Chapter 36 Chapter Four

He woke up at two o'clock in the middle of the night; years of experience had taught him that on such a clear night, all wild thoughts became extremely tense.Experience also told him that when he woke up at the regular eight o'clock again, he would find that nervousness was completely mediocre.Tonight, the more he thought about it, the more seriously he felt that if he fell ill--not impossible at his age--he would not see her.From this, he further realized that if his son and Joan came back from Spain, he would cut off her too.This man used to snatch——Qingye couldn’t ambiguously——Joan’s lover, how could he say that he wanted to have sex with her?The lover was dead, to be sure; but Joan was a bull; eager, but stubborn as a rubber band, and--indeed--not so forgetful!By the middle of next month, they will be back.He had but five short weeks left to pursue the little interest he had aroused in his dying years.In the darkness, his mood became clearer.Falling in love with beauties--it feels good to be in the eyes of people who like them.How absurd, at his age!And yet—besides this, what reason is there for asking Joan to endure such painful stimuli, and how can his son and daughter-in-law not regard him as crazy?In the end he had to sneak into the city alone to see her, but the trip was very tiring; and if he encountered a little illness, even that would be over.He lay with eyes open, gritted his teeth against this future situation, and called himself an old fool, while feeling his heart beating violently, and then seemed to stop completely.He didn't go back to sleep until he saw the sky brighten through the window, heard the birds chirping, and the rooster's crowing; when he woke up, he was tired, but his mind was clear.Five weeks to spare him; a century at his age!But Ye Lai's nervousness still left some traces. For a person who has always done whatever he wanted, it made him feel a little more encouraged.He wants to meet her as often as possible!Why not go to town herself, go to his lawyer's and add a will, why write; she might like to see an opera!But, take the train, and don't let that fat Began laugh behind his back.The servants are all that kind of idiots. It is very possible that they already know everything about Erin and little Bosinney's past - the servants understand everything, and those who don't understand will be suspicious of it.That morning, he wrote a letter to Irene:

She would understand that he was only trying to distract her; he did not want to think that she would guess that he was very eager to see her, and the thought disgusted him in his heart; Looking at people, especially a beautiful woman, is always not very decent. Although the journey to the city the next day was very short, plus the trip to his law firm, he was very tired from running.The weather was also hot, so after changing his clothes, he lay down on the couch in the bedroom to rest for a while and prepare for dinner.He must have passed out, because when he woke up he felt that something was wrong and he managed to stand up and ring the bell.what happened!It's seven o'clock!He is still here, she must be waiting downstairs.Suddenly he became dizzy again and had to lie down on the sofa again.He heard the maid's voice say:

"Are you calling, sir?" "Yeah, come here," he couldn't see her face clearly, his eyes were a little dazed. "I'm not very well. I want some smelling salts." "Okay, sir." Her voice was a little panicked. Old Jolyon struggled. "Don't go. You send me a letter for my niece, a lady in light gray--waiting in the hall below. You say Mr. Forsyte is not well--heated." I'm sorry for her; if he doesn't come down for a while, don't wait for him for supper." After the maid left, he thought weakly: "Why did I say it was the lady in light gray? She might be wearing another color. Smelling salts!" He finally didn't faint again, but how did Irene stand up? Beside him, holding smelling salts up to his nose, and stuffing a pillow under his head, he didn't feel any of this.He heard her say anxiously, "Good Uncle Jolyon, what's the matter!" Feeling vaguely the warm pressure of her lips on his hand; , sneezed.

"Ha!" he said, "it's all right. How did you get up? Go down to supper--tickets on the dresser. I'll be right in a minute." He felt her cool hand on his forehead, smelled the scent of violets, and sat there feeling happy while struggling with all his might. "What! You are wearing light gray clothes!" He said, "Help me up." After standing on the ground, he shook himself up. "It's unreasonable to collapse like this!" He walked very slowly in front of the mirror.His face was as terrifying as that of a dead man!Her voice spoke behind him:

"You can't go downstairs, uncle; you must rest." "No reason! A glass of champagne will make you look like a good guy. You can't miss the opera." But walking along the aisle is very difficult.Such a thick carpet is laid in this new and fresh place, you will stumble every step you take!In the elevator, he saw that her face was very concerned, so he said with a slight smile: "I am a real master." When the elevator stopped, he had to hold on to the seat to keep himself from slipping; but after soup and a glass of champagne he felt better, and was even happier that his illness had attracted her so attentive attention.

