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I saw you under the pine. Your books and your chair and your
picture are there, dear--only the picture is not half lovely
enough. But the other rooms of the house must be made to bloom
out freshly for you. What a delight it is thus to dream of what I
would do for you! Then I would bring you home, dear, and lead you
through my garden and into my house as its mistress. I would see
you standing beside me in the old mirror at the end of the hall--a
bride, in your pale blue dress, with a blush on your face. I
would lead you through all the rooms made ready for your coming,
and then to your own. I would see you sitting in your own chair
and all my dreams would find rich fulfilment in that royal moment.
Oh, Alice, we would have a beautiful life together! It's sweet to
make believe about it. You will sing to me in the twilight, and
we will gather early flowers together in the spring days. When I
come home from work, tired, you will put your arms about me and
lay your head on my shoulder. I will stroke it--so--that bonny,
glossy head of yours. Alice, my Alice--all mine in my dream--
never to be mine in real life--how I love you!"
The Alice behind him could bear no more. She gave a little
choking cry that betrayed her presence. Jasper Dale sprang up and
gazed upon her. He saw her standing there, amid the languorous
shadows of August, pale with feeling, wide-eyed, trembling.
For a moment shyness wrung him. Then every trace of it was
banished by a sudden, strange, fierce anger that swept over him.
He felt outraged and hurt to the death; he felt as if he had been
cheated out of something incalculably precious--as if sacrilege
had been done to his most holy sanctuary of emotion. White, tense
with his anger, he looked at her and spoke, his lips as pale as if
his fiery words scathed them.
"How dare you? You have spied on me--you have crept in and
listened! How dare you? Do you know what you have done, girl? You
have destroyed all that made life worth while to me. My dream is
dead. It could not live when it was betrayed. And it was all I
had. Oh, laugh at me--mock me! I know that I am ridiculous! What
of it? It never could have hurt you! Why must you creep in like
this to hear me and put me to shame? Oh, I love you--I will say
it, laugh as you will. Is it such a strange thing that I should
have a heart like other men? This will make sport for you! I, who
love you better than my life, better than any other man in the
world can love you, will be a jest to you all your life. I love
you--and yet I think I could hate you--you have destroyed my
dream--you have done me deadly wrong."
"Jasper! Jasper!" cried Alice, finding her voice. His anger hurt
her with a pain she could not endure. It was unbearable that
Jasper should be angry with her. In that moment she realized that
she loved him--that the words he had spoken when unconscious of
her presence were the sweetest she had ever heard, or ever could
hear. Nothing mattered at all, save that he loved her and was
angry with her.
"Don't say such dreadful things to me," she stammered, "I did not
mean to listen. I could not help it. I shall never laugh at you.
Oh, Jasper"--she looked bravely at him and the fine soul of her
shone through the flesh like an illuminating lamp--"I am glad that
you love me! and I am glad I chanced to overhear you, since you
would never have had the courage to tell me otherwise. Glad--
glad! Do you understand, Jasper?"
Jasper looked at her with the eyes of one who, looking through
pain, sees rapture beyond.
"Is it possible?" he said, wonderingly. "Alice--I am so much
older than you--and they call me the Awkward Man--they say I am
unlike other people"--
"You ARE unlike other people," she said softly, "and that is why I
love you. I know now that I must have loved you ever since I saw
you."
"I loved you long before I saw you," said Jasper.
He came close to her and drew her into his arms, tenderly and
reverently, all his shyness and awkwardness swallowed up in the
grace of his great happiness. In the old garden he kissed her
lips and Alice entered into her own.
CHAPTER XXVI
UNCLE BLAIR COMES HOME
It happened that the Story Girl and I both got up very early on
the morning of the Awkward Man's wedding day. Uncle Alec was
going to Charlottetown that day, and I, awakened at daybreak by
the sounds in the kitchen beneath us, remembered that I had
forgotten to ask him to bring me a certain school-book I wanted.
picture are there, dear--only the picture is not half lovely
enough. But the other rooms of the house must be made to bloom
out freshly for you. What a delight it is thus to dream of what I
would do for you! Then I would bring you home, dear, and lead you
through my garden and into my house as its mistress. I would see
you standing beside me in the old mirror at the end of the hall--a
bride, in your pale blue dress, with a blush on your face. I
would lead you through all the rooms made ready for your coming,
and then to your own. I would see you sitting in your own chair
and all my dreams would find rich fulfilment in that royal moment.
