Chapter 5 chapter Five

At last Philip grew to know the people with whom he was to live, and from scraps of their daily conversation--some of which he did not mean to hear, of course--learned a great deal about himself and his dead parents. .Philip's father was many years younger than the vicar.During his internship in St. Luke's Hospital, he achieved outstanding results and was officially hired as a doctor by the hospital. Soon, he had a considerable income.He spends money lavishly and doesn't care.The vicar once began to restore the church, and asked the brother for money, and received a few hundred pounds unexpectedly.Mr. Carey, who was in dire straits and used to frugality, accepted the sum with mixed feelings.He was jealous of his younger brother, who was able to come up with such a large sum of money; he was also happy for the church, but he was vaguely annoyed by this almost ostentatious generosity.Later, Henry Carey married a patient, a beautiful but poor girl, an orphan who had no relatives but a good family.There were many good friends at the wedding.Since then, every time the pastor went to London, he always visited the sister-in-law.But in her presence, the pastor always looked reserved, even a little timid; in his heart he secretly resented her manners.For a conscientious surgeon's wife, she was too richly dressed; and the fine furniture in her home, and the flowers--she lived among them even in the dead of winter--showed the luxury of her life. , has reached a distressing level.The pastor also heard from her that she was going out to dinner.As the pastor said to his wife when he got home, since she was entertained, it was necessary to reciprocate.He had seen some fresh grapes in the dining-room, which he thought would cost at least eight shillings a pound; and at lunch he was invited to try some fresh asparagus, which was not yet ready for sale, which was still grown in the Vicar's own garden. It takes two months before it can be eaten as a dish.Now, everything he expected has come true.The chaplain could not help feeling a certain satisfaction, like a seer who sees a city that ignores its warnings and goes its own way, finally consumed by the brimstone of hell.Poor Philip is almost penniless now, and what are his mother's good friends now?Philip had heard that his father had committed a crime in his extravagance; but God was merciful, and brought his dear mother back to him as soon as possible.When it comes to money, she is no more sensible than a child.

A week after Philip's arrival at Blackstable something happened which seemed to disapprove his uncle.One morning, the pastor saw a small package of mail on the dining table, which was forwarded from the apartment where Mrs. Carey lived in London.On it was the name and address of the late Mrs. Carey.The pastor opened it up and saw that there were twelve photographs of Mrs. Carey.The photo only shows the head and shoulders.Her coiffure was plainer than usual, and her temples, which hung down upon her forehead, gave her an odd appearance; her face was thin and haggard, but disease did not detract from the beauty of her features.There was a faint sadness in the big black eyes, which Philip could not remember.Mr. Carey's first glimpse of the dead woman gave him a slight shock, followed by bewilderment.The photographs seemed to have been recently taken, but he could not imagine who had ordered them.

"You know what these pictures are about, Philip?" he asked. "I remember my mom saying I'd gone for a photoshoot," he replied. "Miss Watkin blamed her mother for this... Mom said: I want to leave something for the child, so that he can remember me when he grows up." Mr. Carey looked at Philip blankly.The child's voice was thin and clear.He recalled what his mother said, but he didn't understand the meaning of the words. "You'd better take one and put it in your room," said Mr. Carey. "Keep the rest with me." He sent one to Miss Watkin.In her reply letter, she told the whole story of taking these photos.

One day, Mrs. Carey was lying on the bed, feeling a little more energetic than usual. The doctor came to see her in the morning and seemed to feel that her condition had improved a bit.Emma took the children out, and the maids were down in the basement, and Mrs. Carey suddenly felt that she was drifting away in the world, very miserable.A great fear seized her heart: she thought she would recover from the illness in two weeks, and now it seemed that she would be bedridden forever.My son is only nine years old this year, how can he be expected not to forget himself in the future?The thought of him growing up and forgetting about herself, completely, hurt her heart, and she couldn't bear it; the reason why she loved him so fiercely was because he was weak and disabled, and because he Is his own flesh and blood.She hasn't had a photo taken since she got married, and it's been ten years since she got married.She wants her son to know what she looked like before she died, so that he won't forget herself completely.Mrs. Carey knew that if she told the maid that she was going to get up, the maid would stop her and perhaps call the doctor.Now she doesn't even have the strength to struggle and argue.She got out of bed and began to dress.Due to the long-term tossing and turning of the sick bed, my legs were weak and my body was hard to support, and then I felt a tingling sensation on the soles of my feet, and I couldn't even put my feet on the ground.She gritted her teeth and stood up.She was not used to combing her hair by herself; when she raised her arms to do it, she felt dizzy.She could never comb her hair the way the maid combed herself.That head of golden hair is soft and dense.The two thin eyebrows are straight and black.She put on a black dress, but chose an evening gown bodice that suited her best.The bodice was made of white brocade, which was fashionable at the time.She looked in the mirror and saw that her face was extremely pale, but her skin was fine and clean.There was not much blood on her face, but this time, her beautiful lips looked even more rosy.She couldn't help sobbing.However, this was not the time to look at herself, she was exhausted.Mrs. Carey put on the fur coat which Henry had given her for Christmas the previous year, and she had been so proud of it and so happy.She slipped down the stairs quietly, her heart beating wildly.She walked out of the house smoothly and called a car to go to the photo studio.Mrs. Carey paid for eleven or twelve photographs.In the process of sitting and taking pictures, she couldn't support herself and had to ask for a cup of tea.The photographer's assistant saw that she was sick and suggested that she come back another day, but she insisted on finishing the filming by herself.At last, when the filming was over, at any rate, she called for a car to go back to the gloomy cottage in Kensington.She loathed that place with all her heart, and it was terrible to think that she should die there.

She saw the door was open.When her car stopped, the maid and Emma ran down the steps to support her.Earlier, they had been horrified to find the room empty.Then they thought the wife must be at Miss Watkin's, and they sent the cook to look for her.Unexpectedly, Miss Watkin came with the cook and stayed in the living room anxiously.Miss Watkin came downstairs at the same moment, anxious and reproachful to Mrs. Carey.Mrs. Carey was so overworked by all this ordeal, and the time for stiffening had passed, that she could no longer hold on, and threw herself into Emma's arms, and was carried upstairs.Mrs. Carey was only unconscious for a short time, but it lasted an unbelievably long time to those who were watching; they sent for the doctor, but the doctor never came.On the second day, Mrs. Carey recovered a little, and Miss Watkin learned the whole story from her.At that moment Philip was sitting on the floor of his mother's bedroom playing, and neither of the women was paying any attention to him.He only half-understood some of their conversation, and he couldn't explain how those words would remain in his memory.

"I want to leave something for my child so that he can remember me when he grows up." "I don't understand why she took twelve pictures," said Mr. Carey, "wouldn't it be better to take two?"