the thunderbolt

the barrier between mr dombey and his wife was not weakened by time. ill-assorted couple, unhappy in themselves and in each other, bound together by no tie but the manacle that joined their fettered hands, and straining that so harshly, in their shrinking asunder, that it wore and chafed to the bone, time, consoler of affliction and softener of anger, could do nothing to help them. their pride, however different in kind and object, was equal in degree; and, in their flinty opposition, struck out fire between them which might smoulder or might blaze, as circumstances were, but burned up everything within their mutual reach, and made their marriage way a road of ashes.

let us be just to him. in the monstrous delusion of his life, swelling with every grain of sand that shifted in its glass, he urged her on, he little thought to what, or considered how; but still his feeling towards her, such as it was, remained as at first. she had the grand demerit of unaccountably putting herself in opposition to the recognition of his vast importance, and to the acknowledgment of her complete submission to it, and so far it was necessary to correct and reduce her; but otherwise he still considered her, in his cold way, a lady capable of doing honour, if she would, to his choice and name, and of reflecting credit on his proprietorship.

now, she, with all her might of passionate and proud resentment, bent her dark glance from day to day, and hour to hour - from that night in her own chamber, when she had sat gazing at the shadows on the wall, to the deeper night fast coming - upon one figure directing a crowd of humiliations and exasperations against her; and that figure, still her husband's.

was mr dombey's master-vice, that ruled him so inexorably, an unnatural characteristic? it might be worthwhile, sometimes, to inquire what nature is, and how men work to change her, and whether, in the enforced distortions so produced, it is not natural to be unnatural. coop any son or daughter of our mighty mother within narrow range, and bind the prisoner to one idea, and foster it by servile worship of it on the part of the few timid or designing people standing round, and what is nature to the willing captive who has never risen up upon the wings of a free mind - drooping and useless soon - to see her in her comprehensive truth!

alas! are there so few things in the world, about us, most unnatural, and yet most natural in being so? hear the magistrate or judge admonish the unnatural outcasts of society; unnatural in brutal habits, unnatural in want of decency, unnatural in losing and confounding all distinctions between good and evil; unnatural in ignorance, in vice, in recklessness, in contumacy, in mind, in looks, in everything. but follow the good clergyman or doctor, who, with his life imperilled at every breath he draws, goes down into their dens, lying within the echoes of our carriage wheels and daily tread upon the pavement stones. look round upon the world of odious sights - millions of immortal creatures have no other world on earth - at the lightest mention of which humanity revolts, and dainty delicacy living in the next street, stops her ears, and lisps 'i don't believe it!' breathe the polluted air, foul with every impurity that is poisonous to health and life; and have every sense, conferred upon our race for its delight and happiness, offended, sickened and disgusted, and made a channel by which misery and death alone can enter. vainly attempt to think of any simple plant, or flower, or wholesome weed, that, set in this foetid bed, could have its natural growth, or put its little leaves off to the sun as god designed it. and then, calling up some ghastly child, with stunted form and wicked face, hold forth on its unnatural sinfulness, and lament its being, so early, far away from heaven - but think a little of its having been conceived, and born and bred, in hell!

those who study the physical sciences, and bring them to bear upon the health of man, tell us that if the noxious particles that rise from vitiated air were palpable to the sight, we should see them lowering in a dense black cloud above such haunts, and rolling slowly on to corrupt the better portions of a town. but if the moral pestilence that rises with them, and in the eternal laws of our nature, is inseparable from them, could be made discernible too, how terrible the revelation! then should we see depravity, impiety, drunkenness, theft, murder, and a long train of nameless sins against the natural affections and repulsions of mankind, overhanging the devoted spots, and creeping on, to blight the innocent and spread contagion among the pure. then should we see how the same poisoned fountains that flow into our hospitals and lazar-houses, inundate the jails, and make the convict-ships swim deep, and roll across the seas, and over-run vast continents with crime. then should we stand appalled to know, that where we generate disease to strike our children down and entail itself on unborn generations, there also we breed, by the same certain process, infancy that knows no innocence, youth without modesty or shame, maturity that is mature in nothing but in suffering and guilt, blasted old age that is a scandal on the form we bear. unnatural humanity! when we shall gather grapes from thorns, and figs from thistles; when fields of grain shall spring up from the offal in the bye-ways of our wicked cities, and roses bloom in the fat churchyards that they cherish; then we may look for natural humanity, and find it growing from such seed.

oh for a good spirit who would take the house-tops off, with a mole potent and benignant hand than the lame demon in the tale, and show a christian people what dark shapes issue from amidst their homes, to swell the retinue of the destroying angel as he moves forth among them! for only one night's view of the pale phantoms rising from the scenes of our too-long neglect; and from the thick and sullen air where vice and fever propagate together, raining the tremendous social retributions which are ever pouring down, and ever coming thicker! bright and blest the morning that should rise on such a night: for men, delayed no more by stumbling-blocks of their own making, which are but specks of dust upon the path between them and eternity, would then apply themselves, like creatures of one common origin, owing one duty to the father of one family, and tending to one common end, to make the world a better place!

not the less bright and blest would that day be for rousing some who never have looked out upon the world of human life around them, to a knowledge of their own relation to it, and for making them acquainted with a perversion of nature in their own contracted sympathies and estimates; as great, and yet as natural in its development when once begun, as the lowest degradation known.'

but no such day had ever dawned on mr dombey, or his wife; and the course of each was taken.

through six months that ensued upon his accident, they held the same relations one towards the other. a marble rock could not have stood more obdurately in his way than she; and no chilled spring, lying uncheered by any ray of light in the depths of a deep cave, could be more sullen or more cold than he.

the hope that had fluttered within her when the promise of her new home dawned, was quite gone from the heart of florence now. that home was nearly two years old; and even the patient trust that was in her, could not survive the daily blight of such experience. if she had any lingering fancy in the nature of hope left, that edith and her father might be happier together, in some distant time, she had none, now, that her father would ever love her. the little interval in which she had imagined that she saw some small relenting in him, was forgotten in the long remembrance of his coldness since and before, or only remembered as a sorrowful delusion.

florence loved him still, but, by degrees, had come to love him rather as some dear one who had been, or who might have been, than as the hard reality before her eyes. something of the softened sadness with which she loved the memory of little paul, or of her mother, seemed to enter now into her thoughts of him, and to make them, as it were, a dear remembrance. whether it was that he was dead to her, and that partly for this reason, partly for his share in those old objects of her affection, and partly for the long association of him with hopes that were withered and tendernesses he had frozen, she could not have told; but the father whom she loved began to be a vague and dreamy idea to her: hardly more substantially connected with her real life, than the image she would sometimes conjure up, of her dear brother yet alive, and growing to be a man, who would protect and cherish her.

the change, if it may be called one, had stolen on her like the change from childhood to womanhood, and had come with it. florence was almost seventeen, when, in her lonely musings, she was conscious of these thoughts.'

she was often alone now, for the old association between her and her mama was greatly changed. at the time of her father's accident, and when he was lying in his room downstairs, florence had first observed that edith avoided her. wounded and shocked, and yet unable to reconcile this with her affection when they did meet, she sought her in her own room at night, once more.

