简.爱 英文版 Jane Eyre
夏洛蒂.勃朗特 Charlotte Bronte
CHAPTER XVII Page 2
Fortunately there was another entrance to the drawing-room thanthat through the saloon where they were all seated at dinner. Wefound the apartment vacant; a large fire burning silently on themarble hearth, and wax candles shining in bright solitude, amid theexquisite flowers with which the tables were adorned. The crimsoncurtain hung before the arch: slight as was the separationthis drapery formed from the party in the adjoining saloon, theyspoke in so low a key that nothing of their conversation could bedistinguished beyond a soothing murmur.
Adele, who appeared to be still under the influence of a mostsolemnising impression, sat down, without a word, on the footstool Ipointed out to her. I retired to a window-seat, and taking a bookfrom a table near, endeavoured to read. Adele brought her stoolto my feet; ere long she touched my knee.
"What is it, Adele?"
"Est-ce que je ne puis pas prendrie une seule de ces fleursmagnifiques, mademoiselle? Seulement pour completer ma toilette. "
"You think too much of your 'toilette, ' Adele: but you may havea flower. " And I took a rose from a vase and fastened it in hersash. She sighed a sigh of ineffable satisfaction, as if her cupof happiness were now full. I turned my face away to conceal asmile I could not suppress: there was something ludicrous as wellas painful in the little Parisienne's earnest and innate devotionto matters of dress.
A soft sound of rising now became audible; the curtain was sweptback from the arch; through it appeared the dining-room, with itslit lustre pouring down light on the silver and glass of a magnificentdessert-service covering a long table; a band of ladies stood inthe opening; they entered, and the curtain fell behind them.
There were but eight; yet, somehow, as they flocked in, they gavethe impression of a much larger number. Some of them were verytall; many were dressed in white; and all had a sweeping amplitudeof array that seemed to magnify their persons as a mist magnifiesthe moon. I rose and curtseyed to them: one or two bent theirheads in return, the others only stared at me.
They dispersed about the room, reminding me, by the lightness andbuoyancy of their movements, of a flock of white plumy birds. Someof them threw themselves in half-reclining positions on the sofasand ottomans: some bent over the tables and examined the flowersand books: the rest gathered in a group round the fire: alltalked in a low but clear tone which seemed habitual to them. Iknew their names afterwards, and may as well mention them now.
First, there was Mrs. Eshton and two of her daughters. She hadevidently been a handsome woman, and was well preserved still.Of her daughters, the eldest, Amy, was rather little: naive,and child-like in face and manner, and piquant in form; her whitemuslin dress and blue sash became her well. The second, Louisa,was taller and more elegant in figure; with a very pretty face,of that order the French term minois chiffone: both sisters werefair as lilies.
Lady Lynn was a large and stout personage of about forty, very erect,very haughty-looking, richly dressed in a satin robe of changefulsheen: her dark hair shone glossily under the shade of an azureplume, and within the circlet of a band of gems.
Mrs. Colonel Dent was less showy; but, I thought, more lady-like.She had a slight figure, a pale, gentle face, and fair hair. Herblack satin dress, her scarf of rich foreign lace, and her pearlornaments, pleased me better than the rainbow radiance of the titleddame.
But the three most distinguished -- partly, perhaps, because thetallest figures of the band -- were the Dowager Lady Ingram and herdaughters, Blanche and Mary. They were all three of the loftieststature of women. The Dowager might be between forty and fifty:her shape was still fine; her hair (by candle-light at least) stillblack; her teeth, too, were still apparently perfect. Most peoplewould have termed her a splendid woman of her age: and so she was,no doubt, physically speaking; but then there was an expression ofalmost insupportable haughtiness in her bearing and countenance.She had Roman features and a double chin, disappearing into a throatlike a pillar: these features appeared to me not only inflated anddarkened, but even furrowed with pride; and the chin was sustainedby the same principle, in a position of almost preternaturalerectness. She had, likewise, a fierce and a hard eye: it remindedme of Mrs. Reed's; she mouthed her words in speaking; her voicewas deep, its inflections very pompous, very dogmatical, -- veryintolerable, in short. A crimson velvet robe, and a shawl turbanof some gold-wrought Indian fabric, invested her (I suppose shethought) with a truly imperial dignity.
