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发表于 2014-8-22 22:42
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I woke to find Laura’s hand on my shoulder. “Marian, the figure of the lake! I’ve just spoken to her. It’s Anne Catherick. Look! She found my bracelet.”
Still half asleep, I stared at her stupidly. “Anne Catherick?”
“Yes, I was searching in the boat house,” Laura went on, “when a woman in a white dress came in. And said quietly, ‘Miss. Fairlie, I have your bracelet. Your mother would not want you to lose it.’ I jumped up, but her voice was so kind that I wasn’t afraid. I asked her how she knew my mother. She said her name was Anne Catherick, and asked me if I remembered as a little girl, walking with her and my mother to the school in Limmeridge one day. I did remember. Suddenly I saw we were alike each other, but her face was paler and thinner and tired. It was how my face might look after a long illness. ‘Why do you call me Miss. Fairlie?’ I asked, and she answered, ‘Because I loved the name of Fairlie and hated the name of Glyde.’”
“Did she say anything about your husband?” I asked
“She said that after she wrote the letter, she did not have the courage to stay in Limmeridge to try to prevent my marriage to him. She was afraid he would find her and shut her up in the asylum again. But she was not afraid anymore, because she was so ill, she thought she was dying. Then, Marian, she said that she and her mother knew a secret that my husband was afraid of.”
“Yes! Go on!” I said eagerly, “What secret?”
“She was just going to tell me, when she thought she heard a noise outside. ‘We are not alone.’ she said, ‘Someone is watching. Come here tomorrow this time and I will tell you.’ Then she pushed me to one side and disappeared.”
“Oh, Laura, Laura! Another chance lost, but you must keep the appointment tomorrow. It seems so important. I will follow you at a safe distance. She must not escape this time.”
We were silent for time. Then Laura said anxiously, “Why hasn’t Sir Percival called us to the library to sign the document?”
“Oh, yes, I forgot to tell you.” I said, “Thanks to Count Fosco, the business of the signature has been postponed.”
“But why?” Laura said, amazed, “If Sir Percival urgently needs money, how could it be postponed?”
“I heard Sir Percival’s lawyer mention a second plan, to give a document promising payment in three months.”
“Oh, Marian,” she said, “that would be such a relief.”
“Yes, it would. Let’s hope that it is true.”
That evening Sir Percival was polite, even pleasant, especially to Laura. This must be due to the Count’s influence, and it worried me. What lay behind it? I was sure that Sir Percival’ s sudden journey yesterday had been to ___(一处地名), to question Mrs. Catherick. What had he learnt? What were his plans? As the evening passed, I grew more and more uneasy. And I went to bed feeling very anxious about what the next day would bring. I was not wrong to be anxious.
The next day Laura and I arranged that after the lunch she would go alone to the boat house, and that I would follow a little later, taking great care of Anne Catherick did not see me, in case she was frightened by the appearance of another stranger. Sir Percival had gone out earlier in the morning, and did not appear even for lunch, so it was quite easy to put our plan into action. However, when I came quietly up to the back of the boat house, I heard no voices, no sounds of movement, nothing. Soon I was searching inside of the boat house and softly calling Laura’s name, but no one answered and no one appeared. Outside I searched the ground for signs and found the footprints of two people in the sand, big footprints like man, and small footprints which I was sure were Laura’s. There was also a little hole in the sand by the wall of the boat house. Desperate with worry, I hurried back to the house. The first person I met was Mrs. Michelson, the housekeeper. “Do you know,” I asked, “whether Lady Glyde is coming?”
“Yes, she has, Miss Halcombe. And I am afraid something unfortunate has happened. Lady Glyde ran upstairs in tears, and Sir Percival has told me to dismiss her servant, Fanny.”
My heart sank. Fanny was Laura’s personal servant from Limmeridge, and the only person in the house we both trusted. I ran upstairs to Laura’s room. Her door was shut and there was one of Sir Percival’s house servants standing in front of it. “Move away!” I said, “Don’t you see that I want to go in?”
“But you mustn’t go in.” she answered, “I have my orders.”
Wild with anger, I turned and went downstairs to find Sir Percival. He was in the library with the Count and Countess. “Am I understand that your wife’s room is a prison?” I asked, staring him full in the face.
