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雙語·曼斯菲爾德莊園 第一卷 第七章

所屬教程:譯林版·曼斯菲爾德莊園

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2022年04月26日

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“Well, Fanny, and how do you like Miss Crawford now?” said Edmund the next day, after thinking some time on the subject himself.“How did you like her yesterday?”

“Very well—very much. I like to hear her talk. She entertains me; and she is so extremely pretty, that I have great pleasure in looking at her.”

“It is her countenance that is so attractive. She has a wonderful play of feature! But was there nothing in her conversation that struck you, Fanny, as not quite right?”

“Oh! yes, she ought not to have spoken of her uncle as she did. I was quite astonished. An uncle with whom she has been living so many years, and who, whatever his faults may be, is so very fond of her brother, treating him, they say, quite like a son. I could not have believed it!”

“I thought you would be struck. It was very wrong—very indecorous.”

“And very ungrateful, I think.”

“Ungrateful is a strong word. I do not know that her uncle has any claim to her gratitude; his wife certainly had; and it is the warmth of her respect for her aunt's memory which misleads her here. She is awkwardly circumstanced. With such warm feelings and lively spirits it must be difficult to do justice to her affection for Mrs. Crawford, without throwing a shade on the Admiral. I do not pretend to know which was most to blame in their disagreements, though the Admiral's present conduct might incline one to the side of his wife; but it is natural and amiable that Miss Crawford should acquit her aunt entirely. I do not censure her opinions; but there certainly is impropriety in making them public.”

“Do not you think,” said Fanny, after a little consideration, “that this impropriety is a reflection itself upon Mrs. Crawford, as her niece has been entirely brought up by her? She cannot have given her right notions of what was due to the Admiral.”

“That is a fair remark. Yes, we must suppose the faults of the niece to have been those of the aunt; and it makes one more sensible of the disadvantages she has been under. But I think her present home must do her good. Mrs. Grant's manners are just what they ought to be. She speaks of her brother with a very pleasing affection.”

“Yes, except as to his writing her such short letters. She made me almost laugh; but I cannot rate so very highly the love or good nature of a brother who will not give himself the trouble of writing anything worth reading to his sisters, when they are separated. I am sure William would never have used me so, under any circumstances. And what right had she to suppose that you would not write long letters when you were absent?”

“The right of a lively mind, Fanny, seizing whatever may contribute to its own amusement or that of others; perfectly allowable, when untinctured by ill humour or roughness; and there is not a shadow of either in the countenance or manner of Miss Crawford, nothing sharp, or loud, or coarse. She is perfectly feminine, except in the instances we have been speaking of. There she cannot be justified. I am glad you saw it all as I did.”

Having formed her mind and gained her affections, he had a good chance of her thinking like him; though at this period, and on this subject, there began now to be some danger of dissimilarity, for he was in a line of admiration of Miss Crawford, which might lead him where Fanny could not follow. Miss Crawford's attractions did not lessen. The harp arrived, and rather added to her beauty, wit, and good humour; for she played with the greatest obligingness, with an expression and taste which were peculiarly becoming, and there was something clever to be said at the close of every air. Edmund was at the Parsonage every day, to be indulged with his favourite instrument; one morning secured an invitation for the next; for the lady could not be unwilling to have a listener, and every thing was soon in a fair train.

A young woman, pretty, lively, with a harp as elegant as herself, and both placed near a window, cut down to the ground, and opening on a little lawn, surrounded by shrubs in the rich foliage of summer, was enough to catch any man's heart. The season, the scene, the air, were all favourable to tenderness and sentiment. Mrs. Grant and her tambour frame were not without their use; it was all in harmony; and as everything will turn to account when love is once set going, even the sandwich tray, and Dr. Grant doing the honours of it, were worth looking at. Without studying the business, however, or knowing what he was about, Edmund was beginning, at the end of a week of such intercourse, to be a good deal in love; and to the credit of the lady it may be added that, without his being a man of the world or an elder brother, without any of the arts of flattery or the gaieties of small talk, he began to be agreeable to her. She felt it to be so, though she had not foreseen, and could hardly understand it; for he was not pleasant by any common rule, he talked no nonsense; he paid no compliments; his opinions were unbending, his attentions tranquil and simple. There was a charm, perhaps, in his sincerity, his steadiness, his integrity, which Miss Crawford might be equal to feel, though not equal to discuss with herself. She did not think very much about it, however; he pleased her for the present; she liked to have him near her; it was enough.

