国外英文文学系列 The Executor.docx

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1、国外英文文学系列 The ExecutorCHAPTER I.“The woman was certainly mad,” said John Brown.It was the most extraordinary of speeches, considering the circumstances and place in which it was spoken. A parlour of very grim and homely aspect, furnished with dark mahogany and black haircloth, the blinds of the two w

2、indows solemnly drawn down, the shutters of one half-closed; two traditional decanters of wine standing reflected in the shining uncovered table; half-a-dozen people all in mourning, in various attitudes of surprise, disappointment, and displeasure; and close by one of the windows Mr Brown, the atto

3、rney, holding up to the light that extraordinary scrap of paper, which had fallen upon them all like a thunderbolt. Only half an hour ago he had attended her funeral with decorum and perfect indifference, as was natural, and had come into this parlour without the slightest idea of encountering anyth

4、ing which could disturb him. Fate, however, had been lying in wait for the unsuspecting man at the moment he feared it least. He had not been employed to draw out this extraordinary document, nor had he known anything about it. It was a thunderbolt enclosed in a simple envelope, very securely sealed

5、 up, and delivered to him with great solemnity by the next of kin, which carried him off his balance like a charge of artillery, and made everybody aghast around him. The sentiment and exclamation were alike natural; but the woman was not mad.By the side of the table, very pale and profoundly discom

6、posed, sat the next of kin; a woman, of appearance not unaccordant with that of the house, over fifty? dark-complexioned and full of wrinkles, with a certain cloud of habitual shabbiness, not to be cast aside, impairing the perfection of her new mourning. Her new mourning, poor soul! got on the stre

7、ngth of that letter containing the will, which had been placed in her safe keeping. She was evidently doing everything she could to command herself, and conceal her agitation. But it was not a very easy matter. Cherished visions of years, and hopes that this morning had seemed on the point of settli

8、ng into reality, were breaking up before her, each with its poignant circumstances of mortification and bitterness and dread disappointment. She looked at everybody in the room with a kind of agonised appealcould it really be true, might not her ears have deceived her?and strained her troubled gaze

9、upon that paper, not without an instinctive thought that it was wrongly read, or misunderstood, or that some mysterious change had taken place on it in the transfer from her possession to that of Mr Brown. His amazement and dismay did not convince the poor dismayed woman. She stretched out her hand

10、eagerly to get the paper to read it for herself. He might have changed it in reading it; he might have missed something, or added something, that altered the meaning. Anything might have happened, rather than the reality that her confidence had been deceived and her hopes were gone.“Did you know of

11、this, Mrs Christian?” said the rector, who stood at the other end of the room with his hat in his hand.Did she know! She could have gnashed her teeth at the foolish question, in her excitement and exasperation. She made a hysterical motion with her head to answer. Her daughter, who had come to the b

12、ack of her chair, and who knew the rector must not be offended, supplied the words that failed to596 her mother“No; we thought we were to have it,” said the poor girl, innocently. There was a little movement of sympathy and compassion among the other persons present. But mingled with this came a sou

13、nd of a different description; a cough, not an expression of physical weakness, but of moral sentiment; an irritating, critical, inarticulate remark upon that melancholy avowal. It came from the only other woman present, the servant of the house. When the disappointed relation heard it, she flushed

14、into sudden rage, and made an immediate identification of her enemy. It was not dignified, but it was very natural. Perhaps, under the circumstances, it was the only relief which her feelings could have had“But I know whose doing it was!” said poor Mrs Christian, trembling all over, her pale face re

15、ddening with passion. There was a little movement at the door as the servant-woman stepped farther into the room to take her part in the scene which interested her keenly. She was a tall woman, thin and dry, and about the same age as her accuser. There was even a certain degree of likeness between t

16、hem. As Nancys tall person and white apron became clearly visible from among the little group of gentlemen, Mrs Christian rose, inspired with all the heat and passion of her disappointment, to face her foe.“Did you know of this?” said the excellent rector, with his concerned malaprop face. Nancy did

17、 not look at him. The three women stood regarding each other across the table; the others were only spectatorsthey were the persons concerned. The girl who had already spoken, and who was a little fair creature, as different from the belligerents as possible, stood holding her mothers hand tightly.

