第85章

类别:其他 作者:Wilkie Collins字数:4136更新时间:18/12/21 17:27:55
(2)Thathewasnever,tomyknowledgeandbelief,leftaloneintheroomwithLadyGlyde。 (3)ThatIamnotabletosaywhatcausedthesuddenfright,whichmymistressinformedmehadseizedtheladyonherfirstcomingintothehouse。 Thecausewasneverexplained,eithertomeortomyfellow-servant。 Theabovestatementhasbeenreadoverinmypresence。Ihavenothingtoaddtoit,ortotakeawayfromit。Isay,onmyoathasaChristianwoman,thisisthetruth。 (Signed)HESTERPINHORN,Her+Mark。2。THENARRATIVEOFTHEDOCTORTotheRegistraroftheSub-Districtinwhichtheundermentioneddeathtookplace——IherebycertifythatIattendedLadyGlyde,agedTwenty-OnelastBirthday;thatIlastsawheronThursdaythe25thJuly1850;thatshediedonthesamedayatNo。5ForestRoad,StJohn’sWood,andthattheCauseofherdeathDurationofdiseaseAneurismNotknown(Signed)ALFREDGOODRICKE。 Prof。Title。M。R。C。S。Eng。,L。S。A。 Address:12CroydonGardens,StJohn’sWood。3。THENARRATIVEOFJANEGOULDIWASthepersonsentinbyMrGoodricketodowhatwasrightandneedfulbytheremainsofaladywhohaddiedatthehousenamedinthecertificatewhichprecedesthis。Ifoundthebodyinchargeoftheservant,HesterPinhorn。Iremainedwithit,andprepareditatthepropertimeforthegrave。Itwaslaidinthecoffininmypresence,andIafterwardssawthecoffinscreweddownprevioustoitsremoval。Whenthathadbeendone,andnotbefore,Ireceivedwhatwasduetomeandleftthehouse。IreferpersonswhomaywishtoinvestigatemycharactertoMrGoodricke。HewillbearwitnessthatIcanbetrustedtotellthetruth。 (Signed)JANEGOULD。4。THENARRATIVEOFTHETOMBSTONESACREDTOTHEMEMORYOFLAURA,LADYGLYDE,WIFEOFSIRPERCIVALGLYDE,BART。,OFBLACKWATERPARK,HAMPSHIRE,ANDDAUGHTEROFTHELATEPHILIPFAIRLIE,ESQ。,OFLIMMERIDGEHOUSE,INTHISPARISH。BORNMARCH27TH,1829;MARRIEDDECEMBER22ND,1849;DIEDJULY25TH,1850。5。THENARRATIVEOFWALTERHARTRIGHTEARLYinthesummerof1850IandmysurvivingcompanionsleftthewildsandforestsofCentralAmericaforhome。Arrivedatthecoast,wetookshipthereforEngland。ThevesselwaswreckedintheGulfofMexico—— Iwasamongthefewsavedfromthesea。Itwasmythirdescapefromperilofdeath。Deathbydisease,deathbytheIndians,deathbydrowning—— allthreehadapproachedme;allthreehadpassedmeby。 ThesurvivorsofthewreckwererescuedbyanAmericanvesselboundforLiverpool。TheshipreachedherportonthethirteenthdayofOctober1850。Welandedlateintheafternoon,andIarrivedinLondonthesamenight。 Thesepagesarenottherecordofmywanderingsandmydangersawayfromhome。Themotiveswhichledmefrommycountryandmyfriendstoanewworldofadventureandperilareknown。Fromthatself-imposedexileIcameback,asIhadhoped,prayed,believedIshouldcomeback——achangedman。InthewatersofanewlifeIhadtemperedmynatureafresh。Inthesternschoolofextremityanddangermywillhadlearnttobestrong,myhearttoberesolute,mymindtorelyonitself。Ihadgoneouttoflyfrommyownfuture。Icamebacktofaceit,asamanshould。 TofaceitwiththatinevitablesuppressionofmyselfwhichIknewitwoulddemandfromme。Ihadpartedwiththeworstbitternessofthepast,butnotwithmyheart’sremembranceofthesorrowandthetendernessofthatmemorabletime。Ihadnotceasedtofeeltheoneirreparabledisappointmentofmylife——Ihadonlylearnttobearit。LauraFairliewasinallmythoughtswhentheshipboremeaway,andIlookedmylastatEngland。LauraFairliewasinallmythoughtswhentheshipbroughtmeback,andthemorninglightshowedthefriendlyshoreinview。 Mypentracestheoldlettersasmyheartgoesbacktotheoldlove。 IwriteofherasLauraFairliestill。Itishardtothinkofher,itishardtospeakofher,byherhusband’sname。 Therearenomorewordsofexplanationtoaddonmyappearingforthesecondtimeinthesepages。Thisnarrative,ifIhavethestrengthandthecouragetowriteit,maynowgoon。 Myfirstanxietiesandfirsthopeswhenthemorningcamecentredinmymotherandmysister。Ifeltthenecessityofpreparingthemforthejoyandsurpriseofmyreturn,afteranabsenceduringwhichithadbeenimpossibleforthemtoreceiveanytidingsofmeformonthspast。EarlyinthemorningIsentalettertotheHampsteadCottage,andfolloweditmyselfinanhour’stime。 Whenthefirstmeetingwasover,whenourquietandcomposureofotherdaysbegangraduallytoreturntous,Isawsomethinginmymother’sfacewhichtoldmethatasecretoppressionlayheavyonherheart。Therewasmorethanlove——therewassorrowintheanxiouseyesthatlookedonmesotenderly——therewaspityinthekindhandthatslowlyandfondlystrengtheneditsholdonmine。Wehadnoconcealmentsfromeachother。