Fanny could not wonder that Edmund was at the Parsonage every morning; she would gladly have been there too, might she have gone in uninvited and unnoticed, to hear the harp; neither could she wonder that, when the evening stroll was over, and the two families parted again, he should think it right to attend Mrs. Grant and her sister to their home, while Mr. Crawford was devoted to the ladies of the Park; but she thought it a very bad exchange; and if Edmund were not there to mix the wine and water for her, would rather go without it than not. She was a little surprised that he could spend so many hours with Miss Crawford, and not see more of the sort of fault which he had already observed, and of which she was almost always reminded by a something of the same nature whenever she was in her company; but so it was. Edmund was fond of speaking to her of Miss Crawford, but he seemed to think it enough that the Admiral had since been spared; and she scrupled to point out her own remarks to him, lest it should appear like ill-nature. The first actual pain which Miss Crawford occasioned her was the consequence of an inclination to learn to ride, which the former caught, soon after her being settled at Mansfield, from the example of the young ladies at the Park, and which, when Edmund's acquaintance with her increased, led to his encouraging the wish, and the offer of his own quiet mare for the purpose of her first attempts, as the best fitted for a beginner that either stable could furnish. No pain, no injury, however, was designed by him to his cousin in this offer: she was not to lose a day's exercise by it. The mare was only to be taken down to the Parsonage half an hour before her ride were to begin; and Fanny, on its being first proposed, so far from feeling slighted, was almost overpowered with gratitude that he should be asking her leave for it.

Miss Crawford made her first essay with great credit to herself, and no inconvenience to Fanny. Edmund, who had taken down the mare and presided at the whole, returned with it in excellent time, before either Fanny or the steady old coachman, who always attended her when she rode without her cousins, were ready to set forward. The second day's trial was not so guiltless. Miss Crawford's enjoyment of riding was such that she did not know how to leave off. Active and fearless, and though rather small, strongly made, she seemed formed for a horsewoman; and to the pure genuine pleasure of the exercise, something was probably added in Edmund's attendance and instructions, and something more in the conviction of very much surpassing her sex in general by her early progress, to make her unwilling to dismount. Fanny was ready and waiting, and Mrs. Norris was beginning to scold her for not being gone, and still no horse was announced, no Edmund appeared. To avoid her aunt, and look for him, she went out.

The houses, though scarcely half a mile apart, were not within sight of each other; but, by walking fifty yards from the hall door, she could look down the park, and command a view of the Parsonage and all its demesnes, gently rising beyond the village road; and in Dr. Grant's meadow she immediately saw the group—Edmund and Miss Crawford both on horseback, riding side by side, Dr. and Mrs. Grant, and Mr. Crawford, with two or three grooms, standing about and looking on. A happy party it appeared to her—all interested in one object—cheerful beyond a doubt, for the sound of merriment ascended even to her. It was a sound which did not make her cheerful; she wondered that Edmund should forget her, and felt a pang. She could not turn her eyes from the meadow; she could not help watching all that passed. At first Miss Crawford and her companion made the circuit of the field, which was not small, at a foot's pace; then, at her apparent suggestion, they rose into a canter; and to Fanny's timid nature it was most astonishing to see how well she sat. After a few minutes they stopped entirely. Edmund was close to her; he was speaking to her; he was evidently directing her management of the bridle; he had hold of her hand; she saw it, or the imagination supplied what the eye could not reach. She must not wonder at all this; what could be more natural than that Edmund should be making himself useful, and proving his good nature by anyone? She could not but think, indeed, that Mr. Crawford might as well have saved him the trouble; that it would have been particularly proper and becoming in a brother to have done it himself; but Mr. Crawford, with all his boasted good nature, and all his coachmanship, probably knew nothing of the matter, and had no active kindness in comparison of Edmund. She began to think it rather hard upon the mare to have such double duty; if she were forgotten, the poor mare should be remembered.

Her feelings for one and the other were soon a little tranquillised by seeing the party in the meadow disperse, and Miss Crawford still on horseback, but attended by Edmund on foot, pass through a gate into the lane, and so into the park, and make towards the spot where she stood. She began then to be afraid of appearing rude and impatient; and walked to meet them with a great anxiety to avoid the suspicion.

“My dear Miss Price,” said Miss Crawford, as soon as she was at all within hearing, “I am come to make my own apologies for keeping you waiting—but I have nothing in the world to say for myself—I knew it was very late, and that I was behaving extremely ill; and therefore, if you please, you must forgive me. Selfishness must always be forgiven, you know, because there is no hope of a cure.”

Fanny's answer was extremely civil, and Edmund added his conviction that she could be in no hurry. “For there is more than time enough for my cousin to ride twice as far as she ever goes,” said he, “and you have been promoting her comfort by preventing her from setting off half an hour sooner; clouds are now coming up, and she will not suffer from the heat as she would have done then. I wish you may not be fatigued by so much exercise. I wish you had saved yourself this walk home.”

“No part of it fatigues me but getting off this horse, I assure you,” said she, as she sprang down with his help; “I am very strong. Nothing ever fatigues me but doing what I do not like. Miss Price, I give way to you with a very bad grace; but I sincerely hope you will have a pleasant ride, and that I may have nothing but good to hear of this dear, delightful, beautiful animal.”

