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Jane Eyre-第122章

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yfully。 out i ran。 it was now dark; but a rumbling of wheels was audible。 hannah soon had a lantern lit。 the vehicle had stopped at the wicket; the driver opened the door: first one well…known form; then another; stepped out。 in a minute i had my face under their bonnets; in contact first with mary’s soft cheek; then with diana’s flowing curls。 they laughed—kissed me—then hannah: patted carlo; who was half wild with delight; asked eagerly if all was well; and being assured in the affirmative; hastened into the house。

they were stiff with their long and jolting drive from whitcross; and chilled with the frosty night air; but their pleasant countenances expanded to the cheerful firelight。 while the driver and hannah brought in the boxes; they demanded st。 john。 at this moment he advanced from the parlour。 they both threw their arms round his neck at once。 he gave each one quiet kiss; said in a low tone a few words of wele; stood a while to be talked to; and then; intimating that he supposed they would soon rejoin him in the parlour; withdrew there as to a place of refuge。

i had lit their candles to go upstairs; but diana had first to give hospitable orders respecting the driver; this done; both followed me。 they were delighted with the renovation and decorations of their rooms; with the new drapery; and fresh carpets; and rich tinted china vases: they expressed their gratification ungrudgingly。 i had the pleasure of feeling that my arrangements met their wishes exactly; and that what i had done added a vivid charm to their joyous return home。

sweet was that evening。 my cousins; full of exhilaration; were so eloquent in narrative and ment; that their fluency covered st。 john’s taciturnity: he was sincerely glad to see his sisters; but in their glow of fervour and flow of joy he could not sympathise。 the event of the day—that is; the return of diana and mary—pleased him; but the acpaniments of that event; the glad tumult; the garrulous glee of reception irked him: i saw he wished the calmer morrow was e。 in the very meridian of the night’s enjoyment; about an hour after tea; a rap was heard at the door。 hannah entered with the intimation that “a poor lad was e; at that unlikely time; to fetch mr。 rivers to see his mother; who was drawing away。”

“where does she live; hannah?”

“clear up at whitcross brow; almost four miles off; and moor and moss all the way。”

“tell him i will go。”

“i’m sure; sir; you had better not。 it’s the worst road to travel after dark that can be: there’s no track at all over the bog。 and then it is such a bitter night—the keenest wind you ever felt。 you had better send word; sir; that you will be there in the morning。”

but he was already in the passage; putting on his cloak; and without one objection; one murmur; he departed。 it was then nine o’clock: he did not return till midnight。 starved and tired enough he was: but he looked happier than when he set out。 he had performed an act of duty; made an exertion; felt his own strength to do and deny; and was on better terms with himself。

i am afraid the whole of the ensuing week tried his patience。 it was christmas week: we took to no settled employment; but spent it in a sort of merry domestic dissipation。 the air of the moors; the freedom of home; the dawn of prosperity; acted on diana and mary’s spirits like some life…giving elixir: they were gay from morning till noon; and from noon till night。 they could always talk; and their discourse; witty; pithy; original; had such charms for me; that i preferred listening to; and sharing in it; to doing anything else。 st。 john did not rebuke our vivacity; but he escaped from it: he was seldom in the house; his parish was large; the population scattered; and he found daily business in visiting the sick and poor in its different districts。

one morning at breakfast; diana; after looking a little pensive for some minutes; asked him; “if his plans were yet unchanged。”

“unchanged and unchangeable;” was the reply。 and he proceeded to inform us that his departure from england was now definitively fixed for the ensuing year。

“and rosamond oliver?” suggested mary; the words seeming to escape her lips involuntarily: for no sooner had she uttered them; than she made a gesture as if wishing to recall them。 st。 john had a book in his hand—it was his unsocial custom to read at meals—he closed it; and looked up;

“rosamond oliver;” said he; “is about to be married to mr。 granby; one of the best connected and most estimable residents in s…; grandson and heir to sir frederic granby: i had the intelligence from her father yesterday。”

his sisters looked at each other and at me; we all three looked at him: he was serene as glass。

“the match must have been got up hastily;” said diana: “they cannot have known each other long。”

“but two months: they met in october at the county ball at s…。 but where there are no obstacles to a union; as in the present case; where the connection is in every point desirable; delays are unnecessary: they will be married as soon as s… place; which sir frederic gives up to them; can he refitted for their reception。”

the first time i found st。 john alone after this munication; i felt tempted to inquire if the event distressed him: but he seemed so little to need sympathy; that; so far from venturing to offer him more; i experienced some shame at the recollection of what i had already hazarded。 besides; i was out of practice in talking to him: his reserve was again frozen over; and my frankness was congealed beneath it。 he had not kept his promise of treating me like his sisters; he continually made little chilling differences between us; which did not at all tend to the development of cordiality: in short; now that i was acknowledged his kinswoman; and lived under the same roof with him; i felt the distance between us to be far greater than when he had known me only as the village schoolmistress。 when i remembered how far i had once been admitted to his confidence; i could hardly prehend his present frigidity。

such being the case; i felt not a little surprised when he raised his head suddenly from the desk over which he wa
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