第 179 节
作者:左思右想      更新:2021-02-19 19:48      字数:9322
  for the payment of certain outstanding debts and
  liabilities; the charges incident on his high situation
  required considerable expense; finally; it was found that
  he could not spare to his wife more than three hundred
  pounds a year; which he proposed to pay to her on
  an undertaking that she would never trouble him。
  Otherwise; scandal; separation; Doctors' Commons would
  ensue。  But it was Mr。 Wenham's business; Lord Steyne's
  business; Rawdon's; everybody'sto get her out of the
  country; and hush up a most disagreeable affair。
  She was probably so much occupied in arranging these
  affairs of business with her husband's lawyers that she
  forgot to take any step whatever about her son; the little
  Rawdon; and did not even once propose to go and see
  him。  That young gentleman was consigned to the entire
  guardianship of his aunt and uncle; the former of whom
  had always possessed a great share of the child's
  affection。  His mamma wrote him a neat letter from Boulogne;
  when she quitted England; in which she requested him to
  mind his book; and said she was going to take a
  Continental tour; during which she would have the pleasure
  of writing to him again。  But she never did for a year
  afterwards; and not; indeed; until Sir Pitt's only boy;
  always sickly; died of hooping…cough and measlesthen
  Rawdon's mamma wrote the most affectionate composition
  to her darling son; who was made heir of Queen's
  Crawley by this accident; and drawn more closely than
  ever to the kind lady; whose tender heart had already
  adopted him。  Rawdon Crawley; then grown a tall; fine
  lad; blushed when he got the letter。  〃Oh; Aunt Jane; you
  are my mother!〃 he said; 〃and notand not that one。〃
  But he wrote back a kind and respectful letter to Mrs。
  Rebecca; then living at a boarding…house at Florence。
  But we are advancing matters。
  Our darling Becky's first flight was not very far。  She
  perched upon the French coast at Boulogne; that refuge
  of so much exiled English innocence; and there lived in
  rather a genteel; widowed manner; with a femme de
  chambre and a couple of rooms; at an hotel。  She dined
  at the table d'hote; where people thought her very pleasant;
  and where she entertained her neighbours by stories
  of her brother; Sir Pitt; and her great London acquaintance;
  talking that easy; fashionable slip…slop which has
  so much effect upon certain folks of small breeding。  She
  passed with many of them for a person of importance;
  she gave little tea…parties in her private room and shared
  in the innocent amusements of the place in sea…bathing;
  and in jaunts in open carriages; in strolls on the sands;
  and in visits to the play。  Mrs。 Burjoice; the printer's
  lady; who was boarding with her family at the hotel for
  the summer; and to whom her Burjoice came of a
  Saturday and Sunday; voted her charming; until that little
  rogue of a Burjoice began to pay her too much
  attention。  But there was nothing in the story; only that
  Becky was always affable; easy; and good…naturedand
  with men especially。
  Numbers of people were going abroad as usual at the
  end of the season; and Becky had plenty of opportunities
  of finding out by the behaviour of her acquaintances of
  the great London world the opinion of 〃society〃 as
  regarded her conduct。  One day it was Lady Partlet and her
  daughters whom Becky confronted as she was walking
  modestly on Boulogne pier; the cliffs of Albion shining
  in the distance across the deep blue sea。  Lady Partlet
  marshalled all her daughters round her with a sweep of
  her parasol and retreated from the pier; darting savage
  glances at poor little Becky who stood alone there。
  On another day the packet came in。  It had been
  blowing fresh; and it always suited Becky's humour to
  see the droll woe…begone faces of the people as they
  emerged from the boat。  Lady Slingstone happened to be
  on board this day。  Her ladyship had been exceedingly ill
  in her carriage; and was greatly exhausted and scarcely
  fit to walk up the plank from the ship to the pier。  But
  all her energies rallied the instant she saw Becky smiling
  roguishly under a pink bonnet; and giving her a
  glance of scorn such as would have shrivelled up most
  women; she walked into the Custom House quite
  unsupported。  Becky only laughed:  but I don't think she liked
  it。  She felt she was alone; quite alone; and the far…off
  shining cliffs of England were impassable to her。
  The behaviour of the men had undergone too I don't
  know what change。  Grinstone showed his teeth and
  laughed in her face with a familiarity that was not pleasant。
  Little Bob Suckling; who was cap in hand to her
