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第6章 无毒不丈夫

　　The tumult of cessation from lessons was already breaking forth,but it sank at her voice. She went on-

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　　While the direction was being executed, the lady consulted movedslowly up the room. I suppose I have a considerable organ ofveneration, for I retain yet the sense of admiring awe with which myeyes traced her steps. Seen now, in broad day-light, she lookedtall, fair, and shapely; brown eyes with a benignant light in theiririds, and a fine pencilling of long lashes round, relieved thewhiteness of her large front; on each of her temples her hair, of avery dark brown, was clustered in round curls, according to thefashion of those times, when neither smooth bands nor long ringletswere in vogue; her dress, also in the mode of the day, was of purplecloth, relieved by a sort of Spanish trimming of black velvet; agold watch (watches were not so common then as now) shone at hergirdle. Let the reader add, to complete the picture, refined features;a complexion, if pale, clear; and a stately air and carriage, and hewill have, at least, as clearly as words can give it, a correct ideaof the exterior of Miss Temple- Maria

　　Helen she held a little longer than me: she let her go morereluctantly; it was Helen her eye followed to the door; it was for hershe a second time breathed a sad sigh; for her she wiped a tear fromher cheek.

　　'Don't be afraid, Jane, I saw it was an accident; you shall notbe punished.'

　　'An island thousands of miles off, where they make wine- the butlerdid tell me-'

　　These pictures were in water-colours. The first representedclouds low and livid, rolling over a swollen sea: all the distance wasin eclipse; so, too, was the foreground; or rather, the nearestbillows, for there was no land. One gleam of light lifted intorelief a half-submerged mast, on which sat a cormorant, dark andlarge, with wings flecked with foam; its beak held a gold bracelet setwith gems, that I had touched with as brilliant tints as my palettecould yield, and as glittering distinctness as my pencil could impart.Sinking below the bird and mast, a drowned corpse glanced throughthe green water; a fair arm was the only limb clearly visible,whence the bracelet had been washed or torn.

　　'No sight so sad as that of a naughty child,' he began, 'especiallya naughty little girl. Do you know where the wicked go after death?'

　　Traversing the long and matted gallery, I descended the slipperysteps of oak; then I gained the hall: I halted there a minute; Ilooked at some pictures on the walls (one, I remember, represented agrim man in a cuirass, and one a lady with powdered hair and a pearlnecklace), at a bronze lamp pendent from the ceiling, at a great clockwhose case was of oak curiously carved, and ebon black with time andrubbing. Everything appeared very stately and imposing to me; but thenI was so little accustomed to grandeur. The hall-door, which washalf of glass, stood open; I stepped over the threshold. It was a fineautumn morning; the early sun shone serenely on embrowned groves andstill green fields; advancing on to the lawn, I looked up and surveyedthe front of the mansion. It was three storeys high, of proportionsnot vast, though considerable: a gentleman's manor-house, not anobleman's seat: battlements round the top gave it a picturesque look.Its grey front stood out well from the background of a rookery,whose cawing te