the trusty agent

edith went out alone that day, and returned home early. it was but a few minutes after ten o'clock, when her carriage rolled along the street in which she lived.

there was the same enforced composure on her face, that there had been when she was dressing; and the wreath upon her head encircled the same cold and steady brow. but it would have been better to have seen its leaves and flowers reft into fragments by her passionate hand, or rendered shapeless by the fitful searches of a throbbing and bewildered brain for any resting-place, than adorning such tranquillity. so obdurate, so unapproachable, so unrelenting, one would have thought that nothing could soften such a woman's nature, and that everything in life had hardened it.

arrived at her own door, she was alighting, when some one coming quietly from the hall, and standing bareheaded, offered her his arm. the servant being thrust aside, she had no choice but to touch it; and she then knew whose arm it was.

'how is your patient, sir?' she asked, with a curled lip.

'he is better,' returned carker. 'he is doing very well. i have left him for the night.'

she bent her head, and was passing up the staircase, when he followed and said, speaking at the bottom:

'madam! may i beg the favour of a minute's audience?'

she stopped and turned her eyes back 'it is an unseasonable time, sir, and i am fatigued. is your business urgent?'

'it is very urgent, returned carker. 'as i am so fortunate as to have met you, let me press my petition.'

she looked down for a moment at his glistening mouth; and he looked up at her, standing above him in her stately dress, and thought, again, how beautiful she was.

'where is miss dombey?' she asked the servant, aloud.

'in the morning room, ma'am.'

'show the way there!' turning her eyes again on the attentive gentleman at the bottom of the stairs, and informing him with a slight motion of her head, that he was at liberty to follow, she passed on.

'i beg your pardon! madam! mrs dombey!' cried the soft and nimble carker, at her side in a moment. 'may i be permitted to entreat that miss dombey is not present?'

she confronted him, with a quick look, but with the same self-possession and steadiness.

'i would spare miss dombey,' said carker, in a low voice, 'the knowledge of what i have to say. at least, madam, i would leave it to you to decide whether she shall know of it or not. i owe that to you. it is my bounden duty to you. after our former interview, it would be monstrous in me if i did otherwise.'

she slowly withdrew her eyes from his face, and turning to the servant, said, 'some other room.' he led the way to a drawing-room, which he speedily lighted up and then left them. while he remained, not a word was spoken. edith enthroned herself upon a couch by the fire; and mr carker, with his hat in his hand and his eyes bent upon the carpet, stood before her, at some little distance.

'before i hear you, sir,' said edith, when the door was closed, 'i wish you to hear me.'

'to be addressed by mrs dombey,' he returned, 'even in accents of unmerited reproach, is an honour i so greatly esteem, that although i were not her servant in all things, i should defer to such a wish, most readily.'

'if you are charged by the man whom you have just now left, sir;' mr carker raised his eyes, as if he were going to counterfeit surprise, but she met them, and stopped him, if such were his intention; 'with any message to me, do not attempt to deliver it, for i will not receive it. i need scarcely ask you if you are come on such an errand. i have expected you some time.

'it is my misfortune,' he replied, 'to be here, wholly against my will, for such a purpose. allow me to say that i am here for two purposes. that is one.'

'that one, sir,' she returned, 'is ended. or, if you return to it - '

'can mrs dombey believe,' said carker, coming nearer, 'that i would return to it in the face of her prohibition? is it possible that mrs dombey, having no regard to my unfortunate position, is so determined to consider me inseparable from my instructor as to do me great and wilful injustice?'

'sir,' returned edith, bending her dark gaze full upon him, and speaking with a rising passion that inflated her proud nostril and her swelling neck, and stirred the delicate white down upon a robe she wore, thrown loosely over shoulders that could hear its snowy neighbourhood. 'why do you present yourself to me, as you have done, and speak to me of love and duty to my husband, and pretend to think that i am happily married, and that i honour him? how dare you venture so to affront me, when you know - i do not know better, sir: i have seen it in your every glance, and heard it in your every word - that in place of affection between us there is aversion and contempt, and that i despise him hardly less than i despise myself for being his! injustice! if i had done justice to the torment you have made me feel, and to my sense of the insult you have put upon me, i should have slain you!'

