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第48章

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rather wonder that Eleanor should not take it for her own。 



She sent you to look at it; I suppose?〃







     〃No。〃







     〃It has been your own doing entirely?〃 Catherine said



nothing。  After a short silence; during which he had closely



observed her; he added; 〃As there is nothing in the room



in itself to raise curiosity; this must have proceeded



from a sentiment of respect for my mother's character;



as described by Eleanor; which does honour to her memory。 



The world; I believe; never saw a better woman。 



But it is not often that virtue can boast an interest such



as this。  The domestic; unpretending merits of a person



never known do not often create that kind of fervent;



venerating tenderness which would prompt a visit



like yours。  Eleanor; I suppose; has talked of her a great deal?〃







     〃Yes; a great deal。  That isno; not much;



but what she did say was very interesting。  Her dying



so suddenly〃 (slowly; and with hesitation it was spoken);



〃and younone of you being at homeand your father;



I thoughtperhaps had not been very fond of her。〃







     〃And from these circumstances;〃 he replied (his quick



eye fixed on hers); 〃you infer perhaps the probability



of some negligencesome〃(involuntarily she shook her



head)〃or it may beof something still less pardonable。〃



She raised her eyes towards him more fully than she had



ever done before。  〃My mother's illness;〃 he continued;



〃the seizure which ended in her death; was sudden。 



The malady itself; one from which she had often suffered;



a bilious feverits cause therefore constitutional。 



On the third day; in short; as soon as she could be



prevailed on; a physician attended her; a very respectable man;



and one in whom she had always placed great confidence。 



Upon his opinion of her danger; two others were called



in the next day; and remained in almost constant attendance



for four and twenty hours。  On the fifth day she died。 



During the progress of her disorder; Frederick and I (we



were both at home) saw her repeatedly; and from our own



observation can bear witness to her having received



every possible attention which could spring from the



affection of those about her; or which her situation



in life could command。  Poor Eleanor was absent; and at



such a distance as to return only to see her mother in



her coffin。〃







     〃But your father;〃 said Catherine; 〃was he afflicted?〃







     〃For a time; greatly so。  You have erred in supposing



him not attached to her。  He loved her; I am persuaded;



as well as it was possible for him towe have not all;



you know; the same tenderness of dispositionand



I will not pretend to say that while she lived;



she might not often have had much to bear; but though



his temper injured her; his judgment never did。 



His value of her was sincere; and; if not permanently;



he was truly afflicted by her death。〃







     〃I am very glad of it;〃 said Catherine; 〃it would



have been very shocking!〃







     〃If I understand you rightly; you had formed a



surmise of such horror as I have hardly words to Dear



Miss Morland; consider the dreadful nature of the suspicions



you have entertained。  What have you been judging from?



Remember the country and the age in which we live。 



Remember that we are English; that we are Christians。 



Consult your own understanding; your own sense of the probable;



your own observation of what is passing around you。 



Does our education prepare us for such atrocities? Do



our laws connive at them? Could they be perpetrated



without being known; in a country like this; where social



and literary intercourse is on such a footing; where every



man is surrounded by a neighbourhood of voluntary spies;



and where roads and newspapers lay everything open? Dearest



Miss Morland; what ideas have you been admitting?〃







     They had reached the end of the gallery; and with



tears of shame she ran off to her own room。 















CHAPTER 25











     The visions of romance were over。  Catherine was



completely awakened。  Henry's address; short as it had been;



had more thoroughly opened her eyes to the extravagance of her



late fancies than all their several disappointments had done。 



Most grievously was she humbled。  Most bitterly did she cry。 



It was not only with herself that she was sunkbut



with Henry。  Her folly; which now seemed even criminal;



was all exposed to him; and he must despise her forever。 



The liberty which her imagination had dared to take with



the character of his fathercould he ever forgive it? The



absurdity of her curiosity and her fearscould they ever



be forgotten? She hated herself more than she could express。 



He hadshe thought he had; once or twice before this



fatal morning; shown something like affection for her。 



But nowin short; she made herself as miserable as



possible for about half an hour; went down when the clock



struck five; with a broken heart; and could scarcely give



an intelligible answer to Eleanor's inquiry if she was well。 



The formidable Henry soon followed her into the room;



and the only difference in his behaviour to her was



that he paid her rather more attention than usual。 



Catherine had never wanted comfort more; and he looked



as if he was aware of it。 







     The evening wore away with no abatement of this



soothing politeness; and her spirits were gradually raised



to a modest tranquillity。  She did not learn either



to forget or defend the past; but she learned to hope



that it would never transpire farther; and that it might



not cost her Henry's entire regard。  Her thoughts being



still chiefly fixed on what she had with such causeless



terror felt and done; nothing could shortly be clearer than



that it had been all a voluntary; self…created delusion;



each trifling circumstance receiving importance from



an imagination resolved on alarm; and everything forced



to bend to one purpose by a mind which; before she



entered the abbey; had been craving to be frightened。 



She remembered with what feelings she had prepared for a



knowledge of Northanger。  She saw that the infatuation



had been created; the mischief settled; long before her



quitting Bath; and it seemed as if the whole might be traced



to the influence of that sort of reading which she had



there indulged。 







     Charming as were all Mrs。 Radcliffe's works;



and charming even as were the works of all her imitators;



it was not in them perhaps that human nature; at least



in the Midland counties of England; was to be looked for。 



Of the Alps and Pyrenees; with their pine forests and



their vices; they might give a faithful delineation;



and Italy; Switzerland; and the south of France might be



as fruitful in horrors as they were there represented。 



Catherine dared not doubt beyond her own country; and even



of that; if hard pressed; would have yielded the northern



and western extremities。  But in the central part of



England there was surely some security for the existence



even of a wife not beloved; in the laws of the land;



and the manners of the age。  Murder was not tolerated;



servants were not slaves; and neither poison nor sleeping



potions to be procured; like rhubarb; from every druggist。 



Among the Alps and Pyrenees; perhaps; there were no



mixed characters。  There; such as were not as spotless



as an angel might have the dispositions of a fiend。 



But in England it was not so; among t

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