Chapter 8 Chapter VII

1 Thursday, July 27th.In the morning, Eleanor came out of the King's Arms Hotel and stood at the door, looking up and down Maidensford's main street.Suddenly she gave a cry of surprise and hurried across the road. "Mrs. Bishop!" "What, is that Miss Eleanor? 2 Didn't expect you to be here. Who is serving you at H Manor?" Eleanor shook her head and said: "I live in Hotel G, not in Manor H. I came here to clean up documents and relics, just to stay for two days. Do you know, Mrs. Bishop, I sold Manor D. It is too much for one person to live in such a big house Wasted."

The housekeeper bit and swallowed.Eleanor quickly changed the subject and began to talk about the things that the respectable wife was happy about.Eleanor asked Mrs. Bishop if she would like to take some furniture from Manor H as a souvenir, and if so, what would she like to take? Mrs. Bishop was very grateful, and then said: "I am staying with my sister temporarily. Can I help you with something, Miss Eleanor? If you like, I can accompany you to the Gate Manor." "Thank you, Mrs. Bishop. No need. There are things I want to be alone." Mrs. Bishop was a little surprised.

"As you please, Miss Eleanor." Then she added: "I don't remember the name of that girl, old Gerard's daughter, and here she lives at Hopkins." The nurse's. I hear they went to the dressing room at the Manor this morning." Eleanor nodded and explained: "Yes, I asked Mary to put things in order there. Major Somerville, the new owner of H Hall, wants to move into the new house as soon as possible." The two women parted after saying their goodbyes.Eleanor went to the bakery for fresh bread, then to another store for a half-pound of cream and some milk, and finally to the grocery store.

"I want to buy some minced fish." "Okay, Miss Eleanor." The owner of the shop, Mr. Abbott, pushed the saleswoman away with his arm, and hurried forward to ask the buyer courteously: "What else do you want to buy? We have canned salmon and shrimp, canned turkey and beef strips, canned salmon and sardines, and canned ham strips." He said as he put the samples of these cans on the counter. superior. Eleanor says: "Now I'm almost afraid to eat minced fish, it often causes poisoning, isn't it?" Mr. Abbot, feeling unseemly, said hastily: "I assure you, it's all top quality and absolutely reliable. No one has ever complained about our goods."

"Then I'll buy a can of salmon and anchovies, and a can of salmon and shrimp, and nothing else, thank you." 2 It is a sunny summer day.It was the young gardener Holik who stayed behind to meet Eleanor at Manor H.He wanted to continue working in Manor H, and Eleanor agreed to intercede for him in front of the new owner. "Thank you, mademoiselle," said the gardener. "You see, we all count on the estate to remain in your family's hands. Thank you again, mademoiselle." Eleanor walked towards the house.Suddenly, an uncontrollable feeling of grievance and anger flooded her like a wave.She repeated to herself:

"We all count on the estate to remain in the hands of your family." She and Roddy could have lived here!She and Roddy!Roddy used to regard Gate Manor as his home.Eleanor and he could have lived here together.If it hadn't been for an accidental accident: Roddy met a beautiful girl like a wild rose, then now he is not going to sell the manor, but is going to live a happy life here.What did Roddy know about Mary?Know nothing.Was he in love with the real Mary?Mary may have been of noble character, but had Rody discovered it?No, it was just another trick of life--a flippant and cruel trick.Didn't Rody himself say that this is a kind of "magic power"?Maybe deep down in his heart he is not opposed to getting rid of this "magic".If Mary dies, will one day Roddy admit: "It was a good ending. Now I see that Mary and I have nothing in common..." And he will add, not without regret: "My God, how beautiful she is."

If something happens to Mary, Roddy will definitely come back to him. She is convinced of this, if something happens to Mary... Eleanor turned the handle of the side door.She walked into the shadowed room from the warmth of the sun, and shivered uncontrollably.Everything here feels bleak and bleak.The girl felt as if someone was watching her in this room. Eleanor came from the living room to the dining room.There was a musty smell in the room. She opened the window and put butter, bread, and a small bottle of milk on the table. She suddenly remembered: "I forgot to buy coffee." There was only a little tea left in the tea box on the shelf, but there was no coffee. "It doesn't matter," thought Eleanor.

She unwrapped the two more mason jars, looked at them, and walked out of the dining room upstairs.Eleanor opened all the cabinets and drawers in Wellman's room, quickly cleaned up the clothes, and stacked them neatly. 3 Mary looked around helplessly in the dressing room.She didn't expect it to be so messy here: old and broken things piled up all over the house. At this moment, childhood memories flooded her mind.At that time, my father was very angry and cold, and didn't like her at all. "Dad didn't say anything before he died?" Mary asked Nurse Hopkins suddenly. "Didn't anything be passed on to me?"

