登陆注册
5297800000096

第96章 Desperately Wounded.(2)

"But to-day you have succeeded in satisfying him that this is not only possible,but the most natural thing for me to do.You have told him that my family will submit to my marriage with a loathsome wretch,who got drunk in the presence of ladies,insulted an orphan girl,and attempted murder--and all in one Sunday afternoon.Isuppose you thought me captivated,and carried away by such a burst and blaze of villainy;and so my high-toned family explain to the faultless and aristocratic Mr.Van Berg that they will submit to an odious marriage lest I clandestinely follow the scoundrel who was very properly driven away,like the base cur he is.This is why you received me to-night as if I were a pestilence.This is why I was treated at the table as if I were a death's head.This is why your perfect friend looked towards me as if my chair were vacant.He refused even to recognize the existence of such a loathsome thing as my family explain to him that I am.Great heaven!may I never live to receive a deeper humiliation than this!""But,Ida,"cried Stanton,deeply alarmed and agitated by her manner,"how else could we explain your action and your reckless words to your mother?""Oh,I admit that circumstances are against me,but there is no excuse for this outrage!I don't know what I did say to mother.

I've been too wretched and discouraged to remember.She IS my mother,and I'll say nothing against her,though,heaven knows,she has been a strange mother to me.Would to God I had a father that I could go to,or a brother!But it seems I have not a friend in the great,scornful world.Don't interrupt me.Words count for nothing now,and mine least of all.If you were all ready to believe me capable of what you have plainly intimated,you need something stronger than words to convince you to the contrary.Of one thing I shall make sure--you and your faithless friend shall never have the chance to insult me again.I wish you to leave my room.""Oh come,Ida,listen to reason,"Stanton began coaxingly.

"I admitted you,"she interrupted with a repellant gesture,"in the hope of receiving a little kindness,for which I was famishing,but I would rather you had stabbed me than have said what you have.

Hush,not a word more.The brutal wrong has been done.Will you not go?This is my private apartment.I command you to leave it;and if you will not obey I will summon Mr.Burleigh;"and she placed her hand on the bell.

Her manner was at once so commanding and threatening that Stanton,with a gesture of deprecation and protest,silently obeyed.

He was so surprised and unnerved by the interview in which the maiden had turned upon him with a fiery indignation that was almost volcanic,that he wished to think the affair all over and regain his composure before meeting any one.Clearly they had failed to understand Ida of late,and had misjudged her utterly.And yet,guided by appearances,he felt that they could scarcely have come to any other conclusion.

Now that he had been jostled out of his preoccupation,he began to realize that Ida had not appeared of late like the frivolous girl that had accompanied him to the country.Changes were taking place in her as well as in himself,"but not from the same cause,"he thought."After her words and manner to-night,I cannot doubt that Sibley has disgusted her as well as the rest of us,although she had a strange way of showing it.It cannot be that a woman would speak of a man for whom she had any regard,as Ida did of the wretch with whom we were associating her;and as for Van Berg,she has taken no pains to conceal her strong dislike for him from the first day of their meeting.I can't think of anyone else at present (although there might be a score)who is disturbing the shallow waters of her mind.

"I'm inclined to think that she is deeply mortified at the false position in which Sibley has placed her,and is too proud to make explanations.It may be also that she is realizing more fully the disgrace of her father's course,and it is also possible that she is waking up to a sense of her own deficiencies.Although she could not fail to dislike such people as Jennie Burton and Van Berg,she would be apt to contrast herself with them and the impression which she and they made on society.Confound it all!I wish I had not taken it for granted that she was pining for Sibley and ready to throw herself away for his sake.It has placed me in a deucedly awkward position.I doubt if she ever fully forgives me,and Ican't blame her if she doesn't."

"Well?"said Mrs.Mayhew,as Stanton moodily approached her.

"Come with me,"he said.When they were alone he prefaced his story with the irritable remark:

"It's a pity you can't understand your daughter better.She detests Sibley.""Thank heaven for that,"exclaimed the mother.

"I should be more inclined to thank both heaven and yourself if you had discovered the fact before sending me on such an intensely disagreeable mission.You must manage your daughter yourself hereafter,for she'll never take anything more from me;"and he told her substantially the nature of his interview,and his surmises as to the real causes of her trouble.

"I think you are right,"said Mrs.Mayhew,whose impressions were as changeable as superficial;"and I'm excessively glad to think so.

With her beauty,Ida can,in spite of her father,make a brilliant match,in every sense of the word;"and with the prospect of this supreme consummation of life regained,the wife and mother gave a sigh of great relief.

"But she's in an awful mood,I can tell you,"said Stanton,dubiously.

