"Was she, indeed, given up to possession? Was not this the old stinging hatred which had prompted so many crimes? The hatred of all sweet virtues which might win the love denied to us? The old anger that wrought in the elder brother's heart, till it ended in the murder of the gentle Abel, while yet the world was young?" "O God! help me! I did not know I was so wicked," cried Jemima aloud in her agony. It had been a terrible glimpse into the dark, lurid gulf--the capability for evil, in her heart. She wrestled with the demon, but he would not depart: it was to be a struggle whether or not she was to be given up to him, in this her time of sore temptation. All the next day long she sat and pictured the happy strawberry-gathering going on, even then, in pleasant Scaurside Wood. Every touch of fancy which could heighten her idea of their enjoyment, and of Mr. Farquhar's attention to the blushing, conscious Ruth--every such touch which would add a pang to her self-reproach and keen jealousy, was added by her imagination. She got up and walked about, to try and stop her over-busy fancy by bodily exercise. But she had eaten little all day, and was weak and faint in the intense heat of the sunny garden. Even the long grass-walk under the filbert-hedge was parched and dry in the glowing August sun. Yet her sisters found her there when they returned, walking quickly up and down, as if to warm herself on some winter's day. They were very weary; and not half so communicative as on the day before, now that Jemima was craving for every detail to add to her agony. "Yes! Leonard came up before Mr. Farquhar. Oh! how hot it is, Jemima! Do sit down, and I'll tell you about it, but I can't if you keep walking so." "I can't sit still to-day," said Jemima, springing up from the turf as soon as she had sat down. "Tell me! I can hear you while I walk about." "Oh! but I can't shout; I can hardly speak, I am so tired. Mr. Farquhar brought Leonard----" "You've told me that before," said Jemima sharply. "Well, I don't know what else to tell. Somebody had been since yesterday, and gathered nearly all the strawberries off the grey rock. Jemima! Jemima!"said Elizabeth faintly, "I am so dizzy--I think I am ill." The next minute the tired girl lay swooning on the grass. It was an outlet for Jemima's fierce energy. With a strength she had never again, and never had known before, she lifted up her fainting sister, and, bidding Mary run and clear the way, she carried her in through the open garden-door, up the wide old-fashioned stairs, and laid her on the bed in her own room, where the breeze from the window came softly and pleasantly through the green shade of the vine-leaves and jessamine. "Give me the water. Run for mamma, Mary," said Jemima, as she saw that the fainting-fit did not yield to the usual remedy of a horizontal position and the water-sprinkling. "Dear! dear Lizzie!" said Jemima, kissing the pale, unconscious face. "Ithink you loved me, darling." The long walk on the hot day had been too much for the delicate Elizabeth, who was fast outgrowing her strength. It was many days before she regained any portion of her spirit and vigour. After that fainting-fit she lay listless and weary, without appetite or interest, through the long sunny autumn weather, on the bed or on the couch in Jemima's room, whither she had been carried at first. It was a comfort to Mrs. Bradshaw to be able at once to discover what it was that had knocked up Elizabeth; she did not rest easily until she had settled upon a cause for every ailment or illness in the family. It was a stern consolation to Mr. Bradshaw, during his time of anxiety respecting his daughter, to be able to blame somebody. He could not, like his wife, have taken comfort from an inanimate fact; he wanted the satisfaction of feeling that some one had been in fault, or else this never could have happened. Poor Ruth did not need his implied reproaches.
同类推荐
热门推荐
苏联共产党意识形态工作的教训(居安思危·世界社会主义小丛书)
27年前,中苏两个意识形态同源、有着相近历史经历的共产主义大党,两个有着相同政治、经济、文化制度背景的社会主义国家,为什么走上了截然相反的道路?如今,一个在世界的东方巍然屹立,一个业已分崩离析。是什么原因导致苏共垮台、苏联解体?本书从意识形态工作入手,探究意识形态瓦解在苏联解体中的作用。在剖析了苏联意识形态工作出现重大问题的原因及巨大危害之余,作者从中总结出社会主义国家要高度重视意识形态工作,从苏联的失败中汲取深刻教训。我有一个小目标先抢他一个世界
“说好的中文是异位面通用语,日语是异世界万能语。英语是全宇宙流行语。为什么老子穿越了,一句话都听不懂,一个字都不认识啊啊啊!”许威在陌生的环境中咆哮着。这是个在异界生存的故事,这是个饥寒交迫,语言不通的落魄穿越者或将创造的一段异界神话的开端。(第一本书缺乏经验,无论是情节的构架还是节奏的把握都尚缺火候。庸猫会不断成长,下个月的新书一定会给你们带来截然不同的体验!)