'mama,' said florence, stealing softly to her side, 'have i offended you?'

edith answered 'no.'

'i must have done something,' said florence. 'tell me what it is. you have changed your manner to me, dear mama. i cannot say how instantly i feel the least change; for i love you with my whole heart.'

'as i do you,' said edith. 'ah, florence, believe me never more than now!'

'why do you go away from me so often, and keep away?' asked florence. 'and why do you sometimes look so strangely on me, dear mama? you do so, do you not?'

edith signified assent with her dark eyes.

'why?' returned florence imploringly. 'tell me why, that i may know how to please you better; and tell me this shall not be so any more.

'my florence,' answered edith, taking the hand that embraced her neck, and looking into the eyes that looked into hers so lovingly, as florence knelt upon the ground before her; 'why it is, i cannot tell you. it is neither for me to say, nor you to hear; but that it is, and that it must be, i know. should i do it if i did not?'

'are we to be estranged, mama?' asked florence, gazing at her like one frightened.

edith's silent lips formed 'yes.'

florence looked at her with increasing fear and wonder, until she could see her no more through the blinding tears that ran down her face.

'florence! my life!' said edith, hurriedly, 'listen to me. i cannot bear to see this grief. be calmer. you see that i am composed, and is it nothing to me?'

she resumed her steady voice and manner as she said the latter words, and added presently:

'not wholly estranged. partially: and only that, in appearance, florence, for in my own breast i am still the same to you, and ever will be. but what i do is not done for myself.'

'is it for me, mama?' asked florence.

'it is enough,' said edith, after a pause, 'to know what it is; why, matters little. dear florence, it is better - it is necessary - it must be - that our association should be less frequent. the confidence there has been between us must be broken off.'

'when?' cried florence. 'oh, mama, when?'

'now,' said edith.

'for all time to come?' asked florence.

'i do not say that,' answered edith. 'i do not know that. nor will i say that companionship between us is, at the best, an ill-assorted and unholy union, of which i might have known no good could come. my way here has been through paths that you will never tread, and my way henceforth may lie - god knows - i do not see it - '

her voice died away into silence; and she sat, looking at florence, and almost shrinking from her, with the same strange dread and wild avoidance that florence had noticed once before. the same dark pride and rage succeeded, sweeping over her form and features like an angry chord across the strings of a wild harp. but no softness or humility ensued on that. she did not lay her head down now, and weep, and say that she had no hope but in florence. she held it up as if she were a beautiful medusa, looking on him, face to face, to strike him dead. yes, and she would have done it, if she had had the charm.

'mama,' said florence, anxiously, 'there is a change in you, in more than what you say to me, which alarms me. let me stay with you a little.'

'no,' said edith, 'no, dearest. i am best left alone now, and i do best to keep apart from you, of all else. ask me no questions, but believe that what i am when i seem fickle or capricious to you, i am not of my own will, or for myself. believe, though we are stranger to each other than we have been, that i am unchanged to you within. forgive me for having ever darkened your dark home - i am a shadow on it, i know well - and let us never speak of this again.'

'mama,' sobbed florence, 'we are not to part?'

'we do this that we may not part,' said edith. 'ask no more. go, florence! my love and my remorse go with you!'

she embraced her, and dismissed her; and as florence passed out of her room, edith looked on the retiring figure, as if her good angel went out in that form, and left her to the haughty and indignant passions that now claimed her for their own, and set their seal upon her brow.

from that hour, florence and she were, as they had been, no more. for days together, they would seldom meet, except at table, and when mr dombey was present. then edith, imperious, inflexible, and silent, never looked at her. whenever mr carker was of the party, as he often was, during the progress of mr dombey's recovery, and afterwards, edith held herself more removed from her, and was more distant towards her, than at other times. yet she and florence never encountered, when there was no one by, but she would embrace her as affectionately as of old, though not with the same relenting of her proud aspect; and often, when she had been out late, she would steal up to florence's room, as she had been used to do, in the dark, and whisper 'good-night,' on her pillow. when unconscious, in her slumber, of such visits, florence would sometimes awake, as from a dream of those words, softly spoken, and would seem to feel the touch of lips upon her face. but less and less often as the months went on.

and now the void in florence's own heart began again, indeed, to make a solitude around her. as the image of the father whom she loved had insensibly become a mere abstraction, so edith, following the fate of all the rest about whom her affections had entwined themselves, was fleeting, fading, growing paler in the distance, every day. little by little, she receded from florence, like the retiring ghost of what she had been; little by little, the chasm between them widened and seemed deeper; little by little, all the power of earnestness and tenderness she had shown, was frozen up in the bold, angry hardihood with which she stood, upon the brink of a deep precipice unseen by florence, daring to look down.

there was but one consideration to set against the heavy loss of edith, and though it was slight comfort to her burdened heart, she tried to think it some relief. no longer divided between her affection and duty to the two, florence could love both and do no injustice to either. as shadows of her fond imagination, she could give them equal place in her own bosom, and wrong them with no doubts

so she tried to do. at times, and often too, wondering speculations on the cause of this change in edith, would obtrude themselves upon her mind and frighten her; but in the calm of its abandonment once more to silent grief and loneliness, it was not a curious mind. florence had only to remember that her star of promise was clouded in the general gloom that hung upon the house, and to weep and be resigned.

thus living, in a dream wherein the overflowing love of her young heart expended itself on airy forms, and in a real world where she had experienced little but the rolling back of that strong tide upon itself, florence grew to be seventeen. timid and retiring as her solitary life had made her, it had not embittered her sweet temper, or her earnest nature. a child in innocent simplicity; a woman m her modest self-reliance, and her deep intensity of feeling; both child and woman seemed at once expressed in her face and fragile delicacy of shape, and gracefully to mingle there; - as if the spring should be unwilling to depart when summer came, and sought to blend the earlier beauties of the flowers with their bloom. but in her thrilling voice, in her calm eyes, sometimes in a sage ethereal light that seemed to rest upon her head, and always in a certain pensive air upon her beauty, there was an expression, such as had been seen in the dead boy; and the council in the servants' hall whispered so among themselves, and shook their heads, and ate and drank the more, in a closer bond of good-fellowship.

