登陆注册
5292700000006

第6章 A CHANGED MAN(5)

The acquaintance grew and ripened.Her situation,her history,her beauty,her age--a year or two above his own--all tended to make an impression on the young man's heart,and a reckless flirtation was soon in blithe progress upon that lonely shore.

It was said by her detractors afterwards that she had chosen her lodging to be near this gentleman,but there is reason to believe that she had never seen him till her arrival there.Just now Casterbridge was so deeply occupied with its own sad affairs--a daily burying of the dead and destruction of contaminated clothes and bedding--that it had little inclination to promulgate such gossip as may have reached its ears on the pair.Nobody long considered Laura in the tragic cloud which overhung all.

Meanwhile,on the Budmouth side of the hill the very mood of men was in contrast.The visitation there had been slight and much earlier,and normal occupations and pastimes had been resumed.Mr.Maumbry had arranged to see Laura twice a week in the open air,that she might run no risk from him;and,having heard nothing of the faint rumour,he met her as usual one dry and windy afternoon on the summit of the dividing hill,near where the high road from town to town crosses the old Ridge-way at right angles.

He waved his hand,and smiled as she approached,shouting to her:

'We will keep this wall between us,dear.'(Walls formed the field-fences here.)'You mustn't be endangered.It won't be for long,with God's help!'

'I will do as you tell me,Jack.But you are running too much risk yourself,aren't you?I get little news of you;but I fancy you are.''Not more than others.'

Thus somewhat formally they talked,an insulating wind beating the wall between them like a mill-weir.

'But you wanted to ask me something?'he added.

'Yes.You know we are trying in Budmouth to raise some money for your sufferers;and the way we have thought of is by a dramatic performance.They want me to take a part.'His face saddened.'I have known so much of that sort of thing,and all that accompanies it!I wish you had thought of some other way.'She said lightly that she was afraid it was all settled.'You object to my taking a part,then?Of course--'He told her that he did not like to say he positively objected.He wished they had chosen an oratorio,or lecture,or anything more in keeping with the necessity it was to relieve.

'But,'said she impatiently,'people won't come to oratorios or lectures!They will crowd to comedies and farces.'

'Well,I cannot dictate to Budmouth how it shall earn the money it is going to give us.Who is getting up this performance?'

'The boys of the -st.'

'Ah,yes;our old game!'replied Mr.Maumbry.'The grief of Casterbridge is the excuse for their frivolity.Candidly,dear Laura,I wish you wouldn't play in it.But I don't forbid you to.I leave the whole to your judgment.'

The interview ended,and they went their ways northward and southward.Time disclosed to all concerned that Mrs.Maumbry played in the comedy as the heroine,the lover's part being taken by Mr.

Vannicock.

CHAPTER VI

Thus was helped on an event which the conduct of the mutually-attracted ones had been generating for some time.

It is unnecessary to give details.The --st Foot left for Bristol,and this precipitated their action.After a week of hesitation she agreed to leave her home at Creston and meet Vannicock on the ridge hard by,and to accompany him to Bath,where he had secured lodgings for her,so that she would be only about a dozen miles from his quarters.

Accordingly,on the evening chosen,she laid on her dressing-table a note for her husband,running thus:-DEAR JACK--I am unable to endure this life any longer,and I have resolved to put an end to it.I told you I should run away if you persisted in being a clergyman,and now I am doing it.One cannot help one's nature.I have resolved to throw in my lot with Mr.

Vannicock,and I hope rather than expect you will forgive me.--L.

Then,with hardly a scrap of luggage,she went,ascending to the ridge in the dusk of early evening.Almost on the very spot where her husband had stood at their last tryst she beheld the outline of Vannicock,who had come all the way from Bristol to fetch her.

'I don't like meeting here--it is so unlucky!'she cried to him.

'For God's sake let us have a place of our own.Go back to the milestone,and I'll come on.'He went back to the milestone that stands on the north slope of the ridge,where the old and new roads diverge,and she joined him there.

She was taciturn and sorrowful when he asked her why she would not meet him on the top.At last she inquired how they were going to travel.

He explained that he proposed to walk to Mellstock Hill,on the other side of Casterbridge,where a fly was waiting to take them by a cross-cut into the Ivell Road,and onward to that town.The Bristol railway was open to Ivell.

This plan they followed,and walked briskly through the dull gloom till they neared Casterbridge,which place they avoided by turning to the right at the Roman Amphitheatre and bearing round to Durnover Cross.Thence the way was solitary and open across the moor to the hill whereon the Ivell fly awaited them.

'I have noticed for some time,'she said,'a lurid glare over the Durnover end of the town.It seems to come from somewhere about Mixen Lane.''The lamps,'he suggested.

'There's not a lamp as big as a rushlight in the whole lane.It is where the cholera is worst.'

By Standfast Corner,a little beyond the Cross,they suddenly obtained an end view of the lane.Large bonfires were burning in the middle of the way,with a view to purifying the air;and from the wretched tenements with which the lane was lined in those days persons were bringing out bedding and clothing.Some was thrown into the fires,the rest placed in wheel-barrows and wheeled into the moor directly in the track of the fugitives.

