Chapter 19 old nanny's story

You know, my little darlings, that my old nurse, your nurse mother, is an orphan, with no parents, no brothers and sisters.You've all heard that your grandfather was a vicar in North Westmoreland, where I'm from.At that time, I was still a student in a country school.One day, your grandma came to the school to find our teacher and asked if anyone could be a nanny.I boldly say, I can do it.The teacher called me up and said that I was good at needlework, and I was honest and honest. Although my family background was not very good, my parents were dutiful people.The lady (your grandma) said that she was about to have a baby, and she wanted me to do some things, and she blushed as red as I did.I looked at her and thought, how wonderful it is to serve such a lady!It seems that you want to hear the story behind.Well, I'll get to that in a second.Before Miss Rosamond (that is, your mother) was born, I was employed in this way and lived with your grandmother.Of course, once the baby was born, I couldn't take care of her much, because your grandma held her all day and slept with her all night.Sometimes, she asks me to help look after your mother, and I am very happy.I have never seen such a beautiful baby. Although you were all cute when you were young, you are not as beautiful as her!She looks a lot like your grandmother.Your grandmother was a natural beauty, granddaughter of Lord Furnival of Northumberland.She had no siblings, I suppose, and was raised in the Furnivals until she married your grandfather.Your grandfather was only a curate at the time, the son of a small shopkeeper in Carlisle, but he was smart, well-educated, and down-to-earth and hard-working in the parish--a parish that included all West The hills of Morshire.But when your mother, Miss Rosamund, was only four or five years old, your grandmother died in a fortnight.Oh, what a rough day it was!At that time, the beautiful hostess (your grandmother) was about to give birth to her second child, but your grandfather was caught in the rain during a long trip, soaked all over his body, and exhausted, he had a high fever and died when he returned home.After that, your grandma couldn't get sick, and she struggled until she gave birth to the child, but the child died in the stomach.She held the dead child to her chest, and within a few days she too died.Before she died, she asked me to take good care of your mother, Miss Rosamond. In fact, even if she didn't tell me, I would never leave Miss in my life.

Next, before our tears had dried, the executors and guardians came to take care of things.They are Sir Furnival, your grandmother's cousin, and Mr. Eswaite, your grandfather's brother, who has a small shop in Manchester, which has not been doing very well, but has a large family.I don't know if it was a discussion between them, or the hostess told her cousin before she died. Anyway, they are going to send Miss Rosamund and me to Furnival Manor in Northumberland.Sir Furnival said that this was what the mistress meant before she died, and that she had told him that his estate was very large, and one or two more people were nothing, so he agreed.I really don't want to go, but I can't bear to miss Miss, she is my little master now, and she is so smart, she is as lovable as sunshine wherever she goes.Also, the other servants envied me and said that I was blessed to live with the lady at the Furnival Manor, and I was also very happy.

I later learned that we were not living with Sir Furnival.The Furnival family had moved out more than fifty years ago, and they did not live in the Furnival Manor.I think so, my dead mistress was brought up in this house, but I never heard her live there.I thought it would be very nice for Miss Rosamund to go and live where her mother used to live, but I was a little cold when they said that. Sir Furnival's entourage also told me--I ventured to ask--that there was an old Miss Furnival, at the foot of a barren hill in Cumberland, on a large estate, It was my dead mistress's aunt, and some servants, who lived there.Sir Furnival said it was a very nice place for Miss Rosamund to live there for a few years, and that Miss Rosamund would probably let her elderly great-aunt live there too. Cheer up.

Sir Furnival also told me that Miss Rosamond's luggage would be packed the next day.He didn't talk much, and when he did he had a fierce manner, as is said to be the case with all the Furnival men.I heard that Sir Furnival used to be very fond of his cousin, my dead mistress, and wanted to marry her, but she later found out that her father would not approve, and despite Sir Furnival's beggings, she finally married Mr. Eswitt (that's your grandfather).Actually, I don't really know the whole thing, except that Sir Furnival never married.I thought if he had liked Miss Rosamund's mother he would have cared for her, but he didn't.He ordered his entourage to take us to the estate, and to meet him at Newcastle that evening.So the entourage, having seen us there, hurried away, not having time to introduce us to the people at the estate.And we two poor people (I was not yet 18 at the time), were left in that old and big manor like this.When I think about it now, it still feels like it was yesterday.We left our house very early in the morning, and were very sorry, in Sir's coach (I had been looking forward to it for a long time, and it was the first time), but we cried to the point of breaking our hearts.It was a September afternoon, and we stopped in a small, foggy town, and they traded horses for the last time.That town is full of coal miners.Miss Rosamund was then asleep, and the valet (we called him Mr. Henry) bade me wake her, saying that the lady would see the manor and the houses there as soon as she got there.Later, the lady fell asleep again, and I didn't want to wake her up, but I was afraid that Mr. Henry would go to Sir Henry to complain, so I woke the lady up anyway.The carriage went and went, and I never saw the town again, not even the village.Later, the carriage entered a gate, and inside was a large manor that could not be seen at a glance, with piles of rocks everywhere, patches of wild grass, old oak trees that had faded their bark, and a small river , it doesn't look like a manor in the north at all.

The carriage traveled more than two miles in the manor before seeing a large house.There are trees on both sides of the house.The trunk is almost against the wall. When the wind blows, the branches rub against the wall. Some branches are broken, and some branches are hanging there, looking like no one takes care of them.Only the area in front of the house looked cleaner. There was a wide, winding carriageway with no weeds on it.The house is very wide and has many windows on the wall, but there are no trees or grass in front of the windows.The house was really deserted, but it was bigger than I thought.There is a mountain behind the house, which seems to be a barren mountain.Then I saw an old-fashioned garden on the left side of the house, not very big.There seemed to be a door in the dark bushes to the west of the house, and it was said that it was specially opened for that old Miss Furnival, but the door seemed to be blocked by branches, and it was unknown how people got in and out.Also, I didn't see a single flower there, and I heard that most of the flowers grown there seem to be dead.