this observant body had plenty to say of mr and mrs dombey, and of mr carker, who appeared to be a mediator between them, and who came and went as if he were trying to make peace, but never could. they all deplored the uncomfortable state of affairs, and all agreed that mrs pipchin (whose unpopularity was not to be surpassed) had some hand in it; but, upon the whole, it was agreeable to have so good a subject for a rallying point, and they made a great deal of it, and enjoyed themselves very much.

the general visitors who came to the house, and those among whom mr and mrs dombey visited, thought it a pretty equal match, as to haughtiness, at all events, and thought nothing more about it. the young lady with the back did not appear for some time after mrs skewton's death; observing to some particular friends, with her usual engaging little scream, that she couldn't separate the family from a notion of tombstones, and horrors of that sort; but when she did come, she saw nothing wrong, except mr dombey's wearing a bunch of gold seals to his watch, which shocked her very much, as an exploded superstition. this youthful fascinator considered a daughter-in-law objectionable in principle; otherwise, she had nothing to say against florence, but that she sadly wanted 'style' - which might mean back, perhaps. many, who only came to the house on state occasions, hardly knew who florence was, and said, going home, 'indeed, was that miss dombey, in the corner? very pretty, but a little delicate and thoughtful in appearance!'

none the less so, certainly, for her life of the last six months. florence took her seat at the dinner-table, on the day before the second anniversary of her father's marriage to edith (mrs skewton had been lying stricken with paralysis when the first came round), with an uneasiness, amounting to dread. she had no other warrant for it, than the occasion, the expression of her father's face, in the hasty glance she caught of it, and the presence of mr carker, which, always unpleasant to her, was more so on this day, than she had ever felt it before.

edith was richly dressed, for she and mr dombey were engaged in the evening to some large assembly, and the dinner-hour that day was late. she did not appear until they were seated at table, when mr carker rose and led her to her chair. beautiful and lustrous as she was, there was that in her face and air which seemed to separate her hopelessly from florence, and from everyone, for ever more. and yet, for an instant, florence saw a beam of kindness in her eyes, when they were turned on her, that made the distance to which she had withdrawn herself, a greater cause of sorrow and regret than ever.

there was very little said at dinner. florence heard her father speak to mr carker sometimes on business matters, and heard him softly reply, but she paid little attention to what they said, and only wished the dinner at an end. when the dessert was placed upon the table, and they were left alone, with no servant in attendance, mr dombey, who had been several times clearing his throat in a manner that augured no good, said:

'mrs dombey, you know, i suppose, that i have instructed the housekeeper that there will be some company to dinner here to-morrow.

'i do not dine at home,' she answered.

'not a large party,' pursued mr dombey, with an indifferent assumption of not having heard her; 'merely some twelve or fourteen. my sister, major bagstock, and some others whom you know but slightly.'

i do not dine at home,' she repeated.

'however doubtful reason i may have, mrs dombey,' said mr dombey, still going majestically on, as if she had not spoken, 'to hold the occasion in very pleasant remembrance just now, there are appearances in these things which must be maintained before the world. if you have no respect for yourself, mrs dombey - '

'i have none,' she said.

'madam,' cried mr dombey, striking his hand upon the table, 'hear me if you please. i say, if you have no respect for yourself - '

'and i say i have none,' she answered.

he looked at her; but the face she showed him in return would not have changed, if death itself had looked.

'carker,' said mr dombey, turning more quietly to that gentleman, 'as you have been my medium of communication with mrs dombey on former occasions, and as i choose to preserve the decencies of life, so far as i am individually concerned, i will trouble you to have the goodness to inform mrs dombey that if she has no respect for herself, i have some respect for myself, and therefore insist on my arrangements for to-morrow.

'tell your sovereign master, sir,' said edith, 'that i will take leave to speak to him on this subject by-and-bye, and that i will speak to him alone.'

'mr carker, madam,' said her husband, 'being in possession of the reason which obliges me to refuse you that privilege, shall be absolved from the delivery of any such message.' he saw her eyes move, while he spoke, and followed them with his own.

'your daughter is present, sir,' said edith.

'my daughter will remain present,' said mr dombey.

florence, who had risen, sat down again, hiding her face in her hands, and trembling.

'my daughter, madam' - began mr dombey.

but edith stopped him, in a voice which, although not raised in the least, was so clear, emphatic, and distinct, that it might have been heard in a whirlwind.

'i tell you i will speak to you alone,' she said. 'if you are not mad, heed what i say.'

'i have authority to speak to you, madam,' returned her husband, 'when and where i please; and it is my pleasure to speak here and now.'

she rose up as if to leave the room; but sat down again, and looking at him with all outward composure, said, in the same voice:

'you shall!'

'i must tell you first, that there is a threatening appearance in your manner, madam,' said mr dombey, 'which does not become you.

she laughed. the shaken diamonds in her hair started and trembled. there are fables of precious stones that would turn pale, their wearer being in danger. had these been such, their imprisoned rays of light would have taken flight that moment, and they would have been as dull as lead.

carker listened, with his eyes cast down.

'as to my daughter, madam,' said mr dombey, resuming the thread of his discourse, 'it is by no means inconsistent with her duty to me, that she should know what conduct to avoid. at present you are a very strong example to her of this kind, and i hope she may profit by it.'

'i would not stop you now,' returned his wife, immoveable in eye, and voice, and attitude; 'i would not rise and go away, and save you the utterance of one word, if the room were burning.'

mr dombey moved his head, as if in a sarcastic acknowledgment of the attention, and resumed. but not with so much self-possession as before; for edith's quick uneasiness in reference to florence, and edith's indifference to him and his censure, chafed and galled him like a stiffening wound.

'mrs dombey,' said he, 'it may not be inconsistent with my daughter's improvement to know how very much to be lamented, and how necessary to be corrected, a stubborn disposition is, especially when it is indulged in - unthankfully indulged in, i will add - after the gratification of ambition and interest. both of which, i believe, had some share in inducing you to occupy your present station at this board.'

'no! i would not rise, and go away, and save you the utterance of one word,' she repeated, exactly as before, 'if the room were burning.'

'it may be natural enough, mrs dombey,' he pursued, 'that you should be uneasy in the presence of any auditors of these disagreeable truths; though why' - he could not hide his real feeling here, or keep his eyes from glancing gloomily at florence - 'why anyone can give them greater force and point than myself, whom they so nearly concern, i do not pretend to understand. it may be natural enough that you should object to hear, in anybody's presence, that there is a rebellious principle within you which you cannot curb too soon; which you must curb, mrs dombey; and which, i regret to say, i remember to have seen manifested - with some doubt and displeasure, on more than one occasion before our marriage - towards your deceased mother. but you have the remedy in your own hands. i by no means forgot, when i began, that my daughter was present, mrs dombey. i beg you will not forget, to-morrow, that there are several persons present; and that, with some regard to appearances, you will receive your company in a becoming manner.

