登陆注册
5247400000049

第49章 BOOK I(49)

Mrs. Gryce told me herself that it was her gambling that frightened Percy Gryce--it seems he was really taken with her at first. But, of course, among Lily's friends it's quite the custom for girls to play for money. In fact, people are inclined to excuse her on that account---""To excuse her for what?"

"For being hard up--and accepting attentions from men like Gus Trenor--and George Dorset---"Mrs. Peniston gave another cry. "George Dorset? Is there any one else? I should like to know the worst, if you please.""Don't put it in that way, cousin Julia. Lately Lily has been a good deal with the Dorsets, and he seems to admire her--but of course that's only natural. And I'm sure there is no truth in the horrid things people say; but she HAS been spending a great deal of money this winter. Evie Van Osburgh was at Celeste's ordering her trousseau the other day--yes, the marriage takes place next month--and she told me that Celeste showed her the most exquisite things she was just sending home to Lily. And people say that Judy Trenor has quarrelled with her on account of Gus; but I'm sure I'm sorry I spoke, though I only meant it as a kindness."Mrs. Peniston's genuine incredulity enabled her to dismiss Miss Stepney with a disdain which boded ill for that lady's prospect of succeeding to the black brocade; but minds impenetrable to reason have generally some crack through which suspicion filters, and her visitor's insinuations did not glide off as easily as she had expected. Mrs. Peniston disliked scenes, and her determination to avoid them had always led her to hold herself aloof from the details of Lily's life. In her youth, girls had not been supposed to require close supervision. They were generally assumed to be taken up with the legitimate business of courtship and marriage, and interference in such affairs on the part of their natural guardians was considered as unwarrantable as a spectator's suddenly joining in a game. There had of course been "fast" girls even in Mrs. Peniston's early experience; but their fastness, at worst, was understood to be a mere excess of animal spirits, against which there could be no graver charge than that of being "unladylike." The modern fastness appeared synonymous with immorality, and the mere idea of immorality was as offensive to Mrs. Peniston as a smell of cooking in the drawing-room: it was one of the conceptions her mind refused to admit.

She had no immediate intention of repeating to Lily what she had heard, or even of trying to ascertain its truth by means of discreet interrogation. To do so might be to provoke a scene; and a scene, in the shaken state of Mrs. Peniston's nerves, with the effects of her dinner not worn off, and her mind still tremulous with new impressions, was a risk she deemed it her duty to avoid.

But there remained in her thoughts a settled deposit of resentment against her niece, all the denser because it was not to be cleared by explanation or discussion. It was horrible of a young girl to let herself be talked about; however unfounded the charges against her, she must be to blame for their having been made. Mrs. Peniston felt as if there had been a contagious illness in the house, and she was doomed to sit shivering among her contaminated furniture.

Miss Bart had in fact been treading a devious way, and none of her critics could have been more alive to the fact than herself;but she had a fatalistic sense of being drawn from one wrong turning to another, without ever perceiving the right road till it was too late to take it.

Lily, who considered herself above narrow prejudices, had not imagined that the fact of letting Gus Trenor make a little money for her would ever disturb her self-complacency. And the fact in itself still seemed harmless enough; only it was a fertile source of harmful complications. As she exhausted the amusement of spending the money these complications be came more pressing, and Lily, whose mind could be severely logical in tracing the causes of her ill-luck to others, justified herself by the thought that she owed all her troubles to the enmity of Bertha Dorset. This enmity, however, had apparently expired in a renewal of friendliness between the two women. Lily's visit to the Dorsets had resulted, for both, in the discovery that they could be of use to each other; and the civilized instinct finds a subtler pleasure in making use of its antagonist than in confounding him.

Mrs. Dorset was, in fact, engaged in a new sentimental experiment, of which Mrs. Fisher's late property, Ned Silverton, was the rosy victim; and at such moments, as Judy Trenor had once remarked, she felt a peculiar need of distracting her husband's attention. Dorset was as difficult to amuse as a savage; but even his self-engrossment was not proof against Lily's arts, or rather these were especially adapted to soothe an uneasy egoism. Her experience with Percy Gryce stood her in good stead in ministering to Dorset's humours, and if the incentive to please was less urgent, the difficulties of her situation were teaching her to make much of minor opportunities.

Intimacy with the Dorsets was not likely to lessen such difficulties on the material side. Mrs. Dorset had none of Judy Trenor's lavish impulses, and Dorset's admiration was not likely to express itself in financial "tips," even had Lily cared to renew her experiences in that line. What she required, for the moment, of the Dorsets' friendship, was simply its social sanction. She knew that people were beginning to talk of her; but this fact did not alarm her as it had alarmed Mrs. Peniston. In her set such gossip was not unusual, and a handsome girl who flirted with a married man was merely assumed to be pressing to the limit of her opportunities. It was Trenor himself who frightened her. Their walk in the Park had not been a success.

