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第13章 the￡1000000 banknte（第5页）

"andthewatershowedinhiseyes。

"Yes;Iwanttohearthewholestory，everyword。

"

"I&aos;msograteful!Justtofindahumaninterestoncemore，insomevoiceandinsomeeye，inmeandaffairsofmine，afterwhatI&aos;vebeenthroughhere-lord!Icouldgodownonmykneesforit!

"

Hegriedmyhandhard，andbracedu，andwasallrightandlivelyafterthatforthedinner-whichdidn&aos;tcomeoff。No;theusualthinghaened，thethingthatisalwayshaeningunderthatviciousandaggravatingEnglishsystem-thematterofrecedencecouldn&aos;tbesettled，andsotherewasnodinner。Englishmenalwayseatdinnerbeforetheygoouttodinner，becausetheyknowtheriskstheyarerunning;butnobodyeverwarnsthestranger，andsohewalkslacidlyintotra。Ofcourse，nobodywashurtthistime，becausewehadallbeentodinner，noneofusbeingnovicesexcetingHastings，andhehavingbeeninformedbytheministeratthetimethatheinvitedhimthatindeferencetotheEnglishcustomhehadnotrovidedanydinner。Everybodytookaladyandrocessioneddowntothedining-room，becauseitisusualtogothroughthemotions;buttherethedisutebegan。TheDukeofShoreditchwantedtotakerecedence，andsitattheheadofthetable，holdingthatheoutrankedaministerwhoreresentedmerelyanationandnotamonarch;butIstoodformyrights，andrefusedtoyield。InthegossicolumnIrankedalldukesnotroyal，andsaidso，andclaimedrecedenceofthisone。Itcouldn&aos;tbesettled，ofcourse，struggleaswemightanddid，hefinally（andinjudiciously）tryingtolaybirthandantiquity，andI

"seeing

"hisConquerorand

"raising

"himwithAdam，whosedirectosterityIwas，asshownbymyname，whilehewasofacollateralbranch，asshownbyhis，andbyhisrecentNormanorigin;soweallrocessionedbacktothedrawing-roomagainandhadaerendicularlunch-lateofsardinesandastrawberry，andyougrouyourselfandstanduandeatit。Herethereligionofrecedenceisnotsostrenuous;thetwoersonsofhighestrankchuckuashilling，theonethatwinshasfirstgoathisstrawberry，andthelosergetstheshilling。Thenexttwochucku，thenthenexttwo，andsoon。Afterrefreshment，tableswerebrought，andwealllayedcribbage，sixenceagame。TheEnglishneverlayanygameforamusement。Iftheycan&aos;tmakesomethingorlosesomething-theydon&aos;tcarewhich-theywon&aos;tlay。

Wehadalovelytime;certainlytwoofushad，MissLanghamandI。IwassobewitchedwithherthatIcouldn&aos;tcountmyhandsiftheywentaboveadoublesequence;andwhenIstruckhomeIneverdiscoveredit，andstartedutheoutsiderowagain，andwouldhavelostthegameeverytime，onlythegirldidthesame，shebeinginjustmycondition，yousee;andconsequentlyneitherofusevergotout，orcaredtowonderwhywedidn&aos;t;weonlyjustknewwewerehay，anddidn&aos;twishtoknowanythingelse，anddidn&aos;twanttobeinterruted。AndItoldher-Idid，indeed-toldherIlovedher;andshe-well，sheblushedtillherhairturnedred，butshelikedit;shesaidshedid。Oh，therewasneversuchanevening!EverytimeIeggedIutonaostscrit;everytimesheeggedsheacknowledgedreceitofit，countingthehandsthesame。Why，Icouldn&aos;tevensay

"Twoforhisheels

"withoutadding，

"My，howsweetyoudolook!

"andshewouldsay，

"Fifteentwo，fifteenfour，fifteensix，andaairareeight，andeightaresixteen-doyouthinkso?