she had asked him why he did this. had she not been blinded by her pride and wrath, and self-humiliation, - which she was, fiercely as she bent her gaze upon him, - she would have seen the answer in his face. to bring her to this declaration.

she saw it not, and cared not whether it was there or no. she saw only the indignities and struggles she had undergone and had to undergo, and was writhing under them. as she sat looking fixedly at them, rather than at him, she plucked the feathers from a pinion of some rare and beautiful bird, which hung from her wrist by a golden thread, to serve her as a fan, and rained them on the ground.

he did not shrink beneath her gaze, but stood, until such outward signs of her anger as had escaped her control subsided, with the air of a man who had his sufficient reply in reserve and would presently deliver it. and he then spoke, looking straight into her kindling eyes.

'madam,' he said, 'i know, and knew before to-day, that i have found no favour with you; and i knew why. yes. i knew why. you have spoken so openly to me; i am so relieved by the possession of your confidence - '

'confidence!' she repeated, with disdain.

he passed it over.

' - that i will make no pretence of concealment. i did see from the first, that there was no affection on your part for mr dombey - how could it possibly exist between such different subjects? and i have seen, since, that stronger feelings than indifference have been engendered in your breast - how could that possibly be otherwise, either, circumstanced as you have been? but was it for me to presume to avow this knowledge to you in so many words?'

'was it for you, sir,' she replied, 'to feign that other belief, and audaciously to thrust it on me day by day?'

'madam, it was,' he eagerly retorted. 'if i had done less, if i had done anything but that, i should not be speaking to you thus; and i foresaw - who could better foresee, for who has had greater experience of mr dombey than myself? - that unless your character should prove to be as yielding and obedient as that of his first submissive lady, which i did not believe - '

a haughty smile gave him reason to observe that he might repeat this.

'i say, which i did not believe, - the time was likely to come, when such an understanding as we have now arrived at, would be serviceable.'

'serviceable to whom, sir?' she demanded scornfully.

'to you. i will not add to myself, as warning me to refrain even from that limited commendation of mr dombey, in which i can honestly indulge, in order that i may not have the misfortune of saying anything distasteful to one whose aversion and contempt,' with great expression, 'are so keen.'

'is it honest in you, sir,' said edith, 'to confess to your "limited commendation," and to speak in that tone of disparagement, even of him: being his chief counsellor and flatterer!'

'counsellor, - yes,' said carker. 'flatterer, - no. a little reservation i fear i must confess to. but our interest and convenience commonly oblige many of us to make professions that we cannot feel. we have partnerships of interest and convenience, friendships of interest and convenience, dealings of interest and convenience, marriages of interest and convenience, every day.'

she bit her blood-red lip; but without wavering in the dark, stern watch she kept upon him.

'madam,' said mr carker, sitting down in a chair that was near her, with an air of the most profound and most considerate respect, 'why should i hesitate now, being altogether devoted to your service, to speak plainly? it was natural that a lady, endowed as you are, should think it feasible to change her husband's character in some respects, and mould him to a better form.'

'it was not natural to me, sir,' she rejoined. 'i had never any expectation or intention of that kind.'

the proud undaunted face showed him it was resolute to wear no mask he offered, but was set upon a reckless disclosure of itself, indifferent to any aspect in which it might present itself to such as he.

'at least it was natural,' he resumed, 'that you should deem it quite possible to live with mr dombey as his wife, at once without submitting to him, and without coming into such violent collision with him. but, madam, you did not know mr dombey (as you have since ascertained), when you thought that. you did not know how exacting and how proud he is, or how he is, if i may say so, the slave of his own greatness, and goes yoked to his own triumphal car like a beast of burden, with no idea on earth but that it is behind him and is to be drawn on, over everything and through everything.'

his teeth gleamed through his malicious relish of this conceit, as he went on talking:

'mr dombey is really capable of no more true consideration for you, madam, than for me. the comparison is an extreme one; i intend it to be so; but quite just. mr dombey, in the plenitude of his power, asked me - i had it from his own lips yesterday morning - to be his go-between to you, because he knows i am not agreeable to you, and because he intends that i shall be a punishment for your contumacy; and besides that, because he really does consider, that i, his paid servant, am an ambassador whom it is derogatory to the dignity - not of the lady to whom i have the happiness of speaking; she has no existence in his mind - but of his wife, a part of himself, to receive. you may imagine how regardless of me, how obtuse to the possibility of my having any individual sentiment or opinion he is, when he tells me, openly, that i am so employed. you know how perfectly indifferent to your feelings he is, when he threatens you with such a messenger. as you, of course, have not forgotten that he did.'

she watched him still attentively. but he watched her too; and he saw that this indication of a knowledge on his part, of something that had passed between herself and her husband, rankled and smarted in her haughty breast, like a poisoned arrow.