同类推荐
  • 劝学篇

    劝学篇

    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。
  • 阿毗达磨俱舍释论

    阿毗达磨俱舍释论

    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。
  • 左史谏草

    左史谏草

    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。
  • 大六壬心镜

    大六壬心镜

    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。
  • 经史百家杂钞

    经史百家杂钞

    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
  • 最美年华嫁给你

    最美年华嫁给你

    【已完结】某宝在拍卖网上拍卖妈咪,一张性感的妈咪穿睡衣图,附上文字:不需9999!不需999!只需9块9!你要就抱走!然后发送链接到他老子的邮箱,坐等爹地的付款!某宝把妈咪打包,发货。某总裁上门收货,直接打横抱走,“女人,把我的种子藏了这么多年,这笔账怎么算?我已经买下你了,付款9块9……”某女气炸天:“你这个兔崽子!你竟然卖你妈!才卖9块9!怎么也得10块吧!”坐在地上数着钞票的某宝汗颜……(清新脱俗的宠文,男女主身心干净)【推荐新文《总裁老公,顶级宠!》】
  • 玄天上帝百字圣号

    玄天上帝百字圣号

    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。
  • 证据游戏

    证据游戏

    来自英国的畅销小说:萨拉·纽比系列第一部《证据游戏》,为你解开一个个悬而未决的疑团……
  • 夷水之畔

    夷水之畔

    逝者如斯夫,不舍昼夜。一条夷水,裹挟着几万年的风云激荡,左冲右撞,过往的鲜活被击得粉碎,传奇也变成街头巷尾的烂尾故事,只有故事的主人公明了,所有的遗憾都是刚刚好。
  • 帝君,我要和你生猴子

    帝君,我要和你生猴子

    魂穿千年,成为人人厌弃的废柴。渣妹算计,公主挑衅,未婚夫暗杀,母亲软弱……这些都没有关系,龙甜表示:一龟在手,天下我有!直到……某龟破开封印,变成了俊美无双的男人。龙甜捂脸,让天天和他一起泡澡的她情何以堪!“本帝会负责的!”“帝君,你要和我生猴子?”“不!是乌龟!”--情节虚构,请勿模仿
  • 独占之豪门惊婚

    独占之豪门惊婚

    第一次提分手:叶扶桑说:“唐骓,我们真的不合适,分手吧!”唐骓直接爬上三楼窗台,回头:“你再说一次分手我就从这跳下去。”叶扶桑重复道:“我们分手吧。”唐骓什么话没说,头也不回纵身跃下……第一次闹分居:叶扶桑对着他喊:“唐骓,我真是受够你了!”唐骓直着脖子站在路边,西装革履玉树临风,一派贵公子模样,抬着下巴高傲的问:“所以呢?”叶扶桑呼气:“我们都冷静下行不行?”唐骓转身往车流里冲:“你敢说乱七八糟的东西,老子就死给你看!”……第一次闹离婚:叶扶桑抓头发:“我要离婚!”唐骓指着叶扶桑咬牙切齿:“你敢再说一次?”叶扶桑抬头看他:“唐骓,我跟你过够了,离婚吧!”唐骓转身出去,不多时怀里多了个胖乎乎的小奶娃回来,居高临下看着叶扶桑:“你信不信我今天晚上就带唐蛟去跳河?”……风平浪静时也能好好说话。叶扶桑给他打预防针:“唐骓,一哭二闹三上吊是女人的戏码,你是女人吗?”唐骓不在乎:“老子是男是女你还不知道,你要是敢提分手我就敢死。”叶扶桑叹气:“你到底想怎么样?”唐骓扭着脖子:“没想怎么样!就这样!”对,就这样,安安静静的过日子。他也不想怎么样,就是想独占这个女人到老,谁都不准跟他抢。&&&爱情是火,扎进去的人无不遍体鳞伤。先爱上的总是输家,所以豪赌中总有人输的血本无归。
  • 千翎

    千翎

    曾经有人问:为何名为千翎大陆?她嗤笑一声:因为这大陆是由我谱写的传奇!————千翎
  • 刘邦的红颜劫

    刘邦的红颜劫

    小光棍时来运转大美女示爱献身“人走时气马走膘。兔子走运枪都打不着。”这句话用在刘邦的身上再合适不过了。刘邦的老家在沛县安丰乡下,祖辈都是老实巴交的庄稼人。老爹名叫刘执嘉,老妈姓王名含始。老爹为人忠厚、友善,很受邻里尊重。都称他为刘太公,老妈也沾光被称为刘媪。老两口生下两个儿子,老大名伯,老二名仲。等到两个哥哥都已娶妻成家,才又生下刘邦,按排行老三为叔,老四为季,可能是刘太公没文化,认为季是老末,就把刘邦叫成了刘季。刘邦这个名字是他打下了天下后才改的,邦就是国的意思。
  • 天下第一宠:帝尊,饶了我

    天下第一宠:帝尊,饶了我

    二十一世纪穿越而来的莫如水,样样能玩,只是这个一直缠着她的家伙是谁?“你可以滚吗?我只喜欢和尸体打交道。”莫如水皱起眉头,摆摆手,颇为不耐。“本王就是啊。不信,你摸摸本王的身体......当然,最好给本王来个全身检查。”某女开始在某男身上一阵摸索......“你骗我!”莫如水愤怒了......“不,是本王不能再骗自己。没有你,本王就是一具尸体......”
  • 汉代婚姻形态

    汉代婚姻形态

    常常有人说,汉代的研究题目都已经有人做过了,很难再做出什么新的成果来。这种看法其实是不对的。汉代历史文化内涵异常丰富,考古发现又日新月异,只要与正确的理论结合,取得新的视角,自然会有柳暗花明的局面,彭卫同志这部书便是佳例。书中环绕着婚姻关系,讨论了许多饶有兴味的问题。即以开卷第一章所谈汉代婚姻关系中的等级性而论,援引大量材料以证成其说,不仅联系到汉以后历代的发展变化,并与中世纪西欧与印度作了对比,眼界之广阔,见解之新颖,使读者深感其吸引力。