A Terrible Temptation (Fiscle Part 3) by Charles Reade (motivational books for men TXT) 📖
- Author: Charles Reade
Book online «A Terrible Temptation (Fiscle Part 3) by Charles Reade (motivational books for men TXT) 📖». Author Charles Reade
Divine Caresses; With The Honey Of Her Voice, And The Liquid Sunshine
Of Her Loving Eyes. Sir Charles Slept Peacefully That Night, And Forgot
His One Grief And His One Enemy For A Time.
Not So Lady Bassett. She Lay Awake All Night And Thought Deeply Of
Richard Bassett And "His Unrelenting, Impenitent Malice." Women Of Her
Fine Fiber, When They Think Long And Earnestly On One Thing, Have Often
Divinations. The Dark Future Seems To Be Lit A Moment At A Time By
Flashes Of Lightning, And They Discern The Indistinct Form Of Events To
Come, And So It Was With Lady Bassett: In The Stilly Night A Terror Of
The Future And Of Richard Bassett Crept Over Her--A Terror
Disproportioned To His Past Acts And Apparent Power. Perhaps She Was
Oppressed By Having An Enemy--She, Who Was Born To Be Loved. At All
Events, She Was Full Of Feminine Divinations And Forebodings, And Saw,
By Flashes, Many A Poisoned Arrow Fly From That Quiver And Strike The
Beloved Breast. It Had Already Discharged One That Had Parted Them For
A Time, And Nearly Killed Sir Charles.
Daylight Cleared Away Much Of This Dark Terror, But Left A Sober Dread
And A Strange Resolution. This Timid Creature, Stimulated By Love,
Determined To Watch The Foe, And Defend Her Husband With All Her Little
Power. All Manner Of Devices Passed Through Her Head, But Were
Rejected, Because, If Love Said "Do Wonders," Timidity Said "Do Nothing
That You Have Not Seen Other Wives Do." So She Remained, Scheming, And
Longing, And Fearing, And Passive, All Day. But The Next Day She
Conceived A Vague Idea, And, All In A Heat, Rang For Her Maid. While
The Maid Was Coming She Fell To Blushing At Her Own Boldness, And, Just
As The Maid Opened The Door, Her Thermometer Fell So Low That--She Sent
Her Upstairs For A Piece Of Work. Oh, Lame And Impotent Conclusion!
Just Before Luncheon She Chanced To Look Through A Window, And To See
The Head Gamekeeper Crossing The Park, And Coming To The House. Now
This Was The Very Man She Wanted To Speak To. The Sudden Temptation
Surprised Her Out Of Her Timidity. She Rang The Bell Again, And Sent
For The Man.
That Colossus Wondered In His Mind, And Felt Uneasy At An Invitation So
Novel. However, He Clattered Into The Morning-Room, In His Velveteen
Coat, And Leathern Gaiters Up To His Thigh, Pulled His Front Hair,
Bobbed His Head, And Then Stood Firm In Body As Was He Of Rhodes, But
In Mind Much Abashed At Finding Himself In Her Ladyship's Presence.
The Lady, However, Did Not Prove So Very Terrible. "May I Inquire Your
Name, Sir?" Said She, Very Respectfully.
"Moses Moss, My Lady."
"Mr. Moss, I Wish To Ask You A Question Or Two. _May_ I?"
Part 3 Chapter 9 Pg 70
"That You May, My Lady."
"I Want You To Explain, If You Will Be So Good, How The Proprietor Of
'Splatchett's' Can Shoot All Sir Charles's Pheasants."
"Lord! My Lady, We Ain't Come Down To That. But He Do Shoot More Than
His Share, That's Sure An' Sartain. Well, My Lady, If You Please, Game
Is Just Like Christians: It Will Make For Sunny Spots. Highmore Has Got
A Many Of Them There, With Good Cover; So We Breeds For Him. As For
'Splatchett's,' That Don't Hurt We, My Lady; It Is All Arable Land And
Dead Hedges, With No Bottom; Only There's One Little Tongue Of It Runs
Into North Wood, And Planted With Larch; And, If You Please, My Lady,
There Is Always A Kind Of Coarse Grass Grows Under Young Larches, And
Makes A Strong Cover For Game. So, Beat North Wood Which Way You Will,
Them Artful Old Cocks Will Run Ahead Of Ye, Or Double Back Into Them
Larches. And You See Mr. Bassett Is Not A Gentleman, Like Sir Charles;
He Is Always A-Mouching About, And The Biggest Poacher In The Parish;
And So He Drops On To 'Em Out Of Bounds."
"Is There No Way Of Stopping All This, Sir?"
"We Might Station A Dozen Beaters Ahead. They Would Most Likely Get
Shot; But I Don't Think As They'd Mind That Much If You Had Set Your
Heart On It, My Lady. Dall'd If I Would, For One."
"Oh, Mr. Moss! Heaven Forbid That Any Man Should Be Shot For Me. No,
Not For All The Pheasants In The World. I'll Try And Think Of Some
Other Way. I Should Like To See The Place. _May_ I?"
"Yes, My Lady, And Welcome."
"How Shall I Get To It, Sir?"
"You Can Ride To The 'Woodman's Rest,' My Lady, And It Is Scarce A
Stone's-Throw From There; But 'Tis Baddish Traveling For The Likes Of
You."
She Appointed An Hour, Rode With Her Groom To The Public-House, And
Thence Was Conducted Through Bush, Through Brier, To The Place Where
Her Husband Had Been So Annoyed.
Moss's Comments Became Very Intelligible To Her The Moment She Saw The
Place. She Said Very Little, However, And Rode Home.
Next Day She Blushed High, And Asked Sir Charles For A Hundred Pounds
To Spend Upon Herself.