  three months before; and would walk a mile in the rain
  to see for her carriage in the line at Gaunt House; was
  talking to Fitzoof of the Guards (Lord Heehaw's son)
  one day upon the jetty; as Becky took her walk there。
  Little Bobby nodded to her over his shoulder; without
  moving his hat; and continued his conversation with the
  heir of Heehaw。  Tom Raikes tried to walk into her
  sitting…room at the inn with a cigar in his mouth; but she
  closed the door upon him; and would have locked it;
  only that his fingers were inside。  She began to feel that
  she was very lonely indeed。  〃If HE'D been here;〃 she said;
  〃those cowards would never have dared to insult me。〃
  She thought about 〃him〃 with great sadness and
  perhaps longingabout his honest; stupid; constant kindness
  and fidelity; his never…ceasing obedience; his good
  humour; his bravery and courage。  Very likely she cried;
  for she was particularly lively; and had put on a little
  extra rouge; when she came down to dinner。
  She rouged regularly now; andand her maid got
  Cognac for her besides that which was charged in the
  hotel bill。
  Perhaps the insults of the men were not; however; so
  intolerable to her as the sympathy of certain women。
  Mrs。 Crackenbury and Mrs。 Washington White passed
  through Boulogne on their way to Switzerland。  ~The party
  were protected by Colonel Horner; young Beaumoris; and
  of course old Crackenbury; and Mrs。 White's little girl。)
  THEY did not avoid her。  They giggled; cackled; tattled;
  condoled; consoled; and patronized her until they drove
  her almost wild with rage。  To be patronized by THEM!
  she thought; as they went away simpering after kissing
  her。  And she heard Beaumoris's laugh ringing on the
  stair and knew quite well how to interpret his hilarity。
  It was after this visit that Becky; who had paid her
  weekly bills; Becky who had made herself agreeable to
  everybody in the house; who smiled at the landlady;
  called the waiters 〃monsieur;〃 and paid the chambermaids
  in politeness and apologies; what far more than
  compensated for a little niggardliness in point of money
  (of which Becky never was free); that Becky; we say;
  received a notice to quit from the landlord; who had
  been told by some one that she was quite an unfit
  person to have at his hotel; where English ladies would not
  sit down with her。  And she was forced to fly into lodgings
  of which the dulness and solitude were most wearisome
  to her。
  Still she held up; in spite of these rebuffs; and tried to
  make a character for herself and conquer scandal。  She
  went to church very regularly and sang louder than
  anybody there。  She took up the cause of the widows of the
  shipwrecked fishermen; and gave work and drawings for
  the Quashyboo Mission; she subscribed to the Assembly
  and WOULDN'T waltz。  In a word; she did everything that
  was respectable; and that is why we dwell upon this
  part of her career with more fondness than upon
  subsequent parts of her history; which are not so pleasant。
  She saw people avoiding her; and still laboriously smiled
  upon them; you never could suppose from her
  countenance what pangs of humiliation she might be
  enduring inwardly。
  Her history was after all a mystery。  Parties were
  divided about her。  Some people who took the trouble to
  busy themselves in the matter said that she was the
  criminal; whilst others vowed that she was as innocent
  as a lamb and that her odious husband was in fault。
  She won over a good many by bursting into tears
  about her boy and exhibiting the most frantic grief
  when his name was mentioned; or she saw anybody like
  him。  She gained good Mrs。 Alderney's heart in that way;
  who was rather the Queen of British Boulogne and gave
  the most dinners and balls of all the residents there; by
  weeping when Master Alderney came from Dr。 Swishtail's
  academy to pass his holidays with his mother。  〃He and
  her Rawdon were of the same age; and so like;〃 Becky
  said in a voice choking with agony; whereas there was
  five years' difference between the boys' ages; and no
  more likeness between them than between my respected
  reader and his humble servant。  Wenham; when he was
  going abroad; on his way to Kissingen to join Lord
  Steyne; enlightened Mrs。 Alderney on this point and told
  her how he was much more able to describe little
  Rawdon than his mamma; who notoriously hated him and
  never saw him; how he was thirteen years old; while
  little Alderney was but nine; fair; while the other darling
  was darkin a word; caused the lady in question to
  repent of her good humour。
  Whenever Becky made a little circle for herself with
  incredible toils and labour; somebody cam