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The Haunted Hotel-Part12_WILKIE COLLINS (1824-1899)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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Have I not heard that your brother Stephen was the next heir to



the title? Will he not be the new lord? Never mind answering me!

We won't dispute whether I mn right or wrong in turning governess--



we will wait the event. I am weary of my lonelyuselessexistence here,

and eager to make my life more happy and more useful, in the household



of all others in which I should like most to have a place.

If you will look again, you will see that I have these personal



considerations still to urge before I finish my letter.

You don't know your brother and his wife as well as I do, if you doubt



their answer. I believe they have courage enough and heart enough to

say Yes.'



Henry submitted without being convinced.

He was a man who disliked all eccentric departures from custom and routine;



and he felt especially suspicious of the change proposed in the life

of Agnes. With new interests to occupy her mind, she might be less



favourably disposed to listen to him, on the next occasion when

he urged his suit. The influence of the 'lonelyuselessexistence'



of which she complained, was distinctly an influence in his favour.

While her heart was empty, her heart was accessible.



But with his nieces in full possession of it, the clouds of doubt

overshadowed his prospects. He knew the sex well enough to keep



these purelyselfish perplexities to himself. The waitingpolicy was

especially the policy to pursue with a woman as sensitive as Agnes.



If he once offended her delicacy he was lost. For the moment he wisely

controlled himself and changed the subject.



'My little niece's letter has had an effect,' he said,

'which the child never contemplated in writing it. She has just



reminded me of one of the objects that I had in calling on you to-day.'

Agnes looked at the child's letter. 'How does Lucy do that?'



she asked.

'Lucy's governess is not the only lucky person who has had money



left her,' Henry answered. 'Is your old nurse in the house?'

'You don't mean to say that nurse has got a legacy?'



'She has got a hundred pounds. Send for her, Agnes, while I show

you the letter.'



He took a handful of letters from his pocket, and looked through them,

while Agnes rang the bell. Returning to him, she noticed a printed



letter among the rest, which lay open on the table. It was a

'prospectus,' and the title of it was 'Palace Hotel Company of Venice



(Limited).' The two words, 'Palace' and 'Venice,' instantly recalled

her mind to the unwelcome visit of Lady Montbarry. 'What is that?'



she asked, pointing to the title.

Henry suspended his search, and glanced at the prospectus.



'A really promisingspeculation,' he said. 'Large hotels always

pay well, if they are well managed. I know the man who is appointed



to be manager of this hotel when it is opened to the public;

and I have such entire confidence in him that I have become one of



the shareholders of the Company.'

The reply did not appear to satisfy Agnes. 'Why is the hotel



called the "Palace Hotel"?' she inquired.

Henry looked at her, and at once penetrated her motive for asking



the question. 'Yes,' he said, 'it is the palace that Montbarry

hired at Venice; and it has been purchased by the Company to be



changed into an hotel.'

Agnes turned away in silence, and took a chair at the farther



end of the room. Henry had disappointed her. His income as a

younger son stood in need, as she well knew, of all the additions



that he could make to it by successful speculation. But she was

unreasonable enough, nevertheless, to disapprove of his attempting



to make money already out of the house in which his brother had died.

Incapable of understanding this purelysentimental view of a plain



matter of business, Henry returned to his papers, in some perplexity

at the sudden change in the manner of Agnes towards him.



Just as he found the letter of which he was in search, the nurse

made her appearance. He glanced at Agnes, expecting that she would



speak first. She never even looked up when the nurse came in.

It was left to Henry to tell the old woman why the bell had summoned her



to the drawing-room.

'Well, nurse,' he said, 'you have had a windfall of luck.



You have had a legacy left you of a hundred pounds.'

The nurse showed no outward signs of exultation. She waited a little



to get the announcement of the legacy well settled in her mind--

and then she said quietly, 'Master Henry, who gives me that money,



if you please?'

'My late brother, Lord Montbarry, gives it to you.' (Agnes instantly



looked up, interested in the matter for the first time. Henry went on.)




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