登陆注册
15423300000061

第61章

"He was either an exceptionally mean or an exceptionally noble character, according to how one views the matter. He worshipped his wife--as men with big hearts and weak brains often do worship such women--with dog-like devotion. His only dread was lest the scandal should reach proportions that would compel him to take notice of it, and thus bring shame and suffering upon the woman to whom he would have given his life. That a man who saw her should love her seemed natural to him; that she should have grown tired of himself, a thing not to be wondered at. He was grateful to her for having once loved him, for a little while.

"As for 'the other man,' he proved somewhat of an enigma to the gossips. He attempted no secrecy; if anything, he rather paraded his subjugation--or his conquest, it was difficult to decide which term to apply. He rode and drove with her; visited her in public and in private (in such privacy as can be hoped for in a house filled with chattering servants, and watched by spying eyes); loaded her with expensive presents, which she wore openly, and papered his smoking-den with her photographs. Yet he never allowed himself to appear in the least degree ridiculous; never allowed her to come between him and his work. A letter from her, he would lay aside unopened until he had finished what he evidently regarded as more important business. When boudoir and engine-shed became rivals, it was the boudoir that had to wait.

"The woman chafed under his self-control, which stung her like a lash, but clung to him the more abjectly.

"'Tell me you love me!' she would cry fiercely, stretching her white arms towards him.

"'I have told you so,' he would reply calmly, without moving.

"'I want to hear you tell it me again,' she would plead with a voice that trembled on a sob. 'Come close to me and tell it me again, again, again!'

"Then, as she lay with half-closed eyes, he would pour forth a flood of passionate words sufficient to satisfy even her thirsty ears, and afterwards, as the gates clanged behind him, would take up an engineering problem at the exact point at which half an hour before, on her entrance into the room, he had temporarily dismissed it.

"One day, a privileged friend put bluntly to him this question:

'Are you playing for love or vanity?'

"To which the man, after long pondering, gave this reply: ''Pon my soul, Jack, I couldn't tell you.'

"Now, when a man is in love with a woman who cannot make up her mind whether she loves him or not, we call the complication comedy; where it is the woman who is in earnest the result is generally tragedy.

"They continued to meet and to make love. They talked--as people in their position are prone to talk--of the beautiful life they would lead if it only were not for the thing that was; of the earthly paradise--or, maybe, 'earthy' would be the more suitable adjective--they would each create for the other, if only they had the right which they hadn't.

"In this work of imagination the man trusted chiefly to his literary faculties, which were considerable; the woman to her desires. Thus, his scenes possessed a grace and finish which hers lacked, but her pictures were the more vivid. Indeed, so realistic did she paint them, that to herself they seemed realities, waiting for her. Then she would rise to go towards them only to strike herself against the thought of the thing that stood between her and them. At first she only hated the thing, but after a while there came an ugly look of hope into her eyes.

"The time drew near for the man to return to England. The canal was completed, and a day appointed for the letting in of the water. The man determined to make the event the occasion of a social gathering.

He invited a large number of guests, among whom were the woman and her husband, to assist at the function. Afterwards the party were to picnic at a pleasant wooded spot some three-quarters of a mile from the first lock.

"The ceremony of flooding was to be performed by the woman, her husband's position entitling her to this distinction. Between the river and the head of the cutting had been left a strong bank of earth, pierced some distance down by a hole, which hole was kept closed by means of a closely-fitting steel plate. The woman drew the lever releasing this plate, and the water rushed through and began to press against the lock gates. When it had attained a certain depth, the sluices were raised, and the water poured down into the deep basin of the lock.

"It was an exceptionally deep lock. The party gathered round and watched the water slowly rising. The woman looked down, and shuddered; the man was standing by her side.

"'How deep it is,' she said.

"'Yes,' he replied, 'it holds thirty feet of water, when full.'

"The water crept up inch by inch.

"'Why don't you open the gates, and let it in quickly?' she asked.

"'It would not do for it to come in too quickly,' he explained; 'we shall half fill this lock, and then open the sluices at the other end, and so let the water pass through.'

"The woman looked at the smooth stone walls and at the iron-plated gates.