We entered the door of the house, and in the hall, I think we were lost—the house is really big, it feels empty in it—those big chandeliers hanging high above your head, it seems copper.I have never seen such a large chandelier, it is very beautiful.At one end of the hall was a great fireplace, larger than our village house, with a great pile of firewood beside it, guarded by a pack of dogs.There is a large old-fashioned sofa next to the large fireplace.At the other end of the hall, to the left of the door you enter--to the west--there's an organ against the wall, so big that it almost blocks the entire wall.

Just at this end, next to the organ, there is a door.At the far end of the hall, there were doors on either side of the great fireplace, leading to the east room.Although I lived in that house for quite a long time, I never went through those two doors once, so I can't tell you what's inside. It was already dusk, and the hall hadn't been lit yet, so it was dark and gloomy.Fortunately, we didn't stay in the hall for long, when the old servant who opened the door for us came, bowed to Mr. Henry, and led us into the door next to the organ.After passing through several smaller halls and passages, we arrived at the door of the studio on the west side. The old servant said that old Miss Furnival was inside.Poor Miss Rosamond hugged me now, as if frightened.It must have been the place that frightened her, and I told her not to be afraid, but I wasn't much better myself.The inside of that studio is quite beautiful, there are many furniture and decorations that are very valuable at first glance, and there is a warm fire burning.Old Miss Furnival looked very old, I reckoned she was near eighty--how old, I can't say for sure.She is tall and thin, and the dense wrinkles on her face seem to be carved with needles.Her eyes are very good, I guess this is probably because her ears are completely deaf, and her eyes are naturally fine.There sat old Miss Furnival, weaving pictures on a large canvas, and beside her sat her valet, about the same age as old Miss Furnival, called Mrs Stark.She had been serving old Miss Furnival since she was young, so she was more of a lady's companion than a lady's maid.She looked cold and sullen, as if she had never loved anyone or cared about anyone.I think she doesn't care about anyone except old Miss Furnival, and even with old Miss Furnival, because she is not good at hearing, she is coaxed like a child.When Mr. Henry delivered Sir Furnival's words, he saluted and went away--he didn't even kiss poor Miss Rosamund's hand to him, let alone me--and so he was. Leaving us there and having those two old women look us up and down with glasses.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I heard them ring the bell to tell the old servant who had us in to show us to our rooms.We walked out of the studio into a living room, out of the living room into a large room—it seemed to be an office, full of bookcases on one side, windows and desks on the other—with a Big staircase and we went up that staircase to our own room.I heard the old servant say that the kitchen is under our room, I didn't think much of it, but I was worried that we might get lost in such a big house.The room in which we lived was a nursery, where the master and lady here lived long ago when they were children.There was a fire in the fireplace, and the room was warm, and tea was burning on the samovar, and there was a tea set on the table.The bedroom was inside, with a cot for Miss Rosamund, and mine adjoined it.The old servant's name was James, and he called his wife Dorothy up-stairs too, and said we were welcome.They were both very kind and helpful, and Miss Rosamond and I felt at ease in a short while, and when the tea was finished, Miss Rosamond was sitting on Dorothy's lap, chatting with her. spoke.When I learned that Dorothy was also from Westmoreland, we became even more friendly.They are the nicest people I have ever met.Old James had been a servant on the estate almost all his life, and he thought his master was great, but he looked down on his wife, who had lived in the village before marrying him and had never seen the world.However, he was quite fond of his wife Dorothy.

They have a maid who does rough work for them.They call her Egni.That was probably all there was at the manor, Egney, me, James and Dorothy, Miss Furnival and Mrs Stark--oh, almost forgot, and my lovely Miss Rosamond.I used to think when I first got there, what were they doing before Miss Rosamund came?Now you see, they are all around her.The kitchen and the studio were the same, but the wrinkled old Miss Furnival and the icy Mrs. Stark had.They were also glad to see Miss Rosamund flying in and out like a little bird, and to hear her humming constantly.I'll bet there were times when they saw the young lady turn and run to the kitchen, and they really didn't want her to go away, but they were too embarrassed to say it and wanted her to stay with them.Also, they didn't expect the young lady to be so polite.Mrs. Stark said that the lady was so polite because of her father's influence, but I think the lady is born like this.That big, empty house is a great place for young ladies to play.The young lady often took my hand, swayed her little feet, ran around, looked around - only the east side of the house was never visited, it was locked all the year round, and we didn't want to go in and have a look.The west side and the north side of the house still look pretty good. Although the things there are nothing to those who have seen the world, we all think they are very new.The twigs and ivy outside the window shut out the light, and it wasn't very bright inside, but we saw old faded china pots, carved ivory boxes, lots of thick, heavy books, and A lot of old yellowing portraits, this is what I remember most clearly.

I remember once, my lovely young lady took Dorothy with us to look at those old portraits, and asked her to tell who they were painted in.Dorothy said they were all from the Furnival family, but she couldn't name them all.After we had seen almost the whole house, we entered an old studio across the hall.There was a picture of old Miss Furnival--oh, she was called Miss Grace then, and her sister was Miss Furnival.She was so beautiful back then!But it's just a look of contempt, those beautiful eyes are staring straight at you, and the eyebrows are a little raised, as if to say, who dares to look at me like this!But we were looking at her, and it seemed that her mouth was pouted too.I've never seen a dress like that on her, but I know it must have been in fashion at that time.On her head was a soft white hat that seemed to be made of beaver skin, with the brim completely covering her forehead, and a pinch of beautiful feathers stuck on one side.She was wearing a blue satin dress with an open neckline, revealing a white cotton bodice underneath.