'so it is not enough,' said edith, 'that you know what has passed between yourself and me; it is not enough that you can look here,' pointing at carker, who still listened, with his eyes cast down, 'and be reminded of the affronts you have put upon me; it is not enough that you can look here,' pointing to florence with a hand that slightly trembled for the first and only time, 'and think of what you have done, and of the ingenious agony, daily, hourly, constant, you have made me feel in doing it; it is not enough that this day, of all others in the year, is memorable to me for a struggle (well-deserved, but not conceivable by such as you) in which i wish i had died! you add to all this, do you, the last crowning meanness of making her a witness of the depth to which i have fallen; when you know that you have made me sacrifice to her peace, the only gentle feeling and interest of my life, when you know that for her sake, i would now if i could - but i can not, my soul recoils from you too much - submit myself wholly to your will, and be the meekest vassal that you have!'

this was not the way to minister to mr dombey's greatness. the old feeling was roused by what she said, into a stronger and fiercer existence than it had ever had. again, his neglected child, at this rough passage of his life, put forth by even this rebellious woman, as powerful where he was powerless, and everything where he was nothing!

he turned on florence, as if it were she who had spoken, and bade her leave the room. florence with her covered face obeyed, trembling and weeping as she went.

'i understand, madam,' said mr dombey, with an angry flush of triumph, 'the spirit of opposition that turned your affections in that channel, but they have been met, mrs dombey; they have been met, and turned back!'

'the worse for you!' she answered, with her voice and manner still unchanged. 'ay!' for he turned sharply when she said so, 'what is the worse for me, is twenty million times the worse for you. heed that, if you heed nothing else.'

the arch of diamonds spanning her dark hair, flashed and glittered like a starry bridge. there was no warning in them, or they would have turned as dull and dim as tarnished honour. carker still sat and listened, with his eyes cast down.

'mrs dombey,' said mr dombey, resuming as much as he could of his arrogant composure, 'you will not conciliate me, or turn me from any purpose, by this course of conduct.'

'it is the only true although it is a faint expression of what is within me,' she replied. 'but if i thought it would conciliate you, i would repress it, if it were repressible by any human effort. i will do nothing that you ask.'

'i am not accustomed to ask, mrs dombey,' he observed; 'i direct.'

'i will hold no place in your house to-morrow, or on any recurrence of to-morrow. i will be exhibited to no one, as the refractory slave you purchased, such a time. if i kept my marriage day, i would keep it as a day of shame. self-respect! appearances before the world! what are these to me? you have done all you can to make them nothing to me, and they are nothing.'

'carker,' said mr dombey, speaking with knitted brows, and after a moment's consideration, 'mrs dombey is so forgetful of herself and me in all this, and places me in a position so unsuited to my character, that i must bring this state of matters to a close.'

'release me, then,' said edith, immoveable in voice, in look, and bearing, as she had been throughout, 'from the chain by which i am bound. let me go.'

'madam?' exclaimed mr dombey.

'loose me. set me free!'

'madam?' he repeated, 'mrs dombey?'

'tell him,' said edith, addressing her proud face to carker, 'that i wish for a separation between us, that there had better be one. that i recommend it to him, tell him it may take place on his own terms - his wealth is nothing to me - but that it cannot be too soon.'

'good heaven, mrs dombey!' said her husband, with supreme amazement, 'do you imagine it possible that i could ever listen to such a proposition? do you know who i am, madam? do you know what i represent? did you ever hear of dombey and son? people to say that mr dombey - mr dombey! - was separated from his wife! common people to talk of mr dombey and his domestic affairs! do you seriously think, mrs dombey, that i would permit my name to be banded about in such connexion? pooh, pooh, madam! fie for shame! you're absurd.' mr dombey absolutely laughed.

but not as she did. she had better have been dead than laugh as she did, in reply, with her intent look fixed upon him. he had better have been dead, than sitting there, in his magnificence, to hear her.

'no, mrs dombey,' he resumed. 'no, madam. there is no possibility of separation between you and me, and therefore i the more advise you to be awakened to a sense of duty. and, carker, as i was about to say to you -

mr carker, who had sat and listened all this time, now raised his eyes, in which there was a bright unusual light'

as i was about to say to you, resumed mr dombey, 'i must beg you, now that matters have come to this, to inform mrs dombey, that it is not the rule of my life to allow myself to be thwarted by anybody - anybody, carker - or to suffer anybody to be paraded as a stronger motive for obedience in those who owe obedience to me than i am my self. the mention that has been made of my daughter, and the use that is made of my daughter, in opposition to me, are unnatural. whether my daughter is in actual concert with mrs dombey, i do not know, and do not care; but after what mrs dombey has said today, and my daughter has heard to-day, i beg you to make known to mrs dombey, that if she continues to make this house the scene of contention it has become, i shall consider my daughter responsible in some degree, on that lady's own avowal, and shall visit her with my severe displeasure. mrs dombey has asked "whether it is not enough," that she had done this and that. you will please to answer no, it is not enough.'

'a moment!' cried carker, interposing, 'permit me! painful as my position is, at the best, and unusually painful in seeming to entertain a different opinion from you,' addressing mr dombey, 'i must ask, had you not better reconsider the question of a separation. i know how incompatible it appears with your high public position, and i know how determined you are when you give mrs dombey to understand' - the light in his eyes fell upon her as he separated his words each from each, with the distinctness of so many bells - 'that nothing but death can ever part you. nothing else. but when you consider that mrs dombey, by living in this house, and making it as you have said, a scene of contention, not only has her part in that contention, but compromises miss dombey every day (for i know how determined you are), will you not relieve her from a continual irritation of spirit, and a continual sense of being unjust to another, almost intolerable? does this not seem like - i do not say it is - sacrificing mrs dombey to the preservation of your preeminent and unassailable position?'

again the light in his eyes fell upon her, as she stood looking at her husband: now with an extraordinary and awful smile upon her face.

'carker,' returned mr dombey, with a supercilious frown, and in a tone that was intended to be final, 'you mistake your position in offering advice to me on such a point, and you mistake me (i am surprised to find) in the character of your advice. i have no more to say.

'perhaps,' said carker, with an unusual and indefinable taunt in his air, 'you mistook my position, when you honoured me with the negotiations in which i have been engaged here' - with a motion of his hand towards mrs dombey.

