’ItisverywellforEamestogoabroad——though，uponmyword，Idon’tknowwhetherIshouldnothavegivenhimdifferentadviceifIhadknownhowmuchIwastobetormentedbyhisabsence。Thethingcouldn’thavehappenedatamoreunfortunatetime；——theMinistrygoingoutandeverything。But，asIwassaying，itisallverywellforhimtodowhathecan。Heisrelatedtothem，andisboundtosavethehonourofhisrelationsifitbepossible。Ilikehimforgoing。Ialwayslikedhim。
AsIsaidtomyfriendDeGuest，"Thatyoungmanwillmakehisway。"AndIratherfancythatthechancewordwhichIspokethentomyvaluedoldfriendwasnotthrownawayinEames’sfavour。But，mydearMissDale，wheredidMrCrawleygetthatcheque？That’swhatIwanttoknow。Ifyoucantellmethat，thenIcantellyouwhetherornohewillbeacquitted。’
LilydidnotfeelastrongprepossessioninfavourofSirRaffle，inspiteofhispraiseofJohnEames。Theharshvoiceofthemanannoyedher，andhisegotismoffendedher。When，muchlaterintheevening，hischaractercameonfordiscussionbetweenherselfandMrsThorneandEmilyDunstable，shehadnotawordtosayinhisfavour。Butstillshehadbeenpleasedtomeethim，becausehewasthemanwithwhomJohnny’slifewasmostspeciallyconcerned。Ithinkthataportionofherdisliketohimarosefromthefactthatincontinuingtheconversationhedidnotreverttohisprivatesecretary，butpreferredtoregaleherwithstoriesofhisowndoingsinwonderfulcaseswhichhadpartakenofinterestsimilartothatwhichnowattacheditselftoMrCrawley’scase。
Hehadknownamanwhohadstolenahundredpounds，andhadneverbeenfoundout；andanothermanwhohadbeenarrestedforstealingtwo—and—sixpencewhichwasfoundafterwardsstickingtoabitofbutteratthebottomofaplate。MrsThornehadheardallthis，andhadansweredhim，’Dearme，SirRaffle，’shehadsaid，’whatagreatmanythievesyouhavehadamongstyouracquaintance！’Thishadratherdisconcertedhim，andthentherehadbeennomoretalkingaboutMrCrawley。
IthadbeenarrangedonthismorningthatMrDaleshouldreturntoAllingtonandleaveLilywithMrsThorne。Somespecialneedofhispresenceathome，realorassumed，hadarisen，andhehaddeclaredthathemustshortenhisstayinLondonbyabouthalftheintendedperiod。
Theneedwouldnothavebeensopressing，probably，hadhenotfeltthatLilywouldbemorecomfortablewithMrsThornethaninhislodgingsinSackvilleStreet。Lilyhadatfirstdeclaredthatshewouldreturnwithhim，buteverybodyhadprotestedagainstthis。EmilyDunstablehadprotestedagainstitverystoutly；MrsDaleherselfhadprotestedagainstitbyletter；andMrsThorne’sprotesthadbeenquiteimperiousinitsnature。’Indeed，’mydear，you’lldonothingofthekind。I’msureyourmotherwouldn’twishit。IlookuponitasquiteessentialthatyouandEmilyshouldlearntoknoweachother。’’Butwedoknoweachother；don’twe，Emily？’saidLily。’Notquitewellyet，’saidEmily。ThenLilyhadlaughed，andsothematterwassettled。Andnow，onthispresentoccasion，MrDalewasatMrsThorne’shouseforthelasttime。HisconsciencehadbeenperplexedaboutLily’shorse，andifanythingwastobesaiditmustbesaidnow。Thesubjectwasverydisagreeabletohim，andhewasangrywithBernardbecauseBernardhaddeclinedtomanageitforhimafterhisownfashion。Buthehadtoldhimselfsooftenthatanythingwasbetterthanapecuniaryobligation，thathewasdeterminedtospeakhismindtoMrsThorne，andtobeghertoallowhimtohavehisway。SohewaitedtilltheHaroldSmithsweregone，andSirRaffleBuffle，andthen，whenLilywasapartwithEmily——forBernardDalehadleftthem——hefoundhimselfatlastalonewithMrsThorne。
’Ican’tbetoomuchobligedtoyou，’hesaid，’foryourkindnesstomygirl。’
’Oh，laws，that’snothing，’saidMrsThorne。’Welookonherasoneofusnow。’
’I’msuresheisgrateful——verygrateful；andsoamI。SheandBernardhavebeenbroughtupsomuchtogetherthatitisverydesirablethatsheshouldnotbeunknowntoBernard’swife。’
