第 85 节
作者:这就是结局      更新:2021-02-20 15:59      字数:9321
  which almost might have seemed disdain; and which Viola; at
  least; interpreted as a defence of the Absent; stronger than her
  own lips could frame。
  Glyndon broke the pause。
  〃Thou wouldst stay; for what?  To betray a mother's duty!  If any
  evil happen to thee here; what becomes of thine infant?  Shall it
  be brought up an orphan; in a country that has desecrated thy
  religion; and where human charity exists no more?  Ah; weep; and
  clasp it to thy bosom; but tears do not protect and save。〃
  〃Thou hast conquered; my friend; I will fly with thee。〃
  〃To…morrow night; then; be prepared。  I will bring thee the
  necessary disguises。〃
  And Glyndon then proceeded to sketch rapidly the outline of the
  path they were to take; and the story they were to tell。  Viola
  listened; but scarcely comprehended; he pressed her hand to his
  heart and departed。
  CHAPTER 7。V。
  Van seco pur anco
  Sdegno ed Amor; quasi due Veltri al fianco。
  〃Ger。 Lib。〃 cant。 xx。 cxvii。
  (There went with him still Disdain and Love; like two greyhounds
  side by side。)
  Glyndon did not perceive; as he hurried from the house; two forms
  crouching by the angle of the wall。  He saw still the spectre
  gliding by his side; but he beheld not the yet more poisonous
  eyes of human envy and woman's jealousy that glared on his
  retreating footsteps。
  Nicot advanced to the house; Fillide followed him in silence。
  The painter; an old sans…culotte; knew well what language to
  assume to the porter。  He beckoned the latter from his lodge;
  〃How is this; citizen?  Thou harbourest a 'suspect。'〃
  〃Citizen; you terrify me!if so; name him。〃
  〃It is not a man; a refugee; an Italian woman; lodges here。〃
  〃Yes; au troisieme;the door to the left。  But what of her?she
  cannot be dangerous; poor child!〃
  〃Citizen; beware!  Dost thou dare to pity her?〃
  〃I?  No; no; indeed。  But〃
  〃Speak the truth!  Who visits her?〃
  〃No one but an Englishman。〃
  〃That is it;an Englishman; a spy of Pitt and Coburg。〃
  〃Just Heaven! is it possible?〃
  〃How; citizen! dost thou speak of Heaven?  Thou must be an
  aristocrat!〃
  〃No; indeed; it was but an old bad habit; and escaped me
  unawares。〃
  〃How often does the Englishman visit her?〃
  〃Daily。〃
  Fillide uttered an exclamation。
  She never stirs out;〃 said the porter。  〃Her sole occupations are
  in work; and care of her infant。〃
  〃Her infant!〃
  Fillide made a bound forward。  Nicot in vain endeavoured to
  arrest her。  She sprang up the stairs; she paused not till she
  was before the door indicated by the porter; it stood ajar; she
  entered; she stood at the threshold; and beheld that face; still
  so lovely!  The sight of so much beauty left her hopeless。  And
  the child; over whom the mother bent!she who had never been a
  mother!she uttered no sound; the furies were at work within her
  breast。  Viola turned; and saw her; and; terrified by the strange
  apparition; with features that expressed the deadliest hate and
  scorn and vengeance; uttered a cry; and snatched the child to her
  bosom。  The Italian laughed aloud;turned; descended; and;
  gaining the spot where Nicot still conversed with the frightened
  porter drew him from the house。  When they were in the open
  street; she halted abruptly; and said; 〃Avenge me; and name thy
  price!〃
  〃My price; sweet one! is but permission to love thee。  Thou wilt
  fly with me to…morrow night; thou wilt possess thyself of the
  passports and the plan。〃
  〃And they〃
  〃Shall; before then; find their asylum in the Conciergerie。  The
  guillotine shall requite thy wrongs。〃
  〃Do this; and I am satisfied;〃 said Fillide; firmly。
  And they spoke no more till they regained the house。  But when
  she there; looking up to the dull building; saw the windows of
  the room which the belief of Glyndon's love had once made a
  paradise; the tiger relented at the heart; something of the woman
  gushed back upon her nature; dark and savage as it was。  She
  pressed the arm on which she leaned convulsively; and exclaimed;
  〃No; no! not him! denounce her;let her perish; but I have slept
  on HIS bosom;not HIM!〃
  〃It shall be as thou wilt;〃 said Nicot; with a devil's sneer;
  〃but he must be arrested for the moment。  No harm shall happen to
  him; for no accuser shall appear。  But her;thou wilt not relent
  for her?〃
  Fillide turned upon him her eyes; and their dark glance was
  sufficient answer。
  CHAPTER 7。VI。
  In poppa quella
