间的关系依然很冷淡，而且对露西来说，当她拆开信，读了下面的内容后，对夏绿蒂的冷淡更加深了。这封信是从风角转来的。
顿桥井
九月最亲爱的露西，
我终于得到了有关你的消息！拉维希小姐骑自行车在你们那一带兜风，但她不知道去拜访你是否会受到欢迎。她的车胎在夏街附近被戳破了，补胎时她愁眉苦脸地坐在那座美丽的教堂的院子里，突然对面的门开了，她吃惊地看到姓艾默森的那个年轻小伙子走了出来。他说他父亲刚租下这幢房子，他还说他不知道你就住在这一带(?)。他根本没有提要请埃莉诺喝茶。亲爱的露西，我很担心，我劝你把他过去的所作所为毫无保留地全讲给你妈妈、弗雷迪和维斯先生听，他们将会禁止他上门等等。那件事实在太不幸了，我敢说你已经对他们讲过了。维斯先生非常敏感。我还记得在罗马时我常常使他心神不宁。我对这一切非常不安，除非向你提出劝告，不然我是不会心安的。
请相信我，
你的焦急的、亲爱的表姐，
夏绿蒂露西很恼火，回信如下
比彻姆大厦，伦敦西南区亲爱的夏绿蒂，
多谢你的劝告。艾默森先生在山上忘乎所以的时候，你要我答应不把此事告诉妈妈，因为你说她会责备你没有一直和我待在一起。我遵守了诺言，当然现在也不可能告诉她了。我对她和塞西尔都讲过我在佛罗伦萨遇见过艾默森父子，他们都是正派人——我现在也确实这样认为——至于他没有请拉维希小姐喝茶，理由很可能是他自己根本不喝茶。她应该到教区长的寓所去喝。到了现在这个阶段，我不能忽然大惊小怪起来。你一定懂得这样做太荒唐了。如果艾默森父子听到我对他们抱怨，他们就会以为他们很重要，而他们恰恰不是这样。我喜欢那位老父亲，希望以后再见到他。至于那个儿子，我们再见面时，我将为他而不是为我自己感到难过。塞西尔认识他们，他的身体很好，前几天还谈到过你。我们将于一月结婚。
拉维希小姐不可能告诉你很多关于我的情况，因为我根本不在风角，而是在这里。以后写信请不要在信封上写上“亲启”两字。没有人会私拆我的信件的。
你的亲爱的
露．M．霍尼彻奇
保密有它不利的这一面：我们丧失了对事物的分寸感；我们无法辨别我们的秘密是重要还是不重要。究竟露西和她表姐埋在心底里的秘密是一件会毁了塞西尔一生的大事情，如果他发现了的话，还是一件他将会付诸一笑的小事情？巴特利特小姐提出该是前者。也许她是对的。现在它已成为一件大事情。要是让露西自己处理这件事，她就会老老实实地讲给她母亲和恋人听，那么这件事就会依旧是件小事。几星期前，事情还仅仅是这么回事：“是艾默森，而不是哈里斯。”甚至现在当他们谈笑风生地谈到在学生时代曾使塞西尔为之倾倒的某位漂亮的小姐时，她还想告诉他。可是她的身躯却表现得顶可笑，她也就没有讲。
在人们纷纷离去的大都市里，露西和她的秘密继续保持了十天，他们去观光了一些后来非常熟悉的地方。塞西尔认为虽然社交圈内的人都去高尔夫球场或去荒原狩猎了，但让她了解一些社交准则并没有坏处。天气很凉快，这对她也没有坏处。虽说这是打高尔夫球与狩猎的季节，维斯太太还是把那些名人的孙儿辈凑拢来，设了一次晚宴。那天菜肴实在不怎么样，但人们的谈话中流露出一种不乏俏皮劲儿的厌倦情绪，倒给了露西很深刻的印象。看来人们对一切都感到无聊。一个个慷慨陈词，却又突然讲不下去了，但仍能保持风度，在一片友好的笑声中，重新振作起来。在这种气氛中，贝尔托利尼公寓与风角显得同样粗野，于是露西意识到她的伦敦生涯将使她与她过去所热爱的一切疏远一些。
那些孙儿辈请她弹钢琴。她弹了舒曼的作品。当那如怨如诉的动听乐声消逝时，塞西尔嚷道，“现在来一曲贝多芬吧！”她摇摇头，又弹起了舒曼。乐曲的旋律向上升，具有一种徒劳无功的魔力。乐曲戛然中断；断了又续，续了又断，从摇篮走向坟墓并非一次完成的。那种不完整的情绪的悲哀——往往就是人生的悲哀，但绝对不是艺术的悲哀——展现在支离破碎的音乐短句中，使听众的神经为之震撼。露西在贝尔托利尼公寓里那架覆盖着布的小钢琴上弹奏时可不是这样的，她又弹起舒曼时，毕比先生也没有对他自己说，“舒曼的东西弹得太多了。”
客人们散了，露西也去睡了，维斯太太在客厅里来回走动，和她的儿子议论这次小规模的聚会。维斯太太是一位和蔼可亲的妇女，但是她的个性，像许多其他人的个性一样，被伦敦社会淹没了，因为要在许多人中间生活必须有坚强的头脑。她的命运的圈子太大了，把她压倒了；她见到的社交季节、城市与男人太多了，她的才能应付不了，她甚至对待塞西尔也很生硬，仿佛塞西尔不是一个儿子，而可以说是一群孝顺的人。
“让露西成为我们家的一员吧，”她说，每讲完一句话都敏捷地朝四周看看，在讲下一句话前，总是用力地张开了双唇。“露西现在变得真了不起——真了不起。”
“她的演奏总是那样了不起。”
“是啊，可是她现在正在涤除霍尼彻奇家的污点——霍尼彻奇一家人都非常好，不过你懂得我的意思。她并没有老是说仆人们怎么说，或者打听这种布丁是怎么做的。”
“这是意大利的功劳。”
“也许吧，”她低声说，想起了那个对她说来就代表着意大利的博物馆。“这是可能的。塞西尔，明年一月你一定要和她结婚。她已经是我们中间的一员了。”
“可她的演奏！”他嚷道。“她那风格！她坚持弹舒曼，而我却像个傻瓜要听贝多芬。舒曼很适合今晚。今晚就应该弹舒曼。妈妈，你知道，我要我们的孩子就像露西那样接受教育。让他们在朴实的乡下人中间长大，这样可以充满生气，然后送他们去意大利，让他们懂得含蓄，然后——只有到了那个时候一才让他们到伦敦来。我不相信伦敦的那些教育方式——”他想起他自己也曾接受过伦敦的一种教育方式，便住了口，最后才说，“不管怎么样，对女人都不适合。”
“让她成为我们家的一员吧！”维斯太太又说了一遍，便准备上床去睡r。
她快要睡去时，从露西房内传来一声叫喊——做恶梦的叫喊声。露四原可以按铃叫女仆来，可是维斯太太认为她亲自去看看更为亲切。她发现姑娘直挺挺地坐在床上，一只手捂着脸颊。
“对不起，维斯太太——都是这些梦的缘故！”
“是恶梦吗？”
“就是梦嘛。”
这位年长的太太笑了，吻了她，非常清晰地对她说：“亲爱的，你要是听到我们刚才谈论你的话就好了。他现在更加爱慕你了。你就梦这个吧！”
露西还报了一吻，一只手还是捂住了一边的脸颊。维斯太太退出去，回到床上。那声叫喊没有把塞西尔吵醒，他正在打鼾呢。黑暗笼罩着整个公寓。
收听单词发音 |
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muse
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| n.缪斯（希腊神话中的女神），创作灵感 | |
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disdain
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| n.鄙视，轻视；v.轻视，鄙视，不屑 | |
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negotiations
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| 协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过 | |
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hitch
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| v.免费搭(车旅行)；系住；急提；n.故障；急拉 | |
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harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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disillusioned
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| a.不再抱幻想的，大失所望的，幻想破灭的 | |
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dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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robust
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| adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的 | |
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droop
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| v.低垂，下垂；凋萎，萎靡 | |
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descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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tenants