"I would love to have a daughter like you," he said suddenly; seeing a smile in her eyes, he went on: "You can't dwell on the past at your age; wait until you're as old as I am, and try to do it. It's a nice dress—I like the look of it." "I do it by myself." what!A woman who can make a beautiful dress for herself is still not forgetful about life. "Pleasure in time," said he; "drink the glass. I want to see you blush a little. We can't spare the time; we must. There's a newcomer to play Marguerite to-night; I hope she's not too fat. .And Mephistopheles is new too—there's nothing more annoying than a fat man pretending to be a devil, as far as I can imagine."

But they didn't go to the opera in the end, because he was dizzy again when he stood up after dinner, and Irene insisted that he rest and go to bed early.He parted from her at the door of the hotel; and having paid for the carriage to take her to Chelsea, he sat down for a moment to recall her words with pleasure: "You have been very kind to me, Uncle Jolyon." ."how!Who doesn't treat you well!He really wanted to stay another day and take her to the zoo, but looking for her for two consecutive days must have haunted her to death!No, he had to wait till next Sunday; she promised to come down and see him.At that time, we can make a decision about teaching my son the piano, even for a month.That Miss Booth must have disapproved, but she had to let her displeasure go.He squashed his top hat on his chest and headed for the elevator.

Next morning, when he rode up to Waterloo Station in his hansom, he kept thinking of saying, "Drive me up to Chelsea," but refrained from uttering it; it seemed to him that it was going too far.Also, he still felt that he was a bit overwhelmed, and it was no fun to lose his normalcy like last night, and he was not at home.Holly was also looking forward to his return and what he brought her in his pocket.Not that his little darling was a set of hypocrisy for him—her little one was all about love.Then, with the rather harsh sophistication of an old man, he considered whether it would be hypocritical of him to be perfunctory as Irene was.No, she's not that kind of person either.In other words, she's only too ignorant of what's in her favor, no idea of ​​property, poor thing!Besides, he didn't reveal a word of what he had added to his will, and he didn't have to—it was just right.

Holly came up to the station to meet him in the big carriage, and brought Belshazzar the dog; and it was a joy to drive home and see Holly play with the dog.It was sunny and hot, and for the rest of the day and most of the next he was in peace, sitting in the shade of the trees recuperating, watching the sun make golden rain on the grass and flowers.But at supper alone on Thursday night, he began to count the days again; it was two and a half more days, sixty-five hours, before he could meet her in the woods and walk her up the field with her. .He was going to have a doctor look at his dizziness, but the fellow would have insisted that he rest, and not bother, and so on; ; at his age, when encountering such a new thing, he didn't even want to hear about it.When he wrote to his son, he was also careful not to mention dizziness, which would only scare them back at night!If he doesn't mention it like this, how much is caring for them, for fear of affecting their happiness, and how much is for himself, he doesn't bother to think about it.

Sitting in the study that night, when he finished smoking his cigar and dozed off to sleep, he suddenly heard the rustling of clothes and smelled the fragrance of violets in his nose.He opened his eyes and saw her standing by the fireplace in light gray, with her arms outstretched.Strangely enough, though the arms were not holding anything, they were bent as if they were around someone's neck; her own neck was thrown back, her lips were slightly parted, and her eyes were closed.After a while it was gone, save for the mantelpiece and the bronze statues on it.But when she was there, none of the bronze statues and mantelpieces were to be seen, only the fireplace and the walls!Shocked and anxious, he stood up by himself. "I've got to take some medicine," he thought; "I must be sick." His heart was beating fast, and he felt his chest constricted, as if he had asthma.He went to the window and opened it for some air.In the distance a dog barks, one of those Gage farm dogs, of course, just past the grove.The night was quiet, but dark. "I'm asleep," he thought, "that's why! But I can swear my eyes are open!" A sigh came as if in answer.

"What?" he asked sharply. "Who's out there?" He put his hands on his side to make his heart beat better, and stepped out into the corridor.A fluffy thing scuttled out of the darkness. "Hush!" It turned out to be the big gray cat.He thought to himself: "Little Bosinney is just like a big cat! It's because of him that she—that's why she—he's still pestering her!" Look in; you can vaguely see the white aster flowers that have not been mowed on the grass!Open today, thank you tomorrow!Over there the moon rises and sees everything, the young, the old, the living and the dead, and is not moved at all!Soon it will be his turn.As long as there is only one day of youth, he is willing to give away the rest of the year!He turned and walked back toward the house, looking up at the window of the child's room.It was time for his little one to sleep. "Hope the dog doesn't wake her up!" he thought. "What drives us to love and drives us to die? I'm going to sleep." Walking through the hallway that was pale white by the moonlight, he went into the house.