'not at all, sir, not at all,' returned the other haughtily. 'you were employed - '

'being an inferior person, for the humiliation of mrs dombey. i forgot' oh, yes, it was expressly understood!' said carker. 'i beg your pardon!'

as he bent his head to mr dombey, with an air of deference that accorded ill with his words, though they were humbly spoken, he moved it round towards her, and kept his watching eyes that way.

she had better have turned hideous and dropped dead, than have stood up with such a smile upon her face, in such a fallen spirit's majesty of scorn and beauty. she lifted her hand to the tiara of bright jewels radiant on her head, and, plucking it off with a force that dragged and strained her rich black hair with heedless cruelty, and brought it tumbling wildly on her shoulders, cast the gems upon the ground. from each arm, she unclasped a diamond bracelet, flung it down, and trod upon the glittering heap. without a word, without a shadow on the fire of her bright eye, without abatement of her awful smile, she looked on mr dombey to the last, in moving to the door; and left him.

florence had heard enough before quitting the room, to know that edith loved her yet; that she had suffered for her sake; and that she had kept her sacrifices quiet, lest they should trouble her peace. she did not want to speak to her of this - she could not, remembering to whom she was opposed - but she wished, in one silent and affectionate embrace, to assure her that she felt it all, and thanked her.

her father went out alone, that evening, and florence issuing from her own chamber soon afterwards, went about the house in search of. edith, but unavailingly. she was in her own rooms, where florence had long ceased to go, and did not dare to venture now, lest she should unconsciously engender new trouble. still florence hoping to meet her before going to bed, changed from room to room, and wandered through the house so splendid and so dreary, without remaining anywhere.

she was crossing a gallery of communication that opened at some little distance on the staircase, and was only lighted on great occasions, when she saw, through the opening, which was an arch, the figure of a man coming down some few stairs opposite. instinctively apprehensive of her father, whom she supposed it was, she stopped, in the dark, gazing through the arch into the light. but it was mr carker coming down alone, and looking over the railing into the hall. no bell was rung to announce his departure, and no servant was in attendance. he went down quietly, opened the door for himself, glided out, and shut it softly after him.

her invincible repugnance to this man, and perhaps the stealthy act of watching anyone, which, even under such innocent circumstances, is in a manner guilty and oppressive, made florence shake from head to foot. her blood seemed to run cold. as soon as she could - for at first she felt an insurmountable dread of moving - she went quickly to her own room and locked her door; but even then, shut in with her dog beside her, felt a chill sensation of horror, as if there were danger brooding somewhere near her.

it invaded her dreams and disturbed the whole night. rising in the morning, unrefreshed, and with a heavy recollection of the domestic unhappiness of the preceding day, she sought edith again in all the rooms, and did so, from time to time, all the morning. but she remained in her own chamber, and florence saw nothing of her. learning, however, that the projected dinner at home was put off, florence thought it likely that she would go out in the evening to fulfil the engagement she had spoken of; and resolved to try and meet her, then, upon the staircase.

when the evening had set in, she heard, from the room in which she sat on purpose, a footstep on the stairs that she thought to be edith's. hurrying out, and up towards her room, florence met her immediately, coming down alone.

what was florence's affright and wonder when, at sight of her, with her tearful face, and outstretched arms, edith recoiled and shrieked!

'don't come near me!' she cried. 'keep away! let me go by!'

'mama!' said florence.

'don't call me by that name! don't speak to me! don't look at me! - florence!' shrinking back, as florence moved a step towards her, 'don't touch me!'

as florence stood transfixed before the haggard face and staring eyes, she noted, as in a dream, that edith spread her hands over them, and shuddering through all her form, and crouching down against the wall, crawled by her like some lower animal, sprang up, and fled away.

florence dropped upon the stairs in a swoon; and was found there by mrs pipchin, she supposed. she knew nothing more, until she found herself lying on her own bed, with mrs pipchin and some servants standing round her.

'where is mama?' was her first question.

'gone out to dinner,' said mrs pipchin.

'and papa?'

'mr dombey is in his own room, miss dombey,' said mrs pipchin, 'and the best thing you can do, is to take off your things and go to bed this minute.' this was the sagacious woman's remedy for all complaints, particularly lowness of spirits, and inability to sleep; for which offences, many young victims in the days of the brighton castle had been committed to bed at ten o'clock in the morning.

without promising obedience, but on the plea of desiring to be very quiet, florence disengaged herself, as soon as she could, from the ministration of mrs pipchin and her attendants. left alone, she thought of what had happened on the staircase, at first in doubt of its reality; then with tears; then with an indescribable and terrible alarm, like that she had felt the night before.

she determined not to go to bed until edith returned, and if she could not speak to her, at least to be sure that she was safe at home. what indistinct and shadowy dread moved florence to this resolution, she did not know, and did not dare to think. she only knew that until edith came back, there was no repose for her aching head or throbbing heart.

the evening deepened into night; midnight came; no edith.

florence could not read, or rest a moment. she paced her own room, opened the door and paced the staircase-gallery outside, looked out of window on the night, listened to the wind blowing and the rain falling, sat down and watched the faces in the fire, got up and watched the moon flying like a storm-driven ship through the sea of clouds.

all the house was gone to bed, except two servants who were waiting the return of their mistress, downstairs.

one o'clock. the carriages that rumbled in the distance, turned away, or stopped short, or went past; the silence gradually deepened, and was more and more rarely broken, save by a rush of wind or sweep of rain. two o'clock. no edith!

florence, more agitated, paced her room; and paced the gallery outside; and looked out at the night, blurred and wavy with the raindrops on the glass, and the tears in her own eyes; and looked up at the hurry in the sky, so different from the repose below, and yet so tranquil and solitary. three o'clock! there was a terror in every ash that dropped out of the fire. no edith yet.

more and more agitated, florence paced her room, and paced the gallery, and looked out at the moon with a new fancy of her likeness to a pale fugitive hurrying away and hiding her guilty face. four struck! five! no edith yet.

but now there was some cautious stir in the house; and florence found that mrs pipchin had been awakened by one of those who sat up, had risen and had gone down to her father's door. stealing lower down the stairs, and observing what passed, she saw her father come out in his morning gown, and start when he was told his wife had not come home. he dispatched a messenger to the stables to inquire whether the coachman was there; and while the man was gone, dressed himself very hurriedly.

the man came back, in great haste, bringing the coachman with him, who said he had been at home and in bed, since ten o'clock. he had driven his mistress to her old house in brook street, where she had been met by mr carker -

florence stood upon the very spot where she had seen him coming down. again she shivered with the nameless terror of that sight, and had hardly steadiness enough to hear and understand what followed.

- who had told him, the man went on to say, that his mistress would not want the carriage to go home in; and had dismissed him.

she saw her father turn white in the face, and heard him ask in a quick, trembling voice, for mrs dombey's maid. the whole house was roused; for she was there, in a moment, very pale too, and speaking incoherently.

she said she had dressed her mistress early - full two hours before she went out - and had been told, as she often was, that she would not be wanted at night. she had just come from her mistress's rooms, but -

'but what! what was it?' florence heard her father demand like a madman.

