第 29 节
作者:闲来一看      更新:2024-01-16 22:40      字数:2303
  She soon recovered; and fixing her eyes on Mrs。 Temple; cried〃You
  know not; Madam; what you do; you know not whom you are relieving; or
  you   would   curse   me   in   the   bitterness   of   your   heart。   Come   not   near   me;
  Madam; I shall contaminate you。 I am the viper that stung your peace。 I
  am the woman who turned the poor Charlotte out to perish in the street。
  Heaven have mercy! I see her now;〃 continued she looking at Lucy; 〃such;
  such was the fair bud of innocence that my vile arts blasted ere it was half
  blown。 〃
  It was in vain that Mr。 and Mrs。 Temple intreated her to be composed
  and to   take   some   refreshment。  She   only  drank half   a   glass of   wine;   and
  then told them that she had been separated from her husband seven years;
  the    chief   of  which     she   had   passed    in   riot;  dissipation;    and    vice;  till;
  overtaken   by   poverty   and   sickness;   she   had   been   reduced   to   part   with
  every  valuable;   and   thought   only  of   ending   her   life  in   a   prison;   when   a
  benevolent   friend   paid   her   debts   and   released   her;   but   that   her   illness
  encreasing;   she      had    no  possible   means      of   supporting     herself;   and    her
  friends were weary of relieving her。 〃I have fasted;〃 said she; 〃two days;
  97
  … Page 98…
  CHARLOTTE TEMPLE
  and last night lay my aching head on the cold pavement: indeed it was but
  just that I should experience those miseries myself which I had unfeelingly
  inflicted on others。〃
  Greatly as Mr。 Temple had reason to detest Mrs。 Crayton; he could not
  behold   her   in   this   distress   without   some   emotions   of   pity。   He   gave   her
  shelter   that   night   beneath   his   hospitable   roof;   and   the   next   day   got   her
  admission into an hospital; where having lingered a few weeks; she died; a
  striking   example   that   vice;   however   prosperous   in   the   beginning;   in   the
  end leads only to misery and shame。
  F I N I S。
  98