Looking at the portrait, I sighed and said, "Oh, the saying is true! Vegetation turns yellow and people grow old. Look at Miss Furnival today, who would have thought that she was so beautiful before!" Dorothy replied: "Yes, people are alive, there are always sad things. I heard from my master's father that my master's sister, the former Miss Furnival, was older than my master—her name was Gerry at that time." Miss Lace—beautiful. Here's her portrait, too, and I'll show you in a moment. But you can't tell James—" She whispered to me, "Does your lady keep a secret?" I can't say, but I think Miss Rosamund is a sweet child, very honest, and will probably say whatever she likes.I had no choice, so I said to my lady, let's play hide and seek, okay? You hide first, and I'll come find you.As soon as she was gone, Dorothy asked me to help her turn over a portrait that was leaning against the wall.It was a big portrait, facing inward against the wall, and for some reason they didn't hang it on the wall.I saw that it was really good, the woman in the portrait was even more beautiful than Miss Grace, but her expression was the same as Miss Grace, and she looked down upon others.I should have stared at it for an hour if Dorothy hadn't been busy turning it over.But Dorothy seemed very frightened, and told me to hurry and get Miss Rosamund back.She said that some places in the house were not very clean and it was best for children not to go there.I was bold and simple then, and besides, I used to play hide-and-seek with the children, and it was never a problem, so I didn't think much about what the old woman meant, and I quickly called the lovely Miss Rosamund I got it back. In winter, the nights are long and the days are short.Now, to tell you the truth, I used to hear as if someone were playing that big organ in the hall.The sound is not every night, but it can always be heard after a few days.Usually, after I put the young lady on the bed and sat on her bed to rest for a while, the sound would come, loud for a while, then soft for a while, as if it was downstairs, and it seemed to come from a far away place.On the first night, when I went down to dinner, I asked Dorothy if anyone was playing the piano. James quickly said that it was the sound of the wind blowing through the branches, and there was no one playing the piano.But I saw that Dorothy seemed very frightened, and she glanced at James, and Bessie the cook turned pale all of a sudden, and she was still muttering something.I don't think they want to talk about it, so it's not easy to ask.I thought I'd ask when Dorothy and I were alone together, and I'd be able to get a good deal out of her then.The next day, I found the time to ask her again and again, trying to find out who was playing the piano from her mouth, because I was sure that the sound came from the organ, and it was not like what James said, It's wind.But I knew right away that she had been told not to say anything.I couldn't get anything out of Dorothy, so I had to ask Bessie the cook, but I held my head up when I asked her--not with James and Dorothy. , but Bessie is the cook and I am the nanny, so it must be better than her!She begged me not to tell others, even if I accidentally said something, I can't say it was her.She said it was a strange sound, and she had heard it many times, mostly on winter evenings, especially when it was about to snow.She said she heard it too, that the old lord used to play the organ in the hall, and he used to play there when he was alive.But, who is the old jazz, why did he come to play the piano even after he died, and why did he play it in the winter night when it was about to snow? Bessie didn't say anything. Say.Hi!If I don’t say it, I won’t say it. I was really brave at the time. I thought it would be nice to have some music in such a big room, no matter who played it!Besides, the music sounds very moving, very sad for a while, very happy for a while, until finally it ends slowly and softly.How could this be the wind?I guessed at first that old Miss Furnival was playing, but Bessie didn't know it, and told me nonsense.But