小说搜索     点击排行榜   最新入库
首页 » 经典英文小说 » The Head of the House of Coombe » CHAPTER V
选择底色: 选择字号:【大】【中】【小】
CHAPTER V
关注小说网官方公众号(noveltingroom),原版名著免费领。
 The morning was a brighter one than London usually indulges in and the sun made its way into Feather’s bedroom to the revealing of its coral pink glow and comfort. She had always liked her bedroom and had usually wakened in it to the sense of luxuriousness1 it is possible a pet cat feels when it wakens to stretch itself on a cushion with its saucer of cream awaiting it.
 
But she did not awaken2 either to a sense of brightness or luxury this morning. She had slept it was true, but once or twice when the pillow had slipped aside she had found herself disturbed by the far-off sound of the wailing4 of some little animal which had caused her automatically and really scarcely consciously to replace the pillow. It had only happened at long intervals5 because it is Nature that an exhausted6 baby falls asleep when it is worn out. Robin7 had probably slept almost as much as her mother.
 
Feather staring at the pinkness around her reached at last, with the assistance of a certain physical consciousness, a sort of spiritless intention.
 
“She’s asleep now,” she murmured. “I hope she won’t waken for a long time. I feel faint. I shall have to find something to eat—if it’s only biscuits.” Then she lay and tried to remember what Cook had said about her not starving. “She said there were a few things left in the pantry and closets. Perhaps there’s some condensed milk. How do you mix it up? If she cries I might go and give her some. It wouldn’t be so awful now it’s daylight.”
 
She felt shaky when she got out of bed and stood on her feet. She had not had a maid in her girlhood so she could dress herself, much as she detested8 to do it. After she had begun however she could not help becoming rather interested because the dress she had worn the day before had become crushed and she put on a fresh one she had not worn at all. It was thin and soft also, and black was quite startlingly becoming to her. She would wear this one when Lord Coombe came, after she wrote to him. It was silly of her not to have written before though she knew he had left town after the funeral. Letters would be forwarded.
 
“It will be quite bright in the dining-room now,” she said to encourage herself. “And Tonson once said that the only places the sun came into below stairs were the pantry and kitchen and it only stayed about an hour early in the morning. I must get there as soon as I can.”
 
When she had so dressed herself that the reflection the mirror gave back to her was of the nature of a slight physical stimulant9 she opened her bedroom door and faced exploration of the deserted10 house below with a quaking sense of the proportions of the inevitable11. She got down the narrow stairs casting a frightened glance at the emptiness of the drawing-rooms which seemed to stare at her as she passed them. There was sun in the dining-room and when she opened the sideboard she found some wine in decanters and some biscuits and even a few nuts and some raisins12 and oranges. She put them on the table and sat down and ate some of them and began to feel a little less shaky.
 
If she had been allowed time to sit longer and digest and reflect she might have reached the point of deciding on what she would write to Lord Coombe. She had not the pen of a ready writer and it must be thought over. But just when she was beginning to be conscious of the pleasant warmth of the sun which shone on her shoulders from the window, she was almost startled our of her chair by hearing again stealing down the staircase from the upper regions that faint wail3 like a little cat’s.
 
“Just the moment—the very moment I begin to feel a little quieted—and try to think—she begins again!” she cried out. “It’s worse then anything!”
 
Large crystal tears ran down her face and upon the polished table.
 
“I suppose she would starve to death if I didn’t give her some food—and then I should be blamed! People would be horrid13 about it. I’ve got nothing to eat myself.”
 
She must at any rate manage to stop the crying before she could write to Coombe. She would be obliged to go down into the pantry and look for some condensed milk. The creature had no teeth but perhaps she could mumble14 a biscuit or a few raisins. If she could be made to swallow a little port wine it might make her sleepy. The sun was paying its brief morning visit to the kitchen and pantry when she reached there, but a few cockroaches15 scuttled16 away before her and made her utter a hysterical17 little scream. But there was some condensed milk and there was a little warm water in a kettle because the fire was not quite out. She imperfectly mixed a decoction and filled a bottle which ought not to have been downstairs but had been brought and left there by Louisa as a result of tender moments with Edward.
 
When she put the bottle and some biscuits and scraps19 of cold ham on a tray because she could not carry them all in her hands, her sense of outrage20 and despair made her almost sob21.
 