'i do not recall all this to widen the breach between yourself and mr dombey, madam - heaven forbid! what would it profit me? - but as an example of the hopelessness of impressing mr dombey with a sense that anybody is to be considered when he is in question. we who are about him, have, in our various positions, done our part, i daresay, to confirm him in his way of thinking; but if we had not done so, others would - or they would not have been about him; and it has always been, from the beginning, the very staple of his life. mr dombey has had to deal, in short, with none but submissive and dependent persons, who have bowed the knee, and bent the neck, before him. he has never known what it is to have angry pride and strong resentment opposed to him.'

'but he will know it now!' she seemed to say; though her lips did not part, nor her eyes falter. he saw the soft down tremble once again, and he saw her lay the plumage of the beautiful bird against her bosom for a moment; and he unfolded one more ring of the coil into which he had gathered himself.

'mr dombey, though a most honourable gentleman,' he said, 'is so prone to pervert even facts to his own view, when he is at all opposed, in consequence of the warp in his mind, that he - can i give a better instance than this! - he sincerely believes (you will excuse the folly of what i am about to say; it not being mine) that his severe expression of opinion to his present wife, on a certain special occasion she may remember, before the lamented death of mrs skewton, produced a withering effect, and for the moment quite subdued her!'

edith laughed. how harshly and unmusically need not be described. it is enough that he was glad to hear her.

'madam,' he resumed, 'i have done with this. your own opinions are so strong, and, i am persuaded, so unalterable,' he repeated those words slowly and with great emphasis, 'that i am almost afraid to incur your displeasure anew, when i say that in spite of these defects and my full knowledge of them, i have become habituated to mr dombey, and esteem him. but when i say so, it is not, believe me, for the mere sake of vaunting a feeling that is so utterly at variance with your own, and for which you can have no sympathy' - oh how distinct and plain and emphasized this was! - 'but to give you an assurance of the zeal with which, in this unhappy matter, i am yours, and the indignation with which i regard the part i am to fill!'

she sat as if she were afraid to take her eyes from his face.

and now to unwind the last ring of the coil!

'it is growing late,' said carker, after a pause, 'and you are, as you said, fatigued. but the second object of this interview, i must not forget. i must recommend you, i must entreat you in the most earnest manner, for sufficient reasons that i have, to be cautious in your demonstrations of regard for miss dombey.'

'cautious! what do you mean?'

'to be careful how you exhibit too much affection for that young lady.'

'too much affection, sir!' said edith, knitting her broad brow and rising. 'who judges my affection, or measures it out? you?'

'it is not i who do so.' he was, or feigned to be, perplexed.

'who then?'

'can you not guess who then?'

'i do not choose to guess,' she answered.

'madam,' he said after a little hesitation; meantime they had been, and still were, regarding each other as before; 'i am in a difficulty here. you have told me you will receive no message, and you have forbidden me to return to that subject; but the two subjects are so closely entwined, i find, that unless you will accept this vague caution from one who has now the honour to possess your confidence, though the way to it has been through your displeasure, i must violate the injunction you have laid upon me.'

'you know that you are free to do so, sir,' said edith. 'do it.'

so pale, so trembling, so impassioned! he had not miscalculated the effect then!

'his instructions were,' he said, in a low voice, 'that i should inform you that your demeanour towards miss dombey is not agreeable to him. that it suggests comparisons to him which are not favourable to himself. that he desires it may be wholly changed; and that if you are in earnest, he is confident it will be; for your continued show of affection will not benefit its object.'

'that is a threat,' she said.

