’Iwasneversodistressedinmylife，’MarkRobartssaidtohiswife。
’Andyouthinkyouhavedonenogood？’
’Onlythis，thatIhaveconvincedmyselfthatthepoormanistoresponsibleforwhathedoes，andthatforhersakeaswellasforhisown，somepersonshouldbeenabledtointerfereforhisprotection。’
ThenhetoldMrsRobartswhatMrWalkerhadsaid；alsothemessagewhichMrCrawleyhadsenttothearchdeacon。Butthebothagreedthatthatmessageneednotbesentanyfurther。
CHAPTERXXII
MAJORGRANTLYATHOME
MrsThornehadspokenveryplainlyintheadvicewhichshehadgiventoMajorGrantly。ThathadbeenMrsThorne’sadvice；andthoughMajorGrantlyhadnoideaofmakingthejourneysorapidlyastheladyhadproposed，stillhethoughtthathewouldmakeitbeforelong，andfollowtheadviceinspiritifnottotheletter。MrsThornehadaskedhimifitwasfairthatthegirlshouldbepunishedbecauseofthefather’sfault；andtheideahadbeensweettohimthattheinflictionornon—inflictionofsuchpunishmentshouldbeinhishands。’Yougoandaskher，’MrsThornehadsaid。Well；——hewouldgoanaskher。Ifitshouldturnoutatlastthathehadmarriedthedaughterofathief，andthathewasdisinheritedfordoingso——anarrangementofcircumstanceswhichhadtoteachhimselftoregardasveryprobable——hewouldnotloveGracethelessonthataccount，orallowhimselfforonemomenttorepentwhathaddone。Ashethoughtofallthishebecamesomewhatinlovewithasmallincome，andimaginedtohimselfwhathonourswouldbedonetohimbytheMrsThornesofthecounty，whentheyshouldcometoknowinwhatwayhehadsacrificedhimselftohislove。Yes；——theywouldgoandliveinPau。HethoughtPauwoulddo。Hewouldhaveenoughincomeforthat；——andEdithwouldgetlessonscheaply，andwouldlearntotalkFrenchfluently。Hecertainlywoulddoit。HewouldgodowntoAllington，andaskGracetobehiswife；andbidhertounderstandthatifshelovedhimshecouldnotbejustifiedinrefusinghimbythecircumstancesofherfather’sposition。
ButhemustgotoPlumsteadbeforehecouldgotoAllington。HewasengagedtospendChristmasthere，andmustgonowatonce。TherewasnottimeforthejourneytoAllingtonbeforehewasdueatPlumstead。And，moreover，thoughhecouldnotbringhimselftoresolvethathewouldtellhisfatherwhathewasgoingtodo；——’ItwouldseemasthoughI
wereaskinghisleave！’hesaidtohimself；——hethoughthewouldmakeacleanbreastofittohismother。ItmadehimsadtothinkthatheshouldcuttheropewhichfastenedhisownboatamongtheotherboatsinthehomeharbouratPlumstead，andthatheshouldgooutallaloneintostrangewaters——turnedadriftaltogether，asitwere，fromtheGrantlyfleet。Ifhecouldonlygetthepromiseofhismother’ssympathyforGraceitwouldbesomething。Heunderstood——noonebetterthanhe——thetendencyofallhisfamilytoanuprisingintheworld，whichtendencywasalmostasstronginhismotherashisfather。Andhehadbeenbynomeanswithoutasimilarambitionhimself，thoughwithhimtheambitionhadbeenonlyfitful，notenduring。Hehadabrother，aclergyman，abusy，stirring，eloquentLondonpreacher，whogotchurchesbuilt，andwasheardoffarandwideasarisingman，whohadmarriedacertainLadyAnne，thedaughterofanearl，andwhowasalreadymentionedasacandidateforhighplaces。Howhissisterwasthewifeofamarquis，andaleaderinthefashionableworld，thereaderalreadyknows。Thearchdeaconhimselfwasarichman，sopowerfulthathecouldaffordtolookdownuponabishop；andMrsGrantly，thoughtherewasleftabouthersomethingofanoldsoftnessofnature，atouchoftheformerlifewhichhadbeenhersbeforethestreamofherdayshadruntogold，yetshe，too，hadtakenkindlytowealthandhighstanding，andwasbynomeansoneofthosewhoconstrueliterallythatpassageofscripturewhichtellsofthecamelandtheneedle’seye。OurHenryGrantly，ourmajor，knewhimselftobehismother’sfavouritechild——knewhimselftohavebecomesosincesomethingofacoolnesshadgrownupbetweenherandherdaughter。TheaugustnessofthedaughterhaddonemuchtoreproducetheoldfreshnessofwhichIspokeofinthemother’sheart，andhadspeciallyendearedtohertheson，who，ofallherchildren，wastheleastsubjecttothefamily’sfailing。Theclergyman，CharlesGrantly——hewhohadmarriedtheLadyAnne——washisfather’sdarlinginthesedays。TheoldarchdeaconwouldgouptoLondonandbequitehappyinhisson’shouse。Hemettherethemenwhomhelovedtomeet，andheardthetalkwhichhelovedtohear。Itwasveryfine，havingtheMarquisofHartletopforhisson—in—law，buthehadnevercaredtobemuchatLadyHartletop’shouse。Indeed，thearchdeaconcaredtobeinnohouseinwhichthosearoundhimweresupposedtobebiggerthanhimself。
SuchwasthelittlefamilyfleetfromwhichHenryGrantlywasnowproposingtosailalonewithhislittleboat——takingGraceCrawleywithhimatthehelm。’Myfatherisajustmanatthebottom，’hesaidtohimself，’andthoughhemaynotforgiveme，hewillnotpunishEdith。’
Buttherewasstillleftoneofthefamily——notaGrantly，indeed，butonesonearlyalliedtothemastohavehisboatmooredinthesameharbour——who，asthemajorwellknew，wouldthoroughlysympathisewithhim。ThiswasoldMrHarding，hismother’sfather——thefatherofhismotherandofhisauntMrsArabin——whosehomewasnowatthedeanery。HewasalsotobeatPlumsteadduringthisChristmas，andheatanyratewouldgiveareadyassenttosuchamarriageasthatwhichthemajorwasproposingtohimself。ButthenpooroldMrHardinghadbeenthoroughlydeficientinthatambitionwhichhadservedtoaggrandizethefamilyintowhichhisdaughterhadmarried。Hewasapooroldmanwho，inspiteofgoodfriends——forthelatebishopofthediocesehadbeenhisdearestfriend——hadneverrisenhighinhisprofession，andhadfallenevenfromthemoderatealtitudewhichhehadattained。Buthewasamanwhomalllovedwhoknewhim；anditwasmuchtothecreditofhisson—in—lawthearchdeacon，that，withallhistendenciestoloverisingsuns，hehadeverbeentruetoMrHarding。
MajorGrantlytookhisdaughterwithhim，andonhisarrivalatPlumsteadsheofcoursewasthefirstobjectofattention。MrsGrantlydeclaredthatshehadgrownimmensely。Thearchdeaconcomplimentedherredcheeks，andsaidthatCosbyLodgewasashealthyaplaceasanyinthecounty，whileMrHarding，Edith’sgreat—grandfather，drewslowlyfromhispocketsundrytreasureswithwhichhehadcomepreparedf...完整阅读请扫描二维码下载丁香书院APP免费看：