同类推荐
  • 淮海原肇禅师语录

    淮海原肇禅师语录

    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。
  • 達紀

    達紀

    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。
  • 太上洞神天公消魔护国经

    太上洞神天公消魔护国经

    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。
  • A Modest Proposal

    A Modest Proposal

    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。
  • 孙真人备急千金要方

    孙真人备急千金要方

    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
  • 黯殇魂

    黯殇魂

    黯然伤魂,这一世都无法挽回的心疼。本以为可以一生一世的佑护,却还是抵不过那地老天荒般的命途。他们从不信命,却终究被命运推到了各自的风口浪尖。一切本在最初就预兆着终章的故事,却依然有人奋不顾身的想要打破这个枷锁。那是铁血风云的战国乱世,是神州大地历史上最后一段接近“神”的世界。只是到头来,他始终还欠着她一句话。“对不起,我最终既负了天下,也没能佑护了你。”“本自浪迹天涯,何来牵挂?若只为了天下,如何为她?”
  • 朝云北郭录

    朝云北郭录

    还没想好写啥呢就乱编点吧啦啦啦啦啦啦啦啦
  • 昆曲

    昆曲

    这本《昆曲》由金开诚主编,吴风华、张海新编著,适合大众阅读:昆曲以鼓、板控制演唱节奏,以曲笛、三弦等为主要伴奏乐器,主要以中州官话为唱说语言。昆曲是发源于14、15世纪苏州昆山的曲唱艺术体系,糅合了唱念做表、舞蹈及武术等表演艺术。昆曲在2001年被联合国教科文组织列为“人类口述和非物质遗产代表作”。明朝汉族音乐以戏曲音乐为主。明代人称南戏为《传奇》。明以后,杂剧渐渐衰落,《传奇》音乐独主剧坛,兼收杂剧音乐,改名昆曲。
  • 马化腾:领跑互联网

    马化腾:领跑互联网

    本书以腾讯的企业发展史为主轴,将马化腾的成功管理思维一一加以剖析展示,以让读者全面了解他是如何修身、用人、经营、创新、开拓、竞争、打造品牌的。由此,也希望为创业者、管理者和职场经理人走向成功提供一个样本,并让自己的理念得到洗礼、思想得到升华、境界得到提升。阅读马化腾,更能学到“具有中国特色”的商业智慧。
  • 恶魔就在身边

    恶魔就在身边

    陈曌能召唤恶魔,能够看到死亡。“别西卜,用你暴食者的能力,为这位客户治疗一下厌食症。”“雷蒙,这位老年人想重新获得能力,你懂的。”“老黑,你和我说实话,这人什么时候死,怎么死……什么?你不知道,你可是死神啊。”“那位妹子需要美颜瘦身套餐,等等……我身边好像还没有这几个从属能力的恶魔,看来还需要去地狱走一趟。”…………恶魔书友群666764442,进群请发全定截图
  • 惊蛰(张若昀、王鸥主演)

    惊蛰(张若昀、王鸥主演)

    张若昀、王鸥主演《谍战深海之惊蛰》的原著。这是硝烟弥漫的一九四〇年代。重庆,这座倾斜的城市,从空中不断降落鳞次栉比的炸弹。巨大的声响,撕开了那个年代的云层、空气、建筑和人生。上海,日据时期的孤岛,霓虹灯闪着清冷的光。陈山只是一个在街头浑浑噩噩的“包打听”,却阴差阳错卷进了风起云涌的谍海漩涡中。他的本意,是救出被日军要挟的人质——瞎眼的妹妹陈夏。不曾料想,等待他的是一场即将打响的黎明前的暗战。陈山在重庆和上海两座孤城之间奔走,在战火纷乱的颠沛流离之中,在一触即发的重重危机面前,见证了爱人和亲人的以身许国,慷慨赴死。终于以一己之力,孤军奋起,力挽狂澜,一步步成长为坚强勇敢的爱国战士,用热血和青春,在烽烟中砥砺前行。
  • 落魄格格凤凰命

    落魄格格凤凰命

    她,出生皇家,生母却是不起眼的小主,本应受封为公主却因母妃身份成了云国的格格。用计平乱后宫、得到太后庇护,背后神秘的身份,她最终成为公主,母妃也在皇上驾崩之后受封为梅太妃。成年后,她远嫁燕国和亲,后宫艰险,她步步为营。--情节虚构,请勿模仿
  • 胃肠病食疗药膳

    胃肠病食疗药膳

    胃肠病,肠粘膜和胃黏膜发炎,可由多种引发因素,而患了该病,会出现多种症状,如恶心、呕吐、腹泻等,还可有发热、失水等严重症状。本书在中医药膳理论的知道下,经过详细而严谨的论证选配食材,力求达到滋补身体、防治疾病的目的。
  • 魔境主宰

    魔境主宰

    携带记忆,涅槃而生!联邦时代,整个世界分为二十四时区,对应了全球游戏《魔境》的十六界域。魔境公测的首日,第六界域·千界树,却迎来了一个截然不同的灵魂。PS:混合了北欧,希腊神话的原创世界观,有些地方自带魔改。福利群(入群需要全订截图):869711307(盗版用户勿扰)
  • 黄泉客栈

    黄泉客栈

    黄泉客栈因为在黄泉路上而得名,它接待鬼魂,却不接待活人。因为阴间是鬼魂最终的归宿,但却被人们称之为地狱。我是黄泉客栈的掌柜,千年以来我都在我的客栈过着无忧无虑的生活。可是,自从我认识了万玉堂堂主洛千麒这个邪神之后,我感觉我的生活就彻底被打乱了……