老妇人的故事 英文版The Old Wives' Tale
阿诺德.本涅特 Arnold Bennett
II
On the day of Mr. Scales's visit to the shop to obtain orders andmoney on behalf of Birkinshaws, a singular success seemed toattend the machinations of Mrs. Baines. With Mr. Scalespunctuality was not an inveterate habit, and he had rarely beenknown, in the past, to fulfil exactly the prophecy of the letterof advice concerning his arrival. But that morning his promptitudewas unexampled. He entered the shop, and by chance Mr. Povey wasarranging unshrinkable flannels in the doorway. The two youngishlittle men talked amiably about flannels, dogs, and quarter-day(which was just past), and then Mr. Povey led Mr. Scales to hisdesk in the dark corner behind the high pile of twills, and paidthe quarterly bill, in notes and gold--as always; and then Mr.Scales offered for the august inspection of Mr. Povey all thatManchester had recently invented for the temptation of drapers,and Mr. Povey gave him an order which, if not reckless, was nearer'handsome' than 'good.' During the process Mr. Scales had to goout of the shop twice or three times in order to bring in from hisbarrow at the kerb-stone certain small black boxes edged withbrass. On none of these excursions did Mr. Scales glance wantonlyabout him in satisfaction of the lust of the eye. Even if he hadpermitted himself this freedom he would have seen nothing moreinteresting than three young lady assistants seated round thestove and sewing with pricked fingers from which the chilblainswere at last deciding to depart. When Mr. Scales had finishedwriting down the details of the order with his ivory-handledstylo, and repacked his boxes, he drew the interview to aconclusion after the manner of a capable commercial traveller;that is to say, he implanted in Mr. Povey his opinion that Mr.Povey was a wise, a shrewd and an upright man, and that the worldwould be all the better for a few more like him. He inquired forMrs. Baines, and was deeply pained to hear of her indispositionwhile finding consolation in the assurance that the Misses Baineswere well. Mr. Povey was on the point of accompanying the patternof commercial travellers to the door, when two customerssimultaneously came in--ladies. One made straight for Mr. Povey,whereupon Mr. Scales parted from him at once, it being a universalmaxim in shops that even the most distinguished commercial shallnot hinder the business of even the least distinguished customer.The other customer had the effect of causing Constance to pop upfrom her cloistral corner. Constance had been there all the time,but of course, though she heard the remembered voice, hermaidenliness had not permitted that she should show herself to Mr.Scales.
Now, as he was leaving, Mr. Scales saw her, with her agreeablesnub nose and her kind, simple eyes. She was requesting the secondcustomer to mount to the showroom, where was Miss Sophia. Mr.Scales hesitated a moment, and in that moment Constance, catchinghis eye, smiled upon him, and nodded. What else could she do?Vaguely aware though she was that her mother was not 'set up' withMr. Scales, and even feared the possible influence of the youngman on Sophia, she could not exclude him from her generalbenevolence towards the universe. Moreover, she liked him; sheliked him very much and thought him a very fine specimen of a man.
He left the door and went across to her. They shook hands andopened a conversation instantly; for Constance, while retainingall her modesty, had lost all her shyness in the shop, and couldchatter with anybody. She sidled towards her corner, precisely asSophia had done on another occasion, and Mr. Scales put his chinover the screening boxes, and eagerly prosecuted the conversation.
There was absolutely nothing in the fact of the interview itselfto cause alarm to a mother, nothing to render futile theprecautions of Mrs. Baines on behalf of the flower of Sophia'sinnocence. And yet it held danger for Mrs. Baines, all unconsciousin her parlour. Mrs. Baines could rely utterly on Constance not tobe led away by the dandiacal charms of Mr. Scales (she knew inwhat quarter sat the wind for Constance); in her plan she hadforgotten nothing, except Mr. Povey; and it must be said that shecould not possibly have foreseen the effect on the situation ofMr. Povey's character.
Mr. Povey, attending to his customer, had noticed the bright smileof Constance on the traveller, and his heart did not like it. Andwhen he saw the lively gestures of a Mr. Scales in apparentlyintimate talk with a Constance hidden behind boxes, his uneasinessgrew into fury. He was a man capable of black and terrible furies.Outwardly insignificant, possessing a mind as little as his body,easily abashed, he was none the less a very susceptible young man,soon offended, proud, vain, and obscurely passionate. You mightoffend Mr. Povey without guessing it, and only discover your sinwhen Mr. Povey had done something too decisive as a result of it.
The reason of his fury was jealousy. Mr. Povey had made greatadvances since the death of John Baines. He had consolidated hisposition, and he was in every way a personage of the firstimportance. His misfortune was that he could never translate hisimportance, or his sense of his importance, into terms of outwarddemeanour. Most people, had they been told that Mr. Povey wasseriously aspiring to enter the Baines family, would have laughed.But they would have been wrong. To laugh at Mr. Povey wasinvariably wrong. Only Constance knew what inroads he had effectedupon her.
The customer went, but Mr. Scales did not go. Mr. Povey, free toreconnoitre, did so. From the shadow of the till he could catchglimpses of Constance's blushing, vivacious face. She wasobviously absorbed in Mr. Scales. She and he had a tremendous airof intimacy. And the murmur of their chatter continued. Theirchatter was nothing, and about nothing, but Mr. Povey imaginedthat they were exchanging eternal vows. He endured Mr. Scales'sodious freedom until it became insufferable, until it deprived himof all his self-control; and then he retired into his cutting-outroom. He meditated there in a condition of insanity for perhaps aminute, and excogitated a device. Dashing back into the shop, hespoke up, half across the shop, in a loud, curt tone:
"Miss Baines, your mother wants you at once."
He was launched on the phrase before he noticed that, during hisabsence, Sophia had descended from the showroom and joined hersister and Mr. Scales. The danger and scandal were now less, heperceived, but he was glad he had summoned Constance away, and hewas in a state to despise consequences.
The three chatterers, startled, looked at Mr. Povey, who left theshop abruptly. Constance could do nothing but obey the call.
She met him at the door of the cutting-out room in the passageleading to the parlour.
"Where is mother? In the parlour?" Constance inquired innocently.
There was a dark flush on Mr. Povey's face. "If you wish to know,"said he in a hard voice, "she hasn't asked for you and she doesn'twant you."
He turned his back on her, and retreated into his lair.
"Then what--?" she began, puzzled.
He fronted her. "Haven't you been gabbling long enough with thatjackanapes?" he spit at her. There were tears in his eyes.
Constance, though without experience in these matters,comprehended. She comprehended perfectly and immediately. Sheought to have put Mr. Povey into his place. She ought to haveprotested with firm, dignified finality against such a ridiculousand monstrous outrage as that which Mr. Povey had committed. Mr.Povey ought to have been ruined for ever in her esteem and in herheart. But she hesitated.
"And only last Sunday--afternoon," Mr. Povey blubbered.
(Not that anything overt had occurred, or been articulately said,between them last Sunday afternoon. But they had been alonetogether, and had each witnessed strange and disturbing matters inthe eyes of the other.)
Tears now fell suddenly from Constance's eyes. "You ought to beashamed--" she stammered.
Still, the tears were in her eyes, and in his too. What he or shemerely said, therefore, was of secondary importance.
Mrs. Baines, coming from the kitchen, and hearing Constance'svoice, burst upon the scene, which silenced her. Parents aresometimes silenced. She found Sophia and Mr. Scales in the shop.