Hewasfreenow。Eveninhismisery——forhewasverymiserable——hecouldnotrefrainfromtellinghimselfthat。Nooncecouldnowpressuncalled—forintohisstudy，contradicthiminthepresenceofthosebeforewhomhewasboundtobeauthoritative，androbhimofallhisdignity。Therewasnooneelseofwhomhewasafraid。Shehadatleastkepthimoutofthehandsofothertyrants。Hewasnowhisownmaster，andtherewasthefeeling——Imaynotcallitofrelief，forasyettherewasmoreofpaininitthanofsatisfaction——afeelingasthoughhehadescapedfromanoldtroubleataterriblecostofwhichhecouldnotasyetcalculatetheamount。Heknewthathemightnowgiveupallideaofwritingtothearchbishop。
Shehadinsomeways，andatcertainperiodsofhislife，beenverygoodtohim。Shehadkepthismoneyforhimandmadethingsgostraight，whentheyhadbeenpoor。Hisinterestshadalwaysbeenherinterests。Withoutherhewouldneverhavebeenabishop。So，atleast，hetoldhimselfnow，andsotoldhimselfprobablywithtruth。Shehadbeenverycarefulofhischildren。Shehadneverbeenidle。Shehadneverbeenfondofpleasure。Shehadneglectednoacknowledgedduty。Hedidnotdoubtthatshewasnowonherwaytoheaven。Hetookhishandsfromhishead，andclaspingthemtogether，saidalittleprayer。Itmaybedoubtedwhetherhequiteknewforwhathewaspraying。Theideaofgivinguphersoul，nowthatshewasdead，wouldhavescandalisedhim。Hecertainlywasnotprayingforhisownsoul。IthinkthathewasprayingthatGodmightsavehimfrombeinggladthathiswifewasdead。
Butshewasdead——and，asitwere，inamoment！Hehadnotstirredoutofthatroomsinceshehadbeentherewithhim。Thentherehadbeenangrywordsbetweenthem——perhapsmoredeterminedenmityonhispartthaneverhadexisted；andtheyhadpartedforthelasttimewithbitteranimosity。Buthetoldhimselfthathehadcertainlybeenrightinwhathehaddonethen。Hethoughthehadbeenrightthen。AndsohismindwentbacktotheCrawleyandThumblequestion，andhetriedtoalleviatethemiserywhichthelastinterviewwithhiswifenowcreatedbyassuringhimselfthatheatleastbeenjustifiedinwhathehaddone。
Butyethisthoughtswereverytendertoher。Nothingreopensthespringsoflovesofullyasabsence，andnoabsencesothoroughlyasthatwhichmustneedsbeendless。Wewantthatwhichwehavenot；andespeciallythatwhichwenevercanhave。Shehadtoldhimintheverylastmomentsofherpresencewithhimthathewaswishingsheweredead，andhehadmadenoreply。Atthemomenthehadfelt，withsavageanger，thatsuchwashiswish。Herwordshadnowcometopass，andhewasawidower——andheassuredhimselfthathewouldgiveallthathepossessedintheworldtobringherbackagain。
Yes，hewasawidower，andhemightdoashepleased。Thetyrantwasgone，andhewasfree。Thetyrantwasgone，andthetyrannyhaddoubtlessbeenveryoppressive。Whohadsufferedashehaddone？Butinthusbeingleftwithouthistyranthewaswretchedlydesolate。Mightitnotbethatthetyrannyhadbeengoodforhim？——thattheLordhadknownbestwhatwifewasfitforhim？Thenhethoughtofastorywhichhehadread——andhadwellmarkedashewasreading——ofsomemanwhohadbeenterriblyafflictedbyhiswife，whosewifehadstarvedhimandbeatenhimandreviledhim；andyetthismanhadbeenabletothankGodforhavingmortifiedhimintheflesh。Mightitnotbethatthemortificationwhichhehimselfhaddoubtlesssufferedinhisfleshhadbeenintendedforhiswelfare，andhadbeenverygoodforhim？Butifthiswereso，itmightbethatthemortificationwasnowremovedbecausetheLordknewthathisservanthadbeensufficientlymortified。Hehadnotbeenstarvedorbeaten，butthemortificationhadbeencertainlysevere。Thentherecamethesewords——intohismind，notintohismouth——’TheLordsentthethorn，andtheLordhastakenitaway。BlessedbetheLord。’Afterthathewasveryangrywithhimself，andtriedtopraythathemightbeforgiven。Whilehewassostrivingtherecamealowknockatthedoor，andMrsDraperagainenteredtheroom。
’DrFilgrave，mylord，wasnotathome，’saidMrsDraper；’buthewillbesentthemomentwhenhearrives。’
’Verywell，MrsDraper。’
