Croquetisaprettygameoutofdoors，andchessisdelightfulinadrawing—room。Battledoreandshuttlecockandhunt—the—slipperhavealsotheirattractions。Proverbsaregood，andcrossquestionswithcrookedanswersmaybemadeveryamusing。Butnoneofthesegamesareequaltothegameoflove—making——providingthattheplayerscanbequitesurethatthereshallbenoheartinthematter。Anytouchofheartnotonlydestroysthepleasureofthegame，butmakestheplayerawkwardandincapableandrobshimofhisskill。Andthusitisthattherearemanypeoplewhocannotplaythegameatall。Adeficiencyofsomeneededinternalphysicalstrengthpreventstheownersoftheheartfromkeepingapropercontroloveritsvalves，andthusemotionsetsin，andthepulsesareaccelerated，andfeelingsupervenes。Forsuchaonetoattemptthegameoflove—making，isasthoughyourfriendwiththegoutshouldinsistonplayingcroquet。Asenseoftheridiculous，ifnothingelse，shouldineithercasedetertheafflictedonefromtheattempt。
TherewasnosuchabsurditywithourfriendMrsDobbsBroughtonandConwayDalrymple。Theirvalvesandpulseswereallright。Theycouldplaythegamewithouttheslightestdangerofanyinconvenientresult；——ofanyinconvenientresult，thatis，asregardedtheirownfeelings。Blindpeoplecannotseeandstupidpeoplecannotunderstand——anditmightbethatMrDobbsBroughton，beingbothblindandstupidinsuchmatters，mightperceivesomethingoftheplayingofthegameandnotknowthatitwasonlyagameofskill。
WhenIsaythatasregardedthesetwoloverstherewasnothingoflovebetweenthem，andthatthegamewasthereforesofarinnocent，Iwouldnotbeunderstoodasassertingthatthesepeoplehadnoheartsintheirbosoms。MrsDobbsBroughtonprobablylovedherhusbandinasensible，humdrumway，feelinghimtobeabore，knowinghimtobevulgar，awarethatheoftentookagooddealmorewinethanwasgoodforhim，andthathewasalmostasuneducatedasahog。Yetshelovedhim，andshowedherlovebytakingcarethatheshouldhavethingsfordinnerwhichhelikedtoeat。Butinthisalonethereweretobefoundnoneofthecharmsofafeveredexistence，andtherefore，MrsDobbsBroughton，requiringthosecharmsforhercomfort，playedherlittlegamewithConwayDalrymple。
AndasregardedtheartisthimselfletnoreaderpresumehimtohavebeenheartlessbecauseheflirtedwithMrsDobbsBroughton。Doubtlesshewillmarrysomeday，andwillhavealargefamilyforwhichhewillworkhard，andwillmakeagoodhusbandtosomestoutladywhowillbecarefulinlookingafterhislinen。Butonthepresentoccasionhefellintosomeslighttroubleinspiteoftheinnocenceofhisgame。Ashequittedhisfriend’sroomheheardthehall—doorslammedheavily；thentherewasaquicksteponthestairs，andonthelanding—placeabovethefirstflighthemetthemasterofthehouse，somewhatflurried，asitseemed，andnotlookingcomfortable，eitherasregardedhispersonorhistemper。’ByGeorge，he’sbeendrinking！’Conwaysaidtohimself，afterthefirstglance。NowitcertainlywasthecasethatDobbsBroughtonwouldsometimesdrinkatimproperhours。
’Whatthedevilareyoudoinghere？’saidDobbsBroughtontohisfriendtheartist。’You’realwayshere。You’rehereadoosedsightmorethanI
like。’Husbandswhentheyhavebeendrinkingareveryapttomakemistakesastothepurportofthegame。
’WhyDobbs，’saidthepainter，’there’ssomethingwrongwithyou。’
’No，thereain’t。There’snothingwrong；andiftherewas，what’sthattoyou？Ishan’taskyoutopayanythingforme，Isuppose？’
’Well；——Ihopenot。’
’Iwon’thaveyouhere，andletthatbeanendofit。It’sallverywellwhenIchoosetohaveafewfriendstodinner，butmywifecandoverywellwithoutyourfal—lallinghereallday。Willyourememberthat，ifyouplease？’