Blanche and Mary were of equal stature, -- straight and tall aspoplars. Mary was too slim for her height, but Blanche was mouldedlike a Dian. I regarded her, of course, with special interest.First, I wished to see whether her appearance accorded withMrs. Fairfax's description; secondly, whether it at all resembledthe fancy miniature I had painted of her; and thirdly -- it willout! -- whether it were such as I should fancy likely to suit Mr.Rochester's taste.
As far as person went, she answered point for point, both to mypicture and Mrs. Fairfax's description. The noble bust, the slopingshoulders, the graceful neck, the dark eyes and black ringletswere all there; -- but her face? Her face was like her mother's;a youthful unfurrowed likeness: the same low brow, the same highfeatures, the same pride. It was not, however, so saturnine apride! she laughed continually; her laugh was satirical, and sowas the habitual expression of her arched and haughty lip.
Genius is said to be self-conscious. I cannot tell whether MissIngram was a genius, but she was self-conscious -- remarkably self-conscious indeed. She entered into a discourse on botany with thegentle Mrs. Dent. It seemed Mrs. Dent had not studied that science:though, as she said, she liked flowers, "especially wild ones;"Miss Ingram had, and she ran over its vocabulary with an air. Ipresently perceived she was (what is vernacularly termed) TRAILINGMrs. Dent; that is, playing on her ignorance -- her TRAIL might beclever, but it was decidedly not good-natured. She played: herexecution was brilliant; she sang: her voice was fine; she talkedFrench apart to her mamma; and she talked it well, with fluencyand with a good accent.
Mary had a milder and more open countenance than Blanche; softerfeatures too, and a skin some shades fairer (Miss Ingram was darkas a Spaniard) -- but Mary was deficient in life: her face lackedexpression, her eye lustre; she had nothing to say, and having oncetaken her seat, remained fixed like a statue in its niche. Thesisters were both attired in spotless white.
And did I now think Miss Ingram such a choice as Mr. Rochesterwould be likely to make? I could not tell -- I did not know histaste in female beauty. If he liked the majestic, she was thevery type of majesty: then she was accomplished, sprightly. Mostgentlemen would admire her, I thought; and that he DID admire her,I already seemed to have obtained proof: to remove the last shadeof doubt, it remained but to see them together.
You are not to suppose, reader, that Adele has all this time beensitting motionless on the stool at my feet: no; when the ladiesentered, she rose, advanced to meet them, made a statelyreverence, and said with gravity -
"Bon jour, mesdames. "
And Miss Ingram had looked down at her with a mocking air, andexclaimed, "Oh, what a little puppet!"
Lady Lynn had remarked, "It is Mr. Rochester's ward, I suppose --the little French girl he was speaking of. "
Mrs. Dent had kindly taken her hand, and given her a kiss.
Amy and Louisa Eshton had cried out simultaneously -- "What a loveof a child!"
And then they had called her to a sofa, where she now sat, ensconcedbetween them, chattering alternately in French and broken English;absorbing not only the young ladies' attention, but that of Mrs.Eshton and Lady Lynn, and getting spoilt to her heart's content.
At last coffee is brought in, and the gentlemen are summoned. Isit in the shade -- if any shade there be in this brilliantly-litapartment; the window-curtain half hides me. Again the arch yawns;they come. The collective appearance of the gentlemen, like thatof the ladies, is very imposing: they are all costumed in black;most of them are tall, some young. Henry and Frederick Lynn arevery dashing sparks indeed; and Colonel Dent is a fine soldierlyman. Mr. Eshton, the magistrate of the district, is gentleman-like:his hair is quite white, his eyebrows and whiskers still dark,which gives him something of the appearance of a "pere noble detheatre. " Lord Ingram, like his sisters, is very tall; like them,also, he is handsome; but he shares Mary's apathetic and listlesslook: he seems to have more length of limb than vivacity of bloodor vigour of brain.
And where is Mr. Rochester?
He comes in last: I am not looking at the arch, yet I see himenter. I try to concentrate my attention on those netting-needles,on the meshes of the purse I am forming -- I wish to think onlyof the work I have in my hands, to see only the silver beads andsilk threads that lie in my lap; whereas, I distinctly behold hisfigure, and I inevitably recall the moment when I last saw it; justafter I had rendered him, what he deemed, an essential service, andhe, holding my hand, and looking down on my face, surveyed me witheyes that revealed a heart full and eager to overflow; in whoseemotions I had a part. How near had I approached him at that moment!What had occurred since, calculated to change his and my relativepositions? Yet now, how distant, how far estranged we were! Sofar estranged, that I did not expect him to come and speak to me.I did not wonder, when, without looking at me, he took a seat atthe other side of the room, and began conversing with some of theladies.
