after a lapse

the sea had ebbed and flowed, through a whole year. through a whole year, the winds and clouds had come and gone; the ceaseless work of time had been performed, in storm and sunshine. through a whole year, the tides of human chance and change had set in their allotted courses. through a whole year, the famous house of dombey and son had fought a fight for life, against cross accidents, doubtful rumours, unsuccessful ventures, unpropitious times, and most of all, against the infatuation of its head, who would not contract its enterprises by a hair's breadth, and would not listen to a word of warning that the ship he strained so hard against the storm, was weak, and could not bear it. the year was out, and the great house was down.

one summer afternoon; a year, wanting some odd days, after the marriage in the city church; there was a buzz and whisper upon 'change of a great failure. a certain cold proud man, well known there, was not there, nor was he represented there. next day it was noised abroad that dombey and son had stopped, and next night there was a list of bankrupts published, headed by that name.

the world was very busy now, in sooth, and had a deal to say. it was an innocently credulous and a much ill-used world. it was a world in which there was 'no other sort of bankruptcy whatever. there were no conspicuous people in it, trading far and wide on rotten banks of religion, patriotism, virtue, honour. there was no amount worth mentioning of mere paper in circulation, on which anybody lived pretty handsomely, promising to pay great sums of goodness with no effects. there were no shortcomings anywhere, in anything but money. the world was very angry indeed; and the people especially, who, in a worse world, might have been supposed to be apt traders themselves in shows and pretences, were observed to be mightily indignant.

here was a new inducement to dissipation, presented to that sport of circumstances, mr perch the messenger! it was apparently the fate of mr perch to be always waking up, and finding himself famous. he had but yesterday, as one might say, subsided into private life from the celebrity of the elopement and the events that followed it; and now he was made a more important man than ever, by the bankruptcy. gliding from his bracket in the outer office where he now sat, watching the strange faces of accountants and others, who quickly superseded nearly all the old clerks, mr perch had but to show himself in the court outside, or, at farthest, in the bar of the king's arms, to be asked a multitude of questions, almost certain to include that interesting question, what would he take to drink? then would mr perch descant upon the hours of acute uneasiness he and mrs perch had suffered out at balls pond, when they first suspected 'things was going wrong.' then would mr perch relate to gaping listeners, in a low voice, as if the corpse of the deceased house were lying unburied in the next room, how mrs perch had first come to surmise that things was going wrong by hearing him (perch) moaning in his sleep, 'twelve and ninepence in the pound, twelve and ninepence in the pound!' which act of somnambulism he supposed to have originated in the impression made upon him by the change in mr dombey's face. then would he inform them how he had once said, 'might i make so bold as ask, sir, are you unhappy in your mind?' and how mr dombey had replied, 'my faithful perch - but no, it cannot be!' and with that had struck his hand upon his forehead, and said, 'leave me, perch!' then, in short, would mr perch, a victim to his position, tell all manner of lies; affecting himself to tears by those that were of a moving nature, and really believing that the inventions of yesterday had, on repetition, a sort of truth about them to-day.

mr perch always closed these conferences by meekly remarking, that, of course, whatever his suspicions might have been (as if he had ever had any!) it wasn't for him to betray his trust, was it? which sentiment (there never being any creditors present) was received as doing great honour to his feelings. thus, he generally brought away a soothed conscience and left an agreeable impression behind him, when he returned to his bracket: again to sit watching the strange faces of the accountants and others, making so free with the great mysteries, the books; or now and then to go on tiptoe into mr dombey's empty room, and stir the fire; or to take an airing at the door, and have a little more doleful chat with any straggler whom he knew; or to propitiate, with various small attentions, the head accountant: from whom mr perch had expectations of a messengership in a fire office, when the affairs of the house should be wound up.

to major bagstock, the bankruptcy was quite a calamity. the major was not a sympathetic character - his attention being wholly concentrated on j. b. - nor was he a man subject to lively emotions, except in the physical regards of gasping and choking. but he had so paraded his friend dombey at the club; had so flourished him at the heads of the members in general, and so put them down by continual assertion of his riches; that the club, being but human, was delighted to retort upon the major, by asking him, with a show of great concern, whether this tremendous smash had been at all expected, and how his friend dombey bore it. to such questions, the major, waxing very purple, would reply that it was a bad world, sir, altogether; that joey knew a thing or two, but had been done, sir, done like an infant; that if you had foretold this, sir, to j. bagstock, when he went abroad with dombey and was chasing that vagabond up and down france, j. bagstock would have pooh-pooh'd you - would have pooh- pooh'd you, sir, by the lord! that joe had been deceived, sir, taken in, hoodwinked, blindfolded, but was broad awake again and staring; insomuch, sir, that if joe's father were to rise up from the grave to-morrow, he wouldn't trust the old blade with a penny piece, but would tell him that his son josh was too old a soldier to be done again, sir. that he was a suspicious, crabbed, cranky, used-up, j. b. infidel, sir; and that if it were consistent with the dignity of a rough and tough old major, of the old school, who had had the honour of being personally known to, and commended by, their late royal highnesses the dukes of kent and york, to retire to a tub and live in it, by gad! sir, he'd have a tub in pall mall to-morrow, to show his contempt for mankind!'

of all this, and many variations of the same tune, the major would deliver himself with so many apoplectic symptoms, such rollings of his head, and such violent growls of ill usage and resentment, that the younger members of the club surmised he had invested money in his friend dombey's house, and lost it; though the older soldiers and deeper dogs, who knew joe better, wouldn't hear of such a thing. the unfortunate native, expressing no opinion, suffered dreadfully; not merely in his moral feelings, which were regularly fusilladed by the major every hour in the day, and riddled through and through, but in his sensitiveness to bodily knocks and bumps, which was kept continually on the stretch. for six entire weeks after the bankruptcy, this miserable foreigner lived in a rainy season of boot-jacks and brushes.

mrs chick had three ideas upon the subject of the terrible reverse. the first was that she could not understand it. the second, that her brother had not made an effort. the third, that if she had been invited to dinner on the day of that first party, it never would have happened; and that she had said so, at the time.

nobody's opinion stayed the misfortune, lightened it, or made it heavier. it was understood that the affairs of the house were to be wound up as they best could be; that mr dombey freely resigned everything he had, and asked for no favour from anyone. that any resumption of the business was out of the question, as he would listen to no friendly negotiation having that compromise in view; that he had relinquished every post of trust or distinction he had held, as a man respected among merchants; that he was dying, according to some; that he was going melancholy mad, according to others; that he was a broken man, according to all.

