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And so they remained for many minutes , opposite each other , far apart , in silence ; Will’s face still possessed by a mute rage , and Rosamond’s by a mute misery . The poor thing had no force to fling out any passion in return ; the terrible collapse of the illusion towards which all her hope had been strained was a stroke which had too thoroughly shaken her : her little world was in ruins , and she felt herself tottering in the midst as a lonely bewildered consciousness . Will wished that she would speak and bring some mitigating shadow across his own cruel speech , which seemed to stand staring at them both in mockery of any attempt at revived fellowship . But she said nothing , and at last with a desperate effort over himself , he asked , “ Shall I come in and see Lydgate this evening ? ” “ If you like , ” Rosamond answered , just audibly . And then Will went out of the house , Martha never knowing that he had been in . After he was gone , Rosamond tried to get up from her seat , but fell back fainting . When she came to herself again , she felt too ill to make the exertion of rising to ring the bell , and she remained helpless until the girl , surprised at her long absence , thought for the first time of looking for her in all the down - stairs rooms . Rosamond said that she had felt suddenly sick and faint , and wanted to be helped up - stairs . When there she threw herself on the bed with her clothes on , and lay in apparent torpor , as she had done once before on a memorable day of grief . Lydgate came home earlier than he had expected , about half - past five , and found her there . The perception that she was ill threw every other thought into the background . When he felt her pulse , her eyes rested on him with more persistence than they had done for a long while , as if she felt some content that he was there . He perceived the difference in a moment , and seating himself by her put his arm gently under her , and bending over her said , “ My poor Rosamond ! has something agitated you ? ” Clinging to him she fell into hysterical sobbings and cries , and for the next hour he did nothing but soothe and tend her . He imagined that Dorothea had been to see her , and that all this effect on her nervous system , which evidently involved some new turning towards himself , was due to the excitement of the new impressions which that visit had raised . CHAPTER LXXIX . “ Now , I saw in my dream , that just as they had ended their talk , they drew nigh to a very miry slough , that was in the midst of the plain ; and they , being heedless , did both fall suddenly into the bog . The name of the slough was Despond . ” — BUNYAN . When Rosamond was quiet , and Lydgate had left her , hoping that she might soon sleep under the effect of an anodyne , he went into the drawing - room to fetch a book which he had left there , meaning to spend the evening in his work - room , and he saw on the table Dorothea’s letter addressed to him . He had not ventured to ask Rosamond if Mrs . Casaubon had called , but the reading of this letter assured him of the fact , for Dorothea mentioned that it was to be carried by herself .
Назад Сторінка 594 з 637 Сторінка 594 з 637 Вперед Читайте далі з перекладом Створіть безкоштовний акаунт: 7 днів Pro, далі 20 перекладів слів на день або платний тариф.