'that is a threat,' he answered, in his voiceless manner of assent: adding aloud, 'but not directed against you.'

proud, erect, and dignified, as she stood confronting him; and looking through him as she did, with her full bright flashing eye; and smiling, as she was, with scorn and bitterness; she sunk as if the ground had dropped beneath her, and in an instant would have fallen on the floor, but that he caught her in his arms. as instantaneously she threw him off, the moment that he touched her, and, drawing back, confronted him again, immoveable, with her hand stretched out.

'please to leave me. say no more to-night.'

'i feel the urgency of this,' said mr carker, 'because it is impossible to say what unforeseen consequences might arise, or how soon, from your being unacquainted with his state of mind. i understand miss dombey is concerned, now, at the dismissal of her old servant, which is likely to have been a minor consequence in itself. you don't blame me for requesting that miss dombey might not be present. may i hope so?'

'i do not. please to leave me, sir.'

'i knew that your regard for the young lady, which is very sincere and strong, i am well persuaded, would render it a great unhappiness to you, ever to be a prey to the reflection that you had injured her position and ruined her future hopes,' said carker hurriedly, but eagerly.

'no more to-night. leave me, if you please.'

'i shall be here constantly in my attendance upon him, and in the transaction of business matters. you will allow me to see you again, and to consult what should be done, and learn your wishes?'

she motioned him towards the door.

'i cannot even decide whether to tell him i have spoken to you yet; or to lead him to suppose that i have deferred doing so, for want of opportunity, or for any other reason. it will be necessary that you should enable me to consult with you very soon.

'at any time but now,' she answered.

'you will understand, when i wish to see you, that miss dombey is not to be present; and that i seek an interview as one who has the happiness to possess your confidence, and who comes to render you every assistance in his power, and, perhaps, on many occasions, to ward off evil from her?'

looking at him still with the same apparent dread of releasing him for a moment from the influence of her steady gaze, whatever that might be, she answered, 'yes!' and once more bade him go.

he bowed, as if in compliance; but turning back, when he had nearly reached the door, said:

'i am forgiven, and have explained my fault. may i - for miss dombey's sake, and for my own - take your hand before i go?'

she gave him the gloved hand she had maimed last night. he took it in one of his, and kissed it, and withdrew. and when he had closed the door, he waved the hand with which he had taken hers, and thrust it in his breast.

edith saw no one that night, but locked her door, and kept herself

alone.

she did not weep; she showed no greater agitation, outwardly, than when she was riding home. she laid as proud a head upon her pillow as she had borne in her carriage; and her prayer ran thus:

'may this man be a liar! for if he has spoken truth, she is lost to me, and i have no hope left!'

this man, meanwhile, went home musing to bed, thinking, with a dainty pleasure, how imperious her passion was, how she had sat before him in her beauty, with the dark eyes that had never turned away but once; how the white down had fluttered; how the bird's feathers had been strewn upon the ground.

那天伊迪丝独自一人出去，回家得早。只不过十点零几分钟，她的马车就往回开进了她所居住的街道。

她的脸上仍然保持着她先前化妆时同样故意装出的镇静，她头上的花环依旧环绕在同样冷静的、沉着的前额上。可是如果能够看到这些叶片和花朵被她激动易怒的手撕得粉碎，或者被她颤动的、不知所措的头在寻找休息的地方时破坏得不成样子的话，那么这倒要比它们装饰这平静的前额更好一些。这女人是这样执拗，这样难以接近，这样不屈不挠，因此人们会认为，什么也不能使她的性格温柔下来，生活中的一切只是使它变得更为强硬。

她到达门口，正要从马车里下来的时候，有一个人不声不响地从前厅中走出来，没有戴帽，站在那里，向她伸过手来。仆人已被他推开；她没有别的选择；只好扶着它，这时候她才知道这是谁的手。

“您的病人怎样了，先生？”她轻蔑地撇着嘴，问道。

“他好些了，”卡克回答道，“他恢复得很不错。那天晚上我就离开他了。”

她低下头，正沿着楼梯往上走去的时候，他跟在后面，在楼梯底下说道：

“夫人！我是否可以请求您接见一分钟？”

她停下脚步，回过头来。“现在不是个合适的时间，先生，我也累了。您的事情紧急吗？”

“很紧急，”卡克回答道，“既然我已很幸运地遇见了您，请允许我重复我的请求吧。”

