第 4 节
作者:
津鸿一瞥 更新:2023-08-28 11:47 字数:9322
speak; Morgan was gone。
〃Well;〃 I said to Owen; 〃we must make the best of it。 We must
brush up our manners; and set the house tidy; and amuse her as
well as we can。 The difficulty is where to put her; and; when
that is settled; the next puzzle will be; what to order in to
make her comfortable。 It's a hard thing; brother; to say what
will or what will not please a young lady's taste。〃
Owen looked absently at me; in greater bewilderment than
everopened his eyes in perplexed considerationrepeated to
himself slowly the word 〃tastes〃and then helped me with this
suggestion:
〃Hadn't we better begin; Griffith; by getting her a plum…cake?〃
〃My dear Owen;〃 I remonstrated; 〃it is a grown young woman who is
coming to see us; not a little girl from school。〃
〃Oh!〃 said Owen; more confused than before。 〃YesI see; we
couldn't do wrong; I supposecould we?if we got her a little
dog; and a lot of new gowns。〃
There was; evidently; no more help in the way of advice to be
expected from Owen than from Morgan himself。 As I came to that
conclusion; I saw through the window our old housekeeper on her
way; with her basket; to the kitchen…garden; and left the room to
ascertain if she could assist us。
To my great dismay; the housekeeper took even a more gloomy view
than Morgan of the approaching event。 When I had explained all
the circumstances to her; she carefully put down her basket;
crossed her arms; and said to me in slow; deliberate; mysterious
tones:
〃You want my advice about what's to be done with this young
woman? Well; sir; here's my advice: Don't you trouble your head
about her。 It won't be no use。 Mind; I tell you; it won't be no
use。〃
〃What do you mean?〃
〃You look at this place; sirit's more like a prison than a
house; isn't it? You; look at us as lives in it。 We've got
(saving your presence) a foot apiece in our graves; haven't we?
When you was young yourself; sir; what would you have done if
they had shut you up for six weeks in such a place as this; among
your grandfathers and grandmothers; with their feet in the
grave?〃
〃I really can't say。〃
〃I can; sir。 You'd have run away。 _She'll_ run away。 Don't you
worry your head about hershe'll save you the trouble。 I tell
you again; she'll run away。〃
With those ominous words the housekeeper took up her basket;
sighed heavily; and left me。
I sat down under a tree quite helpless。 Here was the whole
responsibility shifted upon my miserable shoulders。 Not a lady in
the neighborhood to whom I could apply for assistance; and the
nearest shop eight miles distant from us。 The toughest case I
ever had to conduct; when I was at the Bar; was plain sailing
compared with the difficulty of receiving our fair guest。
It was absolutely necessary; however; to decide at once where she
was to sleep。 All the rooms in the tower were of stonedark;
gloomy; and cold even in the summer…time。 Impossible to put her
in any one of them。 The only other alternative was to lodge her
in the little modern lean…to; which I have already described as
being tacked on to the side of the old building。 It contained
three cottage…rooms; and they might be made barely habitable for
a young lady。 But then those rooms were occupied by Morgan。 His
books were in one; his bed was in another; his pipes and general
lumber were in the third。 Could I expect him; after the sour
similitudes he had used in reference to our expected visitor; to
turn out of his habitation and disarrange all his habits for her
convenience? The bare idea of proposing the thing to him seemed
ridiculous; and yet inexorable necessity left me no choice but to
make the hopeless experiment。 I walked back to the tower hastily
and desperately; to face the worst that might happen before my
courage cooled altogether。
On crossing the threshold of the hall door I was stopped; to my
great amazement; by a procession of three of the farm…servants;
followed by Morgan; all walking after each other; in Indian file;
toward the spiral staircase that led to the top of the tower。 The
first of the servants carried the materials for making a fire;
the second bore an inverted arm…chair on his head; the third
tottered under a heavy load of books; while Morgan came last;
with his canister of tobacco in his hand; his dressing…gown over
his shoulders; and his whole collection of pipes hugged up
together in a bundle under his arm。
〃What on earth does this mean?〃 I inquired。
〃It means taking Time by the forelock;〃 answered Morgan; looking
at me with a smile of sour satisfaction。 〃I've got the start of
