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天行醫尊
隱面佳人
家有盲夫太腹黑
美女的超強近衛
今夜星辰似你
我的高冷大小姐
專職高手
兵雄風雲
絕美夜色
乘龍快婿
新書榜單
傅少的心上佳人
逍遙狂兵都市遊
重生霸道嫡女
冷總鎖妻纏情
極兵強衛
歷少的限時婚寵
至尊狂兵都市遊
狼性老公太纏情
一等狂兵
我的傾城美人
原創榜單
我的高冷大小姐
初婚有刺
神級透視
賴上冷豔女總裁
終極教官在花都
恰似愛如潮
都市玄醫民工
戰龍在都
最強天王
冰山總裁的貼身保鏢
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ay, when you were hidden in Miss Carmina’s bedroom.」
The tone in which she spoke implied a confidential agreement. With honourable promptitude Zo, perched on h
It was a calm, sunshiny Sunday morning. The flat
「When you first came here, I think you told me you had no relations?」
「I am an orphan, sir.」
「And you had been some time out of a situation, when I engaged you?」
「Yes, sir; my poor little savings were nearly at an end!」 Could he resist that pathetic picture of the orphan’s little savings — framed, as it were, in a delicately-designed reference to her fellow-servant in the story? 「I was as poor as Pamela,」 she suggested softly.
「And as virtuous,」 Benjulia added.
The cook’s eloquent eyes said, 「Thank you, sir.」f that old —?」 He used a word, described in dictionaries as having a twofold meaning. (First, 「A female of the canine kind.」 Second, 「A term of reproach for a woman.」) It shocked Mr. Mool; and it is therefore unfit to be reported.
「Really, Doctor Benjulia!」
「Does that mean that you positively must talk about her?」
Mr. Mool smiled. 「Let us say that it may bear that meaning,」 he answered.
「Go on, then — and get it over. She made a statement in your office. Out with it, my good fellow. Has it anything to do with me?」
「I should not otherwise, Doctor Benjulia, have venturehim to do it, without assuming the existence of a continuous material medium in space. And this point of view being accepted — follow me here! what is the result? In plain words,」 cried Mrs. Gallilee, rising excitedly to her feet, 「we dispense with the idea of atoms!」
「Rex has had a fall,」 said Mr. Gascoigne, curtly, throwing himself into an arm-chair resting his elbows and fitting his palms and fingers together, while he closed his lips and looked at Gwendolen, who said,
「Oh, poor fellow! he is not hurt, I hope?」 with a correct look of anxiety such as elated mortals try to super-induce when their pulses are all the while quick with triumph; and Mrs. Davilow, in the same moment, uttered a low 「Good heavens! There!」
Mr. Gascoigne went on: 「He put his shoulder out, and got some bruises, I believe.」 Here he made another little pause of observation; but Gwendolen, instead of any such symptoms as pallor and silence, had only deepened the compassionateness of her brow and eyes, and said again, 「Oh, poor fellow! it is nothing serious, then?」 and Mr. Gascoigne held his diagnosis complete. But he wished to make assurance doubly sure, and went on still with a purpose.
「He got his arm set again rather oddly. Some blacksmith—not a parishioner of mine—was on the field—a loose fish, I suppose, but handy, and set the arm for him immediately. So after all, I believe, I and Primrose come off worst. The horse’s knees are cut to pieces. He came down in a hole, it seems, and pitched Rex over his head.」
Gwendolen’s face had allowably become contented again, since Rex’s arm had been reset; and now, at the descriptive suggestions in the latter part of her uncle’s speech, her elated spirits made her features less unmanageable than usual; the smiles broke forth, and finally a descending scale of laughter.
「You are a pretty young lady—to laugh at other people’s calamities,」 said Mr. Gascoigne, with a milder sense of disapprobation than if he had not had counteracting reasons to be glad that Gwendolen showed no deep feeling on the occasion.
「Pray forgive me, uncle. Now Rex is safe, it is so droll to fancy the figure he and Primrose would cut—in a lane all by themselves—only a blacksmith running up. It would make a capital caricature of 『Following the Hounds.』」
Gwendolen rather valued herself on her superior freedom in laughing where others might only see matter for seriousness. Indeed, the laughter became her person so well that her opinion of its gracefulness was often shared by others; and it even entered into her uncle’s course of thought at this moment, that it was no wonder a boy should be fascinated by this young witch—who, however, was more mischievous than could be desired.
