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looking for Stella.
"Sit down," she said; "and be good enough to put up with no more
attractive society than mine. Unless I set things straight, my
good friend, you and my daughter--oh, with the best
intentions!--will drift into a false position. You won't see
Stella to-day. Quite impossible--and I will tell you why. I am
the worldly old mother; I don't mind what I say. My innocent
daughter would die before she would confess what I am going to
tell you. Can I offer you anything? Have you had lunch?"
I begged her to continue. She perplexed--I am not sure that she
did not even alarm me.
"Very well," she proceeded. "You may be surprised to hear it--but
I don't mean to allow things to go on in this way. My
contemptible son-in-law shall return to his wife."
This startled me, and I suppose I showed it.
"Wait a little," said Mrs. Eyrecourt. "There is nothing to be
alarmed about. Romayne is a weak fool; and Father Benwell's
greedy hands are (of course) in both his pockets. But he has,
unless I am e ntirely mistaken, some small sense of shame, and
some little human feeling still left. After the manner in which
he has behaved, these are the merest possibilities, you will say.
Very likely. I have boldly appealed to those possibilities
nevertheless. He has already gone away to Rome; and I need hardly
add--Father Benwell would take good care of that--he has left us
no address. It doesn't in the least matter. One of the advantages
of being so much in society as I am is that I have nice
acquaintances everywhere, always ready to oblige me, provided I
don't borrow money of them. I have written to Romayne, under
cover to one of my friends living in Rome. Wherever he may be,
there my letter will find him."
So far, I listened quietly enough, naturally supposing that Mrs.
Eyrecourt trusted to her own arguments and persuasions. I confess
it even to myself, with shame. It was a relief to me to feel that
the chances (with such a fanatic as Romayne) were a hundred to
one against her.
This unworthy way of thinking was instantly checked by Mrs.
Eyrecourt's next words.
"Don't suppose that I am foolish enough to attempt to reason with
him," she went on. "My letter begins and ends on the first page.
His wife has a claim on him, which no newly-married man can
resist. Let me do him justice. He knew nothing of it before he
went away. My letter--my daughter has no suspicion that I have
written it--tells him plainly what the claim is."
She paused. Her eyes softened, her voice sank low--she became
quite unlike the Mrs. Eyrecourt whom I knew.
"In a few months more, Winterfield," she said, "my poor Stella
will be a mother. My letter calls Romayne back to his wife--_and
his child."_
Mrs. Eyrecourt paused, evidently expecting me to offer an opinion
of some sort. For the moment I was really unable to speak.
Stella's mother never had a very high opinion of my abilities.
She now appeared to consider me the stupidest person in the
circle of her acquaintance.
"Are you a little deaf, Winterfield?" she asked.
"Not that I know of."
"Do you understand me?"
"Oh, yes."
"Then why can't you say something? I want a man's opinion of our
prospects. Good gracious, how you fidget! Put yourself in
Romayne's place, and tell me this. If _you_ had left Stella--"
"I should never have left her, Mrs. Eyrecourt."
"Be quiet. You don't know what you would have done. I insist on
your supposing yourself to be a weak, superstitious, conceited,
fanatical fool. You understand? Now, tell me, then. Could you
keep away from your wife, when you were called back to her in the
name of your firstborn child? Could you resist that?"
"Most assuredly not!"
I contrived to reply with an appearance of tranquillity. It was
not very easy to speak with composure. Envious, selfish,
contemptible--no language is too strong to describe the turn my
thoughts now took. I never hated any human being as I hated
Romayne at that moment.
"Damn him, he will come back!" There was my inmost feeling
expressed in words.
In the meantime, Mrs. Eyrecourt was satisfied.
She dashed at the next subject as fluent and as confident as
"Sit down," she said; "and be good enough to put up with no more
attractive society than mine. Unless I set things straight, my
good friend, you and my daughter--oh, with the best
intentions!--will drift into a false position. You won't see
Stella to-day. Quite impossible--and I will tell you why. I am
the worldly old mother; I don't mind what I say. My innocent
daughter would die before she would confess what I am going to
tell you. Can I offer you anything? Have you had lunch?"
I begged her to continue. She perplexed--I am not sure that she
did not even alarm me.
"Very well," she proceeded. "You may be surprised to hear it--but
I don't mean to allow things to go on in this way. My
contemptible son-in-law shall return to his wife."
This startled me, and I suppose I showed it.