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| n.房客( tenant的名词复数 )；佃户；占用者；占有者 | |
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villa
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| n.别墅，城郊小屋 | |
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kindled
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| （使某物）燃烧，着火( kindle的过去式和过去分词 )； 激起（感情等）； 发亮，放光 | |
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exasperating
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| adj. 激怒的 动词exasperate的现在分词形式 | |
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forum
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| n.论坛，讨论会 | |
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lavish
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| adj.无节制的；浪费的；vt.慷慨地给予，挥霍 | |
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puncturing
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| v.在（某物）上穿孔( puncture的现在分词 )；刺穿（某物）；削弱（某人的傲气、信心等）；泄某人的气 | |
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astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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orb
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| n.太阳；星球；v.弄圆；成球形 | |
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mansions
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| n.宅第，公馆，大厦( mansion的名词复数 ) | |
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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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secrecy
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| n.秘密，保密，隐蔽 | |
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ingenuously
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| adv.率直地，正直地 | |
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smitten
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| 猛打，重击，打击( smite的过去分词 ) | |
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deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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metropolis
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| n.首府；大城市 | |
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moors
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| v.停泊，系泊（船只）( moor的第三人称单数 ) | |
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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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witty
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| adj.机智的，风趣的 | |
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collapse
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| vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷 | |
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gracefully
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| ad.大大方方地；优美地 | |
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estrange
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| v.使疏远，离间，使离开 | |
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throb
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| v.震颤，颤动；(急速强烈地)跳动，搏动 | |
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purging
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| 清洗； 清除； 净化； 洗炉 | |
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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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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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dozing
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| v.打瞌睡,假寐 n.瞌睡 | |
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recessed
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| v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的过去式和过去分词 )；将（墙）做成凹形，在（墙）上做壁龛；休息，休会，休庭 | |
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enveloped
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| v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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