  Che guidar gli dovea; fatal Donsella。
  〃Ger。 Lib。〃 cant。 xv。 3。
  (By the prow was the fatal lady ordained to be the guide。)
  The Italian did not overrate that craft of simulation proverbial
  with her country and her sex。  Not a word; not a look; that day
  revealed to Glyndon the deadly change that had converted devotion
  into hate。  He himself; indeed; absorbed in his own schemes; and
  in reflections on his own strange destiny; was no nice observer。
  But her manner; milder and more subdued than usual; produced a
  softening effect upon his meditations towards the evening; and he
  then began to converse with her on the certain hope of escape;
  and on the future that would await them in less unhallowed lands。
  〃And thy fair friend;〃 said Fillide; with an averted eye and a
  false smile; 〃who was to be our companion?thou hast resigned
  her; Nicot tells me; in favour of one in whom he is interested。
  Is it so?〃
  〃He told thee this!〃 returned Glyndon; evasively。  〃Well! does
  the change content thee?〃
  〃Traitor!〃 muttered Fillide; and she rose suddenly; approached
  him; parted the long hair from his forehead caressingly; and
  pressed her lips convulsively on his brow。
  〃This were too fair a head for the doomsman;〃 said she; with a
  slight laugh; and; turning away; appeared occupied in
  preparations for their departure。
  The next morning; when he rose; Glyndon did not see the Italian;
  she was absent from the house when he left it。  It was necessary
  that he should once more visit C before his final Departure;
  not only to arrange for Nicot's participation in the flight; but
  lest any suspicion should have arisen to thwart or endanger the
  plan he had adopted。  C; though not one of the immediate
  coterie of Robespierre; and indeed secretly hostile to him; had
  possessed the art of keeping well with each faction as it rose to
  power。  Sprung from the dregs of the populace; he had;
  nevertheless; the grace and vivacity so often found impartially
  amongst every class in France。  He had contrived to enrich
  himselfnone knew howin the course of his rapid career。  He
  became; indeed; ultimately one of the wealthiest proprietors of
  Paris; and at that time kept a splendid and hospitable mansion。
  He was one of those whom; from various reasons; Robespierre
  deigned to favour; and he had often saved the proscribed and
  suspected; by procuring them passports under disguised names; and
  advising their method of escape。  But C was a man who took this
  trouble only for the rich。  〃The incorruptible Maximilien;〃 who
  did not want the tyrant's faculty of penetration; probably saw
  through all his manoeuvres; and the avarice which he cloaked
  beneath his charity。  But it was noticeable that Robespierre
  frequently seemed to wink atnay; partially to encouragesuch
  vice in men whom he meant hereafter to destroy; as would tend to
  lower them in the public estimation; and to contrast with his own
  austere and unassailable integrity and PURISM。  And; doubtless;
  he often grimly smiled in his sleeve at the sumptuous mansion and
  the griping covetousness of the worthy Citizen C。
  To this personage; then; Glyndon musingly bent his way。  It was
  true; as he had darkly said to Viola; that in proportion as he
  had resisted the spectre; its terrors had lost their influence。
  The time had come at last; when; seeing crime and vice in all
  their hideousness; and in so vast a theatre; he had found that in
  vice and crime there are deadlier horrors than in the eyes of a
  phantom…fear。  His native nobleness began to return to him。  As
  he passed the streets; he revolved in his mind projects of future
  repentance and reformation。  He even meditated; as a just return
  for Fillide's devotion; the sacrifice of all the reasonings of
  his birth and education。  He would repair whatever errors he had
  committed against her; by the self…immolation of marriage with
  one little congenial with himself。  He who had once revolted from
  marriage with the noble and gentle Viola!he had learned in that
  world of wrong to know that right is right; and that Heaven did
  not make the one sex to be the victim of the other。  The young
  visions of the Beautiful and the Good rose once more before him;
  and along the dark ocean of his mind lay the smile of reawakening
  virtue; as a path of moonlight。  Never; perhaps; had the
  condition of his soul been so elevated and unselfish。
  In the meanwhile Jean Nicot; equally