the clerks dispersed after holding a little dinner of condolence among themselves, which was enlivened by comic singing, and went off admirably. some took places abroad, and some engaged in other houses at home; some looked up relations in the country, for whom they suddenly remembered they had a particular affection; and some advertised for employment in the newspapers. mr perch alone remained of all the late establishment, sitting on his bracket looking at the accountants, or starting off it, to propitiate the head accountant, who was to get him into the fire office. the counting house soon got to be dirty and neglected. the principal slipper and dogs' collar seller, at the corner of the court, would have doubted the propriety of throwing up his forefinger to the brim of his hat, any more, if mr dombey had appeared there now; and the ticket porter, with his hands under his white apron, moralised good sound morality about ambition, which (he observed) was not, in his opinion, made to rhyme to perdition, for nothing.

mr morfin, the hazel-eyed bachelor, with the hair and whiskers sprinkled with grey, was perhaps the only person within the atmosphere of the house - its head, of course, excepted - who was heartily and deeply affected by the disaster that had befallen it. he had treated mr dombey with due respect and deference through many years, but he had never disguised his natural character, or meanly truckled to him, or pampered his master passion for the advancement of his own purposes. he had, therefore, no self-disrespect to avenge; no long-tightened springs to release with a quick recoil. he worked early and late to unravel whatever was complicated or difficult in the records of the transactions of the house; was always in attendance to explain whatever required explanation; sat in his old room sometimes very late at night, studying points by his mastery of which he could spare mr dombey the pain of being personally referred to; and then would go home to islington, and calm his mind by producing the most dismal and forlorn sounds out of his violoncello before going to bed.

he was solacing himself with this melodious grumbler one evening, and, having been much dispirited by the proceedings of the day, was scraping consolation out of its deepest notes, when his landlady (who was fortunately deaf, and had no other consciousness of these performances than a sensation of something rumbling in her bones) announced a lady.

'in mourning,' she said.

the violoncello stopped immediately; and the performer, laying it on the sofa with great tenderness and care, made a sign that the lady was to come in. he followed directly, and met harriet carker on the stair.

'alone!' he said, 'and john here this morning! is there anything the matter, my dear? but no,' he added, 'your face tells quite another story.'

'i am afraid it is a selfish revelation that you see there, then,' she answered.

'it is a very pleasant one,' said he; 'and, if selfish, a novelty too, worth seeing in you. but i don't believe that.'

he had placed a chair for her by this time, and sat down opposite; the violoncello lying snugly on the sofa between them.

'you will not be surprised at my coming alone, or at john's not having told you i was coming,' said harriet; 'and you will believe that, when i tell you why i have come. may i do so now?'

'you can do nothing better.'

'you were not busy?'

he pointed to the violoncello lying on the sofa, and said 'i have been, all day. here's my witness. i have been confiding all my cares to it. i wish i had none but my own to tell.'

'is the house at an end?' said harriet, earnestly.

'completely at an end.'

'will it never be resumed?'

'never.'

the bright expression of her face was not overshadowed as her lips silently repeated the word. he seemed to observe this with some little involuntary surprise: and said again:

'never. you remember what i told you. it has been, all along, impossible to convince him; impossible to reason with him; sometimes, impossible even to approach him. the worst has happened; and the house has fallen, never to be built up any more.'

'and mr dombey, is he personally ruined?'

'ruined.'

'will he have no private fortune left? nothing?'

a certain eagerness in her voice, and something that was almost joyful in her look, seemed to surprise him more and more; to disappoint him too, and jar discordantly against his own emotions. he drummed with the fingers of one hand on the table, looking wistfully at her, and shaking his head, said, after a pause:

'the extent of mr dombey's resources is not accurately within my knowledge; but though they are doubtless very large, his obligations are enormous. he is a gentleman of high honour and integrity. any man in his position could, and many a man in his position would, have saved himself, by making terms which would have very slightly, almost insensibly, increased the losses of those who had had dealings with him, and left him a remnant to live upon. but he is resolved on payment to the last farthing of his means. his own words are, that they will clear, or nearly clear, the house, and that no one can lose much. ah, miss harriet, it would do us no harm to remember oftener than we do, that vices are sometimes only virtues carried to excess! his pride shows well in this.'

she heard him with little or no change in her expression, and with a divided attention that showed her to be busy with something in her own mind. when he was silent, she asked him hurriedly:

'have you seen him lately?'

'no one sees him. when this crisis of his affairs renders it necessary for him to come out of his house, he comes out for the occasion, and again goes home, and shuts himself up, and will sea no one. he has written me a letter, acknowledging our past connexion in higher terms than it deserved, and parting from me. i am delicate of obtruding myself upon him now, never having had much intercourse with him in better times; but i have tried to do so. i have written, gone there, entreated. quite in vain.'

he watched her, as in the hope that she would testify some greater concern than she had yet shown; and spoke gravely and feelingly, as if to impress her the more; but there was no change in her.

'well, well, miss harriet,' he said, with a disappointed air, 'this is not to the purpose. you have not come here to hear this. some other and pleasanter theme is in your mind. let it be in mine, too, and we shall talk upon more equal terms. come!'

'no, it is the same theme,' returned harriet, with frank and quick surprise. 'is it not likely that it should be? is it not natural that john and i should have been thinking and speaking very much of late of these great changes? mr dombey, whom he served so many years - you know upon what terms - reduced, as you describe; and we quite rich!'

good, true face, as that face of hers was, and pleasant as it had been to him, mr morfin, the hazel-eyed bachelor, since the first time he had ever looked upon it, it pleased him less at that moment, lighted with a ray of exultation, than it had ever pleased him before.

'i need not remind you,' said harriet, casting down her eyes upon her black dress, 'through what means our circumstances changed. you have not forgotten that our brother james, upon that dreadful day, left no will, no relations but ourselves.'

the face was pleasanter to him now, though it was pale and melancholy, than it had been a moment since. he seemed to breathe more cheerily.

'you know,' she said, 'our history, the history of both my brothers, in connexion with the unfortunate, unhappy gentleman, of whom you have spoken so truly. you know how few our wants are - john's and mine - and what little use we have for money, after the life we have led together for so many years; and now that he is earning an income that is ample for us, through your kindness. you are not unprepared to hear what favour i have come to ask of you?'

'i hardly know. i was, a minute ago. now, i think, i am not.'

'of my dead brother i say nothing. if the dead know what we do - but you understand me. of my living brother i could say much; but what need i say more, than that this act of duty, in which i have come to ask your indispensable assistance, is his own, and that he cannot rest until it is performed!'

she raised her eyes again; and the light of exultation in her face began to appear beautiful, in the observant eyes that watched her.

'dear sir,' she went on to say, 'it must be done very quietly and secretly. your experience and knowledge will point out a way of doing it. mr dombey may, perhaps, be led to believe that it is something saved, unexpectedly, from the wreck of his fortunes; or that it is a voluntary tribute to his honourable and upright character, from some of those with whom he has had great dealings; or that it is some old lost debt repaid. there must be many ways of doing it. i know you will choose the best. the favour i have come to ask is, that you will do it for us in your own kind, generous, considerate manner. that you will never speak of it to john, whose chief happiness in this act of restitution is to do it secretly, unknown, and unapproved of: that only a very small part of the inheritance may be reserved to us, until mr dombey shall have possessed the interest of the rest for the remainder of his life; that you will keep our secret, faithfully - but that i am sure you will; and that, from this time, it may seldom be whispered, even between you and me, but may live in my thoughts only as a new reason for thankfulness to heaven, and joy and pride in my brother.'

such a look of exultation there may be on angels' faces when the one repentant sinner enters heaven, among ninety-nine just men. it was not dimmed or tarnished by the joyful tears that filled her eyes, but was the brighter for them.

