CHAPTERXXXIII
THEPLUMSTEADFOXES
Thelettershadbeenbroughtintothebreakfast—parlouratPlumsteadRectoryonemorning，andthearchdeaconhadinspectedthemall，andthenthrownovertohiswifehershareofthespoil——aswasthecustomofthehouse。AstomostofMrsGrantly’sletters，henevermadeanyfurtherinquiry。Tolettersfromhersister，thedean’swife，hewasprofoundlyindifferent，andrarelymadeanyinquiryastothosewhichweredirectedinwritingwithwhichhewasnotfamiliar。Buttherewereothersastowhich，asMrsGrantlyknew，hewouldbesuretoaskherquestionsifshedidnotshowthem。NonoteeverreachedherfromLadyHarteltopastowhichhewasnotcurious，andyetLadyHartletop’snotesveryseldomcontainedmuchthatwasofinterest。Now，onthismorning，therecamealetterwhich，asamatterofcourse，MrsGrantlyreadatbreakfast，andwhich，sheknew，wouldnotbeallowedtodisappearwithoutinquiry。Nor，indeed，didshewishtokeeptheletterfromherhusband。Itwastooimportanttobesotreated。Butshewouldhavebeengladtogaintimetothinkinwhatspiritshewoulddiscussthecontentsoftheletter——ifonlysuchtimemightbeallowedtoher。Butthearchdeaconwouldallowhernotime。’WhatdoesHenrysay，mydear？’heasked，beforethebreakfastthingshadbeentakenaway。
’Whatdoeshesay？Well，hesays——I’llgiveyouhislettertoreadby—and—by。’
’Andwhynotnow？’
’IthoughtI’dreaditagainmyself，first。’
’Butifyouhavereadit，Isupposeyouknowwhat’sinit？’
’Notveryclearly，asyet。However，thereitis。’Sheknewverywellthatwhenshehadoncebeenaskedforit，nopeacewouldbeallowedhertillhehadseenit。And，alas！therewasnotmuchprobabilityofpeaceinthehouseforsometimeafterhehadseenit。
Thearchdeaconreadthethreeorfirstlinesinsilence——andthenburstout。’Hehas，hashe？Then，byheavens——’
’Stop，dearest；stop，’saidhiswife，risingfromherchairandcomingovertohim；’donotsaywordswhichyouwillsurelyrepent。’
’Iwillsaywordswhichshallmakehimrepent。Heshallneverhavefrommeason’sportion。’
’Donotmakethreatsinanger。Donot！Youknowthatitiswrong。Ifhehasoffendedyou，saynothingaboutit——eventoyourself———astothreatenedpunishments，tillyoucanjudgeoftheoffenceincoolblood。’
’Iamcool，’saidthearchdeacon。
’No，mydear；no；youareangry。Andyouhavenotevenreadhisletterthrough。’
’Iwillreadhisletter。’
’Youwillseethatthemarriageisnotimminent。Itmaybethatevenyetitwillnevertakeplace。Theyoungladyhasrefusedhim。’
’Psha！’
’Youwillseethatshehasdoneso。Hetellsussohimself。Andshehasbehavedveryproperly。’
’Whyhassherefusedhim？’
’Therecanbenodoubtaboutthereason。Shefeelsthat，withthischargehangingoverherfather，sheisnotinapositiontobecomethewifeofanygentleman。Youcannotbutrespectherforthat。’
Thearchdeaconfinishedhisson’sletter，utteringsundryinterjectionsandejaculationsashedidso。
’Ofcourse；Iknewit。Iunderstooditall，’hesaidatlast。’I’venothingtodowiththegirl。Idon’tcarewhethershebegoodorbad。’
’Oh，mydear！’
’Icarenotatall——withreferencetomyownconcerns。OfcourseI
wouldwishthatthedaughterofaneighbouringclergyman——thatthedaughterofanyneighbour——thatthedaughterofanyonewhatsoever——shouldbegoodratherthanbad。ButasregardsHenryandme，andourmutualrelation，hergoodnesscanmakenodifference。LetherbeanotherGrizel，andstillsuchamarriagemustestrangehimfromme，andmefromhim。’
’Butshehasrefusedhim。’
’Yes；andwhatdoeshesay？——thathehastoldherthathewillnotacceptherrefusal。Ofcourseweknowwhatitallmeans。ThegirlIamnotjudging。ThegirlIwillnotjudge。Butmyownson，towhomIhaveeverdoneafather’sdutywithafather’saffectionateindulgence——himI
