登陆注册
15692200000039

第39章 LADY MOTTISFONT(3)

Lady Mottisfont did not hunt any more than the Anglo-Italian Countess did;indeed,she had become so absorbed in household matters and in Dorothy's wellbeing that she had no mind to waste a minute on mere enjoyments.As she had said,to talk coolly of what might have been the best destination in days past for a child to whom they had become so attached seemed quite barbarous,and she could not understand how her husband should consider the point so abstractedly;for,as will probably have been guessed,Lady Mottisfont long before this time,if she had not done so at the very beginning,divined Sir Ashley's true relation to Dorothy.But the baronet's wife was so discreetly meek and mild that she never told him of her surmise,and took what Heaven had sent her without cavil,her generosity in this respect having been bountifully rewarded by the new life she found in her love for the little girl.

Her husband recurred to the same uncomfortable subject when,a few days later,they were speaking of travelling abroad.He said that it was almost a pity,if they thought of going,that they had not fallen in with the Countess's wish.That lady had told him that she had met Dorothy walking with her nurse,and that she had never seen a child she liked so well.

'What--she covets her still?How impertinent of the woman!'said Lady Mottisfont.

'She seems to do so ...You see,dearest Philippa,the advantage to Dorothy would have been that the Countess would have adopted her legally,and have made her as her own daughter;while we have not done that--we are only bringing up and educating a poor child in charity.'

'But I'll adopt her fully--make her mine legally!'cried his wife in an anxious voice.'How is it to be done?'

'H'm.'He did not inform her,but fell into thought;and,for reasons of her own,his lady was restless and uneasy.

The very next day Lady Mottisfont drove to Fernell Hall to pay the neglected call upon her neighbour.The Countess was at home,and received her graciously.But poor Lady Mottisfont's heart died within her as soon as she set eyes on her new acquaintance.Such wonderful beauty,of the fully-developed kind,had never confronted her before inside the lines of a human face.She seemed to shine with every light and grace that woman can possess.Her finished Continental manners,her expanded mind,her ready wit,composed a study that made the other poor lady sick;for she,and latterly Sir Ashley himself,were rather rural in manners,and she felt abashed by new sounds and ideas from without.She hardly knew three words in any language but her own,while this divine creature,though truly English,had,apparently,whatever she wanted in the Italian and French tongues to suit every impression;which was considered a great improvement to speech in those days,and,indeed,is by many considered as such in these.

'How very strange it was about the little girl!'the Contessa said to Lady Mottisfont,in her gay tones.'I mean,that the child the lawyer recommended should,just before then,have been adopted by you,who are now my neighbour.How is she getting on?I must come and see her.'

'Do you still want her?'asks Lady Mottisfont suspiciously.

'Oh,I should like to have her!'

'But you can't!She's mine!'said the other greedily.

A drooping mariner appeared in the Countess from that moment.

Lady Mottisfont,too,was in a wretched mood all the way home that day.The Countess was so charming in every way that she had charmed her gentle ladyship;how should it be possible that she had failed to charm Sir Ashley?Moreover,she had awakened a strange thought in Philippa's mind.As soon as she reached home she rushed to the nursery,and there,seizing Dorothy,frantically kissed her;then,holding her at arm's length,she gazed with a piercing inquisitiveness into the girl's lineaments.She sighed deeply,abandoned the wondering Dorothy,and hastened away.

She had seen there not only her husband's traits,which she had often beheld before,but others,of the shade,shape,and expression which characterized those of her new neighbour.

Then this poor lady perceived the whole perturbing sequence of things,and asked herself how she could have been such a walking piece of simplicity as not to have thought of this before.But she did not stay long upbraiding herself for her shortsightedness,so overwhelmed was she with misery at the spectacle of herself as an intruder between these.To be sure she could not have foreseen such a conjuncture;but that did not lessen her grief.The woman who had been both her husband's bliss and his backsliding had reappeared free when he was no longer so,and she evidently was dying to claim her own in the person of Dorothy,who had meanwhile grown to be,to Lady Mottisfont,almost the only source of each day's happiness,supplying her with something to watch over,inspiring her with the sense of maternity,and so largely reflecting her husband's nature as almost to deceive her into the pleasant belief that she reflected her own also.

