第36章

类别:其他 作者:William Dean Howells字数:3685更新时间:18/12/22 09:09:46
GeneralTriscoewokeinthebadhumorofanelderlymanafteraday’spleasure,andintheself-reproachofapessimistwhohaslosthispointofviewforatime,andhastoworkbacktoit。Hebeganatthebelatedbreakfastwithhisdaughterwhenshesaid,afterkissinghimgayly,inthesmalltwo-seatedbowerwheretheybreakfastedattheirhotelwhentheydidnotgotothePosthof,“Didn’tyouhaveanicetime,yesterday,papa?” Shesankintothechairopposite,andbeamedathimacrossthelittleirontable,assheliftedthepottopourouthiscoffee。 “Whatdoyoucallanicetime?”hetemporized,notquiteabletoresisthergayety。 “Well,thekindoftimeIhad。” “Didyougetrheumatismfromsittingonthegrass?Itookcoldinthatoldchurch,andtheteaatthatrestaurantmusthavebeenbrewedinabrasskettle。Isufferedallnightfromit。AndthatassfromIllinois——“ “Oh,poorpapa!Icouldn’tgowithMr。Stolleralone,butImighthavegoneinthetwo-spannerwithhimandletyouhaveMr。orMrs。Marchintheone-spanner。” “Idon’tknow。Theirinterestineachotherisn’tsointerestingtootherpeopleastheyseemtothink。” “Doyoufeelthatwayreally,papa?Don’tyouliketheirbeingsomuchinlovestill?” “Attheirtimeoflife?Thankyouit’sbadenoughinyoungpeople。” Thegirldidnotanswer;sheappearedaltogetheroccupiedinpouringoutherfather’scoffee。 Hetastedit,andthenhedrankprettywellallofit;buthesaid,asheputhiscupdown,“Idon’tknowwhattheymakethisstuffof。IwishI hadacupofgood,honestAmericancoffee。” “Oh,there’snothinglikeAmericanfood!”saidhisdaughter,withsomuchconciliationthathelookedupsharply。 Butwhateverhemighthavebeengoingtosaywasatleastpostponedbytheapproachofaserving-maid,whobroughtanotetohisdaughter。Sheblushedalittleatsightofit,andthentoreitopenandread: “IamgoingawayfromCarlsbad,forafaultofmyownwhichforbidsmetolookyouintheface。Ifyouwishtoknowtheworstofme,askMrs。 March。Ihavenohearttotellyou。” AgathareadthesemystifyingwordsofBurnamy’sseveraltimesoverinasilentabsorptionwiththemwhichleftherfathertolookafterhimself,andhehadpouredoutasecondcupofcoffeewithhisownhand,andwasreachingforthebreadbesideherbeforeshecameslowlybacktoasenseofhispresence。 “Oh,excuseme,papa。”shesaid,andshegavehimthebutter。“Here’saverystrangeletterfromMr。Burnamy,whichIthinkyou’dbettersee。” Sheheldthenoteacrossthetabletohim,andwatchedhisfaceashereadit。 Afterhehadreadittwice,heturnedthesheetover,aspeopledowithlettersthatpuzzlethem,inthevainhopeofsomethingexplanatoryontheback。Thenhelookedupandasked:“Whatdoyousupposehe’sbeendoing?” “Idon’tbelievehe’sbeendoinganything。It’ssomethingthatMr。 Stoller’sbeendoingtohim。” “Ishouldn’tinferthatfromhisownwords。WhatmakesyouthinkthetroubleiswithStoller?” “Hesaid——hesaidyesterday——somethingaboutbeinggladtobethroughwithhim,becausehedislikedhimsomuchhewasalwaysafraidofwronginghim。AndthatprovesthatnowMr。Stollerhasmadehimbelievethathe’sdonewrong,andhasworkeduponhimtillhedoesbelieveit。” “Itprovesnothingofthekind。”saidthegeneral,recurringtothenote。 Afterreadingitagain,helookedkeenlyather:“AmItounderstandthatyouhavegivenhimtherighttosupposeyouwouldwanttoknowtheworst——orthebestofhim?” Thegirl’seyesfell,andshepushedherknifeagainstherplate。Shebegan:“No——“ “Thenconfoundhisimpudence!”thegeneralbrokeout。“Whatbusinesshashetowritetoyouatallaboutthis?” “Becausehecouldn’tgoawaywithoutit!”shereturned;andshemetherfather’seyecourageously。“Hehadarighttothinkwewerehisfriends; andifhehasdonewrong,orisindisgraceanyway,isn’titmanlyofhimtowishtotellusfirsthimself?” Herfathercouldnotsaythatitwasnot。Buthecouldanddidsay,verysceptically:“Stuff!Now,seehere,Agatha:whatareyougoingtodo?” “I’mgoingtoseeMrs。March,andthen——“ “Youmustn’tdoanythingofthekind,mydear。”saidherfather,gently。 “You’venorighttogiveyourselfawaytothatromanticoldgoose。”Heputuphishandtointerruptherprotest。“Thisthinghasgottobegonetothebottomof。Butyou’renottodoit。IwillseeMarchmyself。Wemustconsideryourdignityinthismatter——andmine。AndyoumayaswellunderstandthatI’mnotgoingtohaveanynonsense。It’sgottobemanagedsothatitcan’tbesupposedwe’reanxiousaboutit,onewayortheother,orthathewasauthorizedtowritetoyouinthisway——“ “No,no!Heoughtn’ttohavedoneso。Hewastoblame。Hecouldn’thavewrittentoyou,though,papa——“ “Well,Idon’tknowwhy。Butthat’snoreasonwhyweshouldletitbeunderstoodthathehaswrittentoyou。IwillseeMarch;andIwillmanagetoseehiswife,too。Ishallprobablyfindtheminthereading- roomatPupp’s,and——“ “TheMarcheswereinfactjustcominginfromtheirbreakfastatthePosthof,andhemetthematthedoorofPupp’s,wheretheyallsatdownononeoftheironsetteesofthepiazza,andbegantoaskoneanotherquestionsoftheirmindsaboutthepleasureofthedaybefore,andtobeataboutthebushwhereBurnamylurkedintheircommonconsciousness。 Mrs。Marchwasnotabletokeeplongfromstartinghim。“Youknew。”shesaid,“thatMr。Burnamyhadleftus?” “Left!Why?”askedthegeneral。 Shewasawomanofresource,butinacaselikethisshefounditbesttotrustherhusband’spovertyofinvention。Shelookedathim,andheansweredforherwithapromptnessthatmadeherquakeatfirst,butfinallyseemedtheonlything,ifnotthebestthing:“He’shadsometroublewithStoller。”Hewentontotellthegeneraljustwhatthetroublewas。 Attheendthegeneralgruntedasfromanuncertainmind。“Youthinkhe’sbehavedbadly。” “Ithinkhe’sbehavedfoolishly——youthfully。ButIcanunderstandhowstronglyhewastempted。HecouldsaythathewasnotauthorizedtostopStollerinhismadcareer。” AtthisMrs。Marchputherhandthroughherhusband’sarm。 “I’mnotsosureaboutthat。”saidthegeneral。 Marchadded:“SinceIsawhimthismorning,I’veheardsomethingthatdisposesmetolookathisperformanceinafriendlierlight。It’ssomethingthatStollertoldmehimself;toheightenmysenseofBurnamy’swickedness。HeseemstohavefeltthatIoughttoknowwhataserpentI wascherishinginmybosom。”andhegaveTriscoethefactsofBurnamy’sinjuriousrefusaltohelpStollerputafalsecomplexionontheopinionshehadallowedhimignorantlytoexpress。 Thegeneralgruntedagain。“Ofcoursehehadtorefuse,andhehasbehavedlikeagentlemansofar。Butthatdoesn’tjustifyhiminhavingletStollergethimselfintothescrape。” “No。”saidMarch。“It’satoughnutforthecasuisttotryhistoothon。 AndImustsayIfeelsorryforStoller。” Mrs。Marchpluckedherhandfromhisarm。“Idon’t,onebit。Hewasthoroughlyselfishfromfirsttolast。Hehasgotjustwhathedeserved。” “Ah,verylikely。”saidherhusband。“ThequestionisaboutBurnamy’spartingivinghimhisdeserts;hehadtoleavehimtothem,ofcourse。” Thegeneralfixedherwiththeimpenetrableglitterofhiseye-glasses,andleftthesubjectasofnoconcerntohim。“Ibelieve。”hesaid,rising,“I’llhavealookatsomeofyourpapers。”andhewentintothereading-room。 “Now。”saidMrs。March,“hewillgohomeandpoisonthatpoorgirl’smind。And,youwillhaveyourselftothankforprejudicinghimagainstBurnamy。” “Thenwhydidn’tyoudoityourself,mydear?”heteased;buthewasreallytoosorryforthewholeaffair,whichheneverthelessenjoyedasanethicalproblem。 ThegenerallookedsolittleatthepapersthatbeforeMarchwentoffforhismorningwalkhesawhimcomeoutofthereading-roomandtakehiswaydowntheAlteWiese。Hewentdirectlybacktohisdaughter,andreportedBurnamy’sbehaviorwithentireexactness。HedweltuponhismakingthebestofabadbusinessinrefusingtohelpStolleroutofit,dishonorablyandmendaciously;buthedidnotconcealthatitwasabadbusiness。 “Now,youknowallaboutit。”hesaidattheend,“andIleavethewholethingtoyou。Ifyouprefer,youcanseeMrs。March。Idon’tknowbutI’dratheryou’dsatisfyyourself——“ “IwillnotseeMrs。March。DoyouthinkIwouldgobackofyouinthatway?Iamsatisfiednow。”