one day, when I was alone in the hall, I stole the cover of the organ, as I used to do in Crosthwaite Church.Only after looking at it did I realize that the pipe organ looked fine, but the inside had been broken for a long time, so how could it still be played!It was broad daylight, but I broke out in a cold sweat, slammed the lid and fled back to the nursery.Since then, I have been more afraid of hearing that voice than James and Dorothy, but Miss Rosamond has become more and more agreeable during that time.Both old ladies liked to lunch with the young lady—James always stood behind old Miss Furnival's chair, and I, behind Miss Rosamond, while they ate.After dinner, old Miss Furnival was going to take a nap, and I went to eat in the kitchen, while Miss Rosamond played for a while in the corner of the large studio.But she was always as quiet as a little mouse there, waiting for me to take her back to play in the nursery, and said old Miss Furnival was always silent, and Mrs. Stark didn't play with her but me. Playing makes her happy.In this way, although the strange sound of music still comes from time to time, I slowly seem to get used to it.Anyway, no one knows where it came from, and it doesn't bother anyone, so let it go! The winter was very cold that year, and the frost fell in mid-October, and remained so for many days.I remember one day at dinner, old Miss Furnival looked up at Mrs. Stark, and said with a heavy heart: "I'm afraid I'm going to be unlucky this winter." As if he didn't hear it, he said something else loudly.My lady and I are not afraid of frost, of course not!As long as it doesn't rain or snow, we often go to the mountain behind the house and climb to the top. There is nothing there, and we go down the mountain in the cold wind.Once, we took a new road down the hill, and that road had two big holly trees beside it, half way to the east of the house.The days were getting shorter then, and the old jazz--if he was playing, the sound he was playing was getting sadder.One Sunday afternoon, probably at the end of November, after old Miss Furnival took her afternoon nap, I was going to take her from the studio to the nursery as usual, but I wanted to go to church that day and take her with me. I was afraid that it would be too cold, so I asked Dorothy to take care of the young lady for me.Dorothy readily agreed, she likes Miss, I have nothing to worry about.At that time, the sky was cloudy, as if it had been like this since last night, the wind was not strong, but it was terribly cold.I ignored it, and went to church with Bessie. When Bessie went out, she said, "It's going to snow." As she said, when we were in the church, it snowed so hard that it almost closed the windows of the church. up.The snow had stopped when we came out of church, but on the way home it was soft and thick and deep.When we got home, even the moon was out.At this time, the sky was brighter than when we went to church in the afternoon, with half of the moon and half of the reflection of snow.Oh, I guess I didn't say that old Miss Furnival and Mrs Stark never went to church, they just said their prayers at home without saying a word.That Sunday, old Miss Furnival was not weaving, so when I went to the kitchen to take the lady upstairs from Dorothy, Dorothy said that the lady did not come to the kitchen, and the master probably left her in the studio. .I was not surprised to hear her say that, and after putting down my things, I went to the studio to find her, intending to take her to the nursery for supper.However, when I entered the large studio, I saw only two old ladies sitting there talking, but I did not see Miss Rosamund beside them.I think the lady is playing hide-and-seek with me again. This is a trick she often plays, and this time she has persuaded the two old ladies to pretend that they don't know where she is.Thinking of this, I looked behind the chair, under the sofa, and pretended not to be found. At this moment Mrs. Stark turned her head, and asked me aloud: "What are you looking for, Hester?" I wonder if old Miss Furnival saw me coming in.As I said, she is very