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The Haunted Hotel-Part3_WILKIE COLLINS (1824-1899)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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and no more.



On the day of the wedding, after a feeble struggle with himself,

he actually sacrificed his patients and their guineas, and slipped



away secretly to see the marriage. To the end of his life,

he was angry with anybody who reminded him of what he had done on



that day!

The wedding was strictly private. A close carriage stood at



the church door; a few people, mostly of the lower class, and mostly

old women, were scattered about the interior of the building.



Here and there Doctor Wybrow detected the faces of some of his

brethren of the club, attracted by curiosity, like himself.



Four persons only stood before the altar--the bride and bridegroom

and their two witnesses. One of these last was an elderly woman,



who might have been the Countess's companion or maid; the other

was undoubtedly her brother, Baron Rivar. The bridal party



(the bride herself included) wore their ordinary morning costume.

Lord Montbarry, personally viewed, was a middle-aged military man



of the ordinary type: nothing in the least remarkabledistinguished

him either in face or figure. Baron Rivar, again, in his way was



another conventional representative of another well-known type.

One sees his finely-pointed moustache, his bold eyes,



his crisply-curling hair, and his dashingcarriage of the head,

repeated hundreds of times over on the Boulevards of Paris.



The only noteworthy point about him was of the negative sort--

he was not in the least like his sister. Even the officiating



priest was only a harmless, humble-looking old man, who went through

his duties resignedly, and felt visible rheumatic difficulties



every time he bent his knees. The one remarkable person,

the Countess herself, only raised her veil at the beginning



of the ceremony, and presented nothing in her plain dress that was

worth a second look. Never, on the face of it, was there a less



interesting and less romantic marriage than this. From time to time

the Doctor glanced round at the door or up at the galleries,



vaguely anticipating the appearance of some protesting stranger,

in possession of some terrible secret, commissioned to forbid



the progress of the service. Nothing in the shape of an event occurred--

nothing extraordinary, nothing dramatic. Bound fast together as man



and wife, the two disappeared, followed by their witnesses, to sign

the registers; and still Doctor Wybrow waited, and still he cherished



the obstinate hope that something worth seeing must certainly

happen yet.



The interval passed, and the married couple, returning to the church,

walked together down the nave to the door. Doctor Wybrow



drew back as they approached. To his confusion and surprise,

the Countess discovered him. He heard her say to her husband,



'One moment; I see a friend.' Lord Montbarry bowed and waited.

She stepped up to the Doctor, took his hand, and wrung it hard.



He felt her overpowering black eyes looking at him through

her veil. 'One step more, you see, on the way to the end!'



She whispered those strange words, and returned to her husband.

Before the Doctor could recover himself and follow her,



Lord and Lady Montbarry had stepped into their carriage, and had

driven away.



Outside the church door stood the three or four members of the club who,

like Doctor Wybrow, had watched the ceremony out of curiosity.



Near them was the bride's brother, waiting alone. He was evidently bent

on seeing the man whom his sister had spoken to, in broad daylight.



His bold eyes rested on the Doctor's face, with a momentary flash

of suspicion in them. The cloud suddenly cleared away; the Baron



smiled with charmingcourtesy, lifted his hat to his sister's friend,

and walked off.



The members constituted themselves into a club conclave on the

church steps. They began with the Baron. 'Damned ill-looking rascal!'



They went on with Montbarry. 'Is he going to take that horrid

woman with him to Ireland?' 'Not he! he can't face the tenantry;






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