“I am just like a servant—carrying trays upstairs,” she wept. “I—I might be Edward—or—or Louisa.” And her woe22 increased when she added in the dining-room the port wine and nuts and raisins and macaroons as viands23 which might somehow add to infant diet and induce sleep. She was not sure of course—but she knew they sucked things and liked sweets.
 
A baby left unattended to scream itself to sleep and awakening24 to scream itself to sleep again, does not present to a resentful observer the flowerlike bloom and beauty of infancy25. When Feather carried her tray into the Night Nursery and found herself confronting the disordered crib on which her offspring lay she felt the child horrible to look at. Its face was disfigured and its eyes almost closed. She trembled all over as she put the bottle to its mouth and saw the fiercely hungry clutch of its hands. It was old enough to clutch, and clutch it did, and suck furiously and starvingly—even though actually forced to stop once or twice at first to give vent26 to a thwarted27 remnant of a scream.
 
Feather had only seen it as downy whiteness and perfume in Louisa’s arms or in its carriage. It had been a singularly vivid and brilliant-eyed baby at whom people looked as they passed.
 
“Who will give her a bath?” wailed28 Feather. “Who will change her clothes? Someone must! Could a woman by the day do it? Cook said I could get a woman by the day.”
 
And then she remembered that one got servants from agencies. And where were the agencies? And even a woman “by the day” would demand wages and food to eat.
 
And then the front door bell rang.
 
What could she do—what could she do? Go downstairs and open the door herself and let everyone know! Let the ringer go on ringing until he was tired and went away? She was indeed hard driven, even though the wail had ceased as Robin clutched her bottle to her breast and fed with frenzy29. Let them go away—let them! And then came the wild thought that it might be Something—the Something which must happen when things were at their worst! And if it had come and the house seemed to be empty! She did not walk down the stairs, she ran. Her heart beat until she reached the door out of breath and when she opened it stood their panting.
 
The people who waited upon the steps were strangers. They were very nice looking and quite young—a man and a woman very perfectly18 dressed. The man took a piece of paper out of his pocketbook and handed it to her with an agreeable apologetic courtesy.
 
“I hope we have not called early enough to disturb you,” he said. “We waited until eleven but we are obliged to catch a train at half past. It is an ‘order to view’ from Carson & Bayle.” He added this because Feather was staring at the paper.
 
Carson & Bayle were the agents they had rented the house from. It was Carson & Bayle’s collector Robert had met on the threshold and sworn at two days before he had been taken ill. They were letting the house over her head and she would be turned out into the street?
 
The young man and woman finding themselves gazing at this exquisitely31 pretty creature in exquisite30 mourning, felt themselves appallingly32 embarrassed. She was plainly the widow Carson had spoken of. But why did she open the door herself? And why did she look as if she did not understand? Indignation against Carson & Bayle began to stir the young man.
 
“Beg pardon! So sorry! I am afraid we ought not to have come,” he protested. “Agents ought to know better. They said you were giving up the house at once and we were afraid someone might take it.”
 
Feather held the “order to view” in her hand and snared33 at them quite helplessly.
 
“There—are no—no servants to show it to you,” she said. “If you could wait—a few days—perhaps—”
 
She was so lovely and Madame Hélène’s filmy black creation was in itself such an appeal, that the amiable34 young strangers gave up at once.
 
“Oh, certainly—certainly! Do excuse us! Carson and Bayle ought not to have—! We are so sorry. Good morning, good morning,” they gave forth35 in discomfited36 sympathy and politeness, and really quite scurried37 away.
 
Having shut the door on their retreat Feather stood shivering.
 
“I am going to be turned out of the house! I shall have to live in the street!” she thought. “Where shall I keep my clothes if I live in the street!”
 
Even she knew that she was thinking idiotically. Of course if everything was taken from you and sold, you would have no clothes at all, and wardrobes and drawers and closets would not matter. The realization38 that scarcely anything in the house had been paid for came home to her with a ghastly shock. She staggered upstairs to the first drawing-room in which there was a silly pretty little buhl writing table.
 
She felt even more senseless when she sank into a chair before it and drew a sheet of note-paper towards her. Her thoughts would not connect themselves with each other and she could not imagine what she ought to say in her letter to Coombe. In fact she seemed to have no thoughts at all. She could only remember the things which had happened, and she actually found she could write nothing else. There seemed nothing else in the world.
 