「How can you laugh at broken bones, child?」 said Mrs. Davilow, still under her dominant anxiety. 「I wish we had never allowed you to have the horse. You will see that we were wrong,」 she added, looking with a grave nod at Mr. Gascoigne—「at least I was, to encourage her in asking for it.」
「Yes, seriously, Gwendolen,」 said Mr. Gascoigne, in a judicious tone of rational advice to a person understood to be altogether rational, 「I strongly recommend you—I shall ask you to oblige me so far—not to repeat your adventure of to-day. Lord Brackenshaw is very kind, but I feel sure that he would concur with me in what I say. To be spoken of as 『the young lady who hunts』 by way of exception, would give a tone to the language about you which I am sure you would not like. Depend upon it, his lordship would not choose that Lady Beatrice or Lady Maria should hunt in this part of the country, if they were old enough to do so. When you are married, it will be different: you may do whatever your husband sanctions. But if you intend to hunt, you must marry a man who can keep horses.」
「I don’t know why I should do anything so horrible as to marry without that prospect, at least,」 said Gwendolen, pettishly. Her uncle’s speech had given her annoyance, which she could not show more directly; but she felt that she was committing herself, and after moving carelessly to another part of the room, went out.
e into a corner, to lie down, and howl, and groan, and spurn away all that came near him, although he were young and fat, wanted neither food nor water, nor did the servant imagine what could possibly ail him. And the only remedy they found was, to set him to hard work, after which he would infallibly come to himself.」 To this I was silent out of partiality to my own kind; yet here I could plainly discover the true seeds of spleen, which only seizes on the lazy, the luxurious, and the rich; who, if they were forced to undergo the same regimen, I would undertake for the cure.
His honour had further observed, 「that a female Yahoo would often stand behind a bank or a bush, to gaze on the young males passing by, and then appear, and hide, using many antic gestures and grimaces, at which time it was observed that she had a most offensive smell; and when any of the males advanced, would slowly retire, looking often back, and with a counterfeit show of fear, run off into some convenient place, where she knew the male would follow her.
「At other times, if a female stranger came among them, three or four of her own sex would get about her, and stare, and chatter, and grin, and smell her all over; and then turn off with gestures, that seemed to express contempt and disdain.」
Perhaps my master might refine a little in these speculations, which he had drawn from what he observed himself, or had been told him by others; however, I could not reflect without some amazement, and much sorrow, that the rudiments of lewdness, coquetry, censure, and scandal, should have place by instinct in womankind.
I expected every moment that my master would accuse the Yahoos of those unnatural appetites in both sexes, so common among us. But nature, it seems, has not been so expert a school-mistress; and these politer pleasures are entirely the productions of art and reason on our side of the globe.
Part 4 Chapter 8
The author relates several particulars of the Yahoos. The great virtues of the Houyhnhnms. The education and exercise of their youth. Their general assembly.
As I ought to have understood human nature much better than I supposed it possible for my master to do, so it was easy to apply the character he gave of the Yahoos to myself and my countrymen; and I believed I could yet make further discoveries, from my own observation. I therefore often begged his honour to let me go among the herds of Yahoos in the neighbourhood; to which he always very graciously consented, being perfectly convinced that the hatred I bore these brutes would never suffer me to be corrupted by them; and his honour ordered one of his servants, a strong sorrel nag, very honest and good-natured, to be my guard; without whose protection I durst not undertake such adventures. For I have already told the reader how much I was pestered by these odious animals, upon my first arrival; and I afterwards failed very narrowly, three or four times, of falling into their clutches, when I happened to stray at any distance without my hanger. And I have reason to believe they had some imagination that I was of their own species, which I often assisted myself by stripping up my sleeves, and showing my
「My thoughts reminded me that music is one of the
「Now,」 said Benjulia, 「what is it to be? The favourite public bugbear? Vivisection?」
「Yes.」
「Very well. What can I do for you?」
「Tell me first,」 said Lemuel, 「what is Law?」
「Nobody knows.」
Mrs. Gallilee had not been asked to enter into disgusting details. Mrs. Gallilee had been contradicted by her obedient humble servant of other days. She thought it high time to bring the examination to an end.