'my dear harriet,' said mr morfin, after a silence, 'i was not prepared for this. do i understand you that you wish to make your own part in the inheritance available for your good purpose, as well as john's?'

'oh, yes,' she returned 'when we have shared everything together for so long a time, and have had no care, hope, or purpose apart, could i bear to be excluded from my share in this? may i not urge a claim to be my brother's partner and companion to the last?'

'heaven forbid that i should dispute it!' he replied.

'we may rely on your friendly help?' she said. 'i knew we might!'

'i should be a worse man than, - than i hope i am, or would willingly believe myself, if i could not give you that assurance from my heart and soul. you may, implicitly. upon my honour, i will keep your secret. and if it should be found that mr dombey is so reduced as i fear he will be, acting on a determination that there seem to be no means of influencing, i will assist you to accomplish the design, on which you and john are jointly resolved.'

she gave him her hand, and thanked him with a cordial, happy face.

'harriet,' he said, detaining it in his. 'to speak to you of the worth of any sacrifice that you can make now - above all, of any sacrifice of mere money - would be idle and presumptuous. to put before you any appeal to reconsider your purpose or to set narrow limits to it, would be, i feel, not less so. i have no right to mar the great end of a great history, by any obtrusion of my own weak self. i have every right to bend my head before what you confide to me, satisfied that it comes from a higher and better source of inspiration than my poor worldly knowledge. i will say only this: i am your faithful steward; and i would rather be so, and your chosen friend, than i would be anybody in the world, except yourself.'

she thanked him again, cordially, and wished him good-night. 'are you going home?' he said. 'let me go with you.'

'not to-night. i am not going home now; i have a visit to make alone. will you come to-morrow?'

'well, well,' said he, 'i'll come to-morrow. in the meantime, i'll think of this, and how we can best proceed. and perhaps i'll think of it, dear harriet, and - and - think of me a little in connexion with it.'

he handed her down to a coach she had in waiting at the door; and if his landlady had not been deaf, she would have heard him muttering as he went back upstairs, when the coach had driven off, that we were creatures of habit, and it was a sorrowful habit to be an old bachelor.

the violoncello lying on the sofa between the two chairs, he took it up, without putting away the vacant chair, and sat droning on it, and slowly shaking his head at the vacant chair, for a long, long time. the expression he communicated to the instrument at first, though monstrously pathetic and bland, was nothing to the expression he communicated to his own face, and bestowed upon the empty chair: which was so sincere, that he was obliged to have recourse to captain cuttle's remedy more than once, and to rub his face with his sleeve. by degrees, however, the violoncello, in unison with his own frame of mind, glided melodiously into the harmonious blacksmith, which he played over and over again, until his ruddy and serene face gleamed like true metal on the anvil of a veritable blacksmith. in fine, the violoncello and the empty chair were the companions of his bachelorhood until nearly midnight; and when he took his supper, the violoncello set up on end in the sofa corner, big with the latent harmony of a whole foundry full of harmonious blacksmiths, seemed to ogle the empty chair out of its crooked eyes, with unutterable intelligence.

when harriet left the house, the driver of her hired coach, taking a course that was evidently no new one to him, went in and out by bye-ways, through that part of the suburbs, until he arrived at some open ground, where there were a few quiet little old houses standing among gardens. at the garden-gate of one of these he stopped, and harriet alighted.

her gentle ringing at the bell was responded to by a dolorous-looking woman, of light complexion, with raised eyebrows, and head drooping on one side, who curtseyed at sight of her, and conducted her across the garden to the house.

'how is your patient, nurse, to-night?' said harriet.

'in a poor way, miss, i am afraid. oh how she do remind me, sometimes, of my uncle's betsey jane!' returned the woman of the light complexion, in a sort of doleful rapture.

'in what respect?' asked harriet.

'miss, in all respects,' replied the other, 'except that she's grown up, and betsey jane, when at death's door, was but a child.'

'but you have told me she recovered,' observed harriet mildly; 'so there is the more reason for hope, mrs wickam.'

'ah, miss, hope is an excellent thing for such as has the spirits to bear it!' said mrs wickam, shaking her head. 'my own spirits is not equal to it, but i don't owe it any grudge. i envys them that is so blest!'

'you should try to be more cheerful,' remarked harriet.

'thank you, miss, i'm sure,' said mrs wickam grimly. 'if i was so inclined, the loneliness of this situation - you'll excuse my speaking so free - would put it out of my power, in four and twenty hours; but i ain't at all. i'd rather not. the little spirits that i ever had, i was bereaved of at brighton some few years ago, and i think i feel myself the better for it.'

in truth, this was the very mrs wickam who had superseded mrs richards as the nurse of little paul, and who considered herself to have gained the loss in question, under the roof of the amiable pipchin. the excellent and thoughtful old system, hallowed by long prescription, which has usually picked out from the rest of mankind the most dreary and uncomfortable people that could possibly be laid hold of, to act as instructors of youth, finger-posts to the virtues, matrons, monitors, attendants on sick beds, and the like, had established mrs wickam in very good business as a nurse, and had led to her serious qualities being particularly commended by an admiring and numerous connexion.

mrs wickam, with her eyebrows elevated, and her head on one side, lighted the way upstairs to a clean, neat chamber, opening on another chamber dimly lighted, where there was a bed. in the first room, an old woman sat mechanically staring out at the open window, on the darkness. in the second, stretched upon the bed, lay the shadow of a figure that had spurned the wind and rain, one wintry night; hardly to be recognised now, but by the long black hair that showed so very black against the colourless face, and all the white things about it.

oh, the strong eyes, and the weak frame! the eyes that turned so eagerly and brightly to the door when harriet came in; the feeble head that could not raise itself, and moved so slowly round upon its pillow!

'alice!' said the visitor's mild voice, 'am i late to-night?'

'you always seem late, but are always early.'

harriet had sat down by the bedside now, and put her hand upon the thin hand lying there.

'you are better?'

mrs wickam, standing at the foot of the bed, like a disconsolate spectre, most decidedly and forcibly shook her head to negative this position.

'it matters very little!' said alice, with a faint smile. 'better or worse to-day, is but a day's difference - perhaps not so much.'

mrs wickam, as a serious character, expressed her approval with a groan; and having made some cold dabs at the bottom of the bedclothes, as feeling for the patient's feet and expecting to find them stony; went clinking among the medicine bottles on the table, as who should say, 'while we are here, let us repeat the mixture as before.'