“Dear Lord Coombe,” trailed tremulously over the page—“The house is quite empty. The servants have gone away. I have no money. And there is not any food. And I am going to be turned out into the street—and the baby is crying because it is hungry.”
 
She stopped there, knowing it was not what she ought to say. And as she stopped and looked at the words she began herself to wail somewhat as Robin had wailed in the dark when she would not listen or go to her. It was like a beggar’s letter—a beggar’s! Telling him that she had no money and no food—and would be turned out for unpaid39 rent. And that the baby was crying because it was starving!
 
“It’s a beggar’s letter—just a beggar’s,” she cried out aloud to the empty room. “And it’s tru-ue!” Robin’s wail itself had not been more hopeless than hers was as she dropped her head and let it lie on the buhl table.
 
She was not however even to be allowed to let it lie there, for the next instant there fell on her startled ear quite echoing through the house another ring at the doorbell and two steely raps on the smart brass40 knocker. It was merely because she did not know what else to do, having just lost her wits entirely41 that she got up and trailed down the staircase again.
 
When she opened the door, Lord Coombe—the apotheosis42 of exquisite fitness in form and perfect appointment as also of perfect expression—was standing43 on the threshold.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 luxuriousness 46ac4bf54fc644cd668e4da931ff5596     
参考例句:
2 awaken byMzdD     
vi.醒,觉醒;vt.唤醒,使觉醒,唤起,激起
参考例句:
  • Old people awaken early in the morning.老年人早晨醒得早。
  • Please awaken me at six.请于六点叫醒我。
3 wail XMhzs     
vt./vi.大声哀号,恸哭;呼啸,尖啸
参考例句:
  • Somewhere in the audience an old woman's voice began plaintive wail.观众席里,一位老太太伤心地哭起来。
  • One of the small children began to wail with terror.小孩中的一个吓得大哭起来。
4 wailing 25fbaeeefc437dc6816eab4c6298b423     
v.哭叫,哀号( wail的现在分词 );沱
参考例句:
  • A police car raced past with its siren wailing. 一辆警车鸣着警报器飞驰而过。
  • The little girl was wailing miserably. 那小女孩难过得号啕大哭。
5 intervals f46c9d8b430e8c86dea610ec56b7cbef     
n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 );间隔时间;[数学]区间;(戏剧、电影或音乐会的)幕间休息
参考例句:
  • The forecast said there would be sunny intervals and showers. 预报间晴,有阵雨。
  • Meetings take place at fortnightly intervals. 每两周开一次会。
6 exhausted 7taz4r     
adj.极其疲惫的,精疲力尽的
参考例句:
  • It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长,到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
  • Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。
7 robin Oj7zme     
n.知更鸟,红襟鸟
参考例句:
  • The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
  • We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟,知道春天要到了。
8 detested e34cc9ea05a83243e2c1ed4bd90db391     
v.憎恶,嫌恶,痛恨( detest的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • They detested each other on sight. 他们互相看着就不顺眼。
  • The freethinker hated the formalist; the lover of liberty detested the disciplinarian. 自由思想者总是不喜欢拘泥形式者,爱好自由者总是憎恶清规戒律者。 来自辞典例句
9 stimulant fFKy4     
n.刺激物,兴奋剂
参考例句:
  • It is used in medicine for its stimulant quality.由于它有兴奋剂的特性而被应用于医学。
  • Musk is used for perfume and stimulant.麝香可以用作香料和兴奋剂。
10 deserted GukzoL     
adj.荒芜的,荒废的,无人的,被遗弃的
参考例句:
  • The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
  • The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。
11 inevitable 5xcyq     
adj.不可避免的,必然发生的
参考例句:
  • Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