"Wait a little," said Mrs. Eyrecourt. "There is nothing to be
alarmed about. Romayne is a weak fool; and Father Benwell's
greedy hands are (of course) in both his pockets. But he has,
unless I am e ntirely mistaken, some small sense of shame, and
some little human feeling still left. After the manner in which
he has behaved, these are the merest possibilities, you will say.
Very likely. I have boldly appealed to those possibilities
nevertheless. He has already gone away to Rome; and I need hardly
add--Father Benwell would take good care of that--he has left us
no address. It doesn't in the least matter. One of the advantages
of being so much in society as I am is that I have nice
acquaintances everywhere, always ready to oblige me, provided I
don't borrow money of them. I have written to Romayne, under
cover to one of my friends living in Rome. Wherever he may be,
there my letter will find him."
So far, I listened quietly enough, naturally supposing that Mrs.
Eyrecourt trusted to her own arguments and persuasions. I confess
it even to myself, with shame. It was a relief to me to feel that
the chances (with such a fanatic as Romayne) were a hundred to
one against her.
This unworthy way of thinking was instantly checked by Mrs.
Eyrecourt's next words.
"Don't suppose that I am foolish enough to attempt to reason with
him," she went on. "My letter begins and ends on the first page.
His wife has a claim on him, which no newly-married man can
resist. Let me do him justice. He knew nothing of it before he
went away. My letter--my daughter has no suspicion that I have
written it--tells him plainly what the claim is."
She paused. Her eyes softened, her voice sank low--she became
quite unlike the Mrs. Eyrecourt whom I knew.
"In a few months more, Winterfield," she said, "my poor Stella
will be a mother. My letter calls Romayne back to his wife--_and
his child."_
Mrs. Eyrecourt paused, evidently expecting me to offer an opinion
of some sort. For the moment I was really unable to speak.
Stella's mother never had a very high opinion of my abilities.
She now appeared to consider me the stupidest person in the
circle of her acquaintance.
"Are you a little deaf, Winterfield?" she asked.
"Not that I know of."
"Do you understand me?"
"Oh, yes."
"Then why can't you say something? I want a man's opinion of our
prospects. Good gracious, how you fidget! Put yourself in
Romayne's place, and tell me this. If _you_ had left Stella--"
"I should never have left her, Mrs. Eyrecourt."
"Be quiet. You don't know what you would have done. I insist on
your supposing yourself to be a weak, superstitious, conceited,
fanatical fool. You understand? Now, tell me, then. Could you
keep away from your wife, when you were called back to her in the
name of your firstborn child? Could you resist that?"
"Most assuredly not!"
I contrived to reply with an appearance of tranquillity. It was
not very easy to speak with composure. Envious, selfish,
contemptible--no language is too strong to describe the turn my
thoughts now took. I never hated any human being as I hated
Romayne at that moment.
"Damn him, he will come back!" There was my inmost feeling
expressed in words.
In the meantime, Mrs. Eyrecourt was satisfied.