'but the inner dressing-room was locked and the key gone.'

her father seized a candle that was flaming on the ground - someone had put it down there, and forgotten it - and came running upstairs with such fury, that florence, in her fear, had hardly time to fly before him. she heard him striking in the door, as she ran on, with her hands widely spread, and her hair streaming, and her face like a distracted person's, back to her own room.

when the door yielded, and he rushed in, what did he see there? no one knew. but thrown down in a costly mass upon the ground, was every ornament she had had, since she had been his wife; every dress she had worn; and everything she had possessed. this was the room in which he had seen, in yonder mirror, the proud face discard him. this was the room in which he had wondered, idly, how these things would look when he should see them next!

heaping them back into the drawers, and locking them up in a rage of haste, he saw some papers on the table. the deed of settlement he had executed on their marriage, and a letter. he read that she was gone. he read that he was dishonoured. he read that she had fled, upon her shameful wedding-day, with the man whom he had chosen for her humiliation; and he tore out of the room, and out of the house, with a frantic idea of finding her yet, at the place to which she had been taken, and beating all trace of beauty out of the triumphant face with his bare hand.

florence, not knowing what she did, put on a shawl and bonnet, in a dream of running through the streets until she found edith, and then clasping her in her arms, to save and bring her back. but when she hurried out upon the staircase, and saw the frightened servants going up and down with lights, and whispering together, and falling away from her father as he passed down, she awoke to a sense of her own powerlessness; and hiding in one of the great rooms that had been made gorgeous for this, felt as if her heart would burst with grief.

compassion for her father was the first distinct emotion that made head against the flood of sorrow which overwhelmed her. her constant nature turned to him in his distress, as fervently and faithfully, as if, in his prosperity, he had been the embodiment of that idea which had gradually become so faint and dim. although she did not know, otherwise than through the suggestions of a shapeless fear, the full extent of his calamity, he stood before her, wronged and deserted; and again her yearning love impelled her to his side.

he was not long away; for florence was yet weeping in the great room and nourishing these thoughts, when she heard him come back. he ordered the servants to set about their ordinary occupations, and went into his own apartment, where he trod so heavily that she could hear him walking up and down from end to end.

yielding at once to the impulse of her affection, timid at all other times, but bold in its truth to him in his adversity, and undaunted by past repulse, florence, dressed as she was, hurried downstairs. as she set her light foot in the hall, he came out of his room. she hastened towards him unchecked, with her arms stretched out, and crying 'oh dear, dear papa!' as if she would have clasped him round the neck.

and so she would have done. but in his frenzy, he lifted up his cruel arm, and struck her, crosswise, with that heaviness, that she tottered on the marble floor; and as he dealt the blow, he told her what edith was, and bade her follow her, since they had always been in league.

she did not sink down at his feet; she did not shut out the sight of him with her trembling hands; she did not weep; she did not utter one word of reproach. but she looked at him, and a cry of desolation issued from her heart. for as she looked, she saw him murdering that fond idea to which she had held in spite of him. she saw his cruelty, neglect, and hatred dominant above it, and stamping it down. she saw she had no father upon earth, and ran out, orphaned, from his house.

ran out of his house. a moment, and her hand was on the lock, the cry was on her lips, his face was there, made paler by the yellow candles hastily put down and guttering away, and by the daylight coming in above the door. another moment, and the close darkness of the shut-up house (forgotten to be opened, though it was long since day) yielded to the unexpected glare and freedom of the morning; and florence, with her head bent down to hide her agony of tears, was in the streets.

时间没有减少董贝先生和他的妻子之间的障碍。搭配错了的两口子，不论是他们本人，还是他们彼此之间的关系，都是不幸的；把他们联结在一起的，除了束缚他们双手的手铐之外，没有别的东西，在他们想挣脱开的时候，链条被拉得紧紧的，擦伤和磨破了他们的骨头。时间这个苦恼的安慰者与愤怒的缓和者，对他们无能为力，无法给予任何帮助。他们的高傲不论在性质和对象方面多么不同，但在程度上却是相等的；在他们毫不相让的敌对状态中，他们的高傲就像燧石一样，在他们之间打出火花来；它随着不同情况，时而闷火慢燃，时而炽烈地燃烧，但全都把他们相互能接触到的一切东西焚毁无遗，使他们结婚的旅程成为一条撒满灰烬的道路。

让我们公正地对待他。他的生活的怪异的迷误，随着滴进沙漏1中去的每一粒沙子而扩展起来；在这种迷误中，他驱赶着她往前跑，很少想一下要驱赶到什么目的地去，或者她怎样去；然而他对她的感情却仍然跟最初的时候一样。在他看来，她的极大的缺点在于：她莫名其妙地拒绝承认他的重要地位，拒绝完全服从他；因此有必要纠正她，征服她；但是在别的方面，他仍然以他冷静的态度，把她看作是一位能对他的选择与名望增添光彩、一位能给她的所有主带来体面的夫人。

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1沙漏是古时一种计时的器具。

在她这方面呢，那天夜里她曾坐在自己的卧室中，注视着墙上的影子，一直坐到很快来临的深夜；从那天夜里起，她怀着激烈与高傲的怨恨，一天又一天，一小时又一小时，用阴沉的眼光注视着一个人影儿指挥着一群羞辱与愤怒化身的影子来反对她；这个人影儿仍然是她丈夫的。

无情地主宰着董贝先生的主要恶习是不是一种违反天性的特性？也许有时值得问一下：天性是什么？人们怎样设法去改变它？由于这种强行扭曲的结果，违反天性是不是不自然的？把我们伟大的大自然母亲的任何儿子或女儿关进狭窄的笼子里，强迫囚人接受一个思想，并用周围懦怯或奸诈的人们对它奴颜婢膝、顶礼膜拜的态度来培育这种思想，在这种情况下，有些甘心充当俘囚的人们，从来不曾凭借自由思想的翅膀（它很快就衰弱不振，毫无用处了）站起来看一看大自然的完备无缺的真实面貌；对于这些俘囚们，天性算是什么呢？