The old coachman, who had been waiting about with his own horse, now joining them, Fanny was lifted on hers, and they set off across another part of the park; her feelings of discomfort not lightened by seeing, as she looked back, that the others were walking down the hill together to the village; nor did her attendant do her much good by his comments on Miss Crawford's great cleverness as a horse-woman, which he had been watching with an interest almost equal to her own.

“It is a pleasure to see a lady with such a good heart for riding!” said he. “I never see one sit a horse better. She did not seem to have a thought of fear. Very different from you, miss, when you first began, six years ago come next Easter. Lord bless you! how you did tremble when Sir Thomas first had you put on!”

In the drawing-room Miss Crawford was also celebrated. Her merit in being gifted by Nature with strength and courage was fully appreciated by the Miss Bertrams; her delight in riding was like their own; her early excellence in it was like their own, and they had great pleasure in praising it.

“I was sure she would ride well,” said Julia; “she has the make for it. Her figure is as neat as her brother's.”

“Yes,” added Maria, “and her spirits are as good, and she has the same energy of character. I cannot but think that good horsemanship has a great deal to do with the mind.”

When they parted at night Edmund asked Fanny whether she meant to ride the next day.

“No, I do not know, not if you want the mare,” was her answer.

“I do not want her at all for myself,” said he; “but whenever you are next inclined to stay at home, I think Miss Crawford would be glad to have her a longer time—for a whole morning, in short. She has a great desire to get as far as Mansfield Common, Mrs. Grant has been telling her of its fine views, and I have no doubt of her being perfectly equal to it. But any morning will do for this. She would be extremely sorry to interfere with you. It would be very wrong if she did.She rides only for pleasure; you for health.”

“I shall not ride tomorrow, certainly,” said Fanny; “I have been out very often lately, and would rather stay at home. You know I am strong enough now to walk very well.”

Edmund looked pleased, which must be Fanny's comfort, and the ride to Mansfield Common took place the next morning; the party included all the young people but herself, and was much enjoyed at the time, and doubly enjoyed again in the evening discussion. A successful scheme of this sort generally brings on another; and the having been to Mansfield Common disposed them all for going somewhere else the day after. There were many other views to be shewn; and though the weather was hot, there were shady lanes wherever they wanted to go. A young party is always provided with a shady lane. Four fine mornings successively were spent in this manner, in shewing the Crawfords the country, and doing the honours of its finest spots. Everything answered; it was all gaiety and good humour, the heat only supplying inconvenience enough to be talked of with pleasure—till the fourth day, when the happiness of one of the party was exceedingly clouded. Miss Bertram was the one. Edmund and Julia were invited to dine at the Parsonage, and she was excluded. It was meant and done by Mrs. Grant, with perfect good humour, on Mr. Rushworth's account, who was partly expected at the Park that day; but it was felt as a very grievous injury, and her good manners were severely taxed to conceal her vexation and anger, till she reached home. As Mr. Rushworth did not come, the injury was increased, and she had not even the relief of shewing her power over him; she could only be sullen to her mother, aunt, and cousin, and throw as great a gloom as possible over their dinner and dessert.

Between ten and eleven, Edmund and Julia walked into the drawing-room, fresh with the evening air, glowing and cheerful, the very reverse of what they found in the three ladies sitting there, for Maria would scarcely raise her eyes from her book, and Lady Bertram was half asleep; and even Mrs. Norris, discomposed by her niece's humour, and having asked one or two questions about the dinner, which were not immediately attended to, seemed almost determined to say no more. For a few minutes, the brother and sister were too eager in their praise of the night and their remarks on the stars, to think beyond themselves; but when the first pause came, Edmund, looking around, said, “But where is Fanny? Is she gone to bed?”

“No, not that I know of,” replied Mrs. Norris; “she was here a moment ago.”

Her own gentle voice speaking from the other end of the room, which was a very long one, told them that she was on the sofa. Mrs. Norris began scolding.

“That is a very foolish trick, Fanny, to be idling away all the evening upon a sofa. Why cannot you come and sit here, and employ yourself as we do? If you have no work of your own, I can supply you from the poor basket. There is all the new calico, that was bought last week, not touched yet. I am sure I almost broke my back by cutting it out. You should learn to think of other people; and, take my word for it, it is a shocking trick for a young person to be always lolling upon a sofa.”

Before half this was said, Fanny was returned to her seat at the table, and had taken up her work again; and Julia, who was in high good humour, from the pleasures of the day, did her the justice of exclaiming, “I must say, ma'am, that Fanny is as little upon the sofa as anybody in the house.”

“Fanny,” said Edmund, after looking at her attentively, “I am sure you have the headache?”

She could not deny it, but said it was not very bad.

“I can hardly believe you,” he replied; “I know your looks too well. How long have you had it?”

“Since a little before dinner. It is nothing but the heat.”

“Did you go out in the heat?”

