登陆注册
5363000000117

第117章

Did not you hear where he'd been? He was away the night before, too, when Alice was first taken; when you were there for your tea. Oh! where was he, Margaret?" "I don't know," she answered. "Stay! I do remember something about his keeping Will company, in his walk to Liverpool. I can't justly say what it was, so much happened that night." "I'll go to his mother's," said Mary resolutely. They neither of them spoke, either to advise or dissuade. Mary felt she had no sympathy from them, and braced up her soul to act without such loving aid of friendship. She knew that their advice would be willingly given at her demand, and that was all she really required for Jem's sake. Still her courage failed a little as she walked to Jane Wilson's, alone in the world with her secret. Jane Wilson's eyes were swelled with crying; and it was sad to see the ravages which intense anxiety and sorrow had made on her appearance in four-and-twenty hours. All night long she and Mrs Davenport had crooned over their sorrows, always recurring, like the burden of an old song, to the dreadest sorrow of all, which was now impending over Mrs Wilson. She had grown--I hardly know what word to use--but, something like proud of her martyrdom she had grown to hug her grief; to feel an excitement in her agony of anxiety about her boy. "So, Mary, you're here! Oh! Mary, lass! He's to be tried on Tuesday." She fell to sobbing, in the convulsive breath-catching manner which tells so of much previous weeping. "Oh! Mrs Wilson, don't take on so! We'll get him off, you'll see. Don't fret; they can't prove him guilty!" "But I tell thee they will," interrupted Mrs Wilson, half-irritated at the light way, as she considered it, in which Mary spoke; and a little displeased that another could hope when she had almost brought herself to find pleasure in despair. "It may suit thee well," continued she, "to make light o' the misery thou hast caused; but I shall lay his death at thy door, as long as I live, and die I know he will; and all for what he never did--no, he never did; my own blessed boy!" She was too weak to be angry long; her wrath sank away to feeble sobbing and worn-out moans. Mary was most anxious to soothe her from any violence of either grief or anger; she did so want her to be clear in her recollection; and, besides, her tenderness was great towards Jem's mother. So she spoke in a low gentle tone the loving sentences, which sound so broken and powerless in repetition, and which yet have so much power, when accompanied with caressing looks and actions, fresh from the heart; and the old woman insensibly gave herself up to the influence of those sweet, loving blue eyes, those tears of sympathy, those words of love and hope, and was lulled into a less morbid state of mind. "And now, dear Mrs Wilson, can you remember where he said he was going on Thursday night? He was out when Alice was taken ill; and he did not come home till early in the morning, or, to speak true, in the night did he?" "Aye! he went out near upon five; he went out with Will; he said he were going to set him a part of the way, for Will were hot upon walking to Liverpool, and wouldn't hearken to Jem's offer of lending him five shillings for his fare. So the two lads set off together. I mind it all now but, thou seest, Alice's illness, and this business of poor Jem's, drove it out of my head; they went off together, to walk to Liverpool; that's to say, Jem were to go a part o' th' way. But, who knows" (falling back into the old desponding tone) "if he really went? He might be led off on the road. Oh! Mary, wench! they'll hang him for what he's never done. "No, they won't, they shan't! I see my way a bit now. We mun get Will to help; there'll be time. He can swear that Jem were with him. Where is Jem?" "Folk said he were taken to Kirkdale, i' th' prison van this morning; without my seeing him, poor chap! Oh! wench! but they've hurried on the business at a cruel rate." "Aye, they've not let grass grow under their feet, in hunting out the man that did it," said Mary, sorrow-fully and bitterly. "But keep up your heart.

They got on the wrong scent when they took to suspecting Jem. Don't be afeard. You'll see it will end right for Jem." "I should mind it less if I could do aught," said Jane Wilson; "but I'm such a poor weak old body, and my head's so gone, and I'm so dazed like, what with Alice and all, that I think and think, and can do nought to help my child. I might ha gone and seen him last night, they tell me now, and then I missed it. Oh! Mary, I missed it; and I may never see the lad again." She looked so piteously in Mary's face with her miserable eyes, that Mary felt her heart giving way, and, dreading the weakness of her powers, which the burst of crying she longed for would occasion, hastily changed the subject to Alice; and Jane, in her heart, feeling that there was no sorrow like a mother's sorrow, replied, "She keeps on much the same, thank you. She's happy, for she knows nothing of what's going on; but th' doctor says she grows weaker and weaker. Thou'lt maybe like to see her?" Mary went up-stairs: partly because it is the etiquette in humble life, to offer to friends a last opportunity of seeing the dying or the dead, while the same etiquette forbids a refusal of the invitation; and partly because she longed to breathe, for an instant, the atmosphere of holy calm, which seemed ever to surround the pious good old woman. Alice lay, as before, without pain, or at least any outward expression of it; but totally unconscious of all present circumstances, and absorbed in recollections of the days of her girlhood, which were vivid enough to take the place of reality to her. Still she talked of green fields, and still she spoke to the long-dead mother and sister, low-lying in their graves this many a year, as if they were with her and about her, in the pleasant places where her youth had passed. But the voice was fainter, the motions were more languid; she was evidently passing away; but how happily! Mary stood for a time in silence, watching and listening. Then she bent down and reverently kissed Alice's cheek; and drawing Jane Wilson away from the bed, as if the spirit of her who lay there were yet cognizant of present realities, she whispered a few words of hope to the poor mother, and kissing her over and over again in a warm, loving manner, she bade her good-bye, went a few steps, and then once more came back to bid her keep up her heart. And when she had fairly left the house, Jane Wilson felt as if a sunbeam had ceased shining into the room. Yet oh! how sorely Mary's heart ached; for more and more the fell certainty came on her that her father was the murderer! She struggled hard not to dwell on this conviction; to think alone on the means of proving Jem's innocence; that was her first duty, and that should be done.