'no,' said alice, whispering to her visitor, 'evil courses, and remorse, travel, want, and weather, storm within, and storm without, have worn my life away. it will not last much longer.

she drew the hand up as she spoke, and laid her face against it.

'i lie here, sometimes, thinking i should like to live until i had had a little time to show you how grateful i could be! it is a weakness, and soon passes. better for you as it is. better for me!'

how different her hold upon the hand, from what it had been when she took it by the fireside on the bleak winter evening! scorn, rage, defiance, recklessness, look here! this is the end.

mrs wickam having clinked sufficiently among the bottles, now produced the mixture. mrs wickam looked hard at her patient in the act of drinking, screwed her mouth up tight, her eyebrows also, and shook her head, expressing that tortures shouldn't make her say it was a hopeless case. mrs wickam then sprinkled a little cooling-stuff about the room, with the air of a female grave-digger, who was strewing ashes on ashes, dust on dust - for she was a serious character - and withdrew to partake of certain funeral baked meats downstairs.

'how long is it,' asked alice, 'since i went to you and told you what i had done, and when you were advised it was too late for anyone to follow?'

'it is a year and more,' said harriet.

'a year and more,' said alice, thoughtfully intent upon her face. 'months upon months since you brought me here!'

harriet answered 'yes.'

'brought me here, by force of gentleness and kindness. me!' said alice, shrinking with her face behind her hand, 'and made me human by woman's looks and words, and angel's deeds!'

harriet bending over her, composed and soothed her. by and bye, alice lying as before, with the hand against her face, asked to have her mother called.

harriet called to her more than once, but the old woman was so absorbed looking out at the open window on the darkness, that she did not hear. it was not until harriet went to her and touched her, that she rose up, and came.

'mother,' said alice, taking the hand again, and fixing her lustrous eyes lovingly upon her visitor, while she merely addressed a motion of her finger to the old woman, 'tell her what you know.'

'to-night, my deary?'

'ay, mother,' answered alice, faintly and solemnly, 'to-night!'

the old woman, whose wits appeared disorderly by alarm, remorse, or grief, came creeping along the side of the bed, opposite to that on which harriet sat; and kneeling down, so as to bring her withered face upon a level with the coverlet, and stretching out her hand, so as to touch her daughter's arm, began:

'my handsome gal - '

heaven, what a cry was that, with which she stopped there, gazing at the poor form lying on the bed!

'changed, long ago, mother! withered, long ago,' said alice, without looking at her. 'don't grieve for that now.

'my daughter,' faltered the old woman, 'my gal who'll soon get better, and shame 'em all with her good looks.'

alice smiled mournfully at harriet, and fondled her hand a little closer, but said nothing.

'who'll soon get better, i say,' repeated the old woman, menacing the vacant air with her shrivelled fist, 'and who'll shame 'em all with her good looks - she will. i say she will! she shall!' - as if she were in passionate contention with some unseen opponent at the bedside, who contradicted her - 'my daughter has been turned away from, and cast out, but she could boast relationship to proud folks too, if she chose. ah! to proud folks! there's relationship without your clergy and your wedding rings - they may make it, but they can't break it - and my daughter's well related. show me mrs dombey, and i'll show you my alice's first cousin.'

harriet glanced from the old woman to the lustrous eyes intent upon her face, and derived corroboration from them.

'what!' cried the old woman, her nodding head bridling with a ghastly vanity. 'though i am old and ugly now, - much older by life and habit than years though, - i was once as young as any. ah! as pretty too, as many! i was a fresh country wench in my time, darling,' stretching out her arm to harriet, across the bed, 'and looked it, too. down in my country, mrs dombey's father and his brother were the gayest gentlemen and the best-liked that came a visiting from london - they have long been dead, though! lord, lord, this long while! the brother, who was my ally's father, longest of the two.'

she raised her head a little, and peered at her daughter's face; as if from the remembrance of her own youth, she had flown to the remembrance of her child's. then, suddenly, she laid her face down on the bed, and shut her head up in her hands and arms.

'they were as like,' said the old woman, without looking up, as you could see two brothers, so near an age - there wasn't much more than a year between them, as i recollect - and if you could have seen my gal, as i have seen her once, side by side with the other's daughter, you'd have seen, for all the difference of dress and life, that they were like each other. oh! is the likeness gone, and is it my gal - only my gal - that's to change so!'

'we shall all change, mother, in our turn,' said alice.

'turn!' cried the old woman, 'but why not hers as soon as my gal's! the mother must have changed - she looked as old as me, and full as wrinkled through her paint - but she was handsome. what have i done, i, what have i done worse than her, that only my gal is to lie there fading!' with another of those wild cries, she went running out into the room from which she had come; but immediately, in her uncertain mood, returned, and creeping up to harriet, said:

'that's what alice bade me tell you, deary. that's all. i found it out when i began to ask who she was, and all about her, away in warwickshire there, one summer-time. such relations was no good to me, then. they wouldn't have owned me, and had nothing to give me. i should have asked 'em, maybe, for a little money, afterwards, if it hadn't been for my alice; she'd a'most have killed me, if i had, i think she was as proud as t'other in her way,' said the old woman, touching the face of her daughter fearfully, and withdrawing her hand, 'for all she's so quiet now; but she'll shame 'em with her good looks yet. ha, ha! she'll shame 'em, will my handsome daughter!'

her laugh, as she retreated, was worse than her cry; worse than the burst of imbecile lamentation in which it ended; worse than the doting air with which she sat down in her old seat, and stared out at the darkness.

the eyes of alice had all this time been fixed on harriet, whose hand she had never released. she said now:

'i have felt, lying here, that i should like you to know this. it might explain, i have thought, something that used to help to harden me. i had heard so much, in my wrongdoing, of my neglected duty, that i took up with the belief that duty had not been done to me, and that as the seed was sown, the harvest grew. i somehow made it out that when ladies had bad homes and mothers, they went wrong in their way, too; but that their way was not so foul a one as mine, and they had need to bless god for it.' that is all past. it is like a dream, now, which i cannot quite remember or understand. it has been more and more like a dream, every day, since you began to sit here, and to read to me. i only tell it you, as i can recollect it. will you read to me a little more?'

harriet was withdrawing her hand to open the book, when alice detained it for a moment.

'you will not forget my mother? i forgive her, if i have any cause. i know that she forgives me, and is sorry in her heart. you will not forget her?'

'never, alice!'

'a moment yet. lay your head so, dear, that as you read i may see the words in your kind face.'

harriet complied and read - read the eternal book for all the weary, and the heavy-laden; for all the wretched, fallen, and neglected of this earth - read the blessed history, in which the blind lame palsied beggar, the criminal, the woman stained with shame, the shunned of all our dainty clay, has each a portion, that no human pride, indifference, or sophistry, through all the ages that this world shall last, can take away, or by the thousandth atom of a grain reduce - read the ministry of him who, through the round of human life, and all its hopes and griefs, from birth to death, from infancy to age, had sweet compassion for, and interest in, its every scene and stage, its every suffering and sorrow.