deaf, but her eyesight is still very good, but at this time she was just sitting there, staring blankly at the fire in the fireplace, looking at the expression on her face, as if she was worried about something. "I'm looking for Miss." I answered Mrs. Stark, and I was still looking for it. I thought the child couldn't hide anywhere, and he would find it soon. Unexpectedly, Mrs. Stark said: "Miss Rosamund is not here. She left more than an hour ago and said she was going to Dorothy's." looking at the fire in the fireplace. Hearing what she said, I became anxious.I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have gone to church, and it would be a disaster if I lost my lady!I hurried back to the kitchen and told Dorothy that the lady was gone!James happened to be out that day, and only Dorothy and Bessie helped me find it.We lighted the lamps, and searched frantically about, first up into the nursery, and then through the whole house, calling out to get the young lady out of her hiding place.Really anxious!But there was no sign of the young lady, nor did she hear a single sound. When I found it, I said, "Oh! Could she have gone into the east room and hid there?" Dorothy said, no, she had never been there, and said the door was always locked, and the key was said to be with the butler, who she said she and James had never seen.Hearing what she said, I said, then I will go to the studio to have a look, maybe the lady is really hiding there, and I will not let the two old ladies know.I also said, if this is the case, I have to teach her a lesson, who told her to rush me like this!But that's what I said when I was in a hurry, how dare I teach Miss a lesson?I ran back to the studio on the west side, and told Mrs. Stark that Miss Rosamund was missing. We were looking for her everywhere, but we couldn't find her. I wanted to look for her in the studio again.I said she must have fallen asleep in a corner.However, I searched all over the studio, but still couldn't find it.We searched again, and even old Miss Furnival got up shaking and stood up to help, but we couldn't find it.Later, everyone in the house was called, and everyone searched the place we had searched again, but still couldn't find the lady.Old Miss Furnival was shaking so badly that Mrs. Stark said she would take her back to the studio, where it would be warmer, and they made me promise to take her to the studio as soon as they found her.What a damn day!I was so anxious that I was almost in a daze, but at this moment, I suddenly thought, I should see if there is any movement outside the house!I was upstairs, and I stretched my head to look out the window. The moonlight outside was very bright, and there were really a bunch of small footprints on the snow!It went out from the door of the hall, and went all the way to the corner of the east corner of the house.I don't remember how I got downstairs, but as soon as I pushed open the big, heavy hall door, I threw my skirt over my head and rushed out.I went straight to the corner on the east side of the house, and it was so dark that I couldn't see anything clearly, but after I walked forward for a while, I saw the series of small footprints in the moonlight.God, it's going up the mountain!It was very cold, and I just ran up the mountain, crying while running, and I didn't care that my face was about to be torn apart by the wind. I just thought that my poor little baby must be frozen to death.Just when I was about to run to the two holly trees, I saw a sheepherder coming down from the mountain, holding something in his arms, wrapped in a blanket.He saw me and yelled at me, asking if I was looking for a child.At this time, I was too tired to walk, and I couldn't even speak from crying.Seeing that I couldn't move, he ran towards me.I saw my young lady lying motionless in his arms, her face as pale as death.The sheep herder said that he went to the mountain to herd sheep before dark, and when he passed the two holly trees (the most conspicuous ones on the mountain were the two holly trees), he saw my young lady—my little sheep— — My little queen — my little cutie — lay frozen in the snow.Oh my God!How can I thank him!My tears flowed out again.I couldn't let him hold her anymore, I took the lady and the blanket together, hugged her tightly in my arms, against my neck, against my heart, I felt her little arms warmed up a bit, and her nose Li also exhaled a little.But when I carried her back to the hall, she hadn't woken up yet, and I didn't even have the strength to speak. "Bring the stove!" I said only one sentence, and carried the young lady upstairs.Bessie helped me undress her, and I called my little darling by all the nice names I could think of—even though my eyes were blurred with tears, I kept on calling.Finally, oh!She finally opened her blue eyes!Immediately I put her into a warm bed, and immediately sent Dorothy downstairs to tell old Miss Furnival that I myself would stay by her side all night and never leave her.But she fell asleep as soon as she touched the pillow, and I sat by her bed until dawn.When she woke up, she was so bright--indeed, I didn't know how bright she was--and you, my little ones, I said you were just as bright. She said that when she was in the studio yesterday afternoon, she saw the two old ladies asleep, and she wanted to go to Dorothy, but when she passed through the west hall, she saw heavy snow falling outside the window, and the snowflakes were falling. Ah, so cute, I thought of going to see the snow.She said that when she walked to the window of the hall, she saw a thick layer of snow outside, which was white and soft, very beautiful, but when she stood there, she saw a little girl standing outside in the snow. , younger than her, "but she's so pretty," that's what my little darling said, "and she beckoned me to get out. Oh, she was so pretty, so cute, and I couldn't help it, so I went out. She said that after she went out, the little girl took her hand, and they walked to the east side of the house together. I didn't believe it, and said, "Look, you're being naughty again, and you're trying to cheat. Your mother has never cheated in her life. She's gone to heaven now. If she heard what you just said, she'd say: Little Rosa. Mond, you can't lie!" The little darling cried, and she said, "No, Hester, I didn't lie to you, I really didn't!" "Okay, stop talking!" I still didn't believe it, "I followed your footprints up the mountain yesterday, but there were only your footprints in the snow. If a little girl went up the mountain holding hands with you, why didn't she Footprints?" "I don't know, dear, dear Hester," she cried more vigorously when I said this, "I don't know how it is that she has no footprints, I didn't look down at her feet, but she used The little hand held my hand tightly, and she led me up the mountain to the holly tree. I saw a lady crying there, but she stopped crying when she saw me, and she was very happy. Laughed. It was the lady who held me and sang softly and put me to sleep... That's it, Hester, and then... and then I fell asleep--it was true, and mother knew , What I said is true..." She said, crying.I thought the child was feverish and talking nonsense, and pretended to believe her, but she told it over and over again, until Dorothy knocked at the door, and said breakfast was coming for Miss Rosamund.Dorothy also said that two old ladies were downstairs at breakfast and wanted me to talk to them.In fact they had been in the nursery last night, when Miss Rosamund was asleep, and they only looked at her, and left without asking me anything. "Understood." I answered Dorothy, and walked downstairs.When I walked through the corridor on the north side of the house, I thought to myself: "I can't blame me for the loss of the lady. I went to church, and they should take care of the lady. How can I blame me?" I boldly walked into the restaurant.After saluting, I put my mouth close to old Miss Furnival's ear, and raised my voice to describe yesterday's events in detail.When I mentioned yesterday that a little girl called the young lady into the snow and led the young lady to meet the beautiful lady under the two holly trees, old Miss Furnival suddenly opened her two old, shriveled