登陆注册
15422500000051

第51章 MASTERS AND MEN (1)

'Thought fights with thought; out springs a spark of truthFrom the collision of the sword and shield.'W. S. LANDOR. 'Margaret,' said her father, the next day, 'we must return Mrs. Thornton's call. Your mother is not very well, and thinks she cannot walk so far;but you and I will go this afternoon.' As they went, Mr. Hale began about his wife's health, with a kind of veiled anxiety, which Margaret was glad to see awakened at last. 'Did you consult the doctor, Margaret? Did you send for him?' 'No, papa, you spoke of his corning to see me. Now I was well. But if Ionly knew of some good doctor, I would go this afternoon, and ask him to come, for I am sure mamma is seriously indisposed.' She put the truth thus plainly and strongly because her father had so completely shut his mind against the idea, when she had last named her fears. But now the case was changed. He answered in a despondent tone: 'Do you think she has any hidden complaint? Do you think she is really very ill? Has Dixon said anything? Oh, Margaret! I am haunted by the fear that our coming to Milton has killed her. My poor Maria!' 'Oh, papa! don't imagine such things,' said Margaret, shocked. 'She is not well, that is all. Many a one is not well for a time; and with good advice gets better and stronger than ever.' 'But has Dixon said anything about her?' 'No! You know Dixon enjoys making a mystery out of trifles; and she has been a little mysterious about mamma's health, which has alarmed me rather, that is all. Without any reason, I dare say. You know, papa, you said the other day I was getting fanciful.' 'I hope and trust you are. But don't think of what I said then. I like you to be fanciful about your mother's health. Don't be afraid of telling me your fancies. I like to hear them, though, I dare say, I spoke as if I was annoyed. But we will ask Mrs. Thornton if she can tell us of a good doctor. We won't throw away our money on any but some one first-rate. Stay, we turn up this street.' The street did not look as if it could contain any house large enough for Mrs. Thornton's habitation. Her son's presence never gave any impression as to the kind of house he lived in; but, unconsciously, Margaret had imagined that tall, massive, handsomely dressed Mrs. Thornton must live in a house of the same character as herself. Now Marlborough Street consisted of long rows of small houses, with a blank wall here and there; at least that was all they could see from the point at which they entered it. 'He told me he lived in Marlborough Street, I'm sure,' said Mr. Hale, with a much perplexed air. 'Perhaps it is one of the economies he still practises, to live in a very small house. But here are plenty of people about; let me ask.' She accordingly inquired of a passer-by, and was informed that Mr. Thornton lived close to the mill, and had the factory lodge-door pointed out to her, at the end of the long dead wall they had noticed. The lodge-door was like a common garden-door; on one side of it were great closed gates for the ingress and egress of lurries and wagons. The lodge-keeper admitted them into a great oblong yard, on one side of which were offices for the transaction of business; on the opposite, an immense many-windowed mill, whence proceeded the continual clank of machinery and the long groaning roar of the steam-engine, enough to deafen those who lived within the enclosure.

Opposite to the wall, along which the street ran, on one of the narrow sides of the oblong, was a handsome stone-coped house,--blackened, to be sure, by the smoke, but with paint, windows, and steps kept scrupulously clean. It was evidently a house which had been built some fifty or sixty years. The stone facings--the long, narrow windows, and the number of them--the flights of steps up to the front door, ascending from either side, and guarded by railing--all witnessed to its age. Margaret only wondered why people who could afford to live in so good a house, and keep it in such perfect order, did not prefer a much smaller dwelling in the country, or even some suburb; not in the continual whirl and din of the factory. Her unaccustomed ears could hardly catch her father's voice, as they stood on the steps awaiting the opening of the door. The yard, too, with the great doors in the dead wall as a boundary, was but a dismal look-out for the sitting-rooms of the house--as Margaret found when they had mounted the old-fashioned stairs, and been ushered into the drawing-room, the three windows of which went over the front door and the room on the right-hand side of the entrance. There was no one in the drawing-room. It seemed as though no one had been in it since the day when the furniture was bagged up with as much care as if the house was to be overwhelmed with lava, and discovered a thousand years hence. The walls were pink and gold; the pattern on the carpet represented bunches of flowers on a light ground, but it was carefully covered up in the centre by a linen drugget, glazed and colourless.