“Go out! to be sure she did,” said Mrs. Norris; “would you have her stay within such a fine day as this? Were not we all out? Even your mother was out today for above an hour.”

“Yes, indeed, Edmund,” added her ladyship, who had been thoroughly awakened by Mrs. Norris's sharp reprimand to Fanny; “I was out above an hour. I sat three quarters of an hour in the flower garden, while Fanny cut the roses; and very pleasant it was, I assure you, but very hot. It was shady enough in the alcove, but I declare I quite dreaded the coming home again.”

“Fanny has been cutting roses, has she?”

“Yes, and I am afraid they will be the last this year. Poor thing! She found it hot enough; but they were so fullblown that one could not wait.”

“There was no help for it, certainly,” rejoined Mrs. Norris, in a rather softened voice; “but I question whether her headache might not be caught then, sister. There is nothing so likely to give it as standing and stooping in a hot sun; but I dare say it will be well tomorrow. Suppose you let her have your aromatic vinegar; I always forget to have mine filled.”

“She has got it,” said Lady Bertram; “she has had it ever since she came back from your house the second time.”

“What!” cried Edmund; “has she been walking as well as cutting roses; walking across the hot park to your house, and doing it twice, ma'am? No wonder her head aches.”

Mrs. Norris was talking to Julia, and did not hear.

“I was afraid it would be too much for her,” said Lady Bertram; “but when the roses were gathered, your aunt wished to have them, and then you know they must be taken home.”

“But were there roses enough to oblige her to go twice?”

“No; but they were to be put into the spare room to dry; and, unluckily, Fanny forgot to lock the door of the room and bring away the key, so she was obliged to go again.”

Edmund got up and walked about the room, saying, “And could nobody be employed on such an errand but Fanny? Upon my word, ma'am, it has been a very ill-managed business.”

“I am sure I do not know how it was to have been done better,” cried Mrs. Norris, unable to be longer deaf; “unless I had gone myself, indeed; but I cannot be in two places at once; and I was talking to Mr. Green at that very time about your mother's dairymaid, by her desire, and had promised John Groom to write to Mrs. Jefferies about his son, and the poor fellow was waiting for me half an hour. I think nobody can justly accuse me of sparing myself upon any occasion, but really I cannot do everything at once. And as for Fanny's just stepping down to my house for me, it is not much above a quarter of a mile, I cannot think I was unreasonable to ask it. How often do I pace it three times a day, early and late, ay, and in all weathers too, and say nothing about it?”

“I wish Fanny had half your strength, ma'am.”

“If Fanny would be more regular in her exercise, she would not be knocked up so soon. She has not been out on horseback now this long while, and I am persuaded that, when she does not ride, she ought to walk. If she had been riding before, I should not have asked it of her. But I thought it would rather do her good after being stooping among the roses; for there is nothing so refreshing as a walk after a fatigue of that kind; and though the sun was strong, it was not so very hot. Between ourselves, Edmund,” nodding significantly at his mother, “it was cutting the roses, and dawdling about in the flower garden, that did the mischief.”

“I am afraid it was, indeed,” said the more candid Lady Bertram, who had overheard her; “I am very much afraid she caught the headache there, for the heat was enough to kill anybody. It was as much as I could bear myself. Sitting and calling to Pug, and trying to keep him from the flower beds, was almost too much for me.”

Edmund said no more to either lady; but going quietly to another table, on which the suppertray yet remained, brought a glass of Madeira to Fanny, and obliged her to drink the greater part. She wished to be able to decline it; but the tears, which a variety of feelings created, made it easier to swallow than to speak.

Vexed as Edmund was with his mother and aunt, he was still more angry with himself. His own forgetfulness of her was worse than anything which they had done. Nothing of this would have happened had she been properly considered; but she had been left four days together without any choice of companions or exercise, and without any excuse for avoiding whatever her unreasonable aunts might require. He was ashamed to think that for four days together she had not had the power of riding, and very seriously resolved, however unwilling he must be to check a pleasure of Miss Crawford's, that it should never happen again.

Fanny went to bed with her heart as full as on the first evening of her arrival at the Park. The state of her spirits had probably had its share in her indisposition; for she had been feeling neglected, and been struggling against discontent and envy for some days past. As she leant on the sofa, to which she had retreated that she might not be seen, the pain of her mind had been much beyond that in her head; and the sudden change which Edmund's kindness had then occasioned, made her hardly know how to support herself.

“喂,范妮,你現(xiàn)在覺得克勞福德小姐怎么樣?”第二天,埃德蒙對這個問題思索了一會兒之后問道,“你昨天對她喜歡不喜歡?”

