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weir of hermiston(赫米斯顿的魏尔)-第37章

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     〃I   say;   Weir;   you'll   excuse   me   for   returning   again   to   this   affair。   I've 

been   thinking   it   over;   and   I   wish   to   beg   you   very   seriously   to   be   more 

careful。 It's not a safe business。 Not safe; my boy;〃 said he。 

     〃What?〃 said Archie。 

     〃Well; it's your own fault if I must put a name on the thing; but really; 

as a friend; I cannot stand by and see you rushing head down into these 

dangers。   My   dear   boy;〃   said   he;   holding   up   a   warning   cigar;   〃consider! 

What is to be the end of it?〃 

     〃The end of what?〃 … Archie; helpless with irritation; persisted in this 

dangerous and ungracious guard。 

     〃Well; the end of the milkmaid; or; to speak more by the card; the end 

of Miss Christina Elliott of the Cauldstaneslap。〃 

     〃I   assure    you;〃    Archie    broke    out;   〃this   is  all  a  figment     of  your 

imagination。 There is nothing to be said against that young lady; you have 

no right to introduce her name into the conversation。〃 

     〃I'll make a note of it;〃 said Frank。 〃She shall henceforth be nameless; 

nameless;   nameless;   Grigalach!   I   make   a   note   besides   of   your   valuable 

testimony to her character。 I only want to look at this thing as a man of the 

world。 Admitted she's an angel … but; my good fellow; is she a lady?〃 

     This was torture to Archie。 〃I beg your pardon;〃 he said; struggling to 

be composed; 〃but because you have wormed yourself into my confidence 

… 〃 



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     〃O;     come!〃      cried    Frank。     〃Your     confidence?       It  was     rosy    but 

unconsenting。 Your   confidence;   indeed?   Now;   look! This   is   what   I   must 

say; Weir; for it concerns your safety and good character; and therefore my 

honour   as   your   friend。  You   say   I   wormed   myself   into   your   confidence。 

Wormed is good。 But what have I done? I have put two and two together; 

just as the parish will be doing tomorrow; and the whole of Tweeddale in 

two weeks; and the black brothers … well; I won't put a date on that; it will 

be a dark and stormy morning! Your secret; in other words; is poor Poll's。 

And I want to ask of you as a friend whether you like the prospect? There 

are two horns to your dilemma; and I must say for myself I should look 

mighty ruefully on either。 Do you see yourself explaining to the four Black 

Brothers? or do you see yourself presenting the milkmaid to papa as the 

future lady of Hermiston? Do you? I tell you plainly; I don't!〃 

     Archie rose。 〃I will hear no more of this;〃 he said; in a trembling voice。 

     But Frank again held up his cigar。 〃Tell me one thing first。 Tell me if 

this is not a friend's part that I am playing?〃 

     〃I believe you think it so;〃 replied Archle。 〃I can go as far as that。 I can 

do so much justice to your motives。 But   I will hear no   more of it。 I   am 

going to bed。〃 

     〃That's right; Weir;〃 said Frank heartily。 〃Go to bed and think over it; 

and I say; man; don't forget your prayers! I don't often do the moral … don't 

go in for that sort of thing … but when I do there's one thing sure; that I 

mean it。〃 

     So Archie   marched   off   to   bed;   and   Frank   sat   alone   by   the   table   for 

another hour or so; smiling to himself richly。 There was nothing vindictive 

in his nature; but; if revenge came in his way; it might as well be good; 

and the thought of Archie's pillow reflections that night was indescribably 

sweet   to   him。   He   felt   a   pleasant   sense   of   power。   He   looked   down   on 

Archie   as   on   a   very   little   boy   whose   strings   he   pulled   …   as   on   a   horse 

whom   he   had   backed   and   bridled   by   sheer   power   of   intelligence;   and 

whom he might ride to glory or the grave at pleasure。 Which was it to be? 

He lingered long; relishing the details of schemes that he was too idle to 

pursue。     Poor    cork   upon    a   torrent;   he  tasted    that  night   the   sweets    of 

omnipotence;   and   brooded   like   a   deity   over   the   strands   of   that   intrigue 



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which was to shatter him before the summer waned。 



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      CHAPTER VIII … A NOCTURNAL 

                                      VISIT 



     KIRSTIE had many causes of distress。 More and more as we grow old 

… and yet   more and more as we grow old and are women; frozen by the 

fear of age … we come to rely on the voice as the single outlet of the soul。 

Only thus; in the curtailment of our means; can we relieve the straitened 

cry of the passion within us; only thus; in the bitter and sensitive shyness 

of advancing years; can we maintain relations with those vivacious figures 

of the young that still show before us and tend daily to become no more 

than the moving wall…paper of life。 Talk is the last link; the last relation。 

But with the end of the conversation; when the voice stops and the bright 

face of the listener is turned away; solitude falls again on the bruised heart。 

Kirstie had lost her 〃cannie hour at e'en〃; she could no more wander with 

Archie; a ghost if you will; but a happy ghost; in fields Elysian。 And to her 

it was as if the whole world had fallen silent; to him; but an unremarkable 

change   of   amusements。 And she   raged   to   know it。 The   effervescency  of 

her   passionate   and   irritable   nature   rose   within   her   at   times   to   bursting 

point。 

     This   is   the   price   paid   by   age   for   unseasonable   ardours   of   feeling。   It 

must have been so for Kirstie at any time when the occasion chanced; but 

it so fell out that she was deprived of this delight in the hour when she had 

most   need   of   it;   when   she   had   most   to   say;   most   to   ask;   and   when   she 

trembled to recognise her sovereignty not merely in abeyance but annulled。 

For; with the clairvoyance of a genuine love; she had pierced the mystery 

that had so long embarrassed Frank。 She was conscious; even before it was 

carried out; even on that Sunday night when it began; of an invasion of her 

rights;   and   a   voice   told   her   the   invader's   name。   Since   then;   by   arts;   by 

accident;   by   small   things   observed;   and   by   the   general   drift   of Archie's 

humour; she had passed beyond all possibility of doubt。 With a sense of 

justice that Lord Hermiston might have envied; she had that day in church 

considered and   admitted   the   attractions   of the   younger   Kirstie;   and   with 



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