她向下往他闪闪发光的嘴巴看了一会儿，他则向上望着穿着豪华的服装、站在上面的她，心里又想着，她是多么美丽啊。

“董贝小姐在哪里？”她大声地问仆人道。

“在起居室里，夫人。”

“领到那里去！”她又把眼睛转向楼梯底下向她注视着的先生，轻轻地点了点头，表示允许他在后面跟着，然后她继续向前走去。

“请原谅！夫人！董贝夫人！”曲意奉承、动作敏捷的卡克喊道，他在片刻之间就走在她的身边，“您是否允许我请求别让董贝小姐在场？”

她很快地看了她一眼，但仍跟先前一样保持着沉着镇静的态度。

“我不想让董贝小姐听到我所要说的话，”卡克低声说道，“至少，我想由您来决定她是不是要知道这些话的内容。我这是为了您着想。这是我对您应尽的责任。从我们上次会晤以后，如果我不这样做，那就荒谬了。”

她把眼光从他脸上慢慢地移开，转向仆人，说道，“领到别的房间去。”仆人把他们领到一间会客室里，迅速地点了灯，然后离开了。当仆人还在房间里的时候，他们一个字也没有说。伊迪丝威严地坐在壁炉旁的长沙发椅上；卡克先生，手里拿着帽子，眼睛向下看着地毯，稍稍隔开一点距离，站在她的前面。

“在我听您说之前，先生，”当门关上之后，伊迪丝说道，“我希望您先听我说。”

“能听到董贝夫人对我说话，”他回答道，“即使是对我进行我不应当受到的谴责，我也认为是极大的光荣；虽然我在各方面都不是她的仆人，但我也十分心甘情愿地服从她的这个愿望。”

“如果您刚才离开的那个人委托您来向我传递口讯的话，先生，”卡克先生抬起眼睛，仿佛想要装出惊奇的样子，但是她的眼光和他的相遇了；如果他想讲话的话，她也迫使他不能开口，“那么就别打算说了，因为我不会听它。我没有必要问您是不是为了这个差使到这里来的。最近几天我正等待着您。”

“为了这样的目的到这里来，完全违背我自己的意愿，这是我的不幸。”他回答道，“请允许我说，我到这里来有两个目的。那是其中的一个。”

“那个目的已经完结了，先生，”她回答道，“如果您要回到那个目的——”

“难道董贝夫人认为，我会违背她的禁令回到那个目的上去吗？”卡克走近一些，说道，“难道董贝夫人可能毫不考虑我的不幸处境，决心把我看成是跟向我发号施令的人不可分离的，因此故意极不公道地对待我吗？”

“先生，”伊迪丝用阴沉的眼光注视着他，愈来愈激动地说着；她的高傲的鼻孔张开了，发涨的脖子变得更粗大了，她所穿的一件长衣上的精致的白色的绒毛颤抖着，那件长衣不在意地披在她的肩膀上，她的肩膀是完全配得上与这白雪般的绒毛为邻的。“您为什么一直来要在我面前扮演这种角色，跟我谈什么对我丈夫的爱情与责任，还假装出您相信我的婚姻是幸福的，我是尊敬他的？您明明知道——您并不比我不清楚，先生，我从您的每一道眼光中看到这一点，从您所说的每一个字中听到这一点——，我们两人之间没有爱情，只有厌恶与轻蔑，我蔑视他的程度并不低于我由于从属于他而蔑视我自己的程度；您明明知道这些，为什么却还敢于这样侮辱我？不公道！如果我公道地对待您使我感受到的痛苦的话，如果我公道地对待您施加给我的侮辱的话，那么我应当把您杀了才好！”

她问他过去为什么要这样做。如果她不是被她的高傲、愤怒与自卑感蒙蔽了自己的眼睛的话——尽管她恶狠狠地看着他，但是她还是被蒙蔽住了——，那么她是能从他的脸上看到答复的。现在她表白了她的意见，要求他回答。

她看不到这个答复，也不理会他脸部的表情中是不是有这个答复。她只回想起她所忍受过和必须忍受的侮辱，回想起她所进行过和必须进行的思想斗争，并正因此而感到痛苦。

当她一动不动地回想起这些感情，而好像不是注视着他的时候，她从一只珍奇的、美丽的鸟儿的翅膀（它由一根金线悬挂在她的手腕上，作为扇子）上拔下羽毛，让它们像雨点般飘落在地上。

