第139页
《简·爱(英文版)》章节:第139页,宠文网网友提供全文无弹窗免费在线阅读。!
and swimming; and a bead has slipped from the lash and fallen on to
the flag. If I had time, and was not in mortal dread of some prating
prig of a servant passing, I would know what all this means. Well,
to-night I excuse you; but understand that so long as my visitors
stay, I expect you to appear in the drawing-room every evening; it
is my wish; don't neglect it. Now go, and send Sophie for Adele.
Good-night, my-' He stopped, bit his lip, and abruptly left me.
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CHAPTER XVIII
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MERRY days were these at Thornfield Hall; and busy days too: how
different from the first three months of stillness, monotony, and
solitude I had passed beneath its roof! All sad feelings seemed now
driven from the house, all gloomy associations forgotten: there was
life everywhere, movement all day long. You could not now traverse the
gallery, once so hushed, nor enter the front chambers, once so
tenantless, without encountering a smart lady's-maid or a dandy valet.
The kitchen, the butler's pantry, the servants' hall, the
entrance hall, were equally alive; and the saloons were only left void
and still when the blue sky and halcyon sunshine of the genial
spring weather called their occupants out into the grounds. Even
when that weather was broken, and continuous rain set in for some
days, no damp seemed cast over enjoyment: indoor amusements only
became more lively and varied, in consequence of the stop put to
outdoor gaiety.
I wondered what they were going to do the first evening a change of
entertainment was proposed: they spoke of 'playing charades,' but in
my ignorance I did not understand the term. The servants were called
in, the dining-room tables wheeled away, the lights otherwise
disposed, the chairs placed in a semicircle opposite the arch. While
Mr. Rochester and the other gentlemen directed these alterations,
the ladies were running up and down stairs ringing for their maids.
Mrs. Fairfax was summoned to give information respecting the resources
of the house in shawls, dresses, draperies of any kind; and certain
wardrobes of the third storey were ransacked, and their contents, in
the shape of brocaded and hooped petticoats, satin sacques, black
modes, lace lappets, etc., were brought down in armfuls by the
abigails; then a selection was made, and such things as were chosen
were carried to the boudoir within the drawing-room.
Meantime, Mr. Rochester had again summoned the ladies round him,
and was selecting certain of their number to be of his party. 'Miss
Ingram is mine, of course,' said he: afterwards he named the two
Misses Eshton, and Mrs. Dent. He looked at me: I happened to be near
him, as I had been fastening the clasp of Mrs. Dent's bracelet,
which had got loose.
'Will you play?' he asked. I shook my head. He did not insist,