18、She had her eyes on them both, with an extraordinary air of control and unconscious authority. They were both full of rage and excitement, the climax of a long smouldering quarrel; but the blue eyes that watched, kept them silent against their will. The crisis lasted only for a moment. Poor Mrs Chri

19、stian, yielding to the impulse of the small fingers that closed so tightly on her hand, fell back on her chair, and attempted to recover her shattered dignity. Nancy withdrew to the door; and Mr Brown repeated the exclamation in which his dismay and trouble had at first expressed itself, “Certainly

20、the woman must have been mad!”“Will you have the goodness to let me see it?” said Mrs Christian, with a gasp. It is impossible to say what ideas of tearing it up, or throwing it into the smouldering fire, might have mingled with her desire; but, in the first place, she was eager to see if she could

21、not make something different out of that paper than those astounding words she had heard read. Mr Brown was an honest man, but he was an attorney; and Mrs Christian was an honest woman, but she was next of kin. If she had known what was in that cruel paper, she might not, perhaps, have preserved it

22、so carefully. She read it over, trembling, and not understanding the very words she muttered under her breath. Bessie read it also, over her shoulder. While they were so occupied, Mr Brown relieved his perplexed mind with a vehemence not much less tragical than that of the disappointed heir.“I have

23、known many absurd things in the way of wills,” said Mr Brown, “but this is the crown of all. Who on earth ever heard of Ph?be Thomson? Whos Ph?be Thomson? Her daughter? Why, she never had any daughter in the memory of man. I should say it is somewhere like thirty years since she settled down in Carl

24、ingfordwith no child, nor appearance of ever having had onean old witch with three cats, and a heart like the nether millstone. Respect? dont speak to me! why should I respect her? Here shes gone, after living a life which nobody was the better597 for; certainly I was none the better for it; why, sh

25、e did not even employ me to make this precious will; and saddled meme, of all men in the worldwith a burden I wouldnt undertake for my own brother. Ill have nothing to do with it. Do you suppose Im going to give up my own business, and all my comfort, to seek Ph?be Thomson? The ideas ridiculous! the

26、 woman was mad!”“Hush! for were in the house of our departed friend, and have just laid her down,” said the inappropriate rector, “in the sure and certain hope”Mr Brown made, and checked himself in making, an extraordinary grimace. “Do you suppose Im bound to go hunting Ph?be Thomson till that day c

27、omes?” said the attorney. “Better to be a ghost at once, when one could have surer information. Im very sorry, Mrs Christian; I have no hand in it, I assure you. Who do you imagine this Ph?be Thomson is?”“Sir,” said Mrs Christian, “I decline to give you any information. If my son was here, instead o

28、f being in India, as everybody knows, I might have some one to act for me. But you may be certain I shall take advice upon it. You will hear from my solicitor, Mr Brown; I decline to give you any information on the subject.”Mr Brown stared broadly at the speaker; his face reddened. He watched her ge

29、t up and make her way out of the room with a perplexed look, half angry, half compassionate. She went out with a little of the passionate and resentful air which deprives such disappointments of the sympathy they deservewrathful, vindictive, consoling herself with dreams that it was all a plot, and

30、she could still have her rights; but a sad figure, notwithstanding her flutter of bitter ragea sad figure to those who knew what home she was going to, and how she had lived. Her very dress, so much better than it usually was, enhanced the melancholy aspect of the poor womans withdrawal. Her daughte

31、r followed her closely, ashamed, and not venturing to lift her eyes. They were a pathetic couple to that little group that knew all about them. Nancy threw the room-door open for them, with a revengeful satisfaction. One of the funeral attendants who still lingered outside opened the outer one. They

32、 went out of the subdued light, into the day, their hearts tingling with a hundred wounds. At least the mothers heart was pierced, and palpitating in every nerve. There was an instinctive silence while they went out, and after they were gone. Even Mr Browns “humph!” was a very subdued protest agains

33、t the injustice which Mrs Christian had done him. Everybody stood respectful of the real calamity.“And so, there they are just where they were!” cried the young surgeon, who was one of the party; “and pretty sweet Bessie must still carry her father on her shoulders, and drag her mother by her side w