他在她的注视下没有退缩，而是保持着一个能够作出使人充分满意的答复而且可以立即作出这种答复的人的姿态，站在那里，直到她所无法控制的愤怒的表面迹象消退为止。这时候，他直望着她的冒着火星的眼睛，说道：

“夫人，”他说道，“我明白，在今天以前就明白，我没有得到您的好感，我也明白是什么原因。是的，我明白是什么原因。您这样直言不讳地对我谈话，我得到您的这种信任，心中觉得很宽慰——”

“信任！”她轻蔑地重复着说道。

他没有理会这一点。

“——我不打算隐瞒真情。是的，我从一开始确实就看出您对董贝先生没有爱情——它怎么可能在两个截然不同的人之间存在呢？我已经看到，在您心中产生了比漠不关心更为强烈的感情——在您那样的处境下，又怎么可能不这样呢？可是我用许多话冒昧地向您声称我知道这些情况，这是适当的吗？”

“那么，先生，”她回答道，“您过去假装出相信另外一种情形的样子，一天天厚颜无耻地故意在我面前摆弄，这是适当的吗？”

“是的，夫人，这是适当的，”他急切地答辩道，“如果以前我不是这样做，如果我是另外一种做法的话，那么我就不会像现在这样对您说了。而且我预见到——我与董贝先生相处的经验比谁都多，有谁能比我更好地预见到呢？——除非您的性格显得像他第一位恭顺的夫人那样百依百顺、唯命是从——而这一点我是不相信的——”

一个傲慢的微笑使他明白：他可以重复这些话。

“我说，这一点我是不相信的，是的，我预见到，总有一天我们是会像现在这样取得谅解的，而这种谅解是有益的。”

“对谁有益，先生？”她轻蔑地问道。

“对您。我不想说对我也有益，因为我警告过我自己，千万不要对董贝先生进行甚至是有限度的赞扬（我能正直地进行这种赞扬），以免对一位怀有如此强烈的厌恶与轻蔑情绪的人说出任何没趣的话来。”他富于表情地说道。

“先生，”伊迪丝说道，“您是他首要的顾问和谄媚者，您现在表白您对他进行‘有限度的赞扬’，甚至使用了轻蔑的语气，您这是正直的吗？”

“我是他的顾问，这不错，”卡克说道，“说我是他的诌媚者，这却不是。也许我应当承认我不是个毫无隐讳的人。我们当中许多人为了谋求自身的利益与方便，通常不得不表白一些我们实际并未体验过的感情。我们每天都有谋求利益与方便的伙伴关系，谋求利益与方便的友谊，谋求利益与方便的交易，谋求利益与方便的婚姻。”

她咬住血红的嘴唇，但依旧用阴沉的、严厉的眼光注视着他。

“夫人，”卡克先生在挨近她的一张椅子中坐下，用极为谦恭、极为关切的态度说道，“既然我是完全忠实地为您效劳的，为什么现在我要迟疑不决、不痛痛快快地说呢？自然，像您这样天赋卓越的夫人，认为把她丈夫的性格的某些方面加以改变，改造得更好一些，是可以做得到的。”

“对我来说，这不是自然的，先生，”她回答道，“我从来不曾有过这种期望或意图。”

高傲的、毫无畏惧的脸孔向他表明：她坚决不戴他所献上的假面具，而准备不顾一切地暴露她的真实面貌；对于她在他这样一个人面前会以什么样的面貌出现，她毫不在乎。

“至少这是自然的，”他继续说道，“您认为您完全可能作为妻子跟董贝先生生活在一起，既不服从他，同时又不跟他发生激烈的冲突。可是，夫人，如果您这样想的话，那么您还是不了解董贝先生（正如从那时以来您所已确信的），您不了解，他的要求是多么苛刻，他是多么高傲，或者，如果我可以这么说的话，他已成为他自己高贵身份的什么样的奴隶，像一匹驮兽一样，被套在他自己的凯旋车中，向前走着，心中只有一个念头，就是凯旋车就在他的身后，需要他越过一切，穿过一切向前拉。”