同类推荐
  • 大庄严法门经

    大庄严法门经

    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。
  • 七元真诀语驱疫秘经

    七元真诀语驱疫秘经

    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。
  • 佛说身毛喜竖经

    佛说身毛喜竖经

    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。
  • 永明道迹

    永明道迹

    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。
  • SHE STANDS ACCUSED

    SHE STANDS ACCUSED

    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
  • 异界的死修

    异界的死修

    普通的少年李莱昂,在一个偶然的时机下穿越到了异世界。面对异世界各种潜伏的危险,李莱昂只能凭借他天选之人的未知力量,重生强化的天赋技能一点一点强大起来。<死亡窃取>,<本源赋予>,<魅惑气息>...各种天赋技能,或主动,或被动,不断被李莱昂所捕获。他是异世界的主宰,也是最变态的存在!为了遵循内心的指引,为了保护自己珍惜的人,勇敢的少年不断地和命运抗争,最终创造出了一个完美的异世界。
  • 兽妃逆天下:妖娆幻符师

    兽妃逆天下:妖娆幻符师

    (已完结)新文《重生娱乐圈:BOSS,我不潜》火热连载中~ 她腹黑狡诈,冷血无情,邪魅无双,我行我素。废物?她暗夜之王,杀手界的尊者是废物?逆天修行,就算废柴也得给我变天才。世人都说:她天使面孔,魔鬼身材,蛇蝎心肠,她均一笑置之。她就是她,没人能改变,直到他的出现……“求抱养,能力:吃饭!特长:吃五碗!!!”她:“……”《伊幽然群号322942070,欢迎读者朋友们加入》完结文《极品邪王:溺宠刁蛮小萌妃》 坑品有保障,大家放心跳。
  • 打工之王之最强清洁工

    打工之王之最强清洁工

    意外获得人生修改器,只能做清洁工,一把扫帚扫天下
  • 哈佛晚间八点半

    哈佛晚间八点半

    哈佛有个著名的两小时论,即“人的差别在于业余时间,而一个人的命运决定于晚上8点到10点之间。”其实,这“两小时”只不过是人业余时间的一个“缩影”罢了,这个理论真正的意思在于,只有善于将业余时间用于提升自我人生高度的人,善于将业余时间变成自己人生规划和人生成长财富的人,才能成为一个出类拔萃之人。
  • 富爸爸家训2

    富爸爸家训2

    最近,美国某州评选出来的优秀教师在家庭教育方面向家长提出以下十条建议,让父母不仅拥有“慈爱的目光”,更能拥有“长远的眼光”! 本书观点新颖、行文流畅,是极具现代教育理念的家庭教育手册,或许也能给新时期的家庭教育带来一次方法与理念的革新,是父母们的首选读物。
  • 一剑荡九天

    一剑荡九天

    洪荒破碎,天道九分。九天之下,蕴育了九种文明和九大修炼体系。黄天之下多为古武,苍天之中尽是修真!又有十二大星空圣使,各自掌握着一种逆天神通!且看主角如何从一个毫无修为的普通人,到一步步的将九天,尽数踩在脚下。
  • 漫长的感恩之旅(让学生感受亲情的故事全集)

    漫长的感恩之旅(让学生感受亲情的故事全集)

    亲情如一首永远唱不倦的老歌,古老的曲调中饱含浓浓的真爱;亲情似一杯淡淡的绿茶,虽不浓郁但却散发着淡雅的醇香;亲情似大海里的一叶小舟,于惊涛骇浪中承载着风雨同舟、不离不弃的誓言。拥有亲情,便拥有了世间一切的美好,让这浓浓的爱、悠悠的情化作一缕春风,吹来桃红柳绿,吹开心底似锦的繁花……在最无助的人生路上,亲情是最持久的动力,给予我们无私的帮助和依靠;在最寂寞的情感路上,亲情是最真诚的陪伴,让我们感受到无比的温馨和安慰;在最无奈的十字路口,亲情是最清晰的路标,指引我们成功到达目标。
  • 快穿女配之反派BOSS有毒

    快穿女配之反派BOSS有毒

    【已出版,当当、淘宝火热预售中……】 系统:宿主,天上那东西是什么?时笙:宇宙飞船。系统:……这是修真位面,哪里来的宇宙飞船!!系统:宿主,你手上拿的什么?时笙:轩辕剑。系统:这是科技位面,哪里来的上古神器!!等等……宿主,你在干什么Σ(°△°|||)︴时笙:拆CPヾ(^▽^*)))#我的宿主叼炸天,徒手拆CP#
  • 霸道龙君快放手

    霸道龙君快放手

    她前世是龙王敖广的宠姬,为赎罪而自愿轮回。今生因能在水中畅游且能用琴声引人灵魂,成为臭名昭著的水妖女七公主,后被皇帝送给嗜血著称的武神泽王当和亲王妃。传闻他曾娶过两任夫人,但是都被他吸血而死,尹萱表示怕怕。她师傅说:“若不想死,那就用琴声引出23人灵魂,便能破你23岁将死于非命的轮回。”尹萱坚定回答:“徒弟一定会努力比您晚死!”没多久,她就发现了一个惊天大秘密。武神泽王竟然月月都要悄然忍受脱皮之苦,而且嘴里全是鲜血,模样恐怖至极!尹萱跪在自己师傅面前,没种的恳求:“师傅,徒儿现在就想死于非命,那泽王太恐怖了……”
  • 不带相机去旅行

    不带相机去旅行

    本书为作者多次前往俄罗斯和英国学习考察期间的游记和随笔,以一个记者的职业敏感度记录了游历过程中的所见所闻,从人文的角度展现了人类共同的文明和差异的风俗文化。文字通俗生动、优美流畅,具有较高的可读性,是大众读者了解欧洲人文风情的很好的休闲文化类书籍。