登陆注册
5168000000014

第14章

"And 'twas only the next morning that, when I came into his room to ask his blessing as was my wont, he received me with fierce and angry words.'Why had I,' so he asked, 'been delighting myself in such wanton mischief--dancing over the tender plants in the flower-beds, all set with the famous Dutch bulbs he had brought from Holland?' Ihad never been out of doors that morning, sir, and I could not conceive what he meant, and so I said; and then he swore at me for a liar, and said I was of no true blood, for he had seen me doing all that mischief himself--with his own eyes.What could I say? He would not listen to me, and even my tears seemed only to irritate him.That day was the beginning of my great sorrows.Not long after, he reproached me for my undue familiarity--all unbecoming a gentlewoman--with his grooms.I had been in the stable-yard, laughing and talking, he said.Now, sir, I am something of a coward by nature, and I had always dreaded horses; be-sides that, my father's servants--those whom he brought with him from foreign parts--were wild fellows, whom I had always avoided, and to whom I had never spoken, except as a lady must needs from time to time speak to her father's people.Yet my father called me by names of which Ihardly know the meaning, but my heart told me they were such as shame any modest woman; and from that day he turned quite against me;--nay, sir, not many weeks after that, he came in with a riding-whip in his hand; and, accusing me harshly of evil doings, of which I knew no more than you, sir, he was about to strike me, and I, all in bewildering tears, was ready to take his stripes as great kindness compared to his harder words, when suddenly he stopped his arm mid-way, gasped and staggered, crying out, 'The curse--the curse!' Ilooked up in terror.In the great mirror opposite I saw myself, and right behind, another wicked, fearful self, so like me that my soul seemed to quiver within me, as though not knowing to which similitude of body it belonged.My father saw my double at the same moment, either in its dreadful reality, whatever that might be, or in the scarcely less terrible reflection in the mirror; but what came of it at that moment I cannot say, for I suddenly swooned away; and when Icame to myself I was lying in my bed, and my faithful Clarke sitting by me.I was in my bed for days; and even while I lay there my double was seen by all, flitting about the house and gardens, always about some mischievous or detestable work.What wonder that every one shrank from me in dread--that my father drove me forth at length, when the disgrace of which I was the cause was past his patience to bear.Mistress Clarke came with me; and here we try to live such a life of piety and prayer as may in time set me free from the curse."All the time she had been speaking, I had been weighing her story in my mind.I had hitherto put cases of witchcraft on one side, as mere superstitions; and my uncle and I had had many an argument, he supporting himself by the opinion of his good friend Sir Matthew Hale.Yet this sounded like the tale of one bewitched; or was it merely the effect of a life of extreme seclusion telling on the nerves of a sensitive girl? My scepticism inclined me to the latter belief, and when she paused I said:

"I fancy that some physician could have disabused your father of his belief in visions--"Just at that instant, standing as I was opposite to her in the full and perfect morning light, I saw behind her another figure--a ghastly resemblance, complete in likeness, so far as form and feature and minutest touch of dress could go, but with a loathsome demon soul looking out of the gray eyes, that were in turns mocking and voluptuous.My heart stood still within me; every hair rose up erect; my flesh crept with horror.I could not see the grave and tender Lucy--my eyes were fascinated by the creature beyond.I know not why, but I put out my hand to clutch it; I grasped nothing but empty air, and my whole blood curdled to ice.For a moment I could not see; then my sight came back, and I saw Lucy standing before me, alone, deathly pale, and, I could have fancied, almost, shrunk in size.

"IT has been near me?" she said, as if asking a question.

The sound seemed taken out of her voice; it was husky as the notes on an old harpsichord when the strings have ceased to vibrate.She read her answer in my face, I suppose, for I could not speak.Her look was one of intense fear, but that died away into an aspect of most humble patience.At length she seemed to force herself to face behind and around her: she saw the purple moors, the blue distant hills, quivering in the sunlight, but nothing else.

"Will you take me home?" she said, meekly.

I took her by the hand, and led her silently through the budding heather--we dared not speak; for we could not tell but that the dread creature was listening, although unseen,--but that IT might appear and push us asunder.I never loved her more fondly than now when--and that was the unspeakable misery--the idea of her was becoming so inextricably blended with the shuddering thought of IT.She seemed to understand what I must be feeling.She let go my hand, which she had kept clasped until then, when we reached the garden gate, and went forwards to meet her anxious friend, who was standing by the window looking for her.I could not enter the house: I needed silence, society, leisure, change--I knew not what--to shake off the sensation of that creature's presence.Yet I lingered about the garden--I hardly know why; I partly suppose, because I feared to encounter the resemblance again on the solitary common, where it had vanished, and partly from a feeling of inexpressible compassion for Lucy.In a few minutes Mistress Clarke came forth and joined me.We walked some paces in silence.

"You know all now," said she, solemnly.

"I saw IT," said I, below my breath.

"And you shrink from us, now," she said, with a hopelessness which stirred up all that was brave or good in me.