当他继续说下去的时候，他的牙齿由于恶意地品尝着这种高傲自负的滋味而闪发出亮光。

“董贝先生确实不能真正关怀您，夫人，就像不能真正关怀我一样。这样的对比是走到极端了——我故意作这样的对比——，但却是十分正确的。董贝先生运用他的赫赫权势，要求我成为他和您的中间人，这是他昨天亲口对我说的；他提出这个要求是因为他知道我不是您所喜欢的人，是因为他有意使我成为您抗拒他的一种惩罚，而且还因为他确实认为，我是由他支付薪金的一名奴仆；接见像我这样的一位使者，并不是有损于一位我有幸与她谈话的夫人的尊严（在他的心目中并不存在这样一位夫人），而只不过是有损于成为他本人一部分的他的妻子的尊严而已。您可以想象，当他直率地告诉我，把这个任务交给我来办的时候，他是多么不尊重我，多么不考虑我是否还有个人的情感或意见啊。您知道，当他用这样一个传话人来威胁您的时候，他对您的感情是多么完全漠不关心啊。当然，您没有忘记他做过的事情。”

她仍然专心致志地注视着他。但是他也注视着她；他看到，他对他所知道的她跟她丈夫之间发生的某些事情的这番暗示，像一支毒箭一样，刺伤了她傲慢的心胸，使它疼痛。

“我回顾这一切并不是想要扩大您和董贝先生之间的裂口，夫人，——上天不允许！这对我有什么好处呢？——而只不过是想举例说明，当涉及到董贝先生的时候，要想使他心里考虑考虑别人，是多么没有希望的事情。我敢说，我们这些在他周围的人，都在不同的地位上，尽了我们的一分力量，来加强他的这种思想方法；可是如果我们不这样做，其他的人也会这样做，要不然他们不会待在他的周围。从一开始，这一直是他生命的要素。总之，董贝先生只跟那些顺从他的人、依赖他的人打交道，这些人在他面前俯首听命，屈膝下跪。他从来不知道跟他对抗的愤怒的高傲与强烈的怨恨是什么。”

“可是现在他将会知道了！”她好像要这么说，虽然她的嘴唇没有张开，她的眼睛没有闪动。他看到，那柔软的绒毛又一次颤抖了；他看到，她把那只美丽的鸟儿的翅膀在胸前放了片刻；他从他蜷缩进去的线圈中又放出了一圈线。

“董贝先生虽然是一位极为可敬的绅士，”他说道，“但是当他心里所想的不符合实际的时候，他却动不动歪曲事实，按照他自己的观点来进行解释。比方说，——我能举出比这更好的例子吗？——在斯丘顿夫人逝世以前，他有一次对他现在的妻子曾经提出过严厉的意见（她可能会记得这一次吧），他真心相信（请原谅我将说出的话是多么愚蠢；它们并不是由于我的愚蠢而说出的），他的这些意见已经产生了使她畏缩的效果，他那时已使她完全屈服了！”

伊迪丝大笑起来。用不着去描写那笑声是多么刺耳，多么缺乏优美的声调。只要说他喜欢听到她笑，这就足够了。

“夫人，”他继续说道，“我这就说完了。您本人的见解是那么卓越，而且我相信，是那么不可改变，”他慢吞吞地，加重语气地重复着这些话语，“所以当我说，尽管董贝先生有这些缺点，我也很了解这些缺点，但我对他已逐渐习惯，而且尊敬他的时候，我几乎担心这又要引起您的不高兴了。但是，请相信我，我这样说的时候，我并不是为了要在您面前夸耀一种跟您本人的感情完全格格不入、也不会博得您同情的感情，”——啊，这是说得多么清楚、明白啊，还加重了语气呢！——“而是为了使您确信：在这件不幸的事情中，我是您多么热诚的奴仆，我对要求我来扮演的角色是感到多么愤慨啊！”

她仿佛害怕把眼睛从他脸上移开似地坐着。

好，现在该把线圈中的最后一圈放出去了！

“时间很晚了，”卡克沉默了一会儿之后，说道，“您说您也累了。但是我不应当忘记这次会晤的第二个目的。我应当劝告您，我应当用最恳切的态度请求您——我是有充分理由这样做的——，您在向董贝小姐显示关怀的时候千万要谨慎。”