同类推荐
  • 洞真太上神虎隐文

    洞真太上神虎隐文

    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。
  • 图民录

    图民录

    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。
  • 医经读

    医经读

    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。
  • 痘疹心法要诀

    痘疹心法要诀

    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。
  • 大方广佛花严经修慈分一卷

    大方广佛花严经修慈分一卷

    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
  • 吸血鬼的暗黑童话

    吸血鬼的暗黑童话

    吉月出生于明朝,她因意外与一个叫夕远的年轻男子相识相恋。夕远的身份神秘,时不时地让她充满疑惑。世事变迁,沧海桑田,他们最终会怎样?
  • 全世界孩子都爱玩的脑筋急转弯(全集)

    全世界孩子都爱玩的脑筋急转弯(全集)

    脑筋急转弯不仅是调节心情、放松心情的游戏,更是帮助孩子们打破思维定式,发挥超常能力的头脑训练。让孩子们越玩越聪明,越玩越成功!
  • 逆世狂女

    逆世狂女

    诡隐,21世纪顶级杀手,被组织抛弃后落入神幻大陆,附身在一个被父亲抛弃与母亲相依为命的废物女孩身上,不可思议呈现:不能修炼的废物在重生后不仅晋阶迅速还灵武双修,爆了名水家的大门还越阶杀了水家家主,契约各种强宠,以此凌虐各种生物。她强大的逆天,谁与争锋!情节虚构,请勿模仿!
  • 圆圆的肥皂泡

    圆圆的肥皂泡

    本书是本书是刘慈欣的大陆新生代科幻小说。用无数大肥皂泡裹带湿润空气进入内陆,从而调节气候。现在争议巨大耗资惊人的南水北调工程,相比肥皂泡工程都显得渺小得多。技术上,这个如何制造超级液体目前还只能是梦想。
  • 万能制作大师

    万能制作大师

    升星,升品,升级,当手机网游的设定成为金手指是一种怎么样的体验?如果能够制作出加力量的衣服是一种怎样的体验?如果能够制作出会飞的衣服是一种怎样的体验?如果世界上任何东西都能被制作出来,会是一种怎样的体验?
  • 问问熊先生

    问问熊先生

    丹尼,一个懂事的男孩子,他一直想给妈妈找到一份完美的生日礼物。他四处打探,先后碰到了母鸡、鹅、山羊、绵羊,请求他们给妈妈送出一份生日礼物,但他们所说的礼物妈妈都已经有了。在奶牛的提议下,他找到了熊先生,正是熊先生告诉了丹尼一个秘密,帮他送了一份让妈妈特惊喜的生日礼物!
  • 暴戾王爷的小妾

    暴戾王爷的小妾

    他是呼风唤雨、无所不能的王爷。她是相府的千金小姐。只一眼,他便在她的心中生根。御花园里,她无意撞见他被人拒绝的一幕,好心安慰却换来他的一句--“滚开,肮脏的女人。”皇上赐婚,他无情地拒绝:“相府小姐?你不过是老狐狸从青楼赎出来的一名妓子罢了,竟然妄想成为我的王妃,真是自讨羞辱。”从千金小姐到青楼妓子,到底,她是什么人?迫于皇威,他终究是娶了她--却只是一名身份低贱的侍妾。大婚之夜,他没有出现,任由她顶着喜帕枯等一夜。望着伤痕累累,趴在床上的她,他却只是扬起嘴角,嘲蔑一笑,然后又无情地给她灌下了浓黑的药汤。在府中被人欺凌之时,他也只是眯起胴眸,立于一旁,任凭巴掌落在她的脸上。众目睽睽之下,他应下了赌局,却无情地将她推出来,做为赌注。她,伤心欲绝却只是笑颜相对,凄眸闪烁,泪眼朦胧,丝毫不能让他心软半分。她,只是他迫不得已娶来的侍妾,必要的时候,他可以把她当成赌注,空虚的时候,他可以把她当作暖床的工具,危难之时,他可以把她当成盾牌遮挡剑芒......***(严重警告,未经作者本人同意,所有网站均不得盗取本文内容,违者必究。)*****************************************************小雨的旧作:《狂情总裁》他是坠落的王子,他是邪恶的野心家,因为了他爱上了大哥的女友。当他再一次回来,找到了她,却扮演了撒旦的角色。他将她禁锢,将她私藏,一切都因为那从他心底狂涌翻滚的爱。感谢网友小情为《暴戾王爷的贱妾》所制作的视频:?pstyle=1********************************************************感谢网友给小雨的书友群群号是:42738023、56299015,欢迎大家参与讨论。感谢网友小情为《暴戾王爷的贱妾》所制作的视频:?pstyle=1********************************************************推荐自己的文:《妖妆》:《昧宠》《溺宠》《狂情总裁》(半价)《首席总裁不好惹》
  • 无上战帝

    无上战帝

    玄宗天才强势归来,以造化宝玉,悟天地造化。何为造化?太极阴阳之间,称霸诸天;四象八卦之后,登顶寰宇!各位看官大人!且看我无上战帝,血战八方,逍遥四海!
  • 芳谷集

    芳谷集

    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。
  • 守护国界主陀罗尼经

    守护国界主陀罗尼经

    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。