Sheknewhowthehopeofmylifehadbeenwrecked——sheknewwhyIhadlefther。ItwasonmylipstoaskascomposedlyasIcouldifanyletterhadcomeformefromMissHalcombe,iftherewasanynewsofhersisterthatImighthear。ButwhenIlookedinmymother’sfaceIlostcouragetoputthequestioneveninthatguardedform。Icouldonlysay,doubtinglyandrestrainedly—— `Youhavesomethingtotellme。’ Mysister,whohadbeensittingoppositetous,rosesuddenlywithoutawordofexplanation——roseandlefttheroom。 Mymothermovedclosertomeonthesofaandputherarmsroundmyneck。 Thosefondarmstrembled——thetearsflowedfastoverthefaithfullovingface。 `Walter!’shewhispered,`myowndarling!myheartisheavyforyou,Oh,mysonImysonItrytorememberthatIamstillleft!’ Myheadsankonherbosom。Shehadsaidallinsayingthosewords。 Itwasthemorningofthethirddaysincemyreturn——themorningofthesixteenthofOctober。 Ihadremainedwiththematthecottage——Ihadtriedhardnottoembitterthehappinessofmyreturntothemasitwasembitteredtome。I haddoneallmancouldtoriseaftertheshock,andacceptmyliferesignedly——toletmygreatsorrowcomeintendernesstomyheart,andnotindespair。 Itwasuselessandhopeless。Notearssoothedmyachingeyes,noreliefcametomefrommysister’ssympathyormymother’slove。 OnthatthirdmorningIopenedmyhearttothem。AtlastthewordspassedmylipswhichIhadlongedtospeakonthedaywhenmymothertoldmeofherdeath。 `Letmegoawayaloneforalittlewhile,’Isaid。`IshallbearitbetterwhenIhavelookedoncemoreattheplacewhereIfirstsawher——whenIhavekneltandprayedbythegravewheretheyhavelaidhertorest。’ Idepartedonmyjourney——myjourneytothegraveofLauraFairlie。 ItwasaquietautumnafternoonwhenIstoppedatthesolitarystation,andsetforthaloneonfootbythewell-rememberedroad。Thewaningsunwasshiningfaintlythroughthinwhiteclouds——theairwaswarmandstill——thepeacefulnessofthelonelycountrywasovershadowedandsaddenedbytheinfluenceofthefallingyear。 Ireachedthemoor——Istoodagainonthebrowofthehill——Ilookedonalongthepath——andtherewerethefamiliargardentreesinthedistance,theclearsweepingsemicircleofthedrive,thehighwhitewallsofLimmeridgeHouse。Thechancesandchanges,thewanderingsanddangersofmonthsandmonthspast,allshrankandshrivelledtonothinginmymind。Itwaslikeyesterdaysincemyfeethadlasttroddenthefragrantheathyground。I thoughtIshouldseehercomingtomeetme,withherlittlestrawhatshadingherface,hersimpledressflutteringintheair,andherwell-filledsketch-bookreadyinherhand。 Oh,death,thouhastthysting!oh,grave,thouhastthyvictory! Iturnedaside,andtherebelowmeintheglenwasthelonesomegreychurch,thePorchwhereIhadwaitedforthecomingofthewomaninwhite,thehillsencirclingthequietburial-ground,thebrookbubblingcoldoveritsstonybed。Therewasthemarblecross,fairandwhite,attheheadofthetomb——thetombthatnowroseovermotheranddaughteralike。 Iapproachedthegrave。Icrossedoncemorethelowstonestile,andbaredmyheadasItouchedthesacredground。Sacredtogentlenessandgoodness,sacredtoreverenceandgrief。 Istoppedbeforethepedestalfromwhichthecrossrose。Ononesideofit,onthesidenearesttome,thenewly-cutinscriptionmetmyeyes——thehard,clear,cruelblackletterswhichtoldthestoryofherlifeanddeath。Itriedtoreadthem。Ididreadasfarasthename。`SacredtotheMemoryofLaura——’Thekindblueeyesdimwithtears——thefairheaddroopingwearily——theinnocentpartingwordswhichimploredmetoleaveher——oh,forahappierlastmemoryofherthanthis;thememoryItookawaywithme,thememoryIbringbackwithmetohergrave! AsecondtimeItriedtoreadtheinscription。Isawattheendthedateofherdeath,andaboveit—— Aboveittherewerelinesonthemarble——therewasanameamongthemwhichdisturbedmythoughtsofher。Iwentroundtotheothersideofthegrave,wheretherewasnothingtoread,nothingofearthlyvilenesstoforceitswaybetweenherspiritandmine。 Ikneltdownbythetomb。Ilaidmyhands,Ilaidmyheadonthebroadwhitestone,andclosedmywearyeyesontheeartharound,onthelightabove。Ilethercomebacktome。Oh,mylove!mylove!myheartmayspeaktoyounow!Itisyesterdayagainsinceweparted——yesterday,sinceyourdearhandlayinmine——yesterday,sincemyeyeslookedtheirlastonyou。Mylove!mylove! Timehadflowedon,andsilencehadfallenlikethicknightoveritscourse。 Thefirstsoundthatcameaftertheheavenlypeacerustledfaintlylikeapassingbreathofairoverthegrassoftheburial-ground。Ihearditnearingmeslowly,untilitcamechangedtomycar——camelikefootstepsmowingonward——thenstopped。 Ilookedup。