同类推荐
  • 法界宗莲花章

    法界宗莲花章

    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。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 金刚般若经旨赞

    金刚般若经旨赞

    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。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 佛说灌佛经

    佛说灌佛经

    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。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 郑风

    郑风

    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。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • The Water-Babies

    The Water-Babies

    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。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 地狱妖王

    地狱妖王

    生来便是奴隶命,又怎甘于被人束缚,他日定当扶摇直上九万里,这天地再无人能困,这世间再无人能敌……
  • 一念倾情

    一念倾情

    他在她耳边呢喃:“宁婉,我不是这么好打发的,没我的允许,谁敢娶你?”所以他毁了她的订婚宴,逼走她的未婚夫。他说宁婉,我等了你十三年,不是看着你嫁给别人的。她说萧云卿,你就算用一张薄薄的纸把我给拴住,我的心仍然不在你那儿,我一定会让你后悔娶了我。他说宁婉,如果我的心掏空了,还换不到你的心,那我就把剩下的这副躯壳也给你,随你处置。你要啃要咬,要撕要扯,要杀要剐要泄恨,我都由你!*他逼她跟他结婚,却在他们结婚一年时,让她得知好友怀孕五个月。“今天真是……谢谢你们送给我的生日礼物,我一辈子都不会忘记今天的!”她笑,昂首转身,却随着汽车的爆炸,尸骨无存。“娃娃——!”他红着眼眶大喊,却再也唤不回她。*还记得那一年,樱花树下,他指尖缠绕细腻发丝,眼带温润,娃娃,长大嫁我可好?好字萦绕耳边,却是谁忘了当初誓言?樱花树下,幽香犹在,回首,却不见我的娃娃。*
  • 红朝胭脂之云鹤传
  • 雄霸西洋

    雄霸西洋

    意外穿越到大明洪武年间的特种兵文朔在大明朝混的风生水起,泡美女、杀倭寇、造船出海、征服蛮夷、数银票数到手软……就连皇帝的妹妹竟然是也不放过,谁会想到他竟然是个假太监呢?
  • 他亦有爱

    他亦有爱

    当年,简莫璃十八岁的时候,为父还债,她成了礼物。作为礼物,她成了恶魔的猎物,只有任他宰割。他既邪恶又冷血无情,明明不喜欢她,却又……可就是这样一个魔鬼,却忽然有一天对她说:他爱她?简莫璃听后却止不住的笑了,只是轻轻的问:“所以呢?”“所以呢?”男人习惯的挑眉,俊美的脸上却荡起了霸道的笑:“所以你简莫璃唯一的男人必须只能是我,而你也只能是我的女人!”
  • 不仅仅是联盟

    不仅仅是联盟

    终有一天罗尔之名将响彻符文之地,比肩神明!艾欧尼亚是起点,但,不是终点。(作为一名深爱着奇幻小说的男孩,我翻遍了起点的网站,却再也找不到曾经奇幻的辉煌,也找不到奇幻的味道,所以我决定!)
  • 纳兰词 笺注全编

    纳兰词 笺注全编

    纳兰词是清代最为著名的词人之一纳兰性德的作品。纳兰性德(1655-1685),原名成德,字容若,号楞伽山人,满洲正黄旗人。大学士明珠之子。康熙进士,官一等侍卫。他的诗词不但在清代词坛享有很高的声誉,在整个中国文学史上,也以“纳兰词”为词坛一说而占有光采夺目的一席之地。他所生活的满汉融合的时期;他贵族家庭兴衰关联王朝国事的典型性;以及侍从帝王却向往平淡的经历,构成特殊的环境与背景。加之他个人的超逸才华,使其诗词的创作呈现独特的个性特征和鲜明的艺术风格。
  • 孔子是个好老师

    孔子是个好老师

    本书共十三章,全面呈现了一个多面的孔子,以及孔门生动有趣的学习状况。同时,作者让2000多年前的学习和今天的学习型组织之间实现了“穿越”,更让人们看到了孔门的关注问题、注重研讨、激发潜能和发展个性的教育。
  • 亨利八世致安妮·波琳情书

    亨利八世致安妮·波琳情书

    亨利八世为迎娶安妮·波琳不惜违抗民意,脱离罗马教廷,但三年后下令将安妮砍头的人也是他。今天,安妮失势的故事已经成为传奇。这个爱情故事以轰轰烈烈和阴谋交织作为开始,却以血淋淋的惨剧收场。时至今日,故事的魅力未减分毫。
  • 丛林豪杰

    丛林豪杰

    战争并非人间才有,动物界也充满了争斗与厮杀。在《丛林豪杰》里,看“伏击高手”美洲狮如何成为草食动物的噩梦,看“夜间猎手”猞猁如何孤身活跃在广阔空间里,看黑凯门鳄如何偷袭路过的为陆生脊椎动物……《丛林豪杰》生动揭示动物界鲜为人知的战斗场景,告诉小读者一个真实的大自然;并以高清晰图片从多个角度展现所选动物的风采,努力为孩子们奉献一道视觉上的美味大餐。