The Voyage Out

第37章

ItseemedthatRachelherselfhadnosuspicionthatshewaswatched,orthattherewasanythinginhermannerlikelytodrawattentiontoher。

Whathadhappenedtohershedidnotknow。HermindwasverymuchintheconditionoftheracingwatertowhichHelencomparedit。

ShewantedtoseeTerence;shewasperpetuallywishingtoseehimwhenhewasnotthere;itwasanagonytomissseeinghim;

agonieswerestrewnallaboutherdayonaccountofhim,butsheneveraskedherselfwhatthisforcedrivingthroughherlifearosefrom。

Shethoughtofnoresultanymorethanatreeperpetuallypresseddownwardsbythewindconsiderstheresultofbeingpresseddownwardsbythewind。

Duringthetwoorthreeweekswhichhadpassedsincetheirwalk,halfadozennotesfromhimhadaccumulatedinherdrawer。Shewouldreadthem,andspendthewholemorninginadazeofhappiness;

thesunnylandoutsidethewindowbeingnolesscapableofanalysingitsowncolourandheatthanshewasofanalysinghers。Inthesemoodsshefounditimpossibletoreadorplaythepiano,eventomovebeingbeyondherinclination。Thetimepassedwithouthernoticingit。

Whenitwasdarkshewasdrawntothewindowbythelightsofthehotel。

AlightthatwentinandoutwasthelightinTerence’swindow:

therehesat,readingperhaps,ornowhewaswalkingupanddownpullingoutonebookafteranother;andnowhewasseatedinhischairagain,andshetriedtoimaginewhathewasthinkingabout。

ThesteadylightsmarkedtheroomswhereTerencesatwithpeoplemovingroundhim。Everyonewhostayedinthehotelhadapeculiarromanceandinterestaboutthem。Theywerenotordinarypeople。

ShewouldattributewisdomtoMrs。Elliot,beautytoSusanWarrington,asplendidvitalitytoEvelynM。,becauseTerencespoketothem。

Asunreflectingandpervasivewerethemoodsofdepression。

Hermindwasasthelandscapeoutsidewhendarkbeneathcloudsandstraitlylashedbywindandhail。Againshewouldsitpassiveinherchairexposedtopain,andHelen’sfantasticalorgloomywordswerelikesomanydartsgoadinghertocryoutagainstthehardnessoflife。Bestofallwerethemoodswhenfornoreasonagainthisstressoffeelingslackened,andlifewentonasusual,onlywithajoyandcolourinitseventsthatwasunknownbefore;

theyhadasignificancelikethatwhichshehadseeninthetree:

thenightswereblackbarsseparatingherfromthedays;

shewouldhavelikedtorunallthedaysintoonelongcontinuityofsensation。AlthoughthesemoodsweredirectlyorindirectlycausedbythepresenceofTerenceorthethoughtofhim,sheneversaidtoherselfthatshewasinlovewithhim,orconsideredwhatwastohappenifshecontinuedtofeelsuchthings,sothatHelen’simageoftheriverslidingontothewaterfallhadagreatlikenesstothefacts,andthealarmwhichHelensometimesfeltwasjustified。

Inhercuriousconditionofunanalysedsensationsshewasincapableofmakingaplanwhichshouldhaveanyeffectuponherstateofmind。

Sheabandonedherselftothemercyofaccidents,missingTerenceoneday,meetinghimthenext,receivinghislettersalwayswithastartofsurprise。Anywomanexperiencedintheprogressofcourtshipwouldhavecomebycertainopinionsfromallthiswhichwouldhavegivenheratleastatheorytogoupon;butnoonehadeverbeeninlovewithRachel,andshehadneverbeeninlovewithanyone。

Moreover,noneofthebookssheread,from_Wuthering__Heights_

to_Man__and__Superman_,andtheplaysofIbsen,suggestedfromtheiranalysisoflovethatwhattheirheroinesfeltwaswhatshewasfeelingnow。Itseemedtoherthathersensationshadnoname。

ShemetTerencefrequently。Whentheydidnotmeet,hewasapttosendanotewithabookoraboutabook,forhehadnotbeenableafteralltoneglectthatapproachtointimacy。Butsometimeshedidnotcomeordidnotwriteforseveraldaysatatime。

Againwhentheymettheirmeetingmightbeoneofinspiritingjoyorofharassingdespair。Overalltheirparting

这是VIP章节,可购买本章或开通会员后阅读
开通会员
字体大小
背景颜色