34、herever she goes; its very hardone cant help thinking its a very hard burden for a girl of her years.”“But it is a burden of which she might be relieved,” said Mr Brown, with a smile.The young man coloured high and drew back a little. “Few men have courage enough to take up such loads of their own w

35、ill,” he said, with a little heat“I have burdens of my own.”A few words may imply a great deal in a little company, where all the interlocutors know all about each other. This, though it was simple enough, disturbed the composure of the young doctor. A minute after he muttered something about his fu

36、rther presence being unnecessary, and hastened away. There were now only left the rector, the churchwarden, and Mr Brown.“Of course you will accept her trust, Mr Brown,” said the rector.The attorney made a great many grimaces, but said nothing. The598 whole matter was too startling and sudden to hav

37、e left him time to think what he was to do.“Anyhow the poor Christians are left in the lurch,” said the churchwarden; “for, I suppose, Brown, if you dont undertake it, itll go into Chancery. Oh! I dont pretend to know; but its natural to suppose, of course, that it would go into Chancery, and stand

38、empty with all the windows broken for twenty years. But couldnt they make you undertake it whether you pleased or no? I am only saying what occurs to me; of course, Im not a lawyerI cant know.”“Well, never mind,” said Mr Brown; “I cannot undertake to say just at this identical moment what I shall do

39、. I dont like the atmosphere of this place, and theres nothing more to be done just now that I know of. We had better go.”“But the houseand Nancysome conclusion must be come to directly. What will you do about them?” said the rector.“To be sure! I dont doubt theres plate and jewellery and such thing

40、s aboutthey ought to be sealed and secured, and that sort of thing,” said the still more energetic lay functionary. “For anything we know, she might have money in old stockings all about the house. I shouldnt be surprised at anything, after what weve heard to-day. Twenty thousand pounds! and a daugh

41、ter! If any one had told me that old Mrs Thomson had either the one or the other yesterday at this time, I should have said they were crazy. Certainly, Brown, the cupboards and desks and so forth should be examined and sealed up. It is your duty to Ph?be Thomson. You must do your duty to Ph?be Thoms

42、on, or shell get damages of you. I suppose soyou ought to know.”“Confound Ph?be Thomson!” said the attorney, with great unction; “but notwithstanding, come along, let us get out of this. As for her jewellery and her old stockings, they must take their chance. I cant stand it any longerpah! theres no

43、 air to breathe. How did the old witch ever manage to live to eighty here?”“You must not call her by such improper epithets. I have no doubt she was a good woman,” said the rector; “and recollect, really, you owe a little respect to a person who was only buried to-day.”“If she were to be buried to-m

44、orrow,” cried the irreverent attorney, making his way first out of the narrow doorway, “I know one man who would have nothing to do with the obsequies. Why, look here! what right had that old humbug to saddle me with her duties, after neglecting them all her life; and, with that bribe implied, to lu

45、re me to undertake the job, too. Ah, the old wretch! dont let us speak of her. As for respect, I dont owe her a particlethat is a consolation. I knew something of the kind of creature she was before to-day.”So saying, John Brown thrust his hands into his pockets, shrugged up his shoulders, and went

46、off at a startling pace up the quiet street. It was a very quiet street in the outskirts of a very quiet little town. The back of the house which they had just left was on a line with the roada blank wall, broken only by one long staircase-window. The front was to the garden, entering by a little si

47、de-gate, through which the indignant executor had just hurried, crunching the gravel under his rapid steps. A line of such houses, doleful and monotonous, with all the living part of them concealed in their gardens, formed one side of the street along which he passed so rapidly. The other side consi

48、sted of humbler habitations, meekly contented to look at their neighbours back-windows. When John Brown had shot far ahead of his late companions, who followed together, greatly interested in this new subject of talk, his rapid course was interrupted for a moment. Bessie Christian came running acros

49、s the street from one599 of the little houses. She had no bonnet on, and her black dress made her blonde complexion and light hair look clearer and fairer than ever; and when the lawyer drew up all at once to hear what she had to say, partly from compassion, partly from curiosity, it did not fail to strike him how like a child she was, approaching him thus simply with her message. “Oh, Mr Brown,” cried Bessie, out of breath, “I want to speak to you. If you will ask