“谨慎！您这话是什么意思？”

“请您小心，别向那位小姐表露出过分的慈爱。”

“过分的慈爱，先生！”伊迪丝站起来，说道，她宽阔的前额皱了起来。“谁来评判我的慈爱或衡量它的多少？是您吗？”

“不是我做这件事。”他露出或装出为难的神色。

“那么是谁？”

“难道您猜不出是谁吗？”

“我不想猜，”她回答道。

“夫人，”他稍稍迟疑了一下之后，说道；这时候他们仍旧像先前一样彼此注视着；“我现在处境困难。您对我说过，您将不接受我传递的任何口信，您禁止我回到这个话题上去，但是我感到这两个话题是这样紧密地相互联系着，所以除非您从一个虽然事前曾引起您的不快、但现在终于荣幸地得到您的信任的人那里接受这个含糊不清的警告，否则，我就必须违犯您对我所下的禁令了。”

“您知道，您现在可以随意这样做，先生，”伊迪丝说道，“说吧。”

她是那么苍白，那么颤抖，那么激动！看来他对结果没有估计错！

“他的指示是，”他低声说道，“我应当通知您，您对董贝小姐的态度使他不愉快。它启发他进行比较，这种比较对他是不利的。他希望完全改变这种情形；如果您认真对待这件事，那么他相信情形将会完全改变，因为您继续显示慈爱，是不会给您慈爱的对象带来益处的。”

“这是威胁，”她说道。

“这是威胁，”他无声地表示同意，回答道，接着大声说道，“但不是针对您的。”

她高傲地、坚毅地、尊严地站在他面前，用睁得大大的眼睛逼视着他，轻蔑地、痛苦地微笑着；突然间，她垂头丧气，仿佛脚底下的地面已经塌陷下去似的，要不是他用胳膊抱住她，她就会倒在地板上了。他刚一接触到她，她就立即把他推开，向后退却，然后伸出一只手，又一动不动地站在他面前。

“请离开我吧。今天晚上别再说什么了。”

“我感到这一个使命十分紧迫，”卡克先生说道，“因为如果您不了解他的心情的话，那么就很难说会在多么短促的时间里，发生什么样预见不到的后果。我知道，董贝小姐现在由于她的老仆人被解雇而感到悲伤，这件事情本身很可能就是一个小小的后果，您不责怪我先前请求董贝小姐不要在场了吧？我可以指望这一点吗？”

“我不责怪您。请离开我吧，先生。”

“我知道您对那位小姐的关怀是很真诚很深切的；我深信，这种关怀将使您陷入很大的不幸；每当您想到您已损害了她的地位，毁灭了她未来的希望的时候，您内心将永远感到痛苦。”卡克急忙地，然而热切地说道。

“今天晚上不再说什么了。对不起，请离开吧。”

“我将经常不断地到这里来侍候他和处理一些业务上的事情。您允许我跟您再见一次面，商量商量应当做什么，并了解一下您的愿望，好吗？”

她对他指着门。

“我甚至打不定主意，究意是把我跟您谈的话告诉他呢，还是让他猜想我由于没找到机会或由于其他原因，把这次谈话推迟了。您应当让我很快就来跟您商量。这是必要的。”

“除了现在，什么时候都行，”她回答道。

“您知道，当我想见您的时候，董贝小姐请不要在场。我请求您允许我作为一位有幸得到您的信任、想给您提供各种力所能及的援助、也许在好多情况下想使她避开灾祸的人来跟您会晤一次好吗？”

她像先前一样望着他，好像显然害怕把他从她目不转睛的注视中放开片刻似的；不论情况是否如此，她回答道，“好吧！”，并再一次请他离开。

他好像遵从她的意愿似地鞠了躬；但是当他就要走到门边的时候，他转过身来，说道：

“我得到了宽恕，并且已经解释了我的过失，看在董贝小姐的面上，也看在我的面上，我在离开之前可不可以接触一下您的手？”

她把带了手套的手递给他，这只手就是昨夜被她打伤了的。他把它握在他的一只手中，吻了吻，离开了。当他关上门之后，他挥摇着他握过她的手的那只手，然后把它藏进胸间。