’THEREVJOSHUACRAWLEY，M。A。，PerpetualCurateofHogglestock’
Hewasthenusheredintoawaiting—room，but，tohisdisappointment，wasnotkepttherewaitinglong。Withinthreeminuteshewasusheredintothebishop’sstudy，andintothepresenceofthetwogreatluminariesofthediocese。HewasatfirstsomewhatdisconcertedbyfindingMrsProudieintheroom。Intheimaginaryconversationwiththebishopwhichhehadbeenpreparingontheroad，hehadconceivedthatthebishopwouldbeattendedbyachaplain，andhehadsuitedhiswordstothejointdiscomfitureofthebishopandofthelowerclergyman；——butnowthelineofhisbattlemustbealtered。Thiswasnodoubtaninjury，buthetrustedtohiscourageandreadinesstoenablehimtosurmountit。Hehadlefthishatbehindhiminthewaitingroom，buthekepthisoldshortcloakstilluponhisshoulders；andwhenheenteredthebishop’sroomhishandsandarmswerehidbeneathit。Therewassomethinglowlyinthisconstrainedgait。Itshowedatleastthathehadnoideaofbeingaskedtoshakehandswiththeaugustpersonshemightmeet。Andhisheadwassomewhatbowed，thoughhisgreat，bald，broadforeheadshoweditselfsoprominent，thatneitherthebishopnorMrsProudiecoulddropitfromtheirsightduringthewholeinterview。Hewasamanwhowhenseencouldhardlybeforgotten。Thedeepangryremonstranteyes，theshaggyeyebrows，tellingtalesoffrequentanger——ofangerfrequentbutgenerallysilent——therepressedindignationofthehabitualfrown，thelongnoseandlargepowerfulmouth，thedeepfurrowsonthecheek，andthegenerallookofthoughtandsuffering，allcombinedtomaketheappearanceofthemanremarkable，andtodescribetothebeholdersatoncehistruecharacter。NooneeveronseeingMrCrawleytookhimtobeahappyman，oraweakman，oranignorantman，orawiseman。
’Youareverypunctual，MrCrawley，’saidthebishop。MrCrawleysimplybowedhishead，stillkeepinghishandsbeneathhiscloak。’Willyounottakeachairnearertothefire？’MrCrawleyhadnotseatedhimself，buthadplacedhimselfinfrontofachairattheextremeendoftheroom——resolvedthathewouldnotuseitunlessheweredulyasked。
’Thankyou，mylord，’hesaid。’Iamwarmwithwalking，andifyouplease，willavoidthefire。’
’Youhavenotwalked，MrCrawley？’
’Yes，mylord；Ihavebeenwalking。’
’NotfromHogglestock！’
NowthiswasamatterwhichMrCrawleycertainlydidnotmeantodiscusswiththebishop。Itmightbewellforthebishoptodemandhispresenceinthepalace，butitcouldbenopartofthebishop’sdutytoinquirehowhegotthere。’That，mylord，isamatterofnomoment，’saidhe。’I
amgladatanyratethatIhavebeenenabletoobeyyourlordship’sorderincominghitheronthismorning。’
HithertoMrsProudiehadnotsaidaword。Shestoodbackintheroom，nearthefire——morebackwardagooddealthanshewasaccustomedtodowhenclergymenmadetheirordinaryvisits。Onsuchoccasionsshewouldcomeforwardandshakehandswiththemgraciously——graciously，evenifproudly；butshehadfeltthatshemustdonothingofthatkindnow；
theremustbenoshakinghandswithamanwhohadstolenachequefortwentypounds！ItmightprobablybenecessarytokeepMrCrawleyatadistance，andthereforeshehadremainedinthebackground。ButMrCrawleyseemeddisposedtokeephimselfinthebackground，andthereforeshecouldspeak。’Ihopeyourwifeandchildrenarewell，MrCrawley’
shesaid。
’Thankyou，madam，mychildrenarequitewell，andMrsCrawleysuffersnospecialailmentatpresent。’
’Thatismuchtobethankfulfor，MrCrawley。’Whetherhewereorwerenotthankfulforsuchmerciesasthesewasnobusinessofthebishoporofthebishop’swife。ThatwasbetweenhimandhisGod。Sohewouldnotevenbowtothiscivility，butsatwithhisheaderect，andwithagreatfrownonhisheavybrow。
Thenthebishoprosefromhischairtospeak，intendingtotakeupapositionontherug。ButashedidsoMrCrawley，whohadalsoseatedhimselfonanintimationthathewasexpectedtositdown，rosealso，andthebishopfoundthathewouldthuslosehisexpectedvantage。’Willyounotbeseated，MrCrawley？’saidthebishop。MrCrawleysmiled，butstoodhisground。Thenthebishopreturnedtohisarm—chair，andMrCrawleyalsosatdownagain。’MrCrawley，’beganthebishop，’thismatterwhichtheotherdaycamebeforethemagistratesatSilverbridgehasbeenamostunfortunateaffair。Ithasgivenme，Icanassureyou，themostsincerepain。’
MrCrawleyhadmadeuphismindhowfarthebishopshouldbeallowedtogowithoutarebuke。Hehadtoldhimselfthatitwouldonlybenatural，andwouldnotbeunbecoming，thatthebishopshouldalludetoameetingofthemagistratesandtotheallegedtheft，andthatthereforesuchallusionsshouldbeenduredwithpatienthumility。And，moreover，themoreropehegavethebishop，themorelikelythebishopwouldbetoentanglehimself。ItcertainlywasMrCrawley’swishthatthebishopshouldentanglehimself。He，therefore，replied，verymeekly。’Ithasbeenmostunfortunate，mylord。’
’IhavefeltforMrsCrawleyverydeeply，’saidMrsProudie。MrCrawleynowmadeuphismindthataslongasitwaspossiblehewouldignorethepresenceofMrsProudiealtogether；and，therefore，hemadenosignthathehadheardthelatterremark。
’Ithasbeenmostunfortunate，’continuedthebishop。’Ihaveneverbeforehadaclergymaninmydioceseplacedinsodistressingaposition。’
’Thatisamatterofopinion，mylord，’saidMrCrawley，whoatthatmomentthoughtofacrisisthathadcomeinthelifeofanotherclergymaninthedioceseofBarchester，andthecircumstancesofwhichhehadbychancebecomeacquainted。
’Exactly，’saidthebishop。’AndIamexpressingmyopinion。’MrCrawley，whounderstoodfighting，didnotthinkthetimehadyetcomeforstrikingablow，sohesimplybowedagain。’Amostunfortunateposition，MrCrawley，’continuedthebishop。’Farbeitfrommetoexpressanopiniononthematter，whichwillhavetocomebeforeajuryofyourcountrymen。ItisenoughformetoknowthatthemagistratesassembledatSilverbridge，gentlementowhomnodoubtyoumustbeknown，asmostofthemliveinyourneighbourhood，haveheardevidenceuponthesubject——’
’Mostconvincingevidence，’saidMrsProudie，inter...完整阅读请扫描二维码下载丁香书院APP免费看：