酷兔英语
    当前位置:
  1. 首页
  2. 文章
  3. 娱乐英语
  4. 原版小说
  5. 正文

The Arrow of Gold-Part7_JOSEPH CONRAD (1857-1924)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

0 收藏 0 分享 0 赞

章节正文
文章总共2页
that she might allay my mother's anxieties by telling her how I

looked.



"It was signed R only, but I guessed at once and nearly fell off my

horse with surprise."



"You mean to say that Dona Rita was actually at the Royal

Headquarters lately?" exclaimed Mills, with evident surprise.



"Why, we - everybody - thought that all this affair was over and

done with."



"Absolutely. Nothing in the world could be more done with than

that episode. Of course the rooms in the hotel at Tolosa were



retained for her by an order from Royal Headquarters. Two garret-

rooms, the place was so full of all sorts of court people; but I



can assure you that for the three days she was there she never put

her head outside the door. General Mongroviejo called on her



officially from the King. A general, not anybody of the household,

you see. That's a distinct shade of the present relation. He



stayed just five minutes. Some personage from the Foreign

department at Headquarters was closeted for about a couple of



hours. That was of course business. Then two officers from the

staff came together with some explanations or instructions to her.



Then Baron H., a fellow with a pretty wife, who had made so many

sacrifices for the cause, raised a great to-do about seeing her and



she consented to receive him for a moment. They say he was very

much frightened by her arrival, but after the interview went away



all smiles. Who else? Yes, the Archbishop came. Half an hour.

This is more than is necessary to give a blessing, and I can't



conceive what else he had to give her. But I am sure he got

something out of her. Two peasants from the upper valley were sent



for by military authorities and she saw them, too. That friar who

hangs about the court has been in and out several times. Well, and



lastly, I myself. I got leave from the outposts. That was the

first time I talked to her. I would have gone that evening back to



the regiment, but the friar met me in the corridor and informed me

that I would be ordered to escort that most loyal and noble lady



back to the French frontier as a personal mission of the highest

honour. I was inclined to laugh at him. He himself is a cheery



and jovial person and he laughed with me quite readily - but I got

the order before dark all right. It was rather a job, as the



Alphonsists were attacking the right flank of our whole front and

there was some considerabledisorder there. I mounted her on a



mule and her maid on another. We spent one night in a ruined old

tower occupied by some of our infantry and got away at daybreak



under the Alphonsist shells. The maid nearly died of fright and

one of the troopers with us was wounded. To smuggle her back



across the frontier was another job but it wasn't my job. It

wouldn't have done for her to appear in sight of French frontier



posts in the company of Carlist uniforms. She seems to have a

fearless streak in her nature. At one time as we were climbing a



slope absolutely exposed to artillery fire I asked her on purpose,

being provoked by the way she looked about at the scenery, 'A



little emotion, eh?' And she answered me in a low voice: 'Oh,

yes! I am moved. I used to run about these hills when I was



little.' And note, just then the trooper close behind us had been

wounded by a shell fragment. He was swearing awfully and fighting



with his horse. The shells were falling around us about two to the

minute.



"Luckily the Alphonsist shells are not much better than our own.

But women are funny. I was afraid the maid would jump down and



clear out amongst the rocks, in which case we should have had to

dismount and catch her. But she didn't do that; she sat perfectly



still on her mule and shrieked. Just simply shrieked. Ultimately

we came to a curiously shaped rock at the end of a short wooded



valley. It was very still there and the sunshine was brilliant. I

said to Dona Rita: 'We will have to part in a few minutes. I



understand that my mission ends at this rock.' And she said: 'I

know this rock well. This is my country.'



"Then she thanked me for bringing her there and presently three

peasants appeared, waiting for us, two youths and one shaven old






文章总共2页
文章标签:名著  

章节正文
Copyright © 2023 Qeto All rights reserved.
商务合作 | 联系我们 | 关于我们 | 版权声明 | 隐私条款 | 如果智培

京ICP备05059198号-1 京公网安备 11011202003401号