登陆注册
15324000000062

第62章 THE LIT CHAMBER(2)

At first the fumes in his head raised him above the uncertainty of his road and the eternal downpour.His mind was far away in a select world of his own imagining.He saw himself in a privy chamber, to which he had been conducted by reverent lackeys, the door closed, the lamp lit, and the Duke's masterful eyes bright with expectation.He saw the fine thin lips, like a woman's, primmed in satisfaction.He heard words of compliment--"none so swift and certain as you"--"in truth, a master-hand"--"I know not where to look for your like." Delicious speeches seemed to soothe his ear.And gold, too, bags of it, the tale of which would never appear in any accompt-book.Nay, his fancy soared higher.He saw himself presented to Ministers as one of the country's saviours, and kissing the hand of Majesty.What Majesty and what Ministers he knew not, and did not greatly care--that was not his business.The rotundity of the Hanoverian and the lean darkness of the Stuart were one to him.Both could reward an adroit servant....His vanity, terribly starved and cribbed in his normal existence, now blossomed like a flower.His muddled head was fairly ravished with delectable pictures.He seemed to be set at a great height above mundane troubles, and to look down on men like a benignant God.His soul glowed with a happy warmth.

But somewhere he was devilish cold.His wretched body was beginning to cry out with discomfort.A loop of his hat was broken and the loose flap was a conduit for the rain down his back.His old ridingcoat was like a dish-clout, and he felt icy about the middle.Separate streams of water entered the tops of his ridingboots--they were a borrowed pair and too big for him--and his feet were in puddles.It was only by degrees that he realised this misery.Then in the boggy track his horse began to stumble.

The fourth or fifth peck woke irritation, and he jerked savagely at the bridle, and struck the beast's dripping flanks with his whip.The result was a jib and a flounder, and the shock squeezed out the water from his garments as from a sponge.Mr.Lovel descended from the heights of fancy to prosaic fact, and cursed.

The dregs of strong drink were still in him, and so soon as exhilaration ebbed they gave edge to his natural fears.He perceived that it had grown very dark and lonely.The rain, falling sheer, seemed to shut him into a queer wintry world.All around the land echoed with the steady drum of it, and the rumour of swollen runnels.A wild bird wailed out of the mist and startled Mr.Lovel like a ghost.He heard the sound of men talking and drew rein; it was only a larger burn foaming by the wayside.The sky was black above him, yet a faint grey light seemed to linger, for water glimmered and he passed what seemed to be the edge of a loch....At another time the London-bred citizen would have been only peevish, for Heaven knew he had faced ill weather before in ill places.But the fiery stuff he had swallowed had woke a feverish fancy.Exaltation suddenly changed to foreboding.

He halted and listened.Nothing but the noise of the weather, and the night dark around him like a shell.For a moment he fancied he caught the sound of horses, but it was not repeated.Where did this accursed track mean to lead him? Long ago he should have been in the valley and nearing Brampton.

He was as wet as if he had wallowed in a pool, cold, and very weary.Asudden disgust at his condition drove away his fears and he swore lustily at fortune.He longed for the warmth and the smells of his favourite haunts--Gilpin's with oysters frizzling in a dozen pans, and noble odours stealing from the tap-room, the Green Man with its tripe-suppers, Wanless's Coffee House, noted for its cuts of beef and its white puddings.He would give much to be in a chair by one of those hearths and in the thick of that blowsy fragrance.Now his nostrils were filled with rain and bog water and a sodden world.It smelt sour, like stale beer in a mouldy cellar.And cold! He crushed down his hat on his head and precipitated a new deluge.

A bird skirled again in his ear, and his fright returned.He felt small and alone in a vast inhospitable universe.And mingled with it all was self-pity, for drink had made him maudlin.He wanted so little--only a modest comfort, a little ease.He had forgotten that half an hour before he had been figuring in princes' cabinets.He would give up this business and be quit of danger and the high road.The Duke must give him a reasonable reward, and with it he and his child might dwell happily in some country place.He remembered a cottage at Guildford all hung with roses....But the Duke was reputed a miserly patron, and at the thought Mr.Lovel's eyes overflowed.There was that damned bird again, wailing like a lost soul.The eeriness of it struck a chill to his heart, so that if he had been able to think of any refuge he would have set spurs to his horse and galloped for it in blind terror.He was in the mood in which men compose poetry, for he felt himself a midget in the grip of immensities.He knew no poetry, save a few tavern songs; but in his youth he had had the Scriptures drubbed into him.He remembered ill-omened texts-- one especially about wandering through dry places seeking rest.Would to Heaven he were in a dry place now!...