“很好啊——很喜歡。我喜歡聽她說話。她使我感到快樂。她漂亮極了,我非常喜歡看她。”

“她的容貌是很招人喜歡,面部表情也活潑動人!不過,范妮,她說的話有沒有讓你覺得不大妥當?shù)???/p>

“噢!是呀,她不該那樣說她的叔叔。我當時大為驚訝。她跟她叔叔一起生活了那么多年。這位叔叔不管有什么過錯,畢竟非常喜歡她的哥哥,據(jù)說他待她哥哥就像親生兒子一樣。我不敢相信她會那樣說她叔叔!”

“我早知道你會聽不慣的。她這樣做很不合適——很不得體?!?/p>

“而且,我還覺得這是忘恩負義?!?/p>

“說忘恩負義是重了些。我不知道她叔叔是否有恩于她,但她嬸嬸肯定有恩于她。她對嬸嬸強烈的敬重之情把她誤引到了這一步。她的處境頗為尷尬。她有這樣熱烈的感情,加上朝氣蓬勃,也就在滿懷深情地對待克勞福德太太的同時,難免對將軍有幾分不滿。我不想妄論他們夫婦倆不和主要應該怪誰,不過將軍近來的行為可能會讓人偏向他妻子一邊??藙诟5滦〗阈Q她嬸嬸一點過錯都沒有。這既合乎情理,又讓人愛聽。我不指責她的觀點,但是她把這觀點公之于眾,無疑是不妥當?shù)摹!?/p>

“克勞福德小姐完全是克勞福德太太帶大的,”范妮想了想說“,出了這么不妥當?shù)氖拢y道你不覺得克勞福德太太難辭其咎嗎?應該如何對待這位將軍,克勞福德太太不可能給侄女灌輸什么正確的觀念。”

“這話說得有道理。是的,我們必須把侄女的過錯視為嬸嬸的過錯。這樣一來,人們就更能看清克勞福德小姐處于多么不利的境況。不過我認為,她現(xiàn)在這個家定會給她帶來好處。格蘭特太太待人接物十分得體??藙诟5滦〗阒v到她哥哥時所流露出的情意真有意思?!?/p>

“是的,只是抱怨他寫信短時要除外。她的話逗得我差一點笑出聲來。不過,一個做哥哥的和妹妹分別之后,都懶得給她寫一封值得一讀的信,我可不敢恭維他的愛心和好性子。我相信,不管在什么情況下,威廉決不會這樣對待我??藙诟5滦〗銘{什么說,你要是出門在外,寫起信來也不會長?”

“憑她心性活潑,范妮,不管什么東西,只要能使她高興,或者能使別人高興,她就會抓住不放。只要沒染上壞脾氣,并不粗暴無禮,心性活潑點倒也沒有什么不好的。從克勞福德小姐的儀容和言談舉止來看,她脾氣一點也不壞,也不粗暴無禮,為人一點不尖刻,也不粗聲粗氣。除了我們剛才講的那件事以外,她表現(xiàn)出了不折不扣的女性氣質。而在我們剛才講的那件事情上,她怎么說都是不對的。我很高興你跟我的看法是一致的?!?/p>

埃德蒙一直在向范妮灌輸自己的想法,并且贏得了她的好感,因此范妮很可能跟他有一致的看法。不過在這期間,在這個問題上,卻開始出現(xiàn)了看法不同的危險,因為他有點傾慕克勞福德小姐。照此發(fā)展下去,范妮就不會聽他的了??藙诟5滦〗愕镊攘ξ礈p。豎琴運來了,越發(fā)給她平添了幾分麗質、聰穎與和悅,因為她滿腔熱情地為他們彈奏,從神情到格調都恰到好處,每支曲子彈完之后總有幾句巧言妙語好說。埃德蒙每天都到牧師住宅去欣賞他心愛的樂器演奏,今天上午聽完又被邀請明天再來,因為小姐還就愿意有人來聽,于是事情很快就有了苗頭。

一個漂亮活潑的年輕小姐,依偎著一架和她一樣雅致的豎琴,臨窗而坐;窗戶是落地大窗,面向一小塊草地,四周是夏季枝繁葉茂的灌木林,此情此景足以令任何男人為之心醉神迷。這季節(jié),這景致,這空氣,都會使人變得溫柔多情。格蘭特太太在一旁做刺繡也不無點綴作用,一切都顯得那么協(xié)調。人一旦萌發(fā)了愛意,什么東西都覺得有意思,就連那只放三明治的盤子,以及正在盡主人之誼的格蘭特博士,也都值得一看。然而,埃德蒙既未認真考慮,也不明白自己在干什么,就這么來往了一個星期之后,他便深深地墜入了情網(wǎng)。那位小姐令人贊許的是,盡管小伙子不諳世故,不是長子,不懂恭維的訣竅,也沒有閑聊的風趣,可她還是喜歡上了他。她感覺是這樣的,雖說她事先未曾料到,現(xiàn)在也難以理解。因為按平常標準來看,埃德蒙并不討人喜歡,他不會說廢話,不會恭維人;他的意見他總是堅定不移,他獻殷勤時總是心平氣和,言語不多。也許在他的真摯、堅定和誠實中有一種魅力,這種魅力,克勞福德小姐雖然不能進行分析,卻能感覺得到。不過,她并不多去想它?,F(xiàn)在,他能使她開心,她喜歡讓他跟她在一起,這就足夠了。