If there was a single direction in which this devoted and virtuous lady erred,it was in the direction of over-submissiveness.When all is said and done,and the truth told,men seldom show much self-sacrifice in their conduct as lords and masters to helpless women bound to them for life,and perhaps (though I say it with all uncertainty)if she had blazed up in his face like a furze-faggot,directly he came home,she might have helped herself a little.But God knows whether this is a true supposition;at any rate she did no such thing;and waited and prayed that she might never do despite to him who,she was bound to admit,had always been tender and courteous towards her;and hoped that little Dorothy might never be taken away.

同类推荐
  • 题虎丘山西寺

    题虎丘山西寺

    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。
  • 光赞经

    光赞经

    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。
  • 作义要诀

    作义要诀

    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。
  • 洛阳记

    洛阳记

    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。
  • 置酒行

    置酒行

    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
  • 挣扎着重生

    挣扎着重生

    天才的世界是寂寞的,他往往不会甘于平静。寒秋知道,自己沉默了这么久,用了十三年时间才熬制出来的灭世之策,是时候开始实行了…只是一切,会如预想中那般简单吗?…………
  • 泪的对折

    泪的对折

    滴答滴答转动的时间,带不走我对你的思念。一声声叹息,撞上了我的怀念,洁白的雪花,就像我们曾经的回忆。是风迷了眼,还是对你的依依不舍,那深深思念的,融在雪里,散在风中。
  • 南宫

    南宫

    一个天才成长与复仇的故事。希望大家多多支持!
  • 将门情缘

    将门情缘

    醒来发现穿了个越,还到处是奇葩?叶星琦表示很无奈,从小陪伴她的傅帆变成了铃铛?!老天是在开玩笑吧?
  • 枝枝相纠结

    枝枝相纠结

    当一个人努力去争取一样事物,拼了命的去争取,结果到头来得到另外一样事物,也许得到的并不是不好、有可能比你想要的更好。这时你该怎么办?男主角用尽心思去追求让他朝思暮想的女孩、无意中得到女孩闺蜜的青睐。而在中途机缘巧合的和另一个女孩有感情波动。面对三个女生、面对朋友的劝说、面对自己内心的纠结和挣扎。他又该何去何从?
  • 大辩邪正经

    大辩邪正经

    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。
  • 魔兽的呼唤

    魔兽的呼唤

    霸气王者主宰世界之路,从懦弱到觉醒,最终统治世界,沾满鲜血的双刃彻底改变了他
  • 为什么老公不CARE你

    为什么老公不CARE你

    本书以故事的形式讲诉家庭、情感、婚姻中遇到的问题,并以深入的分析、案例的讲述、科学的心理分析讲明解决问题的办法。有人说,就算是让油和水互溶也比要男人和女人和平共处来得容易,与其说这是悲观者对两性相处的消极态度,倒不如说是男人和女人的生活写实——无论多甜蜜的情侣,最终都会经历成百上千次的争执和吵闹。唯一不同的是有人吵了,算了,继续相伴走到了最后;有的人吵了,散了,寻找其他伴侣接着吵。正如本书故事里的欧阳,就正在承受着吵架带来的纠结。
  • 世界王族

    世界王族

    世界的王族继承了超古代文明王的血统。在地球诞生的46亿年里难道就没有超越了现代人类文明的文明种族出现过吗?难道就没有数个智慧种族曾经同时生活在一个时代之中吗?继承了超古代人的意志的年轻人们,与人类之间的真正宿敌展开的较量!
  • 美女总裁的终极特种兵

    美女总裁的终极特种兵

    【火爆新书】总裁遇到兵,暧昧理不清!最强特种兵‘叶凡’,一个任务出现意外,导致提前退伍,回繁华都市,由于缺钱找工作,竟成为了一位美女总裁的保镖,更要命的是美女总裁竟跟两位绝世大美女同居,作为贴身保镖,自然要跟着一起睡了,这……不太好吧?之前回归的计划彻底打乱,一位位不同身份的绝色美女跟他产生说不清的关系,要守护的‘家人’一下子,成群……【小曾已有两百多万字的完本作品,人品有保证,请放心阅读】