'i shall come,' said harriet, when she shut the book, 'very early in the morning.'

the lustrous eyes, yet fixed upon her face, closed for a moment, then opened; and alice kissed and blest her.

the same eyes followed her to the door; and in their light, and on the tranquil face, there was a smile when it was closed.

they never turned away. she laid her hand upon her breast, murmuring the sacred name that had been read to her; and life passed from her face, like light removed.

nothing lay there, any longer, but the ruin of the mortal house on which the rain had beaten, and the black hair that had fluttered in the wintry wind.

海洋在整个一年中周而复始地涨潮和退潮。在整个一年中，时间在暴风雨和阳光中完成它那无休无止的工作。在整个一年中，人类盛衰变化的潮水按照它们规定的路程流动着。在整个一年中，名声赫赫的董贝父子公司跟不幸的意外事件、可疑的谣传、不成功的冒险交易、不吉利的时间，特别是跟它老板的昏头昏脑，进行了生死的斗争；因为他丝毫不愿收缩公司经营的业务，并且听不进一个字的警告：他迎着暴风雨、不顾一切、强迫行驶的船是不牢固的，它经受不住暴风雨的袭击。

一年过去了，这个宏伟的公司倒闭了。

这是夏天的一个下午；在这座城市的教堂中举行婚礼以后差几天就满一年了；人们在交易所里开始嘁嘁喳喳、交头接耳地谈论这场大破产。某个冷漠的、高傲的、在那里众所周知的人不在那里，也没有派代表到那里。第二天，到处都闹哄哄地风传着这个消息：董贝父子公司已经停止营业；这天晚上报纸上发表了一批破产者的名单，这个公司名列首位。

现在这个社会确实十分忙碌，并且有许多话要说。这是个天真地轻信的社会，而且是个被大大地糟蹋了的社会。在这个社会中，没有任何其他种类的破产。在这个社会中，没有显赫的人物广泛地从事宗教、爱国主义、道德、荣誉的腐败的投机买卖。在这个社会中，没有数量值得一提的流通纸币，有些人能靠它们生活得很好，并出于善意许诺大量支付金钱但却口惠而实不至。在这个社会中，不论在什么地方，除了金钱之外，没有任何缺点。这个社会确实是很愤怒的；大家看到这个社会的人们，特别是那些在一个更坏的社会中他们自己可能在卖弄色相和虚伪做作方面是些破产的经营者的人们，现在极为愤怒。

信差珀奇先生，这位听随形势摆弄的人物，又有了个酗酒行乐的新的诱因了！珀奇先生经常醒来的时候发现自己出了名1，这显然是他命中注定的。私奔及随后发生的事件使他名噪一时，人们可以说，他昨天刚刚才转入平静的个人生活，而现在由于公司破产，他又成了比过去任何时候更为重要的人物了。珀奇先生现在坐在外面的办公室中的托架上，注视着会计以及其他人们（他们很快取代了原先几乎所有的职员）的陌生的脸孔；当他从托架上悄悄地下来，只要在外面的院子里，最远在“国王的纹章”酒吧间里一露面，就会被人们问上一大堆问题；在这些问题中几乎肯定地总要包含这样一个有趣的问题：他想喝什么？然后珀奇先生就开始详详细细地谈到他和珀奇太太在鲍尔斯池塘的那些忧虑不安的时刻，那时候他们第一次猜疑“事情变糟糕了”。然后，仿佛公司的死尸就停放在隔壁房间里似的，珀奇先生用很低的对目瞪口呆的听众谈到珀奇太太第一次听到他在睡梦中哼叫道，“一英镑值十二个先令九便士，一英镑值十二个先令九便士！2，那时她就猜疑变糟糕了。他认为，他这种讲梦话的行为追根溯源是由于董贝先生脸部的表情变化给他留下的印象所产生的。然后他告诉他们，他有一次曾经问董贝先生，“先生，我可以冒昧地问一句吗，您的心情是不是不快活？”董贝先生回答道，“我的忠心耿耿的珀奇——不过不，我不会不快活的！”他一边说，一边用手敲敲前额，说，“您走吧，珀奇！”然后，总而言之，这位成为他的地位的牺牲品的珀奇先生就会讲出形形色色的谎话，那些动人的故事把他自己都感动得簌簌落泪；他真心相信，昨天捏造的胡言乱语今天重复一遍，就好像成了真实的了。

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1这里引用英国浪漫主义诗人乔治·戈登·拜伦（georgegordonbyron，1788—1924）的一句名言。拜伦在他的长诗《查尔德·哈洛德游记》（chideharold’spilgrimage）第一、二两章问世后，立刻名扬四方，因此他在日记里这样写道：“我一个早晨醒来就发现自己成了名。”

2一英镑本应值十二个先令。

珀奇先生在结束这种聚会时，总是温和地说道，“当然，不论他们过去可能有过什么怀疑（仿佛他真有过什么怀疑似的！），他总是不该辜负他的信任的，是不是？他的这种心情给他的感情带来很大的荣誉（听众当中没有一个是债权人）。因此，当他离开他们回到办公室去的时候，自己的良心总是得到了安慰，而且在人们心中总是留下了良好的印象；他就这样回到他的托架中，重新坐下来注视着会计和其他人们的陌生的脸孔，看他们随随便便地翻阅着那些包含着极大机密的帐册；或者他就踮着脚，走进董贝先生的空荡荡的房间，拨拨煤火；或者到门口去透透新鲜空气，跟偶尔到这里来走走的熟人伤心地聊上几句；或者向会计长献上各种小殷勤来取得他的好感，因为珀奇先生指望在董贝父子公司事务结束之后，会计长能帮助他在火灾保险公司里谋求一个信差的职务。

对白格斯托克少校来说，破产是真正的灾难。少校并不是一位富于同情心的人——他的注意力完全集中在乔·白身上——，除了喘气和呼吸困难这些生理方面的表现以外，他在其他方面也不是个易于感情冲动的人。可是他过去在俱乐部里那么夸耀他的朋友董贝，在其他成员面前对他那么大吹大擂，又是那么不断地宣扬他的财富来把他们压下去，因此俱乐部里的这些人（他们毕竟也是人哪！）现在都幸灾乐祸地对少校进行报复；他们装出极为关切的神情，问他，这样可怕的沉重打击他可曾事先预料到，他的朋友董贝又是怎样忍受它的呢。对这些问题，少校脸孔涨成深紫色，回答道，总的说来，我们是生活在一个很坏的世界上；乔稍稍懂得一些，可是他上当受骗了，先生，就像一个婴儿一样上当受骗了；如果当乔·白格斯托克跟董贝到国外去，在法国到处追寻那个流氓的时候，您向他作出这种预言的话，那么乔·白格斯托克是会“呸！呸！”地讥笑您的——我敢向天主发誓，先生，他是会“呸！呸！”地讥笑您的！乔被欺骗了，先生，被愚弄了，被蒙蔽了，被包上眼睛了，可是现在他又完全清醒过来，睁开眼睛，留神看了。先生，如果乔的父亲明天从坟墓里爬起来的话，那么他也不会赊给这位老击剑师一个便士的，而会对他说，他的儿子乔是个很老的军人，不会再受骗了，先生。他现在是个多疑的、乖戾的、古怪的、筋疲力尽的异教徒乔·白，先生；如果退隐到一个桶里居住是符合一位从老学校中训练出来的一位粗鲁和坚强的老少校的尊严的话（他本人曾荣幸地认识已故的肯特郡和约克郡的公爵殿下，并受到过他们的赞扬），那么，可以向上帝发誓！先生，他明天就会坐在帕尔·马尔街的桶里，来显示他对人类的鄙视了！1