「If you are determined to believe in the woman’s innocence,」 she said, 「without knowing any of the circumstances —」
Mr. Mool went on from bad to worse: he interrupted her now.
「Excuse me, Mrs. Gallilee, I think you have forgismay, but one clear idea presented itself. 「Oh!」 she said, 「have I made another mistake?」
Meanwhile, Mrs. Gallilee had received her music-master with the nearest approach to an indulgent welcome, of which a hardened nature is capable.
「Take the easy chair, Mr. Le Frank. You are not afraid of the open window?」
「Oh, dear no! I like it.」 He rapidly unrolled some leaves of music which he had brought downstairs. 「With regard to the song that I had the honour of mentioning —」
Mrs. Gallilee pointed to the table. 「Put the song there for the present. I have a word to say first. How came you to frighten my niece? I heard something like a scream, and naturally looked out. She was making an apology; she asked you to forgive and forget. What does all this mean?」
Mr. Le Frank exhausted his ingenuity in efforts of polite evasion without the slightest success. From first to last (if the expression may be permitted) Mrs. Gallilee had him under her thumb. He was not released, until he had literally reported Carmina’s opinion of him as a man and a musician, and had exactly described the circumstances under which he had heard it. Mrs. Gallilee listened with an interest, which (under less embarrassing circumstances) would have even satisfied Mrs. Le Frank’s vanity.
She was not for a moment deceived by the clumsy affectation of good humour with which he told his story. Her penetration discovered the vindictive feeling towards Carmina, which offered him, in case of necessity, as an instrument ready made to her hand. By fine degrees, she presented herself in the new character of a sympathising friend.
「I know now, Mr. Le Frank, why you declined to be my niece’second opportunity failed to offer itself as yet.
The visit to the exhibition of conjuring had done Carmina harm instead of good. Her head ached, in the close atmosphere — she was too fatigued to be able to stay in the room until the performance came to an end. Poor Mr. Gallilee retired in disgrace to the shelter of his club. At dinner, even his perfect temper failed him for the moment. He found fault with the champagne — and then apologised to the waiter. 「I’m sorry I was a little hard on you just now. The fact is, I’m out of sorts — you have felt in that way yourself, haven’t you? The wine’s first-rate; and, really the weather is so discouraging, I think I』ll try another pint.」
But Carmina’s buoyant heart defied the languor of illness and the gloomy day. The post had brought her a letter from Ovid — enclosing a photograph, taken at Montreal, which presented him in his travelling costume.
He wrote in a tone of cheerfulness, which revived Carmina’s sinking courage, and renewed for a time at least the happiness of other days. The air of the plains of Canada he declared to be literally intoxicating. Every hour seemed to be giving him back the vital energy that he had lost in his London life. He slept on the ground, in the open air, more soundly than he had ever slept in a bed. But one anxiety troubled his mind. In the roving life which he now enjoyed, it was impossible that his letters could follow him — and yet, every day that passed made him more unreasonably eager to hear that Carmina was not weary of waiting for him, and that all was well at home.
「And how have these vain aspirations of mine ended?」— the letter went on. 「They have ended, my
iment. And what is the result? Loss confronts me, instead of profit — my agreement makes me liable for half the expenses of publication. And, what is far more serious in my estimation, your honoured name is associated with a failure! Don’t notice me — the artist nature — I shall be better in a minute.」 He took out a profusely-scented handkerchief, and buried his face in it with a groan.
Mrs. Gallilee’s hard common sense understood the heart-broken composer to perfection.
「Stupid of me not to have offered him money yesterday,」 she thought: 「this waste of time need never have happened.」 She set her mistake right with admirable brevity and directness. 「Don’t distress yourself, Mr. Le Frank. Now my name is on it, the Song is mine. If your publisher’s account is not satisfactory — be so good as to send it to me.「 Mr. Le Frank dropped his dry handkerchief, and sprang theatrically to his feet. His indulgent patroness refused to hear him: to this admirable woman, the dignity of Art was a sacred thing. 「Not a word more on that subject,」 she said. 「Tell me how you prospered last night. Your investigations cannot have been interrupted, or I should have heard of it. Come to the result! Have you found anything of importance in my niece’s room?」
Mr. Le Frank had again been baffled, so far as the confirmation of his own suspicions was concerned. But the time was not favourable to a confession of personal disappointment. He understood the situation; and made himself the hero of it, in three words.