’But，mylord，willyounotcomeouttodinner？Alittlesoup，oramorselofsomethingtoeat，andaglassofwine，willenableyourlordshiptobearitbetter。’HeallowedMrsDrapertopersuadehim，andfollowedherintothedining—room。’Donotgo，MrsDraper，’hesaid；’I
wouldratherthatyoushouldstaywithme。’SoMrsDraperstayedwithhim，andadministeredtohiswants。Hewasdesirousofbeingseenbyasfeweyesaspossibleinthesefirstmomentsofhisfreedom。
HesawDrFilgravetwice，bothbeforeandafterthedoctorhadbeenupstairs。Therewasnodoubt，DrFilgravesaid，thatitwasasMrsDraperhadsurmised。Thepoorladywassuffering，andhadforyearsbeensuffering，fromheart—complaint。Toherhusbandshehadneversaidawordonthesubject。ToMrsDraperawordhadbeensaidnowandagain——awordwhensomemomentoffearwouldcome，whensomesharpstrokeofagonywouldtellofdanger。ButMrsDraperhadkeptthesecretofhermistress，andnoneofthefamilyhadknownthattherewasaughttobefeared。DrFilgrave，indeed，didtellthebishopthathehaddreadedallalongexactlythatwhichhadhappened。HehadsaidthesametoMrRerechild，thesurgeon，whentheytwohadhadaconsultationatthepalaceontheoccasionofasomewhatalarmingbirthofagrandchild。ButhemixedupthisinformationwithsomuchmedicalLatin，andwassopompousoverit，andthebishopwassoanxioustoberidofhim，thathiswordsdidnothavemucheffect。Whatdiditallmatter？Thethornwasgone，andthewifewasdead，andthewidowermustbalancehisgainandthelossasbesthemight。
Hesleptwellbutwhenhewokeinthemorningthedrearinessofhislonelinesswasverystrongonhim。Hemustdosomething，andmustseesomebody，buthefeltthathedidnotknowhowtobearhimselfinhisnewposition。Hemustsendofcourseforhischaplain，andtellhischaplaintoopenalllettersandtoanswerthemforaweek。Thenherememberedhowmanyofhislettersindaysofyorehadbeenopenedandansweredbythehelpmate，whohadjustgonefromhim。SinceDrTempest’svisithehadinsistedthatthepalaceletter—bagshouldalwaysbebroughtinthefirstinstancetohim——andthishadbeendone，greatlytotheannoyanceofhiswife。Inorderthatitmightbedonethebishophadbeenupeverymorninganhourbeforetheusualtime；andeverybodyinthehouseholdhadknownwhyitwasso。Hethoughtofthisnowasthebagwasbroughttohimonthefirstmorningofhisfreedom。Hecouldhaveitwherehepleasednow——eitherinhisbedroomorleftforhimuntouchedonthebreakfast—tabletillheshouldgotoit。’BlessedbethenameoftheLord，’hesaidashethoughtofallthis；buthedidnotstoptoanalysewhathewassaying。Onthismorninghewouldnotenjoyhisliberty，butdesiredthattheletter—bagmightbetakentoMrSnapper，thechaplain。
ThenewsofMrsProudie’sdeathhadspreadalloverBarchesterontheeveningofitsoccurrence，andhadbeenreceivedwiththatfeelingofdistantawewhichisalwaysaccompaniedbysomedegreeofpleasurablesensation。TherewasnooneinBarchestertolamentamother，orasister，orafriendwhowasreallyloved。Therewerethose，doubtless，whoregrettedthewoman’sdeath——andevensomewhoregretteditwithoutanyfeelingofpersonaldamagedonetothemselves。TherehadcometobearoundMrsProudieapartywhothoughtasshethoughtonchurchmatters，andsuchpeoplehadlosttheirhead，andtherebytheirstrength。Andshehadbeenstaunchtoherownparty，preferringbadteafromalow—churchgrocer，togoodteafromagrocerwhowenttotheritualisticchurchortonochurchatall。Anditisduetohertosaythatshedidnotforgetthosewhoweretruetoher——lookingafterthemmindfullywherelookingaftermightbeprofitable，andfightingtheirbattleswherefightingmightbemoreserviceable。IdonotthinkthattheappetiteforbreakfastofanymanorwomaninBarchesterwasdisturbedbythenewsofMrsProudie’sdeath，butthereweresomewhofeltthatatroublehadfallenonthem。
TidingsofthecatastrophereachedHiram’sHospitalontheeveningofitsoccurrence——Hiram’sHospital，wheredweltMrandMrsQuiverfulwithalltheirchildren。NowMrsQuiverfulowedadebtofgratitudetoMrsProudie，h...完整阅读请扫描二维码下载丁香书院APP免费看：