Oh, Alice, we would have a beautiful life together! It's sweet to
make believe about it. You will sing to me in the twilight, and
we will gather early flowers together in the spring days. When I
come home from work, tired, you will put your arms about me and
lay your head on my shoulder. I will stroke it--so--that bonny,
glossy head of yours. Alice, my Alice--all mine in my dream--
never to be mine in real life--how I love you!"
The Alice behind him could bear no more. She gave a little
choking cry that betrayed her presence. Jasper Dale sprang up and
gazed upon her. He saw her standing there, amid the languorous
shadows of August, pale with feeling, wide-eyed, trembling.
For a moment shyness wrung him. Then every trace of it was
banished by a sudden, strange, fierce anger that swept over him.
He felt outraged and hurt to the death; he felt as if he had been
cheated out of something incalculably precious--as if sacrilege
had been done to his most holy sanctuary of emotion. White, tense
with his anger, he looked at her and spoke, his lips as pale as if
his fiery words scathed them.
"How dare you? You have spied on me--you have crept in and
listened! How dare you? Do you know what you have done, girl? You
have destroyed all that made life worth while to me. My dream is
dead. It could not live when it was betrayed. And it was all I
had. Oh, laugh at me--mock me! I know that I am ridiculous! What
of it? It never could have hurt you! Why must you creep in like
this to hear me and put me to shame? Oh, I love you--I will say
it, laugh as you will. Is it such a strange thing that I should
have a heart like other men? This will make sport for you! I, who
love you better than my life, better than any other man in the
world can love you, will be a jest to you all your life. I love
you--and yet I think I could hate you--you have destroyed my
dream--you have done me deadly wrong."
"Jasper! Jasper!" cried Alice, finding her voice. His anger hurt
her with a pain she could not endure. It was unbearable that
Jasper should be angry with her. In that moment she realized that
she loved him--that the words he had spoken when unconscious of
her presence were the sweetest she had ever heard, or ever could
hear. Nothing mattered at all, save that he loved her and was
angry with her.
"Don't say such dreadful things to me," she stammered, "I did not
mean to listen. I could not help it. I shall never laugh at you.
Oh, Jasper"--she looked bravely at him and the fine soul of her
shone through the flesh like an illuminating lamp--"I am glad that
you love me! and I am glad I chanced to overhear you, since you
would never have had the courage to tell me otherwise. Glad--
glad! Do you understand, Jasper?"
Jasper looked at her with the eyes of one who, looking through
pain, sees rapture beyond.
"Is it possible?" he said, wonderingly. "Alice--I am so much
older than you--and they call me the Awkward Man--they say I am
unlike other people"--
"You ARE unlike other people," she said softly, "and that is why I
love you. I know now that I must have loved you ever since I saw
you."
"I loved you long before I saw you," said Jasper.
He came close to her and drew her into his arms, tenderly and
reverently, all his shyness and awkwardness swallowed up in the
grace of his great happiness. In the old garden he kissed her
lips and Alice entered into her own.
CHAPTER XXVI
UNCLE BLAIR COMES HOME
It happened that the Story Girl and I both got up very early on
the morning of the Awkward Man's wedding day. Uncle Alec was
going to Charlottetown that day, and I, awakened at daybreak by
the sounds in the kitchen beneath us, remembered that I had
forgotten to ask him to bring me a certain school-book I wanted.