“Yes, that is what you are to understand.” he answered
“Take care how you treat your wife.” I shouted furiously, “There are laws to protect women, and I will use those laws.”
Instead of answering me, he turned to the Count. The Count looked at me with his calm, cold, grey eyes. “But it was the Countess.” he spoke
“Thank you for your hospitality, Sir Percival.” she said suddenly, “But I can not remain in a house where ladies are treated as your wife and Miss. Halcombe have been treated today.”
Sir Percival stared at her in shocked silence, knowing as I did she would not have said this without the Count’s permission.
“I agreed with my wife.” the Count said quietly
Sir Percival swore, then whispered angrily, “Oh, right, have you run away?” With these words, he left the room.
“We have made the worst-tempered man in England. See reason,” said the Count, “Thanks to your courage, Miss Halcombe. This insulting situation is now ended.”
I tried to speak normally, but could not. The Count left the library, then returned in a few minutes later to say that Lady Glyde had the freedom of her own house again. Immediately I rushed upstairs to Laura’s room. She was alone inside, and I was in such a hurry that I did not close the door properly behind me. “Marian!” she said thankfully, “How did you get here?”
“It was the Count’s influence, of course.” I said
“That horrible man!” she cried, “He is a miserable spy.”
Just then we heard a knock on the door. It was the Countess bringing me a handkerchief I had dropped. Her face was white, and I saw in her eyes that she had been listening at the door.
“Oh, Laura!” I said when she had gone, “You shouldn’t have called the Count spy. We shall both regret it.”
“But he is a spy, Marian. There was someone watching me at the lake yesterday, and it was him. He told Sir Percival who watched and waited all morning for me and Anne Catherick, but she didn’t come. I found a note from her hidden in a hole in the sand. She said she had been followed yesterday by a fat old man. He hadn’t caught her, but she was afraid to come back this afternoon. She hid this note very early in the morning, and said she would see me again soon to tell me Sir Percival’s secret.”
“What happened to the note?” I said, “Have you got it?”
“No, while I was reading it, Sir Percival appeared. He took it from me, and demanded to hear everything Anne Catherick had said. He held my arm so tightly. Look see how he has bruised it! What could I do, Marian? I was helpless. I told him everything.”
I looked at the bruises on Laura’s arm, and felt such furious hatred for Sir Percival that I dare not speak.
“But he didn’t believe me.” Laura went on, “He said he knew she had told me more, and he would lock me up until I confessed the truth. Then he took me back to the house, gave orders for Fanny to leave, and locked me in my room. Oh, Marian, he was like a mad man. What are we to do?”
“He is mad, mad with fear. He thinks you know his secret.” I said, “I must act now to protect you. Who knows how long I will be allowed to stay here?” I thought hard for a few minutes, “I will write two letters, and give them to Fanny to take with her. I can’t trust the post bag here anymore. One for Mr. Cole, telling him of your bruises and Sir Percival’s violent behavior.”
“And whom is the other letter for?” asked Laura anxiously
“For Mr. Fairlie,” I said, “your lay selfish uncle! I’ll make him invite you for a visit to Limmeridge without your husband.”
I left then, and went to my room to write the letters. Fanny had already gone, and was staying the night in a little hotel in the village before beginning the long journey to Cumberland the next day. I decided I had time before dinner to walk to the village and back, so I slipped quietly out of the house and set off. From time to time I looked behind me. Was I being followed? Or was my imagination playing tricks on me? By now I was suspicious of everything, every tiny sound, every shadow on the road, every breath of wind. Earlier while writing the letters, I thought I had heard the rush of silk dress outside my door. I had even wondered if someone had been in my room, looking through the things in my desk. I hurried on, trying to put these thoughts out of my mind. When I got to the little hotel, I saw Fanny in her room. She was very upset leaving Laura, and started crying, but stopped when I told her that Lady Glyde and I needed her help. “Here are two letters.” I said, “Post one address to Mr. Cole in London tomorrow and deliver the other to Mr. Fairlie yourself when you get home to Limmeridge. Keep them safe!”
Fanny put the letters down in front of her dress. “They’ll stay there, Miss.” she said, “Till I have done what you tell me.”
原文是本人自己听写出来的,如有错误,请务必指出,谢谢支持! |
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