’Iamsogladshehasgone，’saidLily。’Weshallhavetostophereforthenexthour，asGregorywon’tknowwhattotakeawayandwhattoleave。Iwassoafraidshewasgoingtostopandseeusoffthepremises。’
’Idon’tknowwhyyoushoulddislikeher。’
’Idon’tdislikeher。Ilikeherverywell，’saidLilyDale。’Butdon’tyoufeelthattherearepeoplewhomoneknowsveryintimately，whoarereallyfriends——forwhomiftheyweredyingonewouldgrieve，whomiftheywereinmisfortuneonewouldgofartohelp，butwithwhomforallthatonecanhavenosympathy。Andyettheyaresoneartoonethattheyknowalltheeventsofone’slife，andarejustifiedbyunquestionedfriendshipintalkingaboutthingswhichshouldneverbementionedexceptwheresympathyexists。’
’Yes；Iunderstandthat。’
’Everybodyunderstandsitwhohasbeenunhappy。Thatwomansometimessaysthingstomethatmakemewish——wishthatthey’dmakehimbishopofPatagonia。Andyetdoesitallinfriendship，andmammasaysthatsheisquiteright。’
’Ilikedherforstandingupforherhusband。’
’Buthedoesgotosleep——andthenhescratcheshisnosetoshowthathe’sawake。Ishouldn’thavesaidit，onlysheisalwayshintingatuncleChristopher。UncleChristophercertainlydoesgotosleepwhenMrBoycepreaches，andhehasn’tstudiedanyscientificlittlemovementduringhisslumberstomakethepeoplebelievethathe’sallalive。I
gavehimahintoneday，andhegotangrywithme！’
’Ishouldn’thavethoughthecouldhavebeenangrywithyou。Itseemstomefromwhatyousaythatyoumaydowhateveryoupleasewithhim。’
’Heisverygoodtome。Ifyouknewitall——ifyoucouldunderstandhowgoodhehasbeen！I’lltryandtellyouoneday。Itisnotwhathehasdonethatmakesmelovehimso——butwhathehasthoroughlyunderstood，andwhat，sounderstanding，hehasnotdone，andwhathehasnotsaid。
Itisacaseofsympathy。IfevertherewasagentlemanuncleChristopherisone。AndIusedtodislikehimso，atonetime！’
’Andwhy？’
’ChieflybecausehewouldmakemewearbrownfrockswhenIwantedtohavethempinkorgreen。Andhekeptmeforsixmonthsfromhavingthemlong，anduptothisdayhescoldsmeifthereishalfaninchonthegroundforhimtotreadupon。’
’Ishouldn’tmindthatifIwereyou。’
’Idon’t——notnow。ButitusedtobeseriouswhenIwasayounggirl。
Andwethought，BellandI，thathewascrosstomamma。Heandmammadidn’tagreeatfirst，youknow，astheydonow。Itisquitetruethathediddislikemammawhenwefirstcame。’
’Ican’tthinkhowanybodycouldeverdislikeMrsDale。’
’Buthedid。AndthenhewantedtomakeupamarriagebetweenBellandmycousinBernard。Butneitherofthemcaredabitforeachother，andthenheusedtoscoldthem——andthen——andthen——andthen——Oh，hewassogoodtome！Here’sGregoryatlast。Gregory，we’vebeenwaitingthishourandahalf。’
’Itain’ttenminutessinceHopkinsletmecomewiththebarrows，miss。’
’ThenHopkinsisatraitor。Nevermind。You’dbetterbeginnow——upthereatthesteps。It’llbequitedarkinafewminutes。Here’sMrsGileswithherbroom。Come，MrsGiles；weshallhavetopassthenighthereifyoudon’tmakehaste。Areyoucold，Grace？’
’No；I’mnotcold。I’mthinkingwhattheyaredoingnowinthechurchatHogglestock。’
’TheHogglestockchurchisnotpretty，likethis？’
’Oh，no。Itisaveryplainbrickbuilding，withsomethinglikeapigeon—houseforabelfry。Andthepulpitisoverthereading—desk，andthereading—deskovertheclerk，sothatpapa，whenhepreaches，isnearlyuptotheceiling。Andthewholeplaceisdividedintopews，inwhichthefarmershidethemselveswhentheycometochurch。’
’Sothatnobodycanseewhethertheygotosleepornot。Oh，MrsGiles，youmustn’tpullthatdown。That’swhatwehavebeenputtingupallday。’
’Butitbeintheway，miss；sothatministercan’tbudgeinorouto’
thedoor。’