「Judge for yourself,」 he said — and held out the letter of warning from Father Patrizio.
In silence, Mrs. Gallilee read the words which declared her to be the object of Teresa’s inveterate resentment, and which charged Carmina with the serious duty of keeping the peace.
「Does it alarm you?」 Mr. Le Frank asked.
「I hardly know what I feel,」 she answered. 「Give me time to think.」
Mr. Le Frank went back to his chair. He had reason to congratulate himself already: he had shifted to other shoulders the pecuniary responsibility involved in the failure of his Song. Observing Mrs. Gallilee, he began to see possibilities of a brighter prospect still. Thus far she had kept him at a certain distance. Was the change of mind coming, which would admit him to the position (with all its solid advantages) of a confidential friend?
She suddenly took up Father Patrizio’s letter, and showed it to him.
「What impression does it produce on you,」 she asked, 「knowing no more than you know now?」
「The priest’s cautious language, madam, speaks for itself. You have an enemy who will stick at nothing.」
She still hesitated to trust him.
「You see me here,」 she went on, 「confined to my room; likely, perhaps, to be in this helpless condition for some time to come. How would you protect yourself against that woman, in my place?」
「I should wait.」
「For what purpose?」
「If you will allow me to use the language of the card-table, I should wait till the woman shows her hand.」
「She has shown it.」
「May I ask when?」
「This morning.」
Mr. Le Frank said no more. If he was really wanted, Mrs. Gallilee had only to speak. After a last moment of hesitation, the pitiless necessities of her position decided her once more. 「You see me too ill to move,」 she said; 「the first thing to do, is to tell you why.」
She related the plain facts; without a word of comment, without a sign of emotion. But her husband’s horror of her had left an impression, which neither pride nor contempt had been strong enough to resist. She allowed the music-master to infer, that contending claims to authority over Carmina had led to a quarrel which provoked the assault. The secret of the words that she had spoken, was the one secret that she kept from Mr. Le Frank.
「While I was insensible,」 she proceeded, 「my niece was taken away from me. She has been suffering from nervous illness; she was naturally terrified — and she is now at the nurse’s lodgings, too ill to be moved. There you have the state of affairs, up to last night.」
「Some people might think,」 Mr. Le Frank remarked, 「that the easiest way out of it, so far, would be to summon the nurse for the assault.」
「The easiest way compels me to face a public exposure,」 Mrs. Gallilee answered. 「In my position that is impossible.」
Mr. Le Frank accepted this view of the case as a matter of course. 「Under the circumstances,」 he said, 「it’s not easy to advise you. How can you make the woman submit to your authority, while you are lying here?」
「My lawyers have made her submit this morning.」
In the extremity of his surprise, Mr. Le Frank forgot himself. 「The devil they have!」 he exclaimed.
「They have forbidden her, in my name,」 Mrs. Gallilee continued, 「to act as nurse to my niece. They have informed her that Miss Carmina will be restored to my care, the moment she can be moved. And they have sent me her unconditional submission in writing, signed by herself.」
She took it from the desk at her side, and read it to him, in these words:
「I humbly ask pardon of Mrs. Gallilee for the violent and unlawful acts of which I have been guilty. I acknowledge, and submit to, her authority as guardian of Miss Carmina Graywell. And I appeal to her mercy (which I own I have not deserved) to spare me the misery of separation from Miss Carmina, on any conditions which it may be her good will and pleasure to impose.」
「Now,」 Mrs. Galilee concluded, 「what do you say?」
Speaking sincerely for once, Mr. Le Frank made a startling reply.
「Submit on your side,」 he said. 「Do what she asks of you. And when you are well enough to go to her lodgings, decline with thanks if she offers you anything to eat or drink.」
Mrs. Gallilee raised herself on the sofa. 「Are you insulting me, sir,」 she asked, 「by making this serious emergency the subject of a joke?」
「I never was more in earnest, madam, in my life.」
「You think — you really think — that she is capable of trying to poison me?」
「Most assuredly I do.」
Mrs. Gallilee sank back on the pillow. Mr. Le Frank stated his reasons; checking them off, one by one, on his
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