唉！在世界上，在我们四周，最违反天性、但却最自然的事难道还很少吗？让我们听一听行政长官或法官告诫那些被社会所摒弃的违反天性的人们吧！他们在野兽般的习惯方面违反天性，在缺乏端庄方面违反天性，在愚昧无知方面、在恶习方面、在轻率方面、在顽抗方面、在精神方面、在外貌方面、在一切方面都违反天性。可是让我们再跟随着善良的牧师或医生（他们每吸进一口空气，生命都遭受到危险），去到这些人们所居住的像野兽洞穴般狭小而肮脏的房屋里看看吧，我们马车车轮的辚辚声和人们踩过马路石头的脚步声每天都传到那里。让我们再看一看他们四周充满了可憎情景的世界吧——几百万不死的人们除了这个世界之外，在地面上没有其他的世界了——，只要稍稍提到它，就会激起人性的反感；住在邻近街道上的优美与高雅的仙女就会捂住耳朵，说：“我不相信这！”让我们呼吸呼吸那被各种不洁的物质所污染的空气吧，这些不洁的物质对健康与生命是有毒害的。让原本是为了快乐与幸福而授予我们人类的每一种感觉遭到凌辱、厌恶与唾弃吧；只有不幸与死亡才能进入我们感觉的通道。要想让栽培在发臭的苗圃中的任何简单的植物、花卉或药草，像上帝有意安排的那样，自然地生长起来，或迎着阳光，把它的小叶子伸展开来，这是徒劳的尝试。然而，当我们回想起某个身材发育不全、脸上神色邪恶的可怕的孩子的时候，让我们对他那违反天性的罪恶大发议论，哀叹他在这样早的年龄就远远地背离了天国吧，可是让我们也稍稍想一下，他是在地狱中被怀孕、出生与抚养大的啊！

那些研究自然科学并探索它们对人类健康产生影响的人们告诉我们：从污浊的空气中取得的有毒的微粒如果能够被眼睛看见的话，那么我们将看到它们像浓密的乌云一般悬浮在这些人们栖息场所的上面，然后逐渐蔓延开来，使一个城镇中较好的区域也受到毒害。伤风败德的品行是与这些有毒的微粒一起发生的，而且，在违反大自然的永恒的规律的支配下与它们是分不开的，可是如果这些伤风败德的品行也是可以看得清楚的话，那么那该是何等可怕的暴露啊！那样一来，我们就将会看到腐化堕落、不信上帝、酩酊大醉、偷窃、暗杀和一系列违反自然感情的无名的罪过和人类所嫌恶的事情在这些注定要遭殃的地方发生，并慢慢地扩散开来，去摧残那些无辜的人们，并在那些纯洁的人们中间传染病毒。那样一来，我们就将看到这些有毒的泉水怎样流进我们的医院和麻风病院，淹没监狱，并让运载罪犯的船只吃水深深地行驶，漂洋过海，使罪恶在广阔的大陆上猖獗为害。那时候，我们知道：我们产生的疾病已摧残了我们的孩子们，并遗传给还没有出生的今后的世世代代；那时候我们知道，由于同样的确凿的作用，我们养育了毫不纯洁天真的婴儿、不知谦逊与羞耻的青年、除了受苦与犯罪之外什么也不成熟的壮年人，以及成为人类形体耻辱的讨厌的老年人；当我们知道这些情况的时候，我们将会惊吓得毛骨悚然。违反天性的人类哟！当我们将从荆棘中采摘葡萄，从大蓟中采集无花果的时候，当谷物从我们荒淫的城市的小路的垃圾中生长出来，玫瑰在它们所喜爱的肥沃的教堂墓地上开花的时候，我们就可以寻找符合天性的人类，并发现他们就是从这些种子中生长出来的了。

啊，如果有什么善良的精灵用一只比故事中瘸腿的魔鬼1更有力更仁慈的手把屋顶掀开，向一个基督教徒指明，当他在他们中间走动时，什么样黑暗的形体会从他们的家里走出来，参加到毁坏天使的随从的队伍中去，那将会怎样啊！啊，如果仅仅在一夜的时间中看到这些苍白的鬼怪从那些我们忽视过久的地方走出来，从恶习与热病一起传播的浓密与阴沉的天空中走出来，把可怕的社会报应像雨一般永远不停地、愈来愈大地倾泻下来，那将会怎样啊！经过这样一夜之后出现的早晨将会是明亮与幸福的，因为人们将不再受他们自己所设置的绊脚石的障碍，这些绊脚石只不过是他们通向永恒的道路上的几粒尘埃罢了；那时候他们将像出于同一个根源、对同一个家庭的父亲负有同一个责任、并为一个共同的目的而努力的人们一样，专心致志地把这个世界建设成为一个更好的地方！

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1瘸腿的魔鬼：法国作家勒萨日（lesage）的小说《瘸腿的魔鬼》中的魔鬼；他把屋顶掀开，看到了房屋中的各种罪恶。

这一天将是光明与幸福的，还因为对于那些从来不曾注意周围人类生活的世界的人们来说，这一天将唤醒他们认识到他们自己与它的关系；这一天将在他们面前展现出在他们自己偏狭的同情与估价中天性被扭曲的情形；这种扭曲一旦开始，在它的发展过程中，就会像降落到最低层的堕落一样显著，然而又同样自然。

可是这样一天的曙光始终没有照射到董贝先生和妻子身上；他们各走各的道路。

在他发生不幸事故之后的六个月中，他们之间的关系没有发生任何变化。大理石的岩石也不能比她更顽固地阻挡他的道路。岩洞深处丝毫照不到阳光的冰冷的泉水也不能比他更阴沉、更冷冰冰的了。

当建立一个新的家庭的前景开始出现的时候弗洛伦斯心中曾经升起的希望，现在已完全消失了。这个家庭建立已有近两年之久了，甚至连她耐性的期待也经受不住每天这种冷酷经验的摧残。如果说在她心中还存有一线希望：在某个遥远的将来伊迪丝跟她父亲有一天将会一起过着幸福的生活的话，那么她现在对她父亲有一天会爱她的希望是丝毫也没有了。有一段短短的时间，她曾以为她看到他变得宽厚起来了，但现在，她在对他在这前后冷淡态度的长久的记忆中，这段时间已被忘记了；即使记起来，也仅仅被看作是一个令人悲哀的错觉而已。

弗洛伦斯仍然爱他，但是渐渐地把他当作一个曾经是或可能是她的一个亲人去爱，而不是把他当作一个出现在她眼前的冷酷的人物去爱。他喜欢回忆小保罗或她母亲时所怀有的某种已经减轻了的悲哀现在似乎进入了她对他的思念之中，而且使这种思念成为仿佛是一种亲切的回忆。她说不出为什么她所爱的父亲对她已成为一种模糊不清的、像梦一般的概念——是不是因为他对她来说已经死去了，还是因为一方面他跟这些她过去所热爱的对象有关，另一方面她的现已消逝的希望以及她的遭到他冷酷对待的亲切感情与他长久地联系在一起的缘故。有时在她的想象中，她的弟弟仍然活着，而且已长成为一个男子汉，爱着她并保护着她；父亲这个模糊不清的概念跟她的现实生活实质上的联系几乎不超过她想象中的这个已长成为男子汉的弟弟。