  • The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。
12 raisins f7a89b31fdf9255863139804963e88cf     
n.葡萄干( raisin的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • These raisins come from Xinjiang,they taste delicious. 这些葡萄干产自新疆,味道很甜。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Mother put some raisins in the cake. 母亲在糕饼中放了一些葡萄干。 来自辞典例句
13 horrid arozZj     
adj.可怕的;令人惊恐的;恐怖的;极讨厌的
参考例句:
  • I'm not going to the horrid dinner party.我不打算去参加这次讨厌的宴会。
  • The medicine is horrid and she couldn't get it down.这种药很难吃,她咽不下去。
14 mumble KwYyP     
n./v.喃喃而语,咕哝
参考例句:
  • Her grandmother mumbled in her sleep.她祖母含混不清地说着梦话。
  • He could hear the low mumble of Navarro's voice.他能听到纳瓦罗在小声咕哝。
15 cockroaches 1936d5f0f3d8e13fc00370b7ef69c14c     
n.蟑螂( cockroach的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • At night, the cockroaches filled the house with their rustlings. 夜里,屋里尽是蟑螂窸窸瑟瑟的声音。 来自辞典例句
  • It loves cockroaches, and can keep a house clear of these hated insects. 它们好食蟑螂,可以使住宅免除这些讨厌昆虫的骚扰。 来自百科语句
16 scuttled f5d33c8cedd0ebe9ef7a35f17a1cff7e     
v.使船沉没( scuttle的过去式和过去分词 );快跑,急走
参考例句:
  • She scuttled off when she heard the sound of his voice. 听到他的说话声,她赶紧跑开了。
  • The thief scuttled off when he saw the policeman. 小偷看见警察来了便急忙跑掉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
17 hysterical 7qUzmE     
adj.情绪异常激动的,歇斯底里般的
参考例句:
  • He is hysterical at the sight of the photo.他一看到那张照片就异常激动。
  • His hysterical laughter made everybody stunned.他那歇斯底里的笑声使所有的人不知所措。
18 perfectly 8Mzxb     
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
  • Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。
19 scraps 737e4017931b7285cdd1fa3eb9dd77a3     
油渣
参考例句:
  • Don't litter up the floor with scraps of paper. 不要在地板上乱扔纸屑。
  • A patchwork quilt is a good way of using up scraps of material. 做杂拼花布棉被是利用零碎布料的好办法。
20 outrage hvOyI     
n.暴行,侮辱,愤怒;vt.凌辱,激怒
参考例句:
  • When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
  • We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。
21 sob HwMwx     
n.空间轨道的轰炸机;呜咽,哭泣
参考例句:
  • The child started to sob when he couldn't find his mother.孩子因找不到他妈妈哭了起来。
  • The girl didn't answer,but continued to sob with her head on the table.那个女孩不回答,也不抬起头来。她只顾低声哭着。
22 woe OfGyu     
n.悲哀,苦痛,不幸,困难;int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌
参考例句:
  • Our two peoples are brothers sharing weal and woe.我们两国人民是患难与共的兄弟。
  • A man is well or woe as he thinks himself so.自认祸是祸,自认福是福。
23 viands viands     
n.食品,食物
参考例句:
  • Greek slaves supplied them with exquisite viands at the slightest nod.只要他们轻轻点点头希腊奴隶就会供奉给他们精美的食品。
  • The family sat down to table,and a frugal meal of cold viands was deposited beforethem.一家老少,都围着桌子坐下,几样简单的冷食,摆在他们面前。
24 awakening 9ytzdV     
n.觉醒,醒悟 adj.觉醒中的;唤醒的
参考例句:
  • the awakening of interest in the environment 对环境产生的兴趣
  • People are gradually awakening to their rights. 人们正逐渐意识到自己的权利。
25 infancy F4Ey0     
n.婴儿期;幼年期;初期
参考例句:
  • He came to England in his infancy.他幼年时期来到英国。
  • Their research is only in its infancy.他们的研究处于初级阶段。
26 vent yiPwE     
n.通风口,排放口;开衩;vt.表达,发泄
参考例句:
  • He gave vent to his anger by swearing loudly.他高声咒骂以发泄他的愤怒。
  • When the vent became plugged,the engine would stop.当通风口被堵塞时,发动机就会停转。
27 thwarted 919ac32a9754717079125d7edb273fc2     
阻挠( thwart的过去式和过去分词 ); 使受挫折; 挫败; 横过
参考例句:
  • The guards thwarted his attempt to escape from prison. 警卫阻扰了他越狱的企图。
  • Our plans for a picnic were thwarted by the rain. 我们的野餐计划因雨受挫。
28 wailed e27902fd534535a9f82ffa06a5b6937a     
