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A Rogue's Life-Part8_WILKIE COLLINS (1824-1899)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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who have that wholesome love of pleasure which is one of the

greatest adornments of the femalecharacter, set up a society for



the promotion of universalamusement, and save the British nation

from the lamentable social consequences of its own gravity!"



Imagine a voice crying lustily after this fashion--what sort of

echoes would it find?--Groans?



I know what sort of echoes my voice found. They were so

discouraging to me, and to the frivolousminority of



pleasure-seekers, that I recommended lowering the price of

admission so as to suit the means of any decent people who were



willing to leave off money-grubbing and tear themselves from the

charms of mutualinstruction for one evening at least. The



proposition was indignantly negatived by the managers of the

Institution. I am so singularly obstinate a man that I was not to



be depressed even by this.

My next efforts to fill the ballroom could not be blamed. I



procured a local directory, put fifty tickets in my pocket,

dressed myself in nankeen pantaloons and a sky-blue coat (then



the height of fashion), and set forth to tout for dancers among

all the members of the genteel population, who, not being



notorious Puritans, had also not been so obliging as to take

tickets for the ball. There never was any pride or bashfulness



about me. Excepting certain periods of suspense and anxiety, I am

as even-tempered a Rogue as you have met with anywhere since the



days of Gil Blas.

My temperament being opposed to doing anything with regularity, I



opened the directory at hazard, and determined to make my first

call at the first house that caught my eye. Vallombrosa Vale



Cottages. No. 1. Doctor and Miss Dulcifer. Very good. I have no

preferences. Let me sell the first two tickets there. I found the



place; I opened the garden gate; I advanced to the door,

innocently wondering what sort of people I should find inside.



If I am asked what was the true reason for this extraordinary

activity on my part, in serving the interests of a set of people



for whom I cared nothing, I must honestly own that the loss of my

young lady was at the bottom of it. Any occupation was welcome



which kept my mind, in some degree at least, from dwelling on the

bitter disappointment that had befallen me. When I rang the bell



at No. 1, did I feel no presentiment of the exquisite surprise in

store for me? I felt nothing of the sort. The fact is, my



digestion is excellent. Presentiments are more closely connected

than is generally supposed with a weak state of stomach.



I asked for Miss Dulcifer, and was shown into the sitting-room.

Don't expect me to describe my sensations: hundreds of sensations



flew all over me. There she was, sitting alone, near the window!

There she was, with nimble white fingers, working a silk purse!



The melancholy in her face and manner, when I had last seen her,

appeared no more. She was prettily dressed in maize color, and



the room was well furnished. Her father had evidently got over

his difficulties. I had been inclined to laugh at his odd name,



when I found it in the directory! Now I began to dislike it,

because it was her name, too. It was a consolation to remember



that she could change it. Would she change it for mine?

I was the first to recover; I boldly drew a chair near her and



took her hand.

"You see," I said, "it is of no use to try to avoid me. This is



the third time we have met. Will you receive me as a visitor,

under these extraordinary circumstances? Will you give me a



little happiness to compensate for what I have suffered since you




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