The window-curtains were lace; each chair and sofa had its own particular veil of netting, or knitting. Great alabaster groups occupied every flat surface, safe from dust under their glass shades. In the middle of the room, right under the bagged-up chandelier, was a large circular table, with smartly-bound books arranged at regular intervals round the circumference of its polished surface, like gaily-coloured spokes of a wheel. Everything reflected light, nothing absorbed it. The whole room had a painfully spotted, spangled, speckled look about it, which impressed Margaret so unpleasantly that she was hardly conscious of the peculiar cleanliness required to keep everything so white and pure in such an atmosphere, or of the trouble that must be willingly expended to secure that effect of icy, snowy discomfort.

同类推荐
  • 径石滴乳集

    径石滴乳集

    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。
  • 议处安南事宜

    议处安南事宜

    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。
  • 幼科释谜

    幼科释谜

    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。
  • 金刚经纂要刊定记

    金刚经纂要刊定记

    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。
  • Where the Blue Begins

    Where the Blue Begins

    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
  • 游戏世界传说

    游戏世界传说

    他见证世界的毁灭,自混沌中新生,身上笼罩着命运的迷雾,眼中透漏着看破真实的神光,纵使化为蝼蚁之躯,但终有一日,将登上高塔的顶层,实现昔日的誓言∶我将高居众生之上,把持造物主的权柄。
  • 莫忘瑾离

    莫忘瑾离

    一切从相遇开始那一年多亏了朋友他两才能相遇那一年她被封为皇后不是为了情而是为了报仇那一年梅花树下他对她的好以至于他两日久生情那一年莫忘瑾离!
  • 苍山雪

    苍山雪

    大梦千年,悠然回首,叶落花凋。周帆凭栏而坐,听着雨声、风声、人声,独饮一坛女儿红,泪流满面。“是莲非荷!”
  • 超级位面游戏

    超级位面游戏

    灵魂进化的秘密!超越位面的游戏!虚拟游戏的少年高手,在号称真实度100%的《深渊》里挣扎进化,一步一步解放出超越极限的力量!“不要小看我,这被亿万众生寄予了生的希望的我……怎么可能败在你的手下!”“真名解放!锁龙黑月!”……书友一群:423021912书友二群:291499183
  • 地产大亨(全本)

    地产大亨(全本)

    真心相爱的校园恋人却因命运的安排而分道扬镖,一次激情邂逅暗结珠胎,让他们欲罢不能,欲解难分;为搪塞病重的母亲,他把工头之女带回家冒充女友,却因故假戏真做,而结成夫妻,在这场有情而不是真爱生活中,他们将如何面对?平步青云政坛女杰对他一往情深,他却坚守男人一份责任,在一次大胆的暗示后,他未予理睬,一怒成为他的敌人温柔漂亮且忠心耿耿的女秘书无意间撞见自己灰色隐私,随即向他递交了一份辞呈,令他心碎不已------一个高考落榜生情感纠结与创富传奇由此向你展开-------直接放入藏书架,QQ读者群:27496673链接:http://novel.hongxiu.com/a/10714/友情链接:http://novel.hongxiu.com/a/117315/http://www.jianhu365.com/
  • 战魔之路

    战魔之路

    天宇大陆自万年前的毁灭之战后,众神消失,强者凋零。万年来再无一人修成战神。唐凡本是大陆最底层一个小小的猎人。只是想能够修炼战气改变命运,却成了一名受人敬仰的炼金师。一头神秘魔兽相伴,修炼万年来无人修成的神级功法,寻找绝迹的神兽天龙,揭开万年前众神消逝的秘密,发现恶魔一族的惊天阴谋.......孤魂穿越天宇,一路热血战魔!
  • 武振方天

    武振方天

    一潭池水,有着数不清的瓦片,一片瓦片,却是一方天地。谁能掌控一片瓦,谁便是一方天地的主宰。方天大陆,千年未变,却被一个身怀星河神体的少年,打破一切。从此,池中不再平静。武振方天交流群:576309469
  • 青春的利剑

    青春的利剑

    当青春不再时,我们剩下的,难道仅仅就是回忆吗?
  • 超级鬼系统

    超级鬼系统

    我叫楚翔,是一名普通的学生,知道有一天,我帮助了一个老太太,获得了一个前所未有的鬼系统,能使我变身成为鬼,获得特殊能力
  • 人妖殊途:俏皮狐仙

    人妖殊途:俏皮狐仙

    生是墨家狐,死是墨家仙。莫道问:“为什么死是墨家仙?”“因为我这么可爱动人,死了肯定不会下地狱,自然就会升天成仙啊。”莫道又问:“我明明姓莫,为什么是墨呢?”“安啦,哎哟,只要是你的人不就行了?”新书移此,不负初心。