埃德蒙天天上午都跑到牧師住宅,范妮對此并不感到詫異。假如她能不經邀請,神不知鬼不覺地進去聽琴的話,她又何嘗不想進去呢。她同樣不感到詫異的是,晚上散完了步,兩家人再次分別的時候,埃德蒙總覺得該由他送格蘭特太太和她妹妹回家,而克勞福德先生則陪伴莊園里的太太小姐們。不過,她覺得這樣的交換很不好。如果埃德蒙不在場給她調和酒和水,她寧肯不喝。她有點驚奇的是,埃德蒙每天和克勞福德小姐待在一起那么長時間,卻再沒有在克勞福德小姐身上發(fā)現(xiàn)他過去曾看到過的缺點,而她自己每逢和克勞福德小姐在一起的時候,那位小姐身上總有一種同樣性質的東西使她想起那些缺點。不過,實際情況就是如此。埃德蒙喜歡跟她談克勞福德小姐,他似乎覺得克勞福德小姐再也沒有抱怨過將軍,這已經蠻不錯了。范妮沒敢向他指出克勞福德小姐都說了些什么,免得讓他認為自己不夠厚道。克勞福德小姐第一次給她帶來的真正痛苦,是由她想學騎馬而引起的??藙诟5滦〗銇淼铰狗茽柕虏痪?,看到莊園里的年輕小姐都會騎馬,便也想學騎馬。埃德蒙和她熟悉后,便鼓勵她這種想法,并主動提出讓她在初學期間騎他那匹性情溫和的母馬,說什么兩個馬廄中就數(shù)這匹馬最適合剛學騎馬的人騎。他提這個建議的時候,并不想惹表妹難過,更不想惹表妹傷心:表妹還可照常騎,一天也不受影響。那匹馬只是在表妹騎之前,牽到牧師住宅用上半個小時。這個建議剛提出的時候,范妮絲毫沒有受輕慢之感,而表哥居然因此征求她的意見,她簡直有點受寵若驚了。

克勞福德小姐第一次學騎馬很講信用,沒有耽誤范妮的時間。埃德蒙把馬送過去,并且一直負責到底。他非常守時,范妮的表姐不在時總跟隨著她騎馬的那個穩(wěn)妥可靠的老車夫還沒做好出發(fā)的準備,他就把馬牽來了。第二天的情況就不那么無可指摘了??藙诟5滦〗泸T馬騎到了興頭上,欲罷不能了。她人又活躍,又膽大,雖然個子很小,長得倒挺結實,好像天生就適于騎馬。除了騎馬本身所具有的純正樂趣之外,也許還有埃德蒙陪伴指導的緣故,再加上她一開始就進步很快,因而覺得自己大大勝過其他女性。這樣一來,她騎在馬上就不想下來了。范妮已裝束停當,等在那里,諾里斯太太責怪她怎么還不去騎馬??墒侨匀粵]有傳報馬的到來,也不見埃德蒙歸來。范妮走了出去,一是想避開姨媽,二是去找表哥。

這兩家的住宅雖然相距不足半英里,卻彼此不能相望。不過,從前廳門口往前走五十碼,她可以順著莊園往下看去,牧師住宅及其園地盡收眼底,就在村子里大路那邊,地勢微微隆起。她一眼看到那伙人就在格蘭特博士的草地上——埃德蒙和克勞福德小姐兩人都騎在馬上,并轡而行;格蘭特博士夫婦、克勞福德先生帶著兩三個馬夫,站在那里觀看。范妮覺得這些人在一起很高興——他們的興趣都集中在一個人身上——毫無疑問都很開心,她甚至都能聽到他們的嬉笑之聲。這嬉笑聲卻沒法讓她開心。她奇怪埃德蒙居然忘記了她,心里不禁一陣酸楚。她目不轉睛地望著那片草地,不由自主地瞅著那邊的情景。起初,克勞福德小姐和她的騎伴徐步繞場而行,那一圈可真不小。后來,顯然是經小姐提議,兩人催馬小跑起來。范妮天生膽小,看到克勞福德小姐騎得這么好,感到非常吃驚。過了一會兒,兩匹馬全停下來了。埃德蒙離小姐很近,他在對她說話,顯然是在教她怎樣控制馬韁,并且抓住了她的手。范妮看見了這一幕,或者說并非視力所及,而是憑想象捕捉到的。對于這一切,她不必感到奇怪。埃德蒙對誰都肯幫忙,對誰都很和善,這難道不是再自然不過的事情嗎?她只是覺得,克勞福德先生完全可以讓他省了這份麻煩。身為做哥哥的,本該由克勞福德先生自己來幫妹妹的忙,這是再合適、再恰當不過了??墒?,克勞福德先生雖然自詡為人敦厚,雖然那么會騎馬趕車,卻不大懂得這個道理,和埃德蒙比起來,毫無助人為樂的熱忱。范妮開始覺得,讓這匹馬承受這樣的雙重負擔,未免有些殘酷。她自己被人遺忘也就罷了,這匹可憐的馬還得有人牽掛才行。