Sir Charles Smiled, Well Pleased, And Gave It Her, And A Kiss Into The
Bargain.
"Ah! But," Said She, "That Is Not All."
"I Am Glad Of It. You Spend Too Little Money On Yourself--A Great Deal
Part 3 Chapter 9 Pg 71Too Little."
"That Is A Complaint You Won't Have Long To Make. I Want To Cut Down A
Few Trees. _May_ I?"
"Going To Build?"
"Don't Ask Me. It Is For Myself."
"That Is Enough. Cut Down Every Stick On The Estate If You Like. The
Barer It Leaves Us The Better."
"Ah, Charles, You Promised Me Not. I Shall Cut With Great Discretion, I
Assure You."
"As You Please," Said Sir Charles. "If You Want To Make Me Happy, Deny
Yourself Nothing. Mind, I Shall Be Angry If You Do."
Soon After This A Gaping Quidnunc Came To Sir Charles And Told Him
Lady Bassett Was Felling Trees In North Wood.
"And Pray Who Has A Better Right To Fell Trees In Any Wood Of Mine?"
"But She Is Building A Wall."
"And Who Has A Better Right To Build A Wall?"
With The Delicacy Of A Gentleman He Would Not Go Near The Place After
This Till She Asked Him; And That Was Not Long, She Came Into His
Study, All Beaming, And Invited Him To A Ride. She Took Him Into North
Wood, And Showed Him Her Work. Richard Bassett's Plantation, Hitherto
Divided From North Wood Only By A Boundary Scarcely Visible, Was Now
Shut Off By A Brick Wall: On Sir Charles's Side Of That Wall Every
Stick Of Timber Was Felled And Removed For A Distance Of Fifty Yards,
And About Twenty Yards From The Wall A Belt Of Larches Was Planted, A
Little Higher Than Cabbages.
Sir Charles Looked Amazed At First, But Soon Observed How Thoroughly
His Enemy Was Defeated. "My Poor Bella," Said He, "To Think Of Your
Taking All This Trouble About Such A Thing!" He Stopped To Kiss Her
Very Tenderly, And She Shone With Joy And Innocent Pride. "And I Never
Thought Of This! You Astonish Me, Bella."
"Ay," Said She, In High Spirits Now; "And, What Is More, I Have
Astonished Mr. Moss. He Said, 'I Wish I Had Your Head-Piece, My Lady.'
I Could Have Told Him Love Sharpens A Woman's Wits; But I Reserved That
Little Adage For You."
"It's All Mighty Fine, Fair Lady, But You Have Told Me A Fib. You Said
It Was To Be All For Yourself, And Got A Hundred Pounds Out Of Me."
"And So It Was For Myself, You Silly Thing. Are You Not Myself? And The
Part Of Myself I Love The Best?" And Her Supple Wrist Was Round His
Part 3 Chapter 9 Pg 72Neck In A Moment.
They Rode Home Together, Like Lovers, And Comforted Each Other.
Richard Bassett, With Wheeler's Assistance, Had Borrowed Money On
Highmore To Buy "Splatchett's"; He Now Borrowed Money On
"Splatchett's," And Bought Dean's Wood--A Wood, With Patches Of Grass,
That Lay On The East Of Sir Charles's Boundary. He Gave Seventeen
Hundred Pounds For It, And Sold Two Thousand Pounds' Worth Of Timber
Off It The First Year. This Sounds Incredible; But, Owing To The Custom
Of Felling Only Ripe Trees, Landed Proprietors Had No Sure Clew To The
Value Of All The Timber On An Acre. Richard Bassett Had Found This Out,
And Bought Dean's Wood Upon The Above Terms--_I.E.,_ The Vender Gave
Him The Soil And Three Hundred Pounds Gratis. He Grubbed The Roots And
Sold Them For Fuel, And Planted Larches To Catch The Overflow Of Sir
Charles's Game. The Grass Grew Beautifully, Now The Trees Were Down,
And He Let It For Pasture.
He Then, Still Under Wheeler's Advice, Came Out Into The World Again,
Improved His Dress, And Called On Several County Families, With A View
To Marrying Money.
Now In The Country They Do Not Despise A Poor Gentleman Of Good
Lineage, And Bassett Was One Of The Oldest Names In The County; So
Every Door Was Open To Him; And, Indeed, His Late Hermit Life Had
Stimulated Some Curiosity. This He Soon Turned To Sympathy, By Telling
Them That He Was Proud But Poor. Robbed Of The Vast Estates That
Belonged To Him By Birth, He Had Been Unwilling To Take A Lower
Position. However, Heaven Had Prospered Him; The Wrongful Heir Was
Childless; He Was The Heir At Law, And Felt He Owed It To The Estate,
Which Must Return To His Line, To Assume A Little More Public
Importance Than He Had Done.
Wherever He Was Received He Was Sure To Enlarge Upon His Wrongs; And He
Was Believed; For He Was Notoriously The Direct Heir To Bassett And
Huntercombe, But The Family Arrangement By Which His Father Had Been
Bought Out Was Known Only To A Few. He Readily Obtained Sympathy, And
Many Persons Were Disgusted At Sir Charles's Illiberality In Not Making
Him Some Compensation. To Use The Homely Expression Of Govett, A Small
Proprietor, The Baronet Might As Well Have Given Him Back One Pig Out
Of His Own Farrow--_I.E.,_ One Of The Many Farms Comprised In That
Large Estate.
Sir Charles Learned That Richard Was Undermining Him In The County, But
Was Too Proud To Interfere; He Told Lady Bassett He Should Say Nothing
Until Some _Gentleman_ Should Indorse Mr. Bassett's Falsehoods.
One Day Sir Charles And Lady Bassett Were Invited To Dine And Sleep At
Mr. Hardwicke's, Distance Fifteen
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