willjudge。Ihavewarnedhim，andhedeclareshimselftobecarelessofmywarning。Ishalltakenonoticeofthisletter。Ishallneitherwritetohimaboutitorspeaktohimaboutit。ButIchargeyoutowritetohimandtellhimthatifhedoesthisthingheshallnothaveachild’sportionfromme。ItisnotthatIwillshortenthatwhichwouldhavebeenhis；butheshallhave——nothing！’Then，havingspokenthesewordswithasolemnitywhichforthemomentsilencedhiswife，hegotupandlefttheroom。Helefttheroomandclosedthedoor，but，beforehehadgonehalfthelengthofthehalltowardshisownstudy，hereturnedandaddressedhiswifeagain。’Youunderstandmyinstructions，Ihope？’
’Whatinstructions？’
’ThatyouwritetoHenryandtellhimwhatIsay。’
’Iwillspeakagaintoyouaboutitby—and—by。’
’Iwillspeaknomoreaboutit——notawordmore。Lettherebenotawordmoresaid，butobligemebydoingasIaskyou。’
Thenhewasagainabouttoleavetheroom，butshestoppedhim。’Waitamoment，mydear。’
’WhyshouldIwait？’
’Thatyoumaylistentome。Surelyyouwilldothat，whenIaskyou。I
willwritetoHenry，ofcourse，ifyoubidme；andIwillgivehimyourmessage，whateveritmaybe；butnottoday，mydear。’
’Whynottoday？’
’BecausethesunshallgodownonyourwrathbeforeIbecomeitsmessenger。Ifyouchoosetowritethatyourself，Icannothelpit。I
cannothinderyou。IfIamtowritetohimonyourbehalfIwilltakemyinstructionsfromyoutomorrowmorning。Whentomorrowmorningcomesyouwillnotbeangrywithmebecauseofthedelay。’
Thearchdeaconwasbynomeanssatisfied；butheknewhiswifetoowell，andhimselftoowell，andtheworldtoowell，toinsistontheimmediategratificationofhispassion。Overhisbosom’smistresshedidexerciseacertainmaritalcontrol——whichwas，forinstance，quitesufficientlyfixedtoenablehimtolookdownwiththoroughcontemptonsuchaoneaBishopProudie；buthewasnotadespotwhocouldexactapassiveobediencetoeveryfantasy。Hiswifewouldnothavewrittentheletterforhimonthatday，andheknewverywellthatshewouldnotdoso。Heknewalsothatshewasright；——andyetheregrettedhiswantofpower。
Hisangeratthepresentmomentwasveryhot——sohotthathewishedtowreakit。Heknewthatitwouldcoolbeforethemorrow；——and，nodoubt，knewalsotheoretically，thatitwouldbemostfittingthatitshouldbecool。Butnotthelesswasitamatterofregrettohimthatsomuchgoodhotangershouldbewasted，andthathecouldnothavehiswillofhisdisobedientsonwhileitlasted。Hemight，nodoubt，havewrittenhimself，buttohavedonesowouldnothavesuitedhim。Eveninhisangerhecouldnothavewrittentohissonwithoutusingtheordinarytermsofaffection，andinhisangerhecouldnotbringhimselftousethoseterms。’YouwillfindthatIshallbeofthesamemindtomorrow——exactly，’hesaidtohiswife。’Ihaveresolvedaboutitlongsince；anditisnotlikelythatIshallchangeinaday。’Thenhewentout，abouthisparish，intendingtocontinuetothinkofhisson’siniquity，sothathemightkeephisangerhot——redhot。Thenherememberedthattheeveningwouldcome，andthathewouldsayhisprayers；andheshookhisheadinregret——inaregretofwhichhewasonlyhalfconscious，thoughitwasverykeen，andwhichhedidnotattempttoanalyse——ashereflectedthathisragewouldhardlybeabletosurvivethatordeal。Howcommonwithusitistorepinethatthedevilisnotstrongeroverthanheis。
Thearchdeacon，whowasaverywealthyman，hadpurchasedapropertyatPlumstead，contiguoustotheglebe—land，andhadthuscometoexerciseintheparishthedoubledutyofrectorandsquire。AndofthisestateinBarsetshire，whichextendedbeyondtheconfinesofPlumsteadintotheneighbouringparishofStogpingum——StokePinguiumwouldhavebeenthepropernamehadnotthebarbarousSaxontonguesclippeditofitsproperproportions——hehadalwaysintendedthathissonCharlesshouldenjoytheinheritance。Therewasotherproperty，bothinlandandinmoney，forhiselderson，andotheragainforthemaintenanceofhiswife，forth...完整阅读请扫描二维码下载丁香书院APP免费看：