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So ended my eventful first day at Limmeridge House.
Miss Halcombe and I decided to keep our discovery a secret. But at the first safe opportunity Miss Halcombe cautiously led her half-sister to speak of Anne Catherick. Miss Fairlie’s recollections of the little student were, however, only of the most vague and general kind. She remembered that Anne had remained at Limmeridge for only a few months, and had then left to go back to her home in Hampshire; but she could not say whether the mother and daughter had ever returned, or had ever been heard of afterwards. There was no more mention of the girl in Mrs. Fairlie’s letters.
Thus, we had identified the woman in white as Anne Catherick.
The days passed on, the weeks passed on. Peaceful, fastflowing, happy time! How sadly I must now look back upon you! And on these pages, there is nothing for me to write but a pitiful confession .
I loved Miss Fairlie.
I should have remembered my position, and have put myself secretly on my guard. I did so, but not until it was too late. All the care, all the experience, which had availed me with other women, and secured me against other temptations, failed me with her. I could not stifle my love for her.
The days passed, the weeks passed; it was approaching the third month of my stay in Cumberland. All sense of the hopelessness of my own position lay silenced within me into false rest.
One morning I noticed a change had come over her. There was a coldness in her hand, there was an unnatural stillness in her face, there was in all her movements the mute expression of constant fear and clinging self- reproach . It seemed she pitied me, as well as herself.
The change in Miss Fairlie was refl ected in her half-sister.Although not a word escaped Miss Halcombe which hinted at an altered state of feeling towards myself, her penetrating eyes had contracted a new habit of always watching me.
Thus, a week elapsed , leaving us all three still in this position of secret constraint towards one another. My situation was becoming intolerable . And yet I knew not what to do.
Then, one Thursday morning, when I went down into the breakfast room, I saw Miss Fairlie looking extremely sad and pale. Upon seeing me, she left the room without a word.
Miss Halcombe then approached me and quietly said there was something of importance about which she needed to speak with me. She suggested the garden area as the most private place to converse.
I suspected what was coming.
“Mr. Hartright,” she said, “you’ve impressed me as an honest gentleman. But it’s my duty to tell you that I’ve discovered your secret. You’ve allowed yourself to form a hopeless attachment to my sister Laura. I admit that you’ve not acted on this, and I respect you for that immensely . And yet, I must inform you that your time here must immediately come to an end. You must go before more harm is done. You see, Laura is engaged to be married.”
The last word went like a bullet to my heart.
“Hers is an engagement of honor, not of love. Her father sanctioned it while dying, two years before. She herself neither welcomed it nor shrank from it; that is, not until you came.”
“When shall I go, and how shall I explain my early departure to Mr. Fairlie?” I asked.
“Laura’s future husband will be arriving on Monday. As for what to tell Mr. Fairlie, tell him that an unforeseen necessity compels you to return at once to London. Speak to him on Friday morning, and quit this place on Saturday.”
Before I could assure her that she might depend on my acting in the strictest accordance with her wishes, we were both startled by advancing footsteps in the shrubbery . I turned and found Miss Fairlie’s maid walking hurriedly towards us.
“Could I speak to you for a moment, Miss?” said the girl, in a rather unsettled manner.
Miss Halcombe descended the steps into the shrubbery,and walked aside a few paces with the maid. A few minutes elapsed before Miss Halcombe came back to me. She, too,looked unsettled now.
“I’m uneasy about Laura. She wants to see me directly,and the maid reports that her mistress is apparently very much agitated by a letter that she’s received this morning. It seems some old woman came and handed it to one of the gardeners ,asking that it be taken to Miss Fairlie. I wonder who it could’ve been?”
As we walked together hastily along the shrubbery path,my mind was still absorbed with the thought of Miss Fairlie’s engagement.
“May I venture to ask who the gentleman engaged to Miss Fairlie is?”
“Sir Percival Glyde.”
“A man of rank: Knight, or baronet?” I asked.
She paused for a moment, and then answered, rather coldly—
“Baronet, of course.”
cautiously /ˈkɔ:ʃəslɪ/ adv. 谨慎地，慎重地
vague /veɪɡ/ adj. 含糊的，不清楚的
identify / aɪˈdentɪfaɪ/ vt. 识别，确定
confession /kənˈfeʃən/ n. 忏悔，自责
avail /əˈveɪl/ vt. 有利于；适用
secure /sɪˈkjʊə/ vt. 保护
mute /mju:t/ adj. 无声的，沉默的
clinging /ˈklɪŋɪŋ/ adj. 执着的；有黏性的
reproach /rɪˈprəʊtʃ/ n. 责备
reflect /rɪˈflekt/ vt. 反映；表现
hint /hɪnt/ vi. 暗示；提示
penetrating /ˈpenɪtreɪtɪŋ/ adj. 敏锐的，明察秋毫的
contract /kənˈtrækt/ vt. 染上（疾病、习惯等）
elapse /ɪˈlæps/ vi. （时间）过去，消逝
intolerable /ɪnˈtɒlərəbl/ adj. 无法忍受的，难耐的
immensely /ɪˈmenslɪ/ adv. 非常
bullet /ˈbʊlɪt/ n. 子弹
sanction /ˈsæŋkʃən/ vt. 批准，同意，支持
necessity /nɪˈsesətɪ/ n. 必要性，需要
compel /kəmˈpel/ vt. 强迫，迫使
accordance /əˈkɔ:dns/ n. 一致；和谐
shrubbery /ˈʃrʌbərɪ/ n. 灌木，灌木林
apparently /əˈpærəntlɪ/ adv. 显然地
agitated /ˈædʒɪteɪtɪd/ adj. 焦虑不安的；激动的
gardener /ˈɡɑ:dənə/ n. 园丁
hastily /ˈheɪstɪlɪ/ adv. 急速地；慌忙地
absorbed /əbˈsɔ:bd/ adj. 全神贯注的，一心一意的
venture /ˈventʃə/ vt. 冒昧，斗胆，胆敢（谦语）