她對這一位和另一位所浮起的紛紜思緒很快平靜了一些,因為她看到草地上的人群散了,克勞福德小姐仍然騎在馬上,埃德蒙步行跟著。兩人穿過一道門,走上了小路,于是就進了莊園,向她站的地方走來。這時她便擔起心來,唯恐自己顯得魯莽無禮、沒有耐心。因此,她急不可待地迎上前去,以免他們疑心。

“親愛的普萊斯小姐,”克勞福德小姐一走到彼此可以聽得見話的地方便說,“我來向你表示歉意,讓你久等了——我沒有理由為自己辯解——我知道時間很晚了,知道我表現(xiàn)得很不好。因此,請你務必要原諒我。你知道,自私應該永遠受到原諒,因為這是無法醫(yī)治的?!?/p>

范妮回答得極其客氣,埃德蒙隨即補充說他相信范妮是不會著急的?!拔冶砻眉词瓜氡绕綍r騎得遠一倍,時間也綽綽有余。”他說,“你叫她晚動身半個小時,她倒因此更舒服了。云彩現(xiàn)在出來了,她騎起來就不會像先前那樣熱得不好受了。但愿你騎了這么久沒把你累著。你還得走回家,你要是不用走回去就好了。”

“跟你說實話,騎在馬上一點也不累,”克勞福德小姐一邊說,一邊由埃德蒙扶著跳下馬背,“我很結實。只要不是做我不愛做的事,無論做什么我都沒累過。普萊斯小姐,真不好意思讓你久等了。我衷心希望你騎得快快活活的,也希望這匹心愛的、漂亮的、討人喜歡的馬樣樣令你滿意?!?/p>

老車夫一直牽著他那匹馬在一旁等著,這時他走過來,扶范妮上了她自己的馬,隨即幾個人便動身朝莊園的另一邊走去。范妮回過頭來,看見那兩個人一起下山往村里走去,她那忐忑不安的心情并未得到緩解。她的隨從夸獎克勞福德小姐騎馬多么機靈,自然也不會讓她心里好受??藙诟5滦〗泸T馬的時候,他一直在旁邊觀看,她騎馬的興趣和范妮的興趣不相上下。

“看到一位小姐這么喜歡騎馬,真是一樁賞心樂事啊!”他說,“我從未見過哪個小姐騎馬騎得這么好。她好像心里一點也不害怕。跟你大不一樣啊,小姐,你從開始學騎馬到下一個復活節(jié),整整六年了。上帝保佑!托馬斯爵士第一次把你放在馬背上的時候,你抖得多厲害?。 ?/p>

到了客廳,克勞福德小姐也備受贊揚。兩位伯特倫小姐十分賞識她那天生的力量和勇氣。她像她們倆一樣喜歡騎馬,也像她們倆一開始就騎得這么好。兩人興致勃勃地夸贊她。

“我早就知道她肯定會騎得很好,”朱莉婭說,“她有這樣的素質。她的體形像她哥哥一樣勻稱?!?/p>

“是的,”瑪麗亞接著說,“她也像她哥哥一樣興致勃勃,像她哥哥一樣充滿活力。我認為,騎馬好不好跟一個人的精神有很大關系?!?/p>

晚上道別時,埃德蒙問范妮第二天是否想騎馬。

“不,我不知道。如果你要用馬,我就不騎了。”范妮答道。

“我自己倒是不會用的,”埃德蒙說,“不過,你下次想待在家里的時候,克勞福德小姐可能想要多騎一些時間——說明了,騎一上午。她很想一直騎到曼斯菲爾德共用牧場那兒。格蘭特太太總跟她說那兒風景好,我毫不懷疑她完全可以騎到那兒。不過,隨便哪天上午都行。要是妨礙了你,她會非常過意不去。妨礙你是很不應該的。她騎馬只是為了好玩,而你是為了鍛煉身體。”

“我明天真的不騎,”范妮說,“最近我常出去,因此寧愿待在家里。你知道我現(xiàn)在身體很好,挺能走路的。”