"Oh no, he was unconscious for a month before he died." The girl said slowly: "In any case, I should take care of him. He is still my father after all." Hopkins replied somewhat erratically: "It doesn't matter. The relationship between parents and children is not what it used to be." She rambled on the subject for a while.The two women then discussed what to do with the furniture and began to organize things.First, the clothes of the deceased were cleaned, and then a large cardboard box full of documents was placed on the table. "It seems that these documents need to be checked." Mary said displeased.

They sat down facing each other. "People always like to keep everything." The nurse grabbed a handful of paper and sighed, "Cut newspapers, letters... are all rubbish!..." Mary opened a file and said: "This is the marriage certificate of Papa and Mama. It was issued in St. Albans in 1919..." Suddenly her voice broke off, and her eyes showed fear and surprise. "Nurse……" "What's the matter?" Mary said tremblingly: "Didn't you see? It's 1939, and I'm twenty-one. In 1919 I was one. That means Mom and Dad got married after I was born."

Hopkins frowned and said: "What's the matter, a lot of couples go to church much later than they should. But if they end up married, it's nobody's business." But the girl still couldn't calm down. "Don't you think that's why my father doesn't like me? Perhaps my mother forced my father to marry her?" Hopkins bit his lip lightly and said falteringly: "I don't think so." The nurse paused, and then she made up her mind. "Well, if you're sorry about that, I'll tell you the truth. Gerard wasn't your real father at all. " Mary looked at her in horror. "No wonder he treats me like this!" "Maybe." The other party avoided answering her question directly. Mary blushed. "Maybe it's out of decency for me, but I'm glad I used to be ashamed of not liking my father. But if he wasn't my father at all . . . how do you know?" "Gerard went on and on about a lot of things before he died. Of course, if you hadn't seen this marriage certificate, I wouldn't want to tell you anything." Mary pondered. "Interesting," she mused. "Who is my real father?" Hopkins thought left and right.It is really inconvenient to speak.She opened her mouth and closed it again.It seemed she didn't know what to do.Suddenly a figure fell on the floor. Mary and Hopkins turned to find Eleanor standing in the doorway.Eleanor greeted and said: "Hi there," Nurse Hopkins shot back: "How do you do, Miss Eleanor. What a lovely day, isn't it?" Eleanor continued: "I've got sandwiches. Don't you want to have something to eat with me? It's 1 o'clock and you've got to go all the way home for lunch. I've got enough for us." Hopkins couldn't be happier. "It's very kind of you, Miss Eleanor. I really don't want to run home without cleaning up. I meant to see the sick early this morning when we're done cleaning up, but I didn't expect to be delayed here." Mary also said gratefully: "Thank you, Miss Eleanor, you are very kind." The three of them walked toward the hall where Eleanor had left the door open.It was chilly in the hall, and Mary shivered.Eleanor glanced at her and asked: "What's the matter?" "Oh, nothing. I don't feel comfortable coming in here from the light." Eleanor said softly: "Strange, I felt the same way this morning." But Nurse Hopkins laughed and said: "Hey, you're still talking about ghosts in the house, but I don't feel anything." Eleanor smiled.She led the guests into the living room from the right side of the main entrance.The windows of the living room were open, and the temperature in the room was comfortable and pleasant.Eleanor walked across the hall to the dining room, picked up a large plate of sandwiches and immediately returned to the living room.She handed the tray to Mary and said: "Let's eat." Mary takes a sandwich.Eleanor noticed for a moment that Mary's perfectly white teeth were biting the bread.Eleanor pressed the plate to her breast, sighed softly, and stood pensive, but blushed when she caught Hopkins looking at the sandwich with undisguised greed, He hurriedly handed the plate to Hopkins, then took a copy himself, and said apologetically: "I wanted to make some coffee, but I forgot to buy it...but there's still some beer" If only I'd thought of getting some tea. said Hopkins. Eleanor reminded: "There's a little left in the tin box in the cupboard." The nurse's face immediately showed a happy look. "I'll boil the water right away. Maybe there's no milk?" "A little bit," said Eleanor. "That's all right," said Hopkins loudly, hurrying out of the room. There are two girls left.The atmosphere suddenly became breathless and tense, and the words were not speculative.Under Eleanor's scrutinizing gaze, Marylou shrank back. After a while, she suddenly summoned courage and broke the silence: "Miss Eleanor, you must not