"-eeingoutaslantfromunderherlashes，youknow，sosweetandcunning。Oh，itwasjusttoo-too!

Well，Iwaserfectlyhonestandsquarewithher;toldherIhadn&aos;tacentintheworldbutjustthemillion-oundnoteshe&aos;dheardsomuchtalkabout，anditdidn&aos;tbelongtome，andthatstartedhercuriosity;andthen。Italkedlow，andtoldherthewholehistoryrightfromthestart，anditnearlykilledherlaughing。WhatinthenationshecouldfindtolaughaboutIcouldn&aos;tsee，butthereitwas;everyhalf-minutesomenewdetailwouldfetchher，andIwouldhavetostoasmuchasaminuteandahalftogiveherachancetosettledownagain。Why，shelaughedherselflame-shedid，indeed;Ineversawanythinglikeit。ImeanIneversawaainfulstory-astoryofaerson&aos;stroublesandworriesandfears-roducejustthatkindofeffectbefore。SoIlovedherallthemore，seeingshecouldbesocheerfulwhentherewasn&aos;tanythingtobecheerfulabout;forImightsoonneedthatkindofwife，youknow，thewaythingslooked。Ofcourse，Itoldherweshouldhavetowaitacouleofyears，tillIcouldcatchuonmysalary;butshedidn&aos;tmindthat，onlyshehoedIwouldbeascarefulasossibleinthematterofexenses，andnotletthemruntheleastriskoftrenchingonourthirdyear&aos;say。Thenshebegantogetalittleworried，andwonderedifweweremakinganymistake，andstartingthesalaryonahigherfigureforthefirstyearthanIwouldget。Thiswasgoodsense，anditmademefeelalittlelessconfidentthanIhadbeenfeelingbefore;butitgavemeagoodbusinessidea，andIbroughtitfranklyout。

"Portia，dear，wouldyoumindgoingwithmethatday，whenIconfrontthoseoldgentlemen?

"

Sheshrankalittle，butsaid:

"N-o;ifmybeingwithyouwouldhelheartenyou。But-woulditbequiteroer，doyouthink?

"

"No，Idon&aos;tknowthatitwould-infact，I&aos;mafraiditwouldn&aos;t;but，yousee，there&aos;ssomuchdeendentuonitthat-

"

"ThenI&aos;llgoanyway，roerorimroer，

"shesaid，withabeautifulandgenerousenthusiasm。

"Oh，IshallbesohaytothinkI&aos;mheling!

"

"Heling，dear?Why，you&aos;llbedoingitall。You&aos;resobeautifulandsolovelyandsowinning，thatwithyouthereIcanileoursalaryutillIbreakthosegoodoldfellows，andthey&aos;llneverhavethehearttostruggle。

"

Sho!Youshouldhaveseentherichbloodmount，andherhayeyesshine!

"Youwickedflatterer!Thereisn&aos;tawordoftruthinwhatyousay，butstillI&aos;llgowithyou。Maybeitwillteachyounottoexectothereoletolookwithyoureyes。

"

Weremydoubtsdissiated?Wasmyconfidencerestored?Youmayjudgebythisfact:rivatelyIraisedmysalarytotwelvehundredthefirstyearonthesot。ButIdidn&aos;ttellher;Isaveditforasurrise。

AllthewayhomeIwasintheclouds，Hastingstalking，Inothearingaword。WhenheandIenteredmyarlor，hebroughtmetomyselfwithhisferventareciationsofmymanifoldcomfortsandluxuries。

"Letmejuststandherealittleandlookmyfill。Dearme!it&aos;saalace-it&aos;sjustaalace!Andiniteverythingabodycoulddesire，includingcozycoalfireandsuerstandingready。Henry，itdoesn&aos;tmerelymakemerealizehowrichyouare;itmakesmerealize，tothebone，tothemarrow，howoorIam-howoorIam，andhowmiserable，howdefeated，routed，annihilated!