v.哭叫,哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • She wailed over her father's remains. 她对着父亲的遗体嚎啕大哭。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • The women of the town wailed over the war victims. 城里的妇女为战争的死难者们痛哭。 来自辞典例句
29 frenzy jQbzs     
n.疯狂,狂热,极度的激动
参考例句:
  • He was able to work the young students up into a frenzy.他能激起青年学生的狂热。
  • They were singing in a frenzy of joy.他们欣喜若狂地高声歌唱。
30 exquisite zhez1     
adj.精美的;敏锐的;剧烈的,感觉强烈的
参考例句:
  • I was admiring the exquisite workmanship in the mosaic.我当时正在欣赏镶嵌画的精致做工。
  • I still remember the exquisite pleasure I experienced in Bali.我依然记得在巴厘岛所经历的那种剧烈的快感。
31 exquisitely Btwz1r     
adv.精致地;强烈地;剧烈地;异常地
参考例句:
  • He found her exquisitely beautiful. 他觉得她异常美丽。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He wore an exquisitely tailored gray silk and accessories to match. 他穿的是做工非常考究的灰色绸缎衣服,还有各种配得很协调的装饰。 来自教父部分
32 appallingly 395bb74ca9eccab2fb2599b65702b445     
毛骨悚然地
参考例句:
  • His tradecraft was appallingly reckless. 他的经营轻率得令人吃惊。
  • Another damning statistic for South Africa is its appallingly high murder rate. 南非还有一项糟糕的统计,表明它还有着令人毛骨悚然的高谋杀率。
33 snared a8ce569307d57c4b2bd368805ef1f215     
v.用罗网捕捉,诱陷,陷害( snare的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He snared a job with IBM. 他以巧妙的手段在 IBM 公司谋得一职。 来自辞典例句
  • The hunter snared a skunk. 猎人捕得一只臭鼬。 来自辞典例句
34 amiable hxAzZ     
adj.和蔼可亲的,友善的,亲切的
参考例句:
  • She was a very kind and amiable old woman.她是个善良和气的老太太。
  • We have a very amiable companionship.我们之间存在一种友好的关系。
35 forth Hzdz2     
adv.向前;向外,往外
参考例句:
  • The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
  • He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。
36 discomfited 97ac63c8d09667b0c6e9856f9e80fe4d     
v.使为难( discomfit的过去式和过去分词);使狼狈;使挫折;挫败
参考例句:
  • He was discomfited by the unexpected questions. 意料不到的问题使得他十分尴尬。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • He will be particularly discomfited by the minister's dismissal of his plan. 部长对他计划的不理会将使他特别尴尬。 来自辞典例句
37 scurried 5ca775f6c27dc6bd8e1b3af90f3dea00     
v.急匆匆地走( scurry的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • She said goodbye and scurried back to work. 她说声再见,然后扭头跑回去干活了。
  • It began to rain and we scurried for shelter. 下起雨来,我们急忙找地方躲避。 来自《简明英汉词典》
38 realization nTwxS     
n.实现;认识到,深刻了解
参考例句:
  • We shall gladly lend every effort in our power toward its realization.我们将乐意为它的实现而竭尽全力。
  • He came to the realization that he would never make a good teacher.他逐渐认识到自己永远不会成为好老师。
39 unpaid fjEwu     
adj.未付款的,无报酬的
参考例句:
  • Doctors work excessive unpaid overtime.医生过度加班却无报酬。
  • He's doing a month's unpaid work experience with an engineering firm.他正在一家工程公司无偿工作一个月以获得工作经验。
40 brass DWbzI     
n.黄铜;黄铜器,铜管乐器
参考例句:
  • Many of the workers play in the factory's brass band.许多工人都在工厂铜管乐队中演奏。
  • Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc.黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。
41 entirely entirely     
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
  • His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。
42 apotheosis UMSyN     
n.神圣之理想;美化;颂扬
参考例句:
  • The legend of king arthur represent the apotheosis of chivalry.亚瑟王的传说代表骑士精神的顶峰。
  • The Oriental in Bangkok is the apotheosis of the grand hotel.曼谷的东方饭店是豪华饭店的典范。
43 standing 2hCzgo     
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
参考例句:
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。


欢迎访问英文小说网

©英文小说网 2005-2010

有任何问题,请给我们留言,管理员邮箱:[email protected]  站长QQ :点击发送消息和我们联系56065533