She dashed at the next subject as fluent and as confident as
- grateful [´greitful]
a.感谢的；令人愉快的 (初中英语单词) - curiosity [,kjuəri´ɔsiti] n.好奇；奇事；珍品 (初中英语单词)
- associate [ə´səuʃieit] v.联合a.同伴的n.伙伴 (初中英语单词)
- explanation [,eksplə´neiʃən] n.解释；说明；辩解 (初中英语单词)
- spoken [´spəukən] speak的过去分词 (初中英语单词)
- foreigner [´fɔrinə] n.外国人 (初中英语单词)
- old-fashioned [´əuld´feʃənd] a.老式的；过时的 (初中英语单词)
- identify [ai´dentifai] vt.认出；鉴定；验明 (初中英语单词)
- replace [ri´pleis] vt.放回；复置；取代 (初中英语单词)
- amendment [ə´mendmənt] n.改正，修订；修正案 (初中英语单词)
- missing [´misiŋ] a.缺掉的；失踪的 (初中英语单词)
- nevertheless [,nevəðə´les] conj.&ad.然而；不过 (初中英语单词)
- forgive [fə´giv] vt.原谅，谅解，宽恕 (初中英语单词)
- invitation [,invi´teiʃən] n.邀请；请帖；吸引 (初中英语单词)
- conflict [´kɔnflikt, kən´flikt] n.&vi.战斗；抵触 (初中英语单词)
- confess [kən´fes] vt.供认；坦白；承认 (初中英语单词)
- oblige [ə´blaidʒ] vt.责成；迫使；使感激 (初中英语单词)
- wherever [weər´evə] conj.无论在哪里 (初中英语单词)
- relief [ri´li:f] n.救济；援救；减轻 (初中英语单词)
- instantly [´instəntli] ad.立即，立刻 (初中英语单词)
- suspicion [sə´spiʃən] n.怀(猜)疑；嫌疑 (初中英语单词)
- plainly [´pleinli] ad.平坦地；简单地 (初中英语单词)
- unlike [,ʌn´laik] a.不同的 prep.不象… (初中英语单词)
- evidently [´evidəntli] ad.明显地 (初中英语单词)
- unable [ʌn´eibəl] a.不能的；无能为力的 (初中英语单词)
- gracious [´greiʃəs] a.和蔼可亲的；任慈的 (初中英语单词)
- resist [ri´zist] v.抵抗；对抗；抵制 (初中英语单词)
- meantime [´mi:ntaim] n.&ad.其间；同时 (初中英语单词)
- narrative [´nærətiv] a.叙述的 n.记事 (高中英语单词)
- serpent [´sə:pənt] n.大毒蛇；阴险的人 (高中英语单词)
- misfortune [mis´fɔ:tʃən] n.不幸；灾祸 (高中英语单词)
- confession [kən´feʃən] n.招供；认错；交待 (高中英语单词)
- housekeeper [´haus,ki:pə] n.主妇，女管家 (高中英语单词)
- communicate [kə´mju:nikeit] vi.通讯；传达；传播 (高中英语单词)
- manuscript [´mænjuskript] a.手抄的 n.手稿 (高中英语单词)
- translate [trænz´leit, træns-] v.翻译；解释；说明 (高中英语单词)
- severely [si´viəli] ad.剧烈地；严格地 (高中英语单词)
- concerned [kən´sə:nd] a.有关的；担心的 (高中英语单词)
- awkward [´ɔ:kwəd] a.笨拙的；为难的 (高中英语单词)
- mistaken [mis´teikən] mistake的过去分词 (高中英语单词)
- boldly [´bəuldli] ad.大胆地；醒目地 (高中英语单词)
- confident [´kɔnfidənt] a.有信心的，自信的 (高中英语单词)
- indirect [,indi´rekt] a.间接的；迂回的 (英语四级单词)
- comply [kəm´plai] vi.照做 (英语四级单词)
- forgiven [fə´givn] forgive的过去分词 (英语四级单词)
- attachment [ə´tætʃmənt] n.附着；附件；爱慕 (英语四级单词)
- bedside [´bedsaid] n.床边 a.护理的 (英语四级单词)
- good-natured [´gud-´neitʃəd] a.脾气好的，温厚的 (英语四级单词)
- devoted [di´vəutid] a.献身…的，忠实的 (英语四级单词)
- generously [´dʒenərəsli] ad.慷慨地 (英语四级单词)
- resolute [´rezəlu:t] a.坚决的；不屈不挠的 (英语四级单词)
- befallen [bi´fɔ:lən] befall的过去分词 (英语四级单词)
- worldly [´wə:ldli] a.现世的；世俗的 (英语四级单词)
- unworthy [ʌn´wə:ði] a.不值得的；不足道的 (英语四级单词)
- superstitious [,sju:pə´stiʃəs] a.迷信的 (英语四级单词)
- assuredly [ə´ʃuəridli] ad.确实地；确信地 (英语四级单词)
- composure [kəm´pəuʒə] n.镇静，沉着 (英语四级单词)
- envious [´enviəs] a.妒忌的，羡慕的 (英语四级单词)
- accidentally [,æksi´dentəli] ad.偶然地 (英语六级单词)
- rector [´rektə] n.校长；主任；负责人 (英语六级单词)
- reluctance [ri´lʌktəns] n.不愿；勉强 (英语六级单词)
- inquisitive [in´kwizitiv] a.好奇的，好问的 (英语六级单词)
- speaking [´spi:kiŋ] n.说话 a.发言的 (英语六级单词)
- desertion [di´zə:ʃən] n.离开，遗弃；潜逃 (英语六级单词)
- inviting [in´vaitiŋ] a.动人的 (英语六级单词)
- indescribable [,indis´kraibəbəl] a.难以形容的 (英语六级单词)
- frivolous [´frivələs] a.轻佻的 (英语六级单词)
- fanatic [fə´nætik] a.狂热的 n.狂热者 (英语六级单词)
- firstborn [´fə:stbɔ:n] a.&n.头生的(子女) (英语六级单词)
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文章标签:名著
章节正文
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