’Exactly——that’sjustwhatImean。Blood’sthickerthanwater；isn’tit？Emily’schild，ifshehasone，willbeLily’scousin。’
’Herfirst—cousinonceremoved，’saidthesquire，whowasaccurateinthesematters。Thenhedrewhimselfupinhisseatandcompressedhislipstogether，andpreparedhimselfforhistask。Itwasverydisagreeable。Nothing，hethought，couldbemoredisagreeable。’Ihavealittlethingtospeakabout，’hesaidatlast，’whichIhopewillnotoffendyou。’
’AboutLily？’
’Yes；aboutLily。’
’I’mnotveryeasilyoffended，andIdon’tknowhowIcouldpossiblybeoffendedabouther。’
’I’manold—fashionedman，MrsThorne，anddon’tknowmuchaboutthewaysoftheworld。Ihavealwaysbeendowninthecountry，andmaybeI
haveprejudices。Youwon’trefusetohumouroneofthem，Ihope？’
’You’rebeginningtofrightenme，MrDale；whatisit？’
’AboutLily’shorse。’
’Lily’shorse！Whataboutherhorse？Ihopehe’snotvicious？’
’Sheisridingeverydaywithyourniece，’saidthesquire，thinkingitbesttosticktohisownpoint。
’Itwilldoherallthegoodintheworld，’saidMrsThorne。
’Verylikely。Idon’tdoubtit。Idonotintheleastdisapproveherriding。But——’
’Butwhat，MrDale？’
’IshouldbemuchobligedifImightbeallowedtopaythelivery—stablekeeper’sbill。’
’Oh，lawsa’mercy。’
’Idaresayitmaysoundodd，butasIhaveafancyaboutit，I’msureyou’llgratifyme。’
’OfcourseIwill。I’llrememberit。I’llmakeitallrightwithBernard。BernardandIhavenoendofaccounts——orshallhavebeforelong——andwe’llmakeanitemofit。ThenyoucanarrangewithBernardafterwards。’
MrDaleashegotuptogoawayfeltthathewasbeaten，buthedidnotknowhowtocarrythebattleanyfurtheronthatoccasion。Hecouldnottakeouthispurseandputdownthecostofthehorseonthetable。’I
willthenspeaktomynephewaboutit，’hesaid，verygravely，ashewentaway。Andhedidspeaktohisnephewaboutit，andevenwrotetohimmorethanonce。Butitwasalltonopurpose。MrPottscouldnotbeinducedtogiveaseparatebill，and——sosaidBernard——sworeatlastthathewouldfurnishnoaccounttoanybodyforhorsesthatwenttoMrsThorne’sdoorexcepttoMrsThorneherself。
ThatnightLilytookleaveofheruncleandremainedatMrsThorne’shouse。Asthingswerenowarrangedshewould，nodoubt，beinLondonwhenJohnEamesreturned。Ifheshouldfindherintown——andshetoldherselfthatisshewasintownhecertainlywouldfindher——hewould，doubtless，repeattohertheofferhehadsooftenmadebefore。Sheneverventuredtotellherselfthatshedoubtedastotheanswertobemadetohim。Thetwoletterswerewritteninthebook，andmustremainthere。ButshefeltthatshewouldhavehadmorecourageforpersistencydownatAllingtonthanshewouldbeabletosummontoherassistanceupinLondon。Sheknewshewouldbeweak，shouldshebefoundbyhimaloneinMrsThorne’sdrawing—room。Itwouldbebetterforhertomakesomeexcuseandgohome。Shewasresolvedthatshewouldnotbecomehiswife。
Shecouldnotextricateherselffromthedominionofafeelingwhichshebelievedtobeloveforanotherman。ShehadgivenasolemnpromisebothtohermotherandtoJohnEamesthatshewouldnotmarrythatotherman；
butindoingsoshehadmadeasolemnpromisetoherselfthatshewouldnotmarryJohnEames。Shehadswornitandwouldkeepheroath。Andyetsheregrettedit！Inwritinghometohermotherthenextday，shetoldMrsDalethatalltheworldwasspeakingwellofJohnEames——thatJohnhadwonforhimselfareputationofhisown，andwasknownfarandwidetobeanoblefellow。ShecouldnotkeepherselffrompraisingJohnEames，thoughsheknewthatsuchpraisemight，andwould，beusedagainstheratsomefuturetime。’ThoughIcannotlovehimIwillgivehimhisdue，’shesaidtoherself。
’Iwishyouwouldmakeupyourmindtohavean"it"foryourself，’EmilyDunstablesaidtoheragainthatnight；’anice"i...完整阅读请扫描二维码下载丁香书院APP免费看：