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1指希腊犬儒派哲学家戴奥吉尼斯（公无前412？—323年）。犬儒学派是希腊的一个哲学派别，它强调禁欲主义的自我满足，放弃舒适的环境。戴奥吉尼斯是这个学派的典型人物，号召人们回复简朴的自然的生活；据说他有一段时间是住在一个桶里的。帕尔·马尔（pallmall）是伦敦中心的一条街，居住在这里的都是上流社会人士。

少校发表所有的这些谈话以及许多诸如此类的谈话时，总是显示出易患中风症的症状，总是使劲地摇晃着脑袋，激烈地发泄出他的委屈与愤怒，所以俱乐部里年轻的成员们都猜测他曾在他的朋友董贝的公司里投了资，如今遭受了损失；可是那些对乔了解较多的、年纪较老的军人和阅世较深的老滑头们却不相信这一点。倒霉的本地人没有提出过任何意见，但却吃尽了可怕的苦头；不仅在精神方面，每天每个钟头都要受到少校连珠炮似的责骂，而且在身体方面，他也一直处于紧张状态，不是被打痛，就是被撞伤。在董贝父子公司破产以后整整六个星期中，脱靴器和刷子不时像雨点似地落在这位可怜的外国人的身上。

奇克夫人对这场可怕的翻天覆地的变化有三个想法。首先是，她不能理解这件事。第二是，她的哥哥没有作出应有的努力。第三是，在举行第一次晚会的那一天，如果她被邀请参加宴会的话，那么就决不会发生这样的事情，这一点她当时就这样说过。

不论是谁，对这场灾难所发表的意见，都不能阻止它，减轻它或使它加重。人们得知，公司本应当在最有利的情况下结束营业的，但董贝先生却自愿放弃他的一切财产，而不请求任何人施予恩惠。人们得知，恢复公司业务的问题根本谈不上了，因为任何以互相让步为目的的友好协商他都不愿意听取；他过去作为商业界受尊敬的一个人，曾经担任过一些负责的和荣誉的职务，现在他把所有这些职务全都辞退了；据有些人说，他快要死了；据另一些人说，他忧伤得要发疯；据所有的人说，他是个心灰意冷的人。

公司的职员们举行了一个小小的表示哀伤的宴会，宴会上由于有滑稽逗趣的歌唱，所以气氛活跃，进行得很好。在这之后，大家就分道扬镳，各奔四方了。有些人到国外工作；有些人在国内其他公司中任职；有些人突然记起了他们有深厚感情的乡下亲戚，就动身去看望他们；有些人则在报纸上刊登求职广告。在原先的职工中，只有珀奇先生一个人还留下来，坐在托架上看着会计们，或从托架上跳下来，去巴结那位能帮他到火灾保险公司谋求职务的会计长。办公室很快就变得肮脏起来，无人照管。如果这时候董贝先生来到这里的话，那么在院子角落里出售拖鞋和狗颈圈的主要商人心里就会琢磨，现在再像过去那样把食指举到帽檐行礼是否合适了；搬运员把手藏在白围裙下面，发表了规劝人们不要有野心的讲话；在他看来，英文中野心（ambition）与毁灭（perdicbtion）这两个词是押韵的，这不是没有道理。

莫芬先生这位眼睛淡褐色、头发与连鬓胡子稍稍有些斑白的单身汉，也许是公司核心圈的人物中，唯一为降临的灾难由衷地、深切地感到悲痛的人（公司的老板当然除外）。在许多年中，他以应有的恭敬与尊重对待董贝先生，但是他从来不曾掩饰过自己的本性，从来不曾卑鄙地向他谄媚过，或者为了达到个人的目的而纵容过他的欲望。所以他没有因为过去自卑自贱而现在来寻求报复；没有像长久被绷紧的弹簧那样，在放松之后迅速地弹回去一下。他起早贪黑地工作，来查明公司业务中各种复杂或困难的帐目；他总是到场解释需要解释的情况；有时他深夜还坐在以前的房间中研究问题，他把问题研究清楚了就可以不必再向董贝先生本人查问，要求他来作出痛苦的说明；然后他回到伊斯林顿的家中，在睡觉前拿出大提琴，拉出极为忧郁、凄凉的曲调，来使心情平静下来。

有一天晚上，他正在用这音调优美、倾诉哀愁的乐器来安慰自己；因为白天发生的事情使他感到十分沮丧，所以他拉出极为深沉的声调来消除忧伤，这时候房东太太前来通报说，有一位女士来到。（房东太太很幸运是个聋子，她对这些音乐演奏除了觉得像有什么东西在骨头里隆隆作响之外，没有什么别的感觉。）

“她穿着丧服，”她说道。

大提琴立刻停止发声，演奏的人极为亲切、极为小心地把它搁在沙发上，一边做了个手势，请那位女士进来。他立即跟着走出房间，在楼梯上遇到哈里特·卡克。

“您一个人！”他说道，“约翰今天早上到这里来过！出了什么事了，我亲爱的？可是不，”他补充说道，“您的脸容说明了完全不同的情况。”

“这么说，我担心，您在我脸上看到的是自私感情的流露了，”她回答道。

“这是令人很愉快的感情，”他说道，“如果是自私的感情的话，那么也是值得在您身上看到的一桩新奇事儿。但是我不相信这一点。”

这时候他已给她搬过去一张椅子，并在对面坐了下来；大提琴舒适地躺在他们中间的沙发上。

“您不要因为我单独来或约翰没有告诉您我要来而感到惊奇，”哈里特说道，“当我把我到这里来的原因告诉您以后，您就会相信我的。我现在就告诉您好吗？”

“再好不过了。”

“您不忙吗？”

他指指躺在沙发上的大提琴，说道，“我整天都工作。证人就在这里。我向它倾吐了我的一切烦恼。我真但愿除了我个人的忧虑外，我没有别的忧虑可以向它倾吐了。”

“公司是不是倒闭了？”哈里特认真地问道。

“完全倒闭了。”

