ndle; `not yet, Edgar Linton: sit down; you shall not leave me in that temper. I should be miserable all night, and I won't be miserable for you!'

`Can I stay after you have struck me?' asked Linton. Catherine was mute.

`You've made me afraid and ashamed of you,' he continued; `I'll not come here again!'

Her eyes began to glisten, and her lids to twinkle. `And you told a deliberate untruth!' he said.

`I didn't!' she cried, recovering her speech; `I did nothing deliberately. Well, go, if you please--get away! And now I'll cry--I'll cry myself sick!'

She dropped down on her knees by a chair, and set to weeping in serious earnest. Edgar persevered in his resolution as far as the court; there he lingered. I resolved to encourage him.

`Miss is dreadfully wayward, sir,' I called out. `As bad as any marred child: you'd better be riding home, or else she will be sick only to grieve us.'

The soft thing looked askance through the window: he possessed the power to depart, as much as a cat possesses the power to leave a mouse half killed, or a bird half eaten. Ah, I thought, there will be no saving him: he's doomed, and flies to his fate! And so it was: he turned abruptly, hastened into the house again, shut the door behind him; and when I went in a while after to inform them that Earnshaw had come home rabid drunk, ready to pull the whole place about our ears (his ordinary frame of mind in that condition), I saw the quarrel had merely effected a closer intimacy had broken the outworks of youthful timidity, and enabled them to forsake the disguise of friendship, and confess themselves lovers.

Intelligence of Mr Hindley's arrival drove Linton speedily to his horse, and Catherine to her chamber. I went to hide little Hareton, and to take the shot out of the master's fowling-piece, which he was fond of playing with in his insane excitement, to the hazard of the lives of any who provoked, or even attracted his notice too much; and I had hit upon the plan of removing it, that he might do less mischief if he did go the length of firing the gun.

一个晴朗的六月天的早晨，第一个要我照应的漂亮小婴孩，也就是古老的恩萧家族的最后一个，诞生了。我们正在远处的一块田里忙着耙草，经常给我们送早饭的姑娘提前一个钟头就跑来了。她穿过草地，跑上小路，一边跑一边喊我。

“啊，多棒的一个小孩！”她喘着说，“简直是从来没有的最好的男孩！可是大夫说太太一定要完啦，他说好几个月来她就有肺痨病。我听见他告诉辛德雷先生的。现在她没法保住自己啦，不到冬天就要死了。你一定得马上回家。要你去带那孩子，耐莉，喂他糖和牛奶，白天夜里照应着。但愿我是你，因为到了太太不在的时候，就全归你啦！”

“可是她病得很重吗？”我问，丢下耙，系上帽子。

“我想是的，但看样子她还心宽。”那姑娘回答，“而且听她说话好像她还想活下去看孩子长大成人哩。她是高兴得糊涂啦，那是个多么好看的孩子：我要是她，准死不了：我光是瞅他一眼，也就会好起来的，才不管肯尼兹说什么呢。我都要对他发火啦，奥彻太太把这小天使抱到大厅给主人看，他脸上才有喜色，那个老家伙就走上前，他说：‘恩萧，你的妻给你留下这个儿子真是福气。她来时，我就深信保不住她啦。现在，我不得不告诉你，冬天她大概就要完了。别难过，别为这事太烦恼啦，没救了。而且，你本应该聪明些，不该挑这么个不值什么的姑娘！’”

“主人回答什么呢！”我追问着。

“我想他咒骂来着，可我没管他，我就是要看看孩子，”她又开始狂喜地描述起来。在我这方面我和她一样热心，兴高采烈地跑回家去看。虽然我为辛德雷着想，也很难过。他心里只放得下两个偶像——他的妻子和他自己。他两个都爱，只崇拜一个，我不能设想他怎么担起这损失。

我们到了呼啸山庄的时候，他正站在门前。在我进去时，我问：“孩子怎么样？”

“简直都能跑来跑去啦，耐儿①！”他回答，露出愉快的笑容。

①耐儿——Nell，耐莉（Nelly）的爱称。

“女主人呢？”我大胆地问，“大夫说她是——”

“该死的大夫！”他打断我的话，脸红了，“弗兰西斯还好好的哩，下星期这时候她就要完全好啦。你上楼吗？你可不可以告诉她，只要她答应不说话，我就来，我离开了她，因为她说个不停，她一定得安静些。——告诉她，肯尼兹大夫这样说的。”

我把这话传达给恩萧夫人，她看来兴致勃勃，而且挺开心地回答：

“艾伦，我简直没说一个字，他倒哭着出去两次啦。好吧，说我答应了我不说话，可那并不能管住我不笑他呀！”

可怜的人！直到她临死的前一个星期，那颗欢乐的心一直没有丢开她。她的丈夫固执地——不，死命地——肯定她的健康日益好转。当肯尼兹警告他说，病到这个地步，他的药是没用了，而且他不必来看她，让他再浪费钱了，他却回嘴说：

“我知道你不必再来了——她好啦——她不需要你再看她了。她从来没有生肺痨。那只是发烧，已经退了。她的脉搏现在跳得和我一样慢，脸也一样凉。”

他也跟妻子说同样的话，而她好像也信了他。可是一天夜里，她正靠在丈夫的肩上，正说着她想明天可以起来了，一阵咳嗽呛住了她的话——极轻微的一阵咳

上一页  [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] 下一页