"'I wonder what a man would do,' she said, 'if he fell in, and there was no one near to help him?'

"The man laughed. 'I think he would stop there,' he answered.

'Come, the others are waiting for us.'

"He lingered a moment to give some final instructions to the workmen. 'You can follow on when you've made all right,' he said, 'and get something to eat. There's no need for more than one to stop.' Then they joined the rest of the party, and sauntered on, laughing and talking, to the picnic ground.

After lunch the party broke up, as is the custom of picnic parties, and wandered away in groups and pairs. The man, whose duty as host had hitherto occupied all his attention, looked for the woman, but she was gone.

"A friend strolled by, the same that had put the question to him about love and vanity.

"'Have you quarrelled?' asked the friend.

"'No,' replied the man.

同类推荐
  • 鼓掌绝尘

    鼓掌绝尘

    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。
  • Amphitryon

    Amphitryon

    Amphitryon was played for the first time in Paris, at the Theatre du Palais-Royal, January 13, 1668.It was successfully received, holding the boards until the 18th of March, when Easter intervened.
  • 雪窦石奇禅师语录

    雪窦石奇禅师语录

    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。
  • 上清河图内玄经

    上清河图内玄经

    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。
  • 长生胎元神用经

    长生胎元神用经

    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
  • 转角的相遇

    转角的相遇

    他倒在了寒冷的雪地上,再也起不来,再也回不去了,,,只是流着痛苦的泪水,
  • 古壳世界

    古壳世界

    一个意识体生存的世界;从虚无死界中被救回的灵魂,意外开始的冒险之旅。万古布局的徐徐展开,令人恶心的黑暗衍生物。一个随心所欲的少年,究竟该如何去抗击命运?如何逆天而行?
  • 迟年

    迟年

    彷徨着,我们都褪去了稚嫩的脸庞,却还忘不记,那些曾出现在我们生命里的人。
  • 傲娇竹马欺上身:青梅,闹够没!

    傲娇竹马欺上身:青梅,闹够没!

    【本文甜宠,1V1,男女身心干净,欢迎入坑。】顾似槿自小喜欢苏流年,这是谁都知道的一件事。三年前,顾似槿告白被拒,不知为何,消失了三年。三年后,她突然回来,年少轻狂的她已经不复存在,她只想拿回属于她的一切。她以为与苏流年会是一条平行线,没有任何交集,可却是这样的——“小木……”槿字还未说出。“滚!”“滚……床单?为什么不早说?”某男一本正经的胡说八道。“我让你滚!”“你跟我一起滚。”“……”
  • 攻心路漫漫:大人!别跑

    攻心路漫漫:大人!别跑

    此书为快穿类小说,情节纯属虚构,不喜勿入,新手,可能前面不太好看但是会慢慢好起来的。“你是谁?”“我是攻心系统077。”……一次奇异的死亡让她走上了一条与众不同的路,在这个过程中,她渐渐成长,但是一个神秘男人的出现却打乱了她的心……
  • 小人物也有大爱情

    小人物也有大爱情

    “我不后悔,我真的不后悔,我只希望5年,10年以后,你还能记得我的名字。”现实打倒了我们的爱情,我也很想,但我会众叛亲离,难道只有这样我们才能在一起吗?5年前我们不认识,五年后我们相识相爱,五年后等待我们的又会是什么呢?只要到了那一刻,才发现,原来我们之间的爱情是.......
  • 元神圣域

    元神圣域

    什么是对,什么是错。若正义在罪恶面前总是显得势单力薄,那就使拥有正义的躯体强大起来,依着心中之正义,杀他个精光。让罪恶在正义面前低头,溃败,直至泯灭。
  • MC系统

    MC系统

    陈小冬在无意间获得了一个系统,系统名为——MC系统!此后,他走上了一条成神之路。
  • 叁个花开花落之日,恍若无数春秋

    叁个花开花落之日,恍若无数春秋

    一束光从我的眼底出发,要经过3.26年,1189.9天,102807360秒才能到达你的心里。
  • 逆转西游

    逆转西游

    把名著反着看别有一般风味人生就像倒写的西游一样以西游结局为开始写一个不同的西游