“永远不能再恢复了吗？”

“永远不能了。”

当她的嘴唇把这几个字不出声地重复说了一遍的时候，她脸上明朗的表情并没有笼罩上阴影。他似乎无意识地带几分惊奇地注意到这一点，然后重新说道：

“永远不能了。您记得我以前跟您说过的话吗？长期来，一直不可能说服他，不可能跟他讲理，有时甚至不可能接近他。最糟糕的事情已经发生了。公司已经垮台了，永远也不能振兴了。”

“董贝先生本人是不是也毁了？”

“毁了。”

“他没有留下私人财产吗？什么也没留下吗？”

她中包含的某种焦急的情绪，她脸上露出的几乎是喜洋洋的表情，似乎使他愈来愈感到惊奇，同时也使他感到失望，这种表情与他自己的情绪是很不一致的。他用一只手的指头敲着桌子，一边若有所思地望着她；沉默了一会儿之后，他摇摇头，说道：

“董贝先生有多少财产，我并不确切地知道；虽然它无疑是很大的，但他的债务也很大。他是个高尚、正直的人。任何人处在他的地位都能跟与他有交易的人达成协议来挽救自己，这种协议会使对方增加微小的、几乎是觉察不到的损失，同时给他留下一笔钱，让他可以生活。许多人处在他的地位都会这样做的。可是他却决心偿付一切，直到最后一个法新。他本人说，他的资产将能抵偿或接近抵偿公司的债务，任何人都不会遭到很大损失。啊，哈里特小姐，我们不妨经常记住：道德超过了应有的限度有时就成了罪恶。他的这个决定也充分表现了他的高傲。”

她听他说话的时候，表情很少变化，或者完全没有变化。她的注意力不集中，这说明她心中正在想着别的什么事情。当他停止讲话的时候，她急忙问他道：

“您最近看到他吗？”

“谁也没有看到他。当这场业务危机使他必须从家里走出来的时候，他才走出来，然后他又回到家里，闭门不出，也不会见任何人。他给我写过一封信，感谢我过去的服务，那些赞扬的话有些过分，不是我所应得的；他在信中同时向我告别。在那些光景美好的年月中我跟他就从来没有很多来往，现在我就更加审慎，不想随意去打扰他；但是我曾经尝试这样做过。我曾经给他写信，到他那里向他提出请求。但是所有这一切全是徒劳。”

他注视着她，好像希望她能比刚才表示出更多的关心；他说得庄重而又富于感情，仿佛想要给她加深印象似的；但是她的表情没有改变。

“唔，哈里特小姐，”他露出失望的神态，说道，“谈这些不合适。您不是到这里来听这些话的。您心中有别的更愉快的话题。让我们转到这些话题上来，这样我们可以谈得融洽些。就这样吧！”

“不，我的话题和您的相同，”哈里特直率地、迅速地表示出惊奇，回答道，“难道能不相同吗？约翰和我最近对这些巨大的变化思考得很多，谈论得很多，难道这不是很自然的吗？约翰为董贝先生服务了这么多年，您知道是按照什么条件服务的，现在，董贝先生，就像您所说的，破产了，而我们却很有钱了。”

她的脸善良、真诚，莫芬先生这位眼睛淡褐色的单身汉自从第一次看到它以来一直喜欢它；可是现在当它露出极端喜悦的神色时，它却不能像过去那样使他喜欢了。

“我不需要提醒您，”哈里特说道，一边眼睛向黑色的衣服低垂着，“我们的境况是通过什么途径发生变化的。您没有忘记，我的弟弟詹姆士在那个可怕的日子去世以后，没有留下遗嘱，除了我们之外他没有别的亲属。”

她的脸虽然比片刻之前苍白、忧郁，可是他却比刚才更喜欢看到它。他似乎呼吸得更为轻松愉快了。

“您知道我们的历史，”她说道，“我两个弟弟的历史，它们都跟您刚才那么真诚地谈到的那位倒霉的、不幸的先生联系着。您知道，我们的需求——约翰的和我的——是多么少，我们在这许多年中一起度过了这样一种生活之后，我们多么不需要用什么钱；由于您的好意帮助，他现在的收入是足够我们两人用的了。您没有料想到我到这里来想请您帮什么忙吧？”

“我不知道。一分钟以前，我好像料想到了。现在我觉得，我没有料想到。”

“关于我死去的弟弟，我没有什么话要说。如果死者知道我们所做的事情的话——可是您了解我。关于我活着的弟弟，我可以说很多的话。可是我需要补充的就是，他想尽他的责任——我就是为了这个缘故才到这里来请求您给予必不可少的帮助的；除非这件事完成了，否则他是不能安宁的。”

她又抬起眼睛，在注视着她的人的眼睛中，她脸上露出的兴高采烈的神色开始显得漂亮起来了。

“亲爱的先生，”她继续说道，“这件事必须很谨慎很秘密地做。您的经验与知识将会向您指出完成这件事的方法。也许可以使董贝先生相信，从他遭受严重损失的财产中还意外地保存下来一笔钱；或者那些跟他从事大宗交易的人们当中，有人由于崇敬他正直、高尚的品格，自愿捐献出一笔款项；或者这是过去无法收回的一笔旧欠款归还来了。做这件事一定有很多方法。我知道您会选择最好的方法。我到这里来请求您的是，您将以您特有的那种善良、慷慨、慎重的方式为我们做这件事。您永远也别向约翰提到这件事。他认为，他的幸福主要在于他秘密地尽了他的责任，不被人知道，不受到赞扬。他遗产中很小的一部分可以留给我们，其余部分的利息由董贝先生在他的余年中领取。我请求您忠实地为我们保守秘密；不过我相信您会这样做的；从现在起，即使是在您和我之间，也不要悄悄地提起它，而让它留在我们的记忆中，因为我有新的理由来感谢上天，并由于有这样一位弟弟而感到高兴和自豪。”

当天使们看到一位忏悔的罪人进入天国，列身在九十九个正直的人们中间的时候，他们脸上才能出现这种兴高采烈的神情。她眼睛里充满了喜悦的泪水，这并没有使这种神情暗淡失色，而是使它变得更加明亮。

“我亲爱的哈里特，”莫芬先生沉默了一会儿，说道，“我对这没有思想准备。您的意思是：您希望由您本人继承的那份遗产也跟约翰的那份一样用于你们善良的目的，我这样理解对吗？”

“对，对，”她回答道，“在这么长久的时间中我们分享一切，并有着共同的忧虑、希望与目的；难道我能容忍把我排除在这件事情之外吗？难道我不能要求自始至终成为我弟弟的伙伴与助手吗？”

“上天不容许我有不同意见！”他回答道。

“这么说，我们可以依赖您友好的帮助了吗？”她说道。

“我知道，我们可以了！”