your young woman; Griffith; and I'm making the most of it。〃
〃But where; in Heaven's name; are you going?〃 I asked; as the
head man of the procession disappeared with his firing up the
staircase。
〃How high is this tower?〃 retorted Morgan。
〃Seven stories; to be sure;〃 I replied。
〃Very good;〃 said my eccentric brother; setting his foot on the
first stair; 〃I'm going up to the seventh。〃
〃You can't;〃 I shouted。
〃_She_ can't; you mean;〃 said Morgan; 〃and that's exactly why I'm
going there。〃
〃But the room is not furnished。〃
〃It's out of her reach。〃
〃One of the windows has fallen to pieces。〃
〃It's out of her reach。〃
〃There's a crow's nest in the corner。〃
〃It's out of her reach。〃
By the time this unanswerable argument had attained its third
repetition; Morgan; in his turn; had disappeared up the winding
stairs。 I knew him too well to attempt any further protest。
Here was my first difficulty smoothed away most unexpectedly; for
here were the rooms in the lean…to placed by their owner's free
act and deed at my disposal。 I wrote on the spot to the one
upholsterer of our distant county town to come immediately and
survey the premises; and sent off a mounted messenger with the
letter。 This done; and the necessary order also dispatched to the
carpenter and glazier to set them at work on Morgan's sky…parlor
in the seventh story; I began to feel; for the first time; as if
my scattered wits were coming back to me。 By the time the evening
had closed in I had hit on no less than three excellent ideas;
all providing for the future comfort and amusement of our fair
guest。 The first idea was to get her a Welsh pony; the second was
to hire a piano from the county town; the third was to send for a
boxful of novels from London。 I must confess I thought these
projects for pleasing her very happily conceived; and Owen agreed
with me。 Morgan; as usual; took the opposite view。 He said she
would yawn over the novels; turn up her nose at the piano; and
fracture her skull with the pony。 As for the housekeeper; she
stuck to her text as stoutly in the evening as she had stuck to
it in the morning。 〃Pianner or no pianner; story…book or no
story…book; pony or no pony; you mark my words; sirthat young
woman will run away。〃
Such were the housekeeper's parting words when she wished me
good…night。
When the next morning came; and brought with it that terrible
waking time which sets a man's hopes and projects before him; the
great as well as the small; stripped bare of every illusion; it
is not to be concealed that I felt less sanguine of our success
in entertaining the coming guest。 So far as external preparations
were concerned; there seemed; indeed; but little to improve; but
apart from these; what had we to offer; in ourselves and our
society; to attract her? There lay the knotty point of the
question; and there the grand difficulty of finding an answer。
I fall into serious reflection while I am dressing on the
pursuits and occupations with which we three brothers have been
accustomed; for years past; to beguile the time。 Are they at all
likely; in the case of any one of us; to interest or amuse her?
My chief occupation; to begin with the youngest; consists; in
acting as steward on Owen's property。 The routine of my duties
has never lost its sober attraction to my tastes; for it has
always employed me in watching the best interests of my brother;
and of my son also; who is one day to be his heir。 But can I
expect our fair guest to sympathize with such family concerns as
these? Clearly not。
Morgan's pursuit comes next in order of reviewa pursuit of a
far more ambitious nature than mine。 It was always part of my
second brother's whimsical; self…contradictory character to view
with the profoundest contempt the learned profession by which he
gained his livelihood; and he is now occupying the long leisure
hours of his old age in composing a voluminous treatise;
intended; one of these days; to eject the whole body corporate of
doctors from the position which they have usurped in the
estimation of their fellow…creatures。 This daring work is
entitled 〃An Examination of the Claims of Medicine on the
Gratitude of Mankind。 Decided in the Negative by a Retired
Physician。〃 So far as I can tell; the book is likely to extend to
the dimensions of an Encyclopedia; for it is Morgan's plan to
treat his comprehensive subject principally from the historical
point of view; and to run down all the doctors of antiquity; one
after another; in regular succession; from the first of the
tribe。 When I last heard of his progress he was hard on the heels
o