No sooner did I see that his attention was riveted on them, andthat I might gaze without being observed, than my eyes were drawninvoluntarily to his face; I could not keep their lids under control:they would rise, and the irids would fix on him. I looked, and hadan acute pleasure in looking, -- a precious yet poignant pleasure;pure gold, with a steely point of agony: a pleasure like what thethirst-perishing man might feel who knows the well to which he hascrept is poisoned, yet stoops and drinks divine draughts nevertheless.
Most true is it that "beauty is in the eye of the gazer. " Mymaster's colourless, olive face, square, massive brow, broad andjetty eyebrows, deep eyes, strong features, firm, grim mouth, -- allenergy, decision, will, -- were not beautiful, according to rule;but they were more than beautiful to me; they were full of an interest,an influence that quite mastered me, -- that took my feelings frommy own power and fettered them in his. I had not intended to lovehim; the reader knows I had wrought hard to extirpate from my soulthe germs of love there detected; and now, at the first renewed viewof him, they spontaneously arrived, green and strong! He made melove him without looking at me.
I compared him with his guests. What was the gallant grace of theLynns, the languid elegance of Lord Ingram, -- even the militarydistinction of Colonel Dent, contrasted with his look of nativepith and genuine power? I had no sympathy in their appearance,their expression: yet I could imagine that most observers wouldcall them attractive, handsome, imposing; while they would pronounceMr. Rochester at once harsh-featured and melancholy-looking. Isaw them smile, laugh -- it was nothing; the light of the candleshad as much soul in it as their smile; the tinkle of the bell asmuch significance as their laugh. I saw Mr. Rochester smile:- hisstern features softened; his eye grew both brilliant and gentle,its ray both searching and sweet. He was talking, at the moment,to Louisa and Amy Eshton. I wondered to see them receive withcalm that look which seemed to me so penetrating: I expected theireyes to fall, their colour to rise under it; yet I was glad when Ifound they were in no sense moved. "He is not to them what he isto me, " I thought: "he is not of their kind. I believe he is ofmine; -- I am sure he is -- I feel akin to him -- I understand thelanguage of his countenance and movements: though rank and wealthsever us widely, I have something in my brain and heart, in myblood and nerves, that assimilates me mentally to him. Did I say,a few days since, that I had nothing to do with him but to receivemy salary at his hands? Did I forbid myself to think of him in anyother light than as a paymaster? Blasphemy against nature! Everygood, true, vigorous feeling I have gathers impulsively round him.I know I must conceal my sentiments: I must smother hope; I mustremember that he cannot care much for me. For when I say that Iam of his kind, I do not mean that I have his force to influence,and his spell to attract; I mean only that I have certain tastesand feelings in common with him. I must, then, repeat continuallythat we are for ever sundered:- and yet, while I breathe and think,I must love him. "
drawninvoluntarily to his face; I could not keep their lids under control:they would rise.
Coffee is handed. The ladies, since the gentlemen entered, havebecome lively as larks; conversation waxes brisk and merry. ColonelDent and Mr. Eshton argue on politics; their wives listen. The twoproud dowagers, Lady Lynn and Lady Ingram, confabulate together.Sir George -- whom, by-the-bye, I have forgotten to describe, -- avery big, and very fresh-looking country gentleman, stands beforetheir sofa, coffee-cup in hand, and occasionally puts in a word.Mr. Frederick Lynn has taken a seat beside Mary Ingram, and isshowing her the engravings of a splendid volume: she looks, smilesnow and then, but apparently says little. The tall and phlegmaticLord Ingram leans with folded arms on the chair-back of the littleand lively Amy Eshton; she glances up at him, and chatters likea wren: she likes him better than she does Mr. Rochester. HenryLynn has taken possession of an ottoman at the feet of Louisa:Adele shares it with him: he is trying to talk French with her,and Louisa laughs at his blunders. With whom will Blanche Ingrampair? She is standing alone at the table, bending gracefully overan album. She seems waiting to be sought; but she will not waittoo long: she herself selects a mate.