ConwayDalrymple，knowingthathehadbetternotargueanyquestionwithadrunkenman，tookhimselfoutofthehouse，shrugginghisshouldersashethoughtofthemiseryofwhichhispoordearplayfellowwouldnowbecalledontoendure。
CHAPTERXXVII
AHEROATHOME
OnthemorningafterhisvisittoMissDemolines，JohnEamesfoundhimselfatthePaddingtonStationaskingforaticketforGuestwick，andashepickeduphischangeanothergentlemanalsodemandedaticketforthesameplace。HadGuestwickbeenasLiverpoolorManchester，Eameswouldhavethoughtnothingaboutit。ItisamatterofcoursethatmenshouldalwaysbegoingfromLondontoLiverpoolandManchester；butitseemedoddtohimthattwomenshouldwantfirst—classticketsforsosmallaplaceasGuestwickatthesamemoment。Andwhen，afterwards，hewasplacedbytheguardinthesamecarriagewiththisothertraveller，hecouldnotbutfeelsomelittlecuriosity。ThemanwasfourorfiveyearsJohnny’ssenior，agood—lookingfellow，withapleasantface，andtheoutwardappurtenancesofagentleman。TheintelligentreaderwillnodoubtbeawarethatthestrangerwasMajorGrantly；buttheintelligentreaderhasinthisrespecthadmuchadvantageoverJohnEames，whouptothistimehadneverevenheardofhiscousinGraceCrawley’slover。’I
thinkyouwereaskingforatickettoGuestwick，’saidJohnny；
——whereuponthemajorownedthatsuchwasthecase。’IlivedinGuestwickforthegreaterpartofmylife，’saidJohnny，’andit’sthedullest，dearestlittletowninallEngland。’’Ineverwastherebefore，’saidthemajor，’andindeedIcanhardlysayIamgoingtherenow。Ishallonlypassthroughit。’Thenhegotouthisnewspaper，andJohnnyalsogothisout，andforatimetherewasnoconversationbetweenthem。Johnrememberedhowholywastheerranduponwhichhewasintent，andgatheredhisthoughtstogether，resolvingthathavingsogreatamatteronhismindhewouldthinkaboutnothingelseandspeakaboutnothingatall。HewasgoingdowntoAllingtontoaskLilyDaleforthelasttimewhethershewouldbehiswife；toascertainwhetherhewastobesuccessfulorunsuccessfulintheonegreatwishofhislife；
and，assuchwasthecasewithhim——ashehadinhandathingsovital，itcouldbenothingtohimwhetherthechancecompanionofhisvoyagewasanagreeableordisagreeableperson。Hehimself，inanyoftheordinarycircumstancesoflife，wasproneenoughtotalkwithanyonehemightmeet。Hecouldhavetravelledfortwelvehourstogetherwithanoldlady，andcouldlistentoherormakeherlistentohimwithouthalf—an—hour’sinterruption。Butthisjourneywasmadeonnoordinaryoccasion，anditbehovedhimtothinkofLily。Therefore，afterthefirstlittlealmostnecessaryeffortatcivility，hefellbackintogloomysilence。HewasgoingtodohisbesttowinLilyDale，andthisdoingofhisbestwouldrequireallhisthoughtsandallhisenergy。
AndprobablyMajorGrantly’smindwasbentinthesamedirection。He，too，hadthisworkbeforehim，andcouldnotlookuponhisworkasathingthatwhichhewasintentuponobtaining。Heknew——healmostknew——thathehadwontheheartofthegirlwhomhewasseeking。Therehadbeenthatbetweenhimandherwhichjustifiedhiminsupposingthathewasdeartoher，althoughnoexpressionofaffectionhadeverpassedfromherlipstohisears。Menmayknowallthattheyrequiretoknowonthatsubjectwithoutanyplainlyspokenwords。GraceCrawleyhadspokennoword，andyethehadknown——atanyratehadnotdoubted，thathecouldhavetheplaceinherheartofwhichhedesiredtobethemaster。
Shewouldneversurrenderherselfaltogethertillshehadtaughtherselftobesureofhimtowhomshegaveherself。B...完整阅读请扫描二维码下载丁香书院APP免费看：