The horse sprang aside and nearly threw him.It had blundered against the stone pillar of a gateway.It was now clear even to Mr.Lovel's confused wits that he was lost.This might be the road to Tophet, but it was no road to Brampton.He felt with numbed hands the face of the gateposts.Here was an entrance to some dwelling, and it stood open.The path led through it, and if he left the path he would without doubt perish in a bog-hole.In his desolation he longed for a human face.He might find a good fellow who would house him; at the worst he would get direction about the road.So he passed the gateway and entered an avenue.

同类推荐
  • 兰闺恨

    兰闺恨

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 瑜伽师地论

    瑜伽师地论

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 五代名画补遗

    五代名画补遗

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 外科浸淫疥癣门

    外科浸淫疥癣门

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 疡科纲要

    疡科纲要

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
热门推荐
  • 穿越三部曲之王妃别跑

    穿越三部曲之王妃别跑

    当她记忆恢复,她知道了父亲姐姐的苦衷,她发誓要报仇,可他却闯进了她的世界,她以为他不会帮她报仇,可是,他却说:‘蓝儿,你要复仇,我来帮你。你要杀人,我来放火。你就放心大胆的去做,我帮你收拾后面的残局。’所谓天不由人愿,她终究是死在了那烈刃下,他为此,血洗尹月皇族,让他们给他的蓝儿,陪葬!没有人知道她只是灵魂回到了现代,并没有死。当她的灵魂回来那一刻,她就已经比以前更强大了,谁也别想动她!【雨萌:亲们,此书可能会有点虐心,请大家做好心理准备哦。】
  • 痞妃掀桌:腹黑冷王太猖狂

    痞妃掀桌:腹黑冷王太猖狂

    她,尚书府嫡女,天赋异禀惊才艳艳,惨遭抛弃土匪窝。她,二十一世纪特工之首,身怀异能,医毒双绝,一夕陨落。土匪窝中涅槃归来,她肆意张狂,嚣张跋扈。斗渣女,虐渣男,抗渣爹,深藏不露。身世成谜,她发现惊天大秘,误惹神秘王爷,从此麻烦不断。狡诈老爹要把她嫁给瘸子,百般称赞。“你这么喜欢,那你嫁给他好了。”白莲公主出言不逊,掩嘴娇笑:“我说话比较直,你不会介意吧?”响亮的耳光甩去:“我打人比较疼,你不会介意吧?”强者与强者碰撞融合,新一代女土匪荣耀归来。炼丹药造福手下,炼兽宠霍乱人间。
  • 周易参同契发挥

    周易参同契发挥

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • TFBOYS永远爱

    TFBOYS永远爱

    三只于女主轰轰烈烈带爱情!会很长!给我动力!
  • 魔道血途

    魔道血途

    他曾是魔界第一,却因神魔大战输给宿敌神界战神而堕入凡间修为尽失,靠着一套杀人修炼的邪术杀遍人间之罪恶重回魔界巅峰与战神再次一绝生死
  • 从零开始的末世生活

    从零开始的末世生活

    末世降临,无数魔兽和异世界种族涌入,地球被游戏化,人类沦为最底层的猎物。一切都是从一副塔罗牌开始的。在末世中挣扎了三年的孔哲重生到了三年前末世发生的那一天。并且发现他有了存档,读档的能力。然而随着时间的推移,他慢慢发现这副塔罗牌可不止存档读档那么简单……
  • 就是二

    就是二

    这是一个强大的国度,这是一个腐朽的国度.这里是宇宙的中心.这里是世界的边缘.这里有一群强大的老人,这里有一群软弱的老人.这里有一群弱小的年轻人,这里有一群坚强的年轻人.历史的车轮已经压来,罪恶冲破层层遮羞布显露在人类面前.这是最好的时代,这是最坏的时代
  • 封天记忆

    封天记忆

    神在仙之上,仙比人法力强,人比妖更容易修成仙,妖要先修炼成人形才能修成仙,会修炼的妖比人的寿命要长很多。并不是所有的妖都能修成仙的,它们更容易修成魔。魔界是一个可以和神界抗衡的世界。也不是所以的仙都会被封成神的,这是一个非常艰难的过程,所以给了魔界可乘之机。要说封天当然要从天界说起……
  • 尘夏复仇公主

    尘夏复仇公主

    她曾经拥有一个美好的家庭,是什么让她踏上了复仇这条阴险而又黑暗的道路?权势?金钱?一天,她决定复仇的时候,一位校草出来打断了她的复仇计划,她爱上了他,可是老天作怪,让她们彻底分离。(作者第一次写小说,如果有那个地方写的不好,不要怪我。)
  • 性情集

    性情集

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。