- tribute [´tribju:t]
n.贡物；献礼；颂词 (初中英语单词) - moonlight [´mu:nlait] n.&a.月光(的) (初中英语单词)
- bitterly [´bitəli] ad.悲痛地；憎恨地 (初中英语单词)
- swiftly [´swiftli] ad.迅速地，敏捷地 (初中英语单词)
- twilight [´twailait] n.黎明；黄昏 (初中英语单词)
- vision [´viʒən] n.视觉；想象力；幻影 (初中英语单词)
- retreat [ri´tri:t] v.&n.退却；撤退；放弃 (初中英语单词)
- romance [rəu´mæns] n.中世纪骑士小说 (初中英语单词)
- curiosity [,kjuəri´ɔsiti] n.好奇；奇事；珍品 (初中英语单词)
- mystery [´mistəri] n.神秘；秘密；故弄玄虚 (初中英语单词)
- screen [skri:n] n.银幕 vt.遮蔽 (初中英语单词)
- softly [´sɔftli] ad.软化地；柔和地 (初中英语单词)
- strangely [´streindʒli] ad.奇怪地；陌生地 (初中英语单词)
- learning [´lə:niŋ] n.学习；学问；知识 (初中英语单词)
- purity [´pjuəriti] n.纯净；贞洁 (初中英语单词)
- crystal [´kristəl] n.水晶 a.水晶的 (初中英语单词)
- prince [´prins] n.王子；亲王；君主 (初中英语单词)
- charming [´tʃɑ:miŋ] a.可爱的；极好的 (初中英语单词)
- modest [´mɔdist] a.谦虚的；朴素的 (初中英语单词)
- slightly [´slaitli] ad.轻微地；细长的 (初中英语单词)
- standing [´stændiŋ] n.持续 a.直立的 (初中英语单词)
- plainly [´pleinli] ad.平坦地；简单地 (初中英语单词)
- maiden [´meidn] n.少女 a.未婚的 (初中英语单词)
- mistress [´mistris] n.女主人；情妇；女能手 (初中英语单词)
- sprang [spræŋ] spring 的过去式 (初中英语单词)
- fierce [fiəs] a.残忍的；强烈的 (初中英语单词)
- emotion [i´məuʃən] n.感情；情绪；激动 (初中英语单词)
- deadly [´dedli] a.致命的 ad.死一般地 (初中英语单词)
- endure [in´djuə] vt.忍耐，忍受；坚持 (初中英语单词)
- spoken [´spəukən] speak的过去分词 (初中英语单词)
- dreadful [´dredful] a.可怕的；讨厌的 (初中英语单词)
- otherwise [´ʌðəwaiz] ad.另外 conj.否则 (初中英语单词)
- unlike [,ʌn´laik] a.不同的 prep.不象… (初中英语单词)
- wedding [´wediŋ] n.婚礼，结婚 (初中英语单词)
- shadowy [´ʃædəui] a.有阴影的；模糊的 (高中英语单词)
- thereafter [ðeə´rɑ:ftə] adv.此后，其后 (高中英语单词)
- unseen [,ʌn´si:n] a.未看见的 (高中英语单词)
- handful [hændful] n.一把，少数，一小撮 (高中英语单词)
- sensitive [´sensitiv] a.敏感的；感光的 (高中英语单词)
- ridiculous [ri´dikjuləs] a.荒谬的；可笑的 (高中英语单词)
- simplicity [sim´plisiti] n.简单；朴素 (高中英语单词)
- nobility [nəu´biliti, nə-] n.高贵；贵金属性 (高中英语单词)
- wholesome [´həulsəm] a.有益于健康的 (高中英语单词)
- rustic [´rʌstik] a.田野的；质朴的 (高中英语单词)
- crimson [´krimzən] a.&n.深(紫)红(的) (高中英语单词)
- saying [´seiŋ, ´sei-iŋ] n.言语；言论；格言 (高中英语单词)
- finding [´faindiŋ] n.发现物；判断；结果 (高中英语单词)
- unconscious [ʌn´kɔnʃəs] a.无意识的；不觉察的 (高中英语单词)
- bravely [´breivli] ad.勇敢地；毅然 (高中英语单词)
- rapture [´ræptʃə] n.着迷；全神贯注 (高中英语单词)
- awkward [´ɔ:kwəd] a.笨拙的；为难的 (高中英语单词)
- tenderly [´tendəli] ad.娇嫩地；柔和地 (高中英语单词)
- occupant [´ɔkjupənt] n.居住者；占有人 (英语四级单词)
- unaware [,ʌnə´weə] a.不知道的；不觉察的 (英语四级单词)
- embarrassment [im´bærəsmənt] n.窘迫；困惑；为难 (英语四级单词)
- partially [´pɑ:ʃəli] ad.部分地；局部地 (英语四级单词)
- freshly [´freʃli] ad.新近，刚才 (英语四级单词)
- sanctuary [´sæŋktʃuəri] n.圣殿；寺院；避难所 (英语四级单词)
- overhear [,əuvə´hiə] vt.偶然听到；偷听 (英语四级单词)
- daybreak [´deibreik] n.黎明，拂晓 (英语四级单词)
- delightfully [di´laitfuli] ad.大喜，欣然 (英语六级单词)
- august [ɔ:´gʌst] a.尊严的；威严的 (英语六级单词)
- beating [´bi:tiŋ] n.敲；搅打；失败 (英语六级单词)
- dreamy [´dri:mi] a.心不在焉的；朦胧的 (英语六级单词)
- guiltless [´giltlis] a.无罪的；不熟悉…的 (英语六级单词)
- mockery [´mɔkəri] n.嘲笑；笑柄 (英语六级单词)
- fulfilment [ful´filmənt] n.完成，成就 (英语六级单词)
- unbearable [ʌn´beərəbəl] a.不堪忍受的 (英语六级单词)
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文章标签:名著
章节正文
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