她的这个变化（如果这可以称为变化的话）是不知不觉地发生的，就像她从童年转变为一个成年的女性一样，而且是与这个转变同时发生的。当弗洛伦斯在孤独的沉思中意识到这些思想时，她差不多已十七岁了。

现在她时常是孤身一人，因为她跟她妈妈先前的联系发生了很大的变化。当她父亲遭遇不幸事故、躺在楼下自己房间里的时候，弗洛伦斯第一次注意到，伊迪丝回避她。她在感情上受到了创伤，在心中受到震惊，又不明白这怎么能和她们每次相遇时伊迪丝那亲切的感情调和呢，于是她又一次在夜间走进伊迪丝的房间。

“妈妈，”弗洛伦斯悄悄地走近她的身旁，说道，“我得罪您了吗？”

伊迪丝回答道，“没有。”

“我一定做错什么事了，”弗洛伦斯说道，“请告诉我是什么吧。您对我的态度改变了，亲爱的妈妈。我说不出我是多么迅速地感觉到最细微的变化，因为我全心全意地爱您。”

“就像我爱你一样，”伊迪丝说道，“啊，弗洛伦斯，请相信我，我从没有比现在更强烈地爱你！”

“为什么您时常离开我、回避我呢？”弗洛伦斯问道，“为什么您有时那么奇怪地看着我呢，亲爱的妈妈？您是这样的，难道不是吗？”

伊迪丝用她的黑眼睛表示同意。

“为什么呢？”弗洛伦斯恳求地问道，“告诉我为什么，这样我好知道怎样更好地使您高兴。请跟我说，我们不应当再这样了。”

“我亲爱的弗洛伦斯，”伊迪丝回答道，一边紧紧地握着搂抱住她脖子的手，注视着那双十分亲热地注视着她的眼睛，这时弗洛伦斯跪在她的面前；“这是什么原因，我不能告诉你。这是我不应当说，也是你不应当听的。可是我知道；但事实就是这样，而且必须是这样的，这点我知道。如果我不知道的话，难道我会这样对待你吗？”

“是不是我们必须相互疏远，妈妈？”弗洛伦斯像一个受了惊吓的人那样注视着她，问道。

伊迪丝无声地动了动嘴唇，作出一个说“是”的形状。

弗洛伦斯怀着更大的恐惧与惊异，望着她，直到流到脸上的泪水迷糊了她的眼睛，使她看不见伊迪丝为止。

“弗洛伦斯！我的命根子！”伊迪丝急忙说道，“请听我说。看到你这样悲伤，我受不了。冷静些。你看我是沉着冷静的，难道我做到这点是容易的吗？”

她说最后几个字的时候，又恢复了镇静的与态度，并立即补充道：

“不是完全疏远。只是部分地疏远。仅仅在表面上装装样子，弗洛伦斯，因为在我的内心，我对你仍旧和过去一样，而且将永远是这样。不过我这样做并不是为了我自己。”

“是为了我吗，妈妈？”弗洛伦斯问道。

“知道事实是怎么样的，这就够了，”伊迪丝停了一下，说道，“至于为什么这样做，这无关紧要。亲爱的弗洛伦斯，我们应当少来往一些，这样比较好——这是必要的——，必须是这样。我们相互间一直保持着的亲密无间的友谊必须断绝。”

“什么时候？”弗洛伦斯喊道，“啊妈妈，什么时候？”

“现在，”伊迪丝说道。

“今后永远这样吗？”弗洛伦斯问道。

“我没有说这一点，”伊迪丝回答道，“我不知道这一点。我也不说，我们的伴侣关系充其量只是不适宜、不正当的。不过我可以知道，这种伴侣关系不会有好处。我到这里所走过的道路是经过许多你将永远也不会走的小路的。我今后的道路——天知道通往哪里——我看不见它。”

她的消逝了，然后沉寂了；她坐在那里，看着弗洛伦斯，几乎要从弗洛伦斯身边退缩；在她眼光中流露出某种奇怪的恐惧与竭力回避的神色，弗洛伦斯以前有一次也曾注意到这同样的神色。接着她的全身和脸上顿时显露出与那一次同样阴郁的高傲与愤怒的激情，就像一架疯狂的竖琴的弦上忽然激烈地弹奏出愤怒的声调一样。可是随之而来的不是温柔或谦恭。她这一次没有低下头，没有哭，也没有说，她没有别的希望，她的一切希望都寄托在弗洛伦斯身上了。她高昂着头，仿佛她是美丽的美杜莎1一样，面对面地看着人，以便杀死他。是的，如果她掌握了这种魔力的话，她真会这样做的。

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1美杜莎（medusa）：希腊神话中的蛇发女怪。

“妈妈，”弗洛伦斯忧虑地说道，“除了您对我所说的之外，您还发生了一种使我吃惊的变化。让我在您身边多待一会儿吧。”

“不，”伊迪丝说道，“不，最亲爱的。我现在最好是单独一个人，我最好避开你。别向我提任何问题，只请你相信：当我似乎对你三心二意，反复无常的时候，我不是出于本意，也不是为了我自己。请相信，虽然我们彼此比过去疏远，但我在内心里对你并没有改变。请原谅我把你的暗淡的家庭变得更加暗淡了——我很清楚，我是投射在你家的一个阴影。让我们永远别再谈论这一点吧。”

“妈妈，”弗洛伦斯哭泣道，“我们将不会分离吧？”

“我们这样做就正是为了使我们可以不分离，”伊迪丝说道，“别再问什么。走吧，弗洛伦斯！我的爱和悔恨伴随着你！”

她拥抱了她，然后放开让她走；当弗洛伦斯走出房间的时候，伊迪丝目送着这离开的人儿，仿佛她的善良的守护神已化为一个形象离开了她，把她留下，听凭高傲与愤怒的情绪支配；现在这两种激情占据了她，在她的前额上表露出来。

从这时候起，弗洛伦斯和她不再像以前一样经常待在一起。她们在好多天中很少见面，只有在用餐和董贝先生在场的时候除外。在这种场合，伊迪丝威严，坚定，沉默，一眼也不看她。当有卡克先生参加时（在董贝先生恢复健康期间及以后，这是时常有的情形），伊迪丝就比平时更避开她，对她更疏远冷淡。可是当她单独和弗洛伦斯相遇、旁边没有其他人的时候，她就像过去一样情深意切地拥抱她，虽然她那高傲的神色已不像过去一样变得那么温柔了。当她夜间从外面回来晚了的时候，她时常像过去一样，悄悄地摸着黑暗走进