埃德蒙喜形于色,范妮為此感到寬慰。于是去曼斯菲爾德共用牧場之事,第二天上午便付諸行動了。一行人中包括所有的年輕人,除了范妮。大家顯得非常高興,晚上議論的時候更是加倍的高興。這類計劃完成一項,往往會引出第二項。那些人去過曼斯菲爾德共用牧場之后,都想在第二天去個別的什么地方。還有許多風景可以觀賞。雖然天氣炎熱,但是走到哪里都有陰涼小道。一群年輕人總會找到一條陰涼小道的。一連四個晴朗的上午就是這樣度過的:帶著克勞福德兄妹游覽這個地區(qū),觀賞這一帶最美的景點。事事如意,個個興高采烈、喜笑顏開,就連天氣炎熱也只當笑料來談——直到第四天,有一個人的快樂心情被蒙上了一層濃重的陰影。此人就是伯特倫小姐。埃德蒙和朱莉婭接到邀請去牧師府上吃飯,而她卻被排除在外。這是格蘭特太太的意思,是她安排的,不過她倒完全是一片好心,是為拉什沃思先生著想,因為估計這天他可能到莊園來。然而,伯特倫小姐的自尊心受到了嚴重的損害。她要極力靠文雅的舉止來掩飾內心的苦惱和憤怒,直至回到家中。由于拉什沃思先生根本沒來,那損害就越發(fā)沉重,她甚至都不能向拉什沃思先生施展一下她的威力,以求得一點慰藉。她只能給母親、姨媽和表妹臉色看,攪得她們在吃正餐和甜點時,一個個全都憂郁不已。

在十點到十一點之間,埃德蒙和朱莉婭走進了客廳,夜晚的空氣使得他們面色紅潤、容光煥發(fā)、心情暢快,與坐在屋里的三位女士樣子截然不同。瑪麗亞在埋頭看書,眼都不抬一下;伯特倫夫人半睡不睡,就連諾里斯太太也讓外甥女鬧情緒攪得心緒不寧,問了一兩聲有關宴會的問題,見無人搭理,似乎也打定主意不再作聲。那兄妹倆一心在稱贊這個夜晚,贊美天上的星光,有一陣子心里沒有想到別人??墒牵仍掝^第一次停下來的時候,埃德蒙看了一下四周,問道:“范妮呢?她睡覺了嗎?”

“沒有,我想沒有吧,”諾里斯太太答道,“她剛才還在這兒。”

從長長的房間的另一端傳來范妮輕柔的聲音,大家這才知道她在沙發(fā)上。諾里斯太太便罵起來了。

“范妮,一個人待在沙發(fā)上消磨一個晚上,你這是犯傻呀。你就不能坐到這兒,像我們一樣找點事兒干?你要是沒有活干,這教堂濟貧筐里有的是活給你干。我們上星期買的印花布還都在這兒,動也沒動。我剪裁花布差一點把背都累折了。你應該學會想到別人。說實在的,一個年輕人總是懶洋洋地躺在沙發(fā)上,這也太不像話了?!?/p>

她的話還沒說到一半,范妮已回到她桌邊的座位上,做起活來。朱莉婭快活了一天,心情非常好,便為范妮主持公道,大聲叫道:“姨媽,我要說,范妮在沙發(fā)上待的時間比這屋里的哪個人都少?!?/p>

“范妮,”埃德蒙關切地看了看她之后說,“我想你一定是犯頭痛病了吧?”

范妮無可否認,但說不嚴重。

“我不大相信你的話,”埃德蒙說,“我一看你的臉色就知道了。你痛了多長時間啦?”

“飯前不久開始的。沒什么,是熱得?!?/p>

“你大熱天的跑出去啦?”

“跑出去!她當然跑出去啦!”諾里斯太太說,“這么好的天氣,你想讓她待在家里?我們不是都出去了嗎?連你母親都在外邊待了一個多小時?!?/p>

“的確是這樣,埃德蒙,”伯特倫夫人加了一句,諾里斯太太對范妮的厲聲斥責把她徹底吵醒了,“我出去了一個多小時。我在花園里坐了三刻鐘,范妮在那兒剪玫瑰。這確實是很愜意,不過也很熱。涼亭里倒挺陰涼的,可是說實話,我真害怕再走回家。”

“范妮一直在剪玫瑰,是嗎?”

“是的,恐怕這是今年最后的一茬花了。可憐的人兒!她也覺得天熱,不過花都盛開了,不能再等了。”

“這實在是沒有辦法呀,”諾里斯太太輕聲細語地說,“不過,妹妹,我懷疑她是不是就是那時候得的頭痛。站在大太陽底下,一會兒直腰、一會兒彎腰地剪花,最容易讓人頭痛。不過我敢說,明天就會好的。你把你的香醋給她喝點。我總是忘記把我的香醋裝滿?!?/p>

“她喝過啦?!辈貍惙蛉苏f,“當她第二次從你家回來,我就給她喝過了?!?/p>

“什么!”埃德蒙嚷道,“她又剪花又跑腿,在大太陽底下穿過莊園跑到你家,而且跑了兩次,是吧,姨媽?怪不得她頭痛呢?!?/p>

諾里斯太太在和朱莉婭說話,沒理會埃德蒙的話。

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