and Trembling arms, shouted: "Oh! God! Forgive me, forgive me!" Mrs. Stark rushed over to pull her, as if she would not let her shout, but she broke away from Mrs. Stark and still shouted at me.It was frightening to see her like that, but I could still hear her calling, "Hester! Get that little girl out of here! Don't let her near the lady! She'll kill her! She's a bad Child! Tell the young lady that the goblin is going to kill her!" Mrs. Stark hurried me out of the dining room.To be honest, I don't want to be there either.But I still heard old Miss Furnival shouting outside the restaurant door: "Oh! Forgive me! After all these years, you still haven't forgiven..." Since then, I have been restless.No matter day or night, I dare not leave Miss Rosamund for half a step, lest she slip out again, lest something happen to her.Especially when I saw old Miss Furnival's state, I saw her going crazy, and I was very frightened.I'm afraid that something will find my young lady, and I worry about it every day. (You know, there are things like that sometimes, even in the house.) Every night, when the snow fell a little harder than usual, and whenever there was a wind, we could always hear that old jazz playing on the wind— —Whether the old jazz was playing or not, I can't tell.Anyway, no matter where Miss Rosamund goes, I will follow wherever - I am not so afraid of the strange voice, but what I am afraid of is that something will happen to the lady, she has no father or mother, so pitiful, and so cute , I am reluctant to do anything.Besides, watching her play and laughing makes me feel happy too.In this way, I always accompany her, play with her, and sometimes walk around the big house, but even in the house, I dare not lose her.这样快到圣诞节的时候，有一天下午，我和小姐一起在大厅里的一张台球桌上玩球。 （我俩都不懂怎么个玩法，小姐只知道用手去抓那些象牙小球，在桌子上滚来滚去，好像很喜欢。我嘛，只要她喜欢，我也喜欢。）我们玩着玩着，屋外好像还亮，屋子里慢慢暗了下来，我想带小姐回育儿室去。刚想走，小姐忽然喊了起来： “看，海丝特！那个小姑娘又在那里了！在雪地里！看！” 我从那扇又高又窄的窗户里望出去，是啊！就在那儿，真有一个小女孩！看上去比小姐小一点，可奇怪啊！她身上穿的不是冬天的衣服——她好像在哭，很伤心的样子，一边还拍着那边的窗户，好像在求屋里的人放她进屋来。看她这副样子，罗萨蒙德小姐忍不住了，转身要去开门，可就在刹那间，我们身边的那架大大的管风琴猛地响了起来，一下子把我惊呆了。我不知道发生了什么事，只记得我那时一阵头晕，眼睛直愣愣地看着窗外灰蒙蒙的天，虽说那小女孩还在使劲拍着窗户，可我一点声音也听不到，连她哭喊的声音也没有了——什么声音都没有了——就是有，我也不记得了。我只记得那架管风琴里发出来的声音把我吓坏了，只记得我那时一把抓住罗萨蒙德小姐，不让她去开门——不管她怎么叫，怎么踢我，我一把抱起她就往厨房跑。我一头冲进厨房，把朵洛西和埃格妮吓了一跳。她们正在那里做馅饼。 朵洛西看见罗萨蒙德小姐在我怀里挣扎，大声问：“哎呀，小姐怎么了？” 没等我开口——我正喘着气啊——小姐先说了：“她不让我开门！不让那小姑娘进来！那小姑娘在山上会冻死的！坏海丝特，坏海丝特！”她骂我，打我，打得还真不轻。这时，我看见朵洛西的脸色一下子变白了，我浑身的血也一下子冻住了。 “快把厨房门关了，锁上！”我听见她对埃格妮说。随后，她也没多说什么，只是给了我一点葡萄干和杏仁，要我哄哄罗萨蒙德小姐。可回到育儿室，小姐什么都不肯吃，就是不停吵闹，要把那小女孩放进来。后来，她哭着哭着睡着了，我才松了口气。我轻轻下楼，对朵洛西说，我要带小姐离开这庄园，到艾波斯维特我父亲家里去住，那里日子虽说要过得清苦许多，可是太太平平的，不像在这里，我说，那老爵士弹琴的声音已经够吓人了，我还看到了那个哭着要进来的小女孩，她穿的衣服那么怪，拍窗户时一点声音也没有，右边肩上还有个乌黑的伤口，真是太吓人了——这些倒也算了，我说，我实在受不了的是罗萨蒙德小姐差点被那小鬼魂害死。 我说着，看见朵洛西的脸色变了好几回。等我说完，她对我说，我可以走，但不能把罗萨蒙德小姐带走，因为罗萨蒙德小姐的监护人是弗尼瓦尔爵士，他现在也是我的主人，没有他的同意，我不能带走罗萨蒙德小姐，不管什么地方都不行。她又问我，真的很害怕那声音和那件事吗？就为了这些，真的舍得离开我那么喜欢的小姐？她还说，他们对那声音和那件事都慢慢习惯了，觉得也没什么。我听了有点生气，我说你们都知道那声音和那件事的底细，说不准还认识那小女孩，可我什么都不知道，叫我怎么习惯？我这么说，她觉得不好意思，就答应把事情讲给我听，可我听完后就后悔了，因为听她这么一讲，我觉得更加害怕了。 她说，她也是从邻居那儿听来的。她和詹姆斯刚结婚那会儿，周围的老邻居还都活着，那时庄园里还没出事，老邻居还常来串门。她说邻居们说的事没准是胡编的，也没准是真的。 那个弹琴的老爵士，就是老弗尼瓦尔小姐的父亲。那时，格雷丝小姐不叫弗尼瓦尔小姐，她的姐姐莫德小姐才叫弗尼瓦尔小姐。老爵士从来就看不起人，脾气又很不好，他的两个女儿呢，也和他差不多。附近有许多年轻人看中她们，她们却一个也看不上。那时，她们可是这地方少见的美女，比我在画像上看到的还要漂亮，可俗话说，“漂亮的姑娘会惹事”，真是一点不错。两个小姐眼睛长在头顶上，却偏偏喜欢上了同一个男人。那个男人是个外国乐师，是老爵士从伦敦请来弹管风琴的。老爵士脾气坏，对音乐倒是挺喜欢的，奇怪的是他喜欢音乐，脾气还是那么坏。有人说，可怜的老爵士夫人就是被老爵士活活气死的。老爵士喜欢音乐可是喜欢得不得了，不管花多少钱都愿意，他请来的那个外国乐师呢，听说弹起琴来连树上的鸟儿听了也不再叫了。老爵士就是喜欢听那个外国乐师弹琴，别的音乐他都不想听，所以他要那外国乐师每年都到他家里来。那外国乐师还从荷兰带来了一架管风琴，就是放在大厅里那架，后来谁也没有动过它。那乐师为老爵士弹琴，还教老爵士弹琴。老爵士迷上了弹琴，成天想着那架管风琴，对别的事全都没了心思。这样，连那个脸色黑黑的乐师常和他的两个女儿——有时是莫德小姐，有时是格雷丝小姐——在小树林里散步，他也不知道。 后来，不用说，是莫德小姐和那乐师好上了，两人还瞒着家里人偷偷结了婚。这样到第二年，那乐师再到老爵士的庄园里来时，莫德小姐已经偷偷生下了一个女儿——她怀上孩子后就骗老爵士和格雷丝小姐说，她要到堂卡斯特瑞斯去住，其实呢，一直躲在屋后山上的一间空屋子里，让一个农妇照顾着她。孩子生下来后，她把孩子留在那间空屋子里，自己就回到家里，她父亲和她妹妹还以为她从堂卡斯特瑞斯回来了，一点也不知道她生孩子的事。这时，莫德小姐虽说做了母亲，可坏脾气一点没改，还是和从前一样动不动发脾气，特别是那乐师第二年来庄园时，她的脾气更坏了，因为她看到那乐师（她丈夫）老盯着她妹妹格雷丝小姐，好像很有意思，把她倒给忘了。她跟那乐师发脾气，那乐师对她说那是做给家里人看看的，好不让他们怀疑他和她的事，可莫德小姐还是受不了她妹妹的那副得意的样子，老缠着那乐师吵，还缠着妹妹吵。那乐师大概也受不了了，想撒手不管——他本是外国人，往外国一躲，什么事也没了——所以，那年夏季他提早一个星期就走了，临走前还生气地说，他再也不会来了。那乐师走了，那个小女孩就一直藏在山上的那间屋子里，她母亲对那地方又是爱，又是恨，只能每星期骑着马上山来看她一两次。那老爵士呢，还是只管弹他的琴，脾气还是那样坏，连家里的仆人都说，他再怎么弹琴，脾气也好不起来。