’Nevermind。Thenhemuststayonesideortheother。Thatwouldbetoomuchafterallourtrouble！’AndMissDalehurriedacrossthechanceltosavesomeprettyarchingboughs，which，inthejudgmentofMrsGiles，encroachedtoomuchonthevestrydoor。’Asifitsignifiedwhichsidehewas，’shesaidinawhispertoGrace。
’Idon’tsupposethey’llhaveanythinginthechurchathome。’
’Somebodywillstickupawreathortwo，Idaresay。’
’Nobodywill。ThereneverisanybodyatHogglestocktostickupwreathsordoanythingfortheprettinessoflife。Andnowtherewillbelessthanever。Howcanmammalookafterholly—leavesinherpresentstate？
Andyetshewillmissthem，too。Poormammaseesverylittlethatispretty；butshehasnotforgottenhowpleasantprettythingsare。’
’IwishIknewyourmother，Grace。’
’Ithinkitwouldbeimpossibleforanyonetoknowmammanow——foranyonewhohadnotknownherbefore。Shenevermakesevenanewacquaintance。Sheseemstothinkthatthere’snothingleftforherintheworldbuttotrytokeeppapaoutofhismisery。Andshedoesnotsucceedinthat。Poorpapa！’
’Isheunhappyaboutthiswickedsituation？’
’Yes；heisveryunhappy。But，Lily，Idon’tknowaboutitsbeingwicked。’
’Butyouknowit’suntrue。’
’OfcourseIknowthatpapadidnotmeantotakeanythingthatwasnothisown。But，yousee，nobodyknowswhereitcamefrom；andnobodyexceptmammaandJaneandIunderstandhowveryabsentpapacanbe。I’msurehedoesn’tknowtheleastintheworldhowhecamebyithimself，orhewouldtellmamma。Doyouknow，Lily，IthinkIhavebeenwrongtocomeaway。’
’Don’tsaythat，dear。RememberhowanxiousMrsCrawleywasthatyoushouldcome。’
’ButIcannotbeartobecomfortableherewhiletheyaresowretchedathome。Itseemssuchamockery。EverytimeIfindmyselfsmilingatwhatyousaytome，IthinkImustbethemostheartlesscreatureintheworld。’
’Isitsoverybadwiththem，Grace？’
’Indeeditisbad。Idon’tthinkyoucanimaginewhatmammahastogothrough。Shehastocookallthatiseateninthehouse，andthen，veryoften，thereisnomoneyinthehousetobuyanything。Ifyouweretoseetheclothesshewears，eventhatwouldmakeyourheartbleed。Iwhohavebeenusedtobeingpoorallmylife——evenI，whenIamathome，amdismayedbywhatshehastoendure。’
’Whatcanwedoforher，Grace？’
’Youcandonothing，Lily。Butwhenthingsarelikethatathome，youcanunderstandwhatIfeelinbeinghere。’
MrsGilesandGregoryhadnowcompletedtheirtask，orhadsonearlydonesoastomakeMissDalethinkthatshemightsafelyleavethechurch。’Wewillgoinnow，’shesaid；’foritisdarkandcold，andwhatIcallcreepy。Doyoueverfancythatperhapsyouwillseeaghostsomeday？’
’Idon’tthinkIshalleverseeaghost；butallthesameIshouldbehalfafraidtobeherealoneinthedark。’
’Iamoftenherealoneinthedark，butIambeginningtothinkIshallneverseeaghostnow。Iamlosingallmyromance，andgettingtobeanoldwoman。Doyouknow，Grace，Idosohatemyselfforbeingsuchanoldmaid。’
’Butwhosaysyou’reanoldmaid，Lily？’
’Iseeitinpeople’seyes，andhearitintheirvoices。AndtheyalltalktomeasifIweresteady，andaltogetherremovedfromanythinglikefunandfrolic。Itseemstobeadmittedthatifagirldoesnotwanttofallinlove，sheoughtnottocareforanyotherfunintheworld。Ifanybodymadeoutalistoftheoldladiesintheseparts，they’dputdownLadyJulia，andmamma，andMrsBoyce，andme，andoldMrsHearne。Theverychildrenhaveanawfulrespectforme，andgiveoverplayingdirectlytheyseeme。Well，mamma，we’vedoneatlast，andIhavehadsuchascoldingfromMrsBoyce。’
’Idaresayyoudeservedit，mydear。’
’No，Ididnot，mamma。AskGraceifIdid。’
’WasshenotsaucytoMrsBoyce，MissCrawley？’
’ShesaidMrBoycescratcheshisnoseinchurch，’saidGrace。
’Sohedoes；andgoestosleep，too。’
’IfyoutoldMrsBoycethat，Lily，Ithinkshewasquiterighttoscoldyou。’...完整阅读请扫描二维码下载丁香书院APP免费看：