Mr. Rochester, having quitted the Eshtons, stands on the hearthas solitary as she stands by the table: she confronts him, takingher station on the opposite side of the mantelpiece.
"Mr. Rochester, I thought you were not fond of children?"
"Then, what induced you to take charge of such a little doll asthat?" (pointing to Adele). "Where did you pick her up?"
"I did not pick her up; she was left on my hands. "
"You should have sent her to school. "
"I could not afford it: schools are so dear. "
"Why, I suppose you have a governess for her: I saw a person withher just now -- is she gone? Oh, no! there she is still, behindthe window-curtain. You pay her, of course; I should think itquite as expensive, -- more so; for you have them both to keep inaddition. "
I feared -- or should I say, hoped? -- the allusion to me wouldmake Mr. Rochester glance my way; and I involuntarily shrank fartherinto the shade: but he never turned his eyes.
"I have not considered the subject, " said he indifferently, lookingstraight before him.
"No, you men never do consider economy and common sense. You shouldhear mama on the chapter of governesses: Mary and I have had, Ishould think, a dozen at least in our day; half of them detestableand the rest ridiculous, and all incubi -- were they not, mama?"
"Did you speak, my own?"
The young lady thus claimed as the dowager's special property,reiterated her question with an explanation.
"My dearest, don't mention governesses; the word makes me nervous.I have suffered a martyrdom from their incompetency and caprice.I thank Heaven I have now done with them!"
Mrs. Dent here bent over to the pious lady and whispered somethingin her ear; I suppose, from the answer elicited, it was a reminderthat one of the anathematised race was present.
"Tant pis!" said her Ladyship, "I hope it may do her good!" Then,in a lower tone, but still loud enough for me to hear, "I noticedher; I am a judge of physiognomy, and in hers I see all the faultsof her class. "
"What are they, madam?" inquired Mr. Rochester aloud.
"I will tell you in your private ear, " replied she, wagging herturban three times with portentous significancy.
Adele). "Where did you pick her up?"spontaneously arrived!
"But my curiosity will be past its appetite; it craves food now. "
"Ask Blanche; she is nearer you than I. "
"Oh, don't refer him to me, mama! I have just one word to say ofthe whole tribe; they are a nuisance. Not that I ever suffered muchfrom them; I took care to turn the tables. What tricks Theodoreand I used to play on our Miss Wilsons, and Mrs. Greys, and MadameJouberts! Mary was always too sleepy to join in a plot withspirit. The best fun was with Madame Joubert: Miss Wilson wasa poor sickly thing, lachrymose and low-spirited, not worth thetrouble of vanquishing, in short; and Mrs. Grey was coarse andinsensible; no blow took effect on her. But poor Madame Joubert!I see her yet in her raging passions, when we had driven her toextremities -- spilt our tea, crumbled our bread and butter, tossedour books up to the ceiling, and played a charivari with the rulerand desk, the fender and fire-irons. Theodore, do you rememberthose merry days?"
"Yaas, to be sure I do, " drawled Lord Ingram; "and the poor oldstick used to cry out 'Oh you villains childs!' -- and then wesermonised her on the presumption of attempting to teach such cleverblades as we were, when she was herself so ignorant. "
"We did; and, Tedo, you know, I helped you in prosecuting (orpersecuting) your tutor, whey-faced Mr. Vining -- the parson in thepip, as we used to call him. He and Miss Wilson took the libertyof falling in love with each other -- at least Tedo and I thoughtso; we surprised sundry tender glances and sighs which we interpretedas tokens of 'la belle passion, ' and I promise you the public soonhad the benefit of our discovery; we employed it as a sort of leverto hoist our dead-weights from the house. Dear mama, there, assoon as she got an inkling of the business, found out that it wasof an immoral tendency. Did you not, my lady-mother?"
"Certainly, my best. And I was quite right: depend on that:there are a thousand reasons why liaisons between governesses andtutors should never be tolerated a moment in any well-regulatedhouse; firstly -- "
"Oh, gracious, mama! Spare us the enumeration! Au reste, weall know them: danger of bad example to innocence of childhood;distractions and consequent neglect of duty on the part of the attached-- mutual alliance and reliance; confidence thence resulting --insolence accompanying -- mutiny and general blow-up. Am I right,Baroness Ingram, of Ingram Park?"