老爵士的身体越来越糟，连走路也得拄拐杖，他的两个儿子呢，一个就是现在那个弗尼瓦尔爵士的父亲，那时正在美国当兵，另一个儿子也出海去了，所以莫德小姐就成了家里的老大，什么都要她说了算，还常常和格雷丝小姐大吵大闹，要不是老爵士朝她们瞪眼睛，发脾气，她们就会吵个没完。第二年夏天，那乐师还是来了，可那真成了最后一次。他看到姐妹俩整天争风吃醋，吵个不停，实在烦死了，就一走了之，再也没了音信。莫德小姐本来还想等父亲死了就让邻居们知道她结婚的事儿，现在好了，她一下子变成了活寡妇——丈夫明明活着，可没了——还有个女儿，可她不敢说是她生的——她喜欢那孩子，想把她领回家来，可又害怕父亲会大发脾气，妹妹会朝她冷笑，还会说出很难听的话来。这样又过了一年，那乐师再也没来，莫德小姐和格雷丝小姐也越来越发愁——虽说姐妹俩仍像从前一样漂亮，可脸色越来越不好。慢慢地，莫德小姐的脸色有点好了起来，因为她看到老爵士的身体一天天不行了，整天只知道弹琴，不管家里的事，心里有点高兴。那时，姐妹俩已经分开住了，格雷丝小姐住在屋子的西边，莫德小姐住在屋子的东边——就是现在常年锁着的那个地方。她们住在一个屋子里，可从不往来，再说，屋子又那么大，莫德小姐就想，这下可以把女儿领回来了，反正父亲和妹妹不会知道，家里的仆人知道了也不敢说，就算有人问，她说那是附近农家的孩子，她喜欢就领回来了，他们也不敢不相信……事情就是这样，朵洛西说，家里的仆人知道的也就是这些。接下来究竟发生了什么，她说，那只有格雷丝小姐和斯达克夫人才知道，别人都不太清楚。斯达克夫人那时就是格雷丝小姐的女伴，和格雷丝小姐很亲近，比她的姐姐亲近多了。从她嘴里漏出来的几句话，仆人们猜想她大概看出了那个乐师一开始就喜欢莫德小姐，对格雷丝小姐只是逢场作戏。她一定和格雷丝小姐说过那乐师是假装喜欢她，其实已经和莫德小姐结了婚，说不定还生了孩子，因为从那以后，仆人们没看到格雷丝小姐脸上有过一点笑容，时常还偷听到她和斯达克夫人在算计着什么，有时还听到她说，她总有一天要报复东边的那个小姐。 新年刚过后的一天夜里，朵洛西说，家里发生了一件可怕的事情。那天夜里，雪下得很大，冷得要命，屋外到处是厚厚的雪，天上漆黑一片，什么也看不见。这时，只听见屋里“砰”的一声响，把仆人们都惊呆了，接着就听到老爵士像拼了老命一样在大声叫骂。他好像气得发疯了，叫骂声响得整个屋子里都能听到，中间还夹着一个女孩的哭声，还有一个女人的声音，也在大喊大叫，好像又气又恨，接着是“啪”一声，像是木棍打在人身上的声音，接着就没什么声音了，只听见哭声越来越远，慢慢消失在屋后的那座山上……接着，老爵士把屋里的仆人全都叫了出来，当着仆人的面，他大发脾气，喘着气、咬着牙说，他的女儿把他的脸面都丢尽了，现在他把她——还有那个女孩——赶出了家门，再也不许她们回来——要是有人敢去帮她们——不管是给她们送吃的，还是偷偷放她们进来——他发誓说，他要叫那人一辈子倒霉！这时，格雷丝小姐站在一边，一声不响，脸像石头一样沉着。等老爵士讲完了，她长长地舒了口气，好像是说，她早就等着这一天了，这下她可称心了。可那天以后，老爵士就再也没有弹过那架管风琴，还没等到第二年，他就死了。说来也不奇怪，他把母女俩赶出家门后，第二天就从山上下来的牧羊人那里听说，莫德小姐坐在那两棵冬青树下，在疯疯癫癫地傻笑，怀里还抱着个死孩子——那女孩的右肩上有道可怕的伤口。“可那孩子不是受伤死的，”朵洛西说，“她是在大冷天里活活冻死的！哎，山上的野兽还有山洞，家里牲畜还有窝棚，可母女俩穿着单衣，被赶到了山上……现在你全知道了，大概不再害怕了吧？” 我说是的，不再害怕了，可心里更加害怕。想到罗萨蒙德小姐，我真想马上带她离开这座屋子，可我不能带她走，更舍不得丢下她。God!我该怎么办！我得怎样保护她呀！我没办法，只好每天在天黑前一个多小时就把门窗关得紧紧的，不像从前那样到天黑后才关门窗，那时我觉得太晚了。可罗萨蒙德小姐还是老听到那小女孩呜呜的哭声。不管我和朵洛西怎么劝她，她就是想出去找那个小女孩，要不，就是要把那小女孩放进屋里来，说外面雪太大了，她会冻坏的。真拿她没办法！在那段时间里，我总不想见到老弗尼瓦尔小姐和斯达克夫人。我一看到她们，看到她们沉沉的脸、呆呆的眼神，想到朵洛西说的那个可怕的夜里，就想到她们不是好人。不过，我对老弗尼瓦尔小姐还是觉得她有点可怜。我看到她脸上的那种表情，心里就想，她大概也不好过。后来，我都有点为她难过了——她从不说话，要有人问她，才说一两句——上帝啊！宽恕她吧！我有时为她祈祷。我还教罗萨蒙德小姐为有罪过的人祈祷，可她低头祈祷时，常会抬起头来，细细听，然后说：“我听到那小姑娘在哭，很可怜的——哦，让她进来吧，她会死的！” 又是新年刚过后的一天夜里——冬天总算过去了，天气开始回暖——我在楼下忙着什么事，听到西边画室里的大钟敲了三下，我猛地想到，这时候我不能让小姐一个人在楼上睡觉。那天夜里老爵士弹琴的声音特别响，我担心小姐会被吵醒，醒来后又会听到那小鬼魂的哭声。我上楼一看，还好，她睡得还安稳，门窗也都关着。可我总不放心，就随手找了几件衣服把她裹住，连衣服连人一起把她抱到了楼下，进了西边的画室。两个老太太还在那里织画，见我进去，斯达克夫人觉得奇怪，问我：“小姐睡得好好的，怎么把她抱到这儿来？”我压着嗓子说：“这会儿我还有事，我怕她醒来，外面那个小鬼魂……”说到这儿，我看她朝我直摇手（还朝旁边的老弗尼瓦尔小姐瞥了一眼），我就不说了。她说，老弗尼瓦尔小姐正要把织错的画拆了重织，可她俩都眼花了，你来了，就帮着拆一下吧。听她这么说，我就把小姐放到沙发上，让她在那儿睡，我自己坐到了她们旁边的凳子上。说实话，我心里很不愿意帮她们忙。 屋外风很大，吹得窗子都格格响，我回头看看，罗萨蒙德小姐在沙发上睡着了。老弗尼瓦尔小姐一句话没说，也不管风把窗子吹得多响，她看都没看一眼。可忽然间，像有什么东西惊着了她，她冷不防地站了起来，手里挥着织画的线，嘴里喊着：“听见吗？有人在说话！哦，我听见了，听见了！哦，太可怕了，是我父亲的声音！” 这时，罗萨蒙德小姐，我的小宝贝，也猛地醒了过来，也喊起来：“海丝特！那小姑娘在哭！哭得太伤心了！”她还想从沙发上下来，可脚被毯子裹住了，我忙过去把她按住，不让她下来。什么有人说话？什么哭得伤心？我怎么没听见？斯达克夫人好像也听不见。可弗尼瓦尔小姐听见了！罗萨蒙德小姐听见了！我吓得浑身都起鸡皮疙瘩。可没过一两分钟，说话的声音，哭的声音，真的来了，还很响！我听见了，听得清清楚楚——很奇怪，这时窗外风的声音倒听不见了——斯达克夫人也听见了，吓得朝我直瞪眼，我也吓得朝她直瞪眼。我们俩谁也不敢说一句话。这时，只看见老弗尼瓦尔小姐正跌跌撞撞走出门去，斯达克夫人忙跟了出去。我吓得不敢留在那儿，一把抱起沙发上的小姐，也跟了出去。老弗尼瓦尔小姐走出前厅，穿过西厅，接着就打开了进大厅的门。我们一走进大厅，哭喊的声音一下子响起来，像是从东边传来的，就是东边那扇锁着的门那儿——那扇门的后面。这时，我看见大厅里的吊灯都亮着，可那里就是一点光也没有，很暗很暗，壁炉里的火正烧着，可那里就是一点热气也没有，很冷很冷。不知道是害怕，还是冷，我浑身直哆嗦，一股劲地抱住小姐。可就在我抱紧小姐的当儿，东边的那扇门摇晃起来，小姐猛地在我怀里挣扎着要下来，还哭着喊着：“海丝特，放我下来！那个小姑娘来了！我听见她了！海丝特，快放我下来！” 我使劲抱住她，不放她下来，心里想，就算我死了，我也不会松手让小姐跟那小鬼魂走的！可老弗尼瓦尔小姐站在那里一动不动，像是把小姐给忘了。这时，小姐已经从我怀里挣了出来，可她双脚一落地，我就扑上去又把她抱住了。我跪在那里，伸出手臂抱住她。她哭啊，挣啊，就是想挣开我。 忽然间，像是打了个闪电，东边的那扇门“砰”的开了，像是有人把它一脚踢了开来。门里照出一道光来，很怪的光，光里走出一个头发花白的高个儿老头，恶狠狠地挥着手，把一个女人从门里赶了出来。那女人很漂亮，可脸色难看，她身旁有个小女孩，正拉着她的裙摆。 “海丝特！海丝特！”罗萨蒙德小姐又叫了起来，“就是她，坐在冬青树下的就是她！还有那个小姑娘，就是她带我去的！海丝特，快放开我！我要过去！她们在那里，我要过去！” 她没命地挣着，要过去，可我怎么也不松手，反把她抱得更紧了。我生怕这样会伤着她，可我宁愿伤着她，也不能让她过去！那几个鬼魂朝大厅的门走去，风在门外吹着，正等着把他们吞掉。到了大门前，那女的转过身来，看得出她恨那个老头，像是对那老头说了什么话，可她马上回过身去，想去护住她身边的女孩——哦，可怜的孩子！那老头举起拐杖要打她。 这时，罗萨蒙德小姐好像力气比我还大，在我怀里挣啊，哭啊，喊啊。 （我倒快要没有力气了。）“她们要我一起到山上去！她们正拉着我去！哦，可怜的小姑娘！我要去！坏海丝特把我抱得太紧啦！”可她一看到那老头举起拐杖，就晕了过去。Thank goodness!还是这样好，我拖不住她了！我看到那老头举着拐杖，头发披散，正要朝那缩成一团的女孩打下去——这时，我身边的老弗尼瓦尔小姐忽然喊出声来：“哦，父亲！父亲！饶了那无辜的孩子吧！”可就在这时，我们看见还有一个鬼魂，老像影子一样在晃来晃去。这时大厅里有点光，像大雾天里的那种不太亮的光，可我们全看清楚了，那鬼魂站到了老头身边，板着脸，很凶的样子，又像是很高兴的样子。她很漂亮，头上戴着一顶白软帽，帽檐很长，盖住她的前额——身上穿着一件领子敞开的蓝缎裙——她撅着嘴，一脸看不起人的样子——我好像在哪里见过她，那不就是格雷丝小姐，年轻时的老弗尼瓦尔小姐吗？那鬼魂真可怕，冷冰冰得像石头一样看着那老头举起拐杖——这时不管老弗尼瓦尔小姐怎么求他也没用了——他举起拐杖，狠狠地朝女孩的右肩打了下去——“啪”！大厅里的吊灯，壁炉里的火，全灭了。老弗尼瓦尔小姐倒在我们跟前——像死了一样。 yes!那天夜里我们抬她进房间后，她就再也没有起来。她躺在床上，脸朝着墙壁，嘴里总说着：“哦！哦！从前的罪过是擦不掉的呀！从前的罪过是擦不掉的呀！”