“如果我不能从心灵里向你们保证我会这样做的话，那么我就不是一个我希望自己能成为那样的人，或我愿意相信我就是那样的人，而是一个坏一些的人了。你们可以毫无保留地指望我帮助你们。我以荣誉发誓，我一定为你们保守秘密。

如果到头来发现我的担心没有错，董贝先生由于一意孤行（看来没有什么办法能影响他改变这一点），落到一贫如洗的地步的话，那么我将帮助你们完成您和约翰共同想出的计划。”

她向他伸出手，并露出热诚的、快乐的脸容向他表示感谢。

“哈里特，”他把她的手留在自己手中，说道，“现在跟您讲你们所能作出牺牲的价值（尤其是讲仅仅金钱方面的牺牲的价值）是无益和放肆的；呼吁你们重新考虑你们的决定或对它规定一个狭窄的幅度，我觉得也同样是荒谬的。我没有权利让我这个软弱的人在这件事情上插手，来毁坏一个伟大历史的伟大结局。可是我有一切权利恭恭敬敬地做好你们信托给我的事情，而且十分高兴，因为它来自一个比我的可怜的世俗的知识更高尚、更纯洁的灵感的源泉。我所要说的只是这一点：我是您的忠实的仆人；我宁愿成为这样的仆人和您所选择的朋友，而不愿意成为世界上除您本人之外的任何其他人。”

她又热诚地谢谢他，祝他晚安。

“您要回家吗？”他说道。“让我陪您一道走。”

“不，今天您别陪我。我现在不回家；我要单独去拜访一个人。您明天来好吗？”

“好，好，”他说道，“我明天来。同时我将考虑一下这件事，我们怎样进行最好。也许·您·也·将·会考虑这件事，亲爱的哈里特，同时，——同时，——请您也稍稍考虑一下与这事有关的我。”

他陪她走到门口，她的一辆轿式马车正在那里等着她。当马车离开以后，他回到楼上来的时候，如果房东太太的耳朵不聋的话，那么她就能听到他喃喃自语地说道，我们都是受习惯支配的奴隶，当一个老单身汉是一个使人伤心的习惯。

大提琴躺在两张椅子中间的沙发上；他把它拿起来，没有移开空着的椅子，在原先坐过的那张椅子上坐下来用低沉的演奏着，同时望着另一张空着的椅子慢悠悠地摇晃着脑袋，时间很久很久。他通过乐器表露出的感情起初虽然非常感伤动人，温柔多情，但跟他看着那张空着的椅子时脸上表露出的感情相比，那就算不了什么了；他脸上表露出的感情十分诚挚，他不得不采用卡特尔船长的办法，不止一次用袖子去擦脸。但是大提琴伴随着他的心情，渐渐地转到了《和睦的铁匠》1这支音调优美的曲子上；他把它拉了一次又一次，直到后来他红润与安祥的脸孔就像一位真正的铁匠的铁砧上的真正的金属一样闪闪发光了。总而言之，大提琴和那张空椅子一直成为他单身生活的伴侣，直到将近午夜。当他坐下吃晚饭的时候，大提琴竖立在沙发的一角，似乎怀着难以形容的智慧，通过它那钩形的眼睛，向那张空椅子递送着秋波，它那挺凸的肚子里充满了一大群和睦的铁匠的和睦气氛。

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1《和睦的铁匠》（harmoniousblacksmith）是英籍德国作曲家亨德尔（georgefriderichandel，1685—1759年）所写的一个曲子。

哈里特坐上她租来的轿式马车，离开莫芬先生的家以后，马车夫抄了一条对他显然并不陌生的路线，穿过了好多曲曲弯弯的偏僻小路，再通过近郊的一段路，最后到达一个空旷的地方；那里在一些花园中间，有几间朴素的、小小的旧房屋，他在其中的一间房屋的花园门口停住，哈里特下了车。

她轻轻地拉了一下铃，应声前来的是一位神色忧伤的女人；她脸色苍白，眉毛竖起，头低垂在一边；她看到哈里特，行了个屈膝礼，领着她穿过花园，走到房屋跟前。

“今天夜里您的病人怎样了，护士？”哈里特问道。

“我担心不好了，小姐。啊，有时候我见到她多叫我联想起我舅舅的贝特西·简！”脸色苍白的女人怀着悲喜交集的心情回答道。

“在哪方面？”哈里特问道。

“在所有方面，小姐，”那一位回答道，“只有一点不同，她是个成年人，而贝特西·简走到死神的门口时，还只是个孩子。”

“可是您曾告诉我她痊愈了，”哈里特温柔地说道，“所以就更有理由怀着希望了，威肯姆太太。”

“啊，小姐，对于那些情绪快乐，能够怀有希望的人来说，希望是一件很好的事情！”威肯姆太太摇摇头，说道，“我自己的情绪不好，产生不出希望，但我对这没有任何怨恨。我羡慕那些享有这种幸福的人们！”

“您应当设法快活一些，”哈里特说道。

“非常感谢您，小姐，”威肯姆太太愁眉苦脸地说道，“如果我是个性格快活的人，那么现在这种寂寞的状况——请原谅我说得这么直率——，也会使这点快活在二十四小时内从我的心里完全失去；可是我根本不是这种性格的人。我宁肯这样。我以前曾经有过一点快乐的情绪，它已经在几年以前在布赖顿失去了，我觉得这对我反倒更好。”

确实，这就是接替理查兹大嫂给小保罗当保姆的威肯姆大嫂。她认为，在皮普钦太太家里发生了那桩不幸事件之后，她本人倒是因祸得福。这个非常美妙和考虑周到的古老制度，由于长期承袭的旧俗惯例，已成为神圣不可侵犯；它通常总是把它所能找到的那些最忧郁寡欢、令人不快的人们挑选出来充当青年导师、传道士、女舍监、教务助理生、病床护士以及诸如此类的人物；正由于这个缘故，威肯姆太太就得到了护士这个很好的职务，她的品德受到了很多钦佩她的亲戚们的推荐。

威肯姆太太扬起眉毛，头歪向一边，用蜡烛照着道路，上了楼，走到一间干净、整洁的房间里；这间房间通向另一间灯光幽暗、里面摆有一张床的房间。在第一个房间里，一位老太婆坐在打开的窗子旁边，呆呆地向黑漆漆的窗外凝视着。在另一个房间里，有一个人的身形，伸开四肢，躺在床上；这个人曾经不怕风雨，在冬夜里走路，现在却只能凭她那长长的黑发才能辨认出来；在她那毫无血色的脸孔和周围所有白色物体的衬托下，那头发显得更黑了。

啊，那双炯炯有神的眼睛和那个衰弱的身躯！当哈里特走进去的时候，那双眼睛多么热切、多么明亮地转向了门口，射出了多么明亮的光芒；那个有气无力、抬不起来的脑袋是多么缓慢地在枕头上转过去啊！

“艾丽斯！”客人用温柔的说道，“我今天是不是来晚了？”

“虽然你总是来得早早的，但我总觉得您似乎来晚了。”