think--" Elinor fixed Mary with quick, haughty eyes, and she stopped talking. "What shouldn't I be thinking?" Eleanor's tone was like a piece of pig iron. "I... I forgot what I wanted to say." Mary stammered. Hopkins walked into the living room with a tray containing a small brown teapot, three cups, and milk.She didn't notice the discordant atmosphere, and said happily: "The tea is ready!" Hopkins put the tray in front of Eleanor, but Eleanor shook her head and said: "I don't want to drink." She pushed the tray in front of Mary.The girl poured two cups of tea.The nurse sighed contentedly, and said: "Freshly brewed strong tea." Eleanor got up and went to the window.Hopkins persuaded her with concern: "You'd better have a little glass, Miss Elinor. It will do you good." But Eleanor only said: "No, thank you." Hopkins finished his cup of tea, put the cup on the tray and said: "I'm going to get the teapot off the stove. I figured we'd still need boiling water, so I put the pot on the stove." She walked out in good spirits.Eleanor turned away from the window, and she spoke, but in a tone of pessimistic pleading: "Mary..." Mary hurriedly asked: "What is it, Miss Eleanor?" The pleading eyes gradually disappeared from Eleanor's face, leaving only an extremely unnatural and dull expression. "No, nothing." There was another embarrassing silence in the room.Mary thought: "Everything is so strange today, it seems that we are all waiting for something." When Eleanor finally moved away from the window, she put the empty plate of sandwiches on the tray.Mary stood up at once and said: "I'll get it, Miss Eleanor." Eleanor replied intermittently: "No, you... you stay here... I will do it myself." Eleanor walked out with the tray, and at the same time turned her head to cast her eyes on this young, pretty, and full of youthful vitality. 4 In the dining room, Hopkins wiped his face with a handkerchief.As Eleanor entered the room, she said, "Honestly. It's kind of hot in here." Eleanor replied mechanically: "Yes, the dining room faces the sun." Hopkins took the tray. "Let me wash, Miss Eleanor. You seem ill." "Oh, I'm fine." Eleanor picked up the rag and said: "I'll wipe it." Hopkins rolled up his sleeves and poured some hot water from the kettle into the basin.Eleanor looked at the nurse's wrist and asked casually: "What did you get stuck on?" The nurse smiled. "Caught on a rose by the dressing room. The rose thorn pricked my wrist. It doesn't matter, I'll just get the thorn out later. " The rose next to the dressing room... The memory of the past once again occupied Eleanor's mind.When she was young, she and Roddy often divided into white roses and red roses to fight, and sometimes they quarreled, but they always made up afterward.Ah, the innocence and joy of childhood... A feeling of self-loathing seized Eleanor. What a dark abyss of hatred and rage she has let herself slide now that she has come to this.She shook her body, thinking: "I was crazy just now, I am simply crazy..." Hopkins looked at her curiously. "Eleanor was lost at the time and couldn't hold herself back. She didn't even understand what she was talking about, her eyes were shining, and she looked at something strangely." Hopkins recalled afterwards. The teacups and saucers clinked in the basin.Eleanor picked up the empty glass jar of minced fish from the table and put it in the basin.Then she spoke, in a voice so cold and harsh that it surprised even herself. "I cleared out some clothes upstairs. Nurse, go and have a look and tell me, who in the village can wear these clothes?" Hopkins obliged willingly.After she and Eleanor had cleared the table, they went upstairs together, where they remained for nearly an hour.After they wrapped their clothes, Hopkins suddenly remembered something and asked: "Where's Mary?" "Didn't she stay in the living room?" "She can't stay there so long. Go back to the dressing room?" Hopkins hurried downstairs, followed by Eleanor.They go into the living room.The nurse exclaimed: "Look, she's asleep!" Mary sat slumped in the easy chair next to Zhou.There was a strange sound in the room: it was Mary's struggling staccato breathing.The nurse approached the girl, shook her shoulders and said: "Wake up, honey..." She fell silent suddenly, leaned down, looked carefully...and then, grimly, began to shake Mary vigorously.Then turning to Eleanor, she asked in a stern tone: "What's the matter with all this?" Eleanor answered in bewilderment: "I don't know what you mean. What's the matter with her? Is she not well?" The nurse asked quickly and decisively: "Where's the phone here? Call Dr. Lord quickly." Eleanor was baffled. "What happened?" "What happened? The girl is not well, she is going to die!" Eleanor took a step back and asked: "To die?" Hopkins said slowly: "She was poisoned..." The nurse looked at Eleanor sternly, with intense suspicion in her eyes.