But none of that gentle concern which usually characterises the daughters of Eve in their tending of each other; none of that freemasonry in fainting, by which they are generally bound together In a mysterious bond of sisterhood; was visible in Mrs Chick's demeanour. Rather like the executioner who restores the victim to sensation previous to proceeding with the torture (or was wont to do so, in the good old times for which all true men wear perpetual mourning), did Mrs Chick administer the smelling-bottle, the slapping on the hands, the dashing of cold water on the face, and the other proved remedies. And when, at length, Miss Tox opened her eyes, and gradually became restored to animation and consciousness, Mrs Chick drew off as from a criminal, and reversing the precedent of the murdered king of Denmark, regarded her more in anger than In sorrow.'
'Lucretia!' said Mrs Chick 'I will not attempt to disguise what I feel. My eyes are opened, all at once. I wouldn't have believed this, if a Saint had told it to me.
'I am foolish to give way to faintness,' Miss Tox faltered. 'I shall be better presently.'
'You will be better presently, Lucretia!' repeated Mrs Chick, with exceeding scorn. 'Do you suppose I am blind? Do you imagine I am in my second childhood? No, Lucretia! I am obliged to you!'
Miss Tox directed an imploring, helpless kind of look towards her friend, and put her handkerchief before her face.
'If anyone had told me this yesterday,' said Mrs Chick, with majesty, 'or even half-an-hour ago, I should have been tempted, I almost believe, to strike them to the earth. Lucretia Tox, my eyes are opened to you all at once. The scales:' here Mrs Chick cast down an imaginary pair, such as are commonly used in grocers' shops: 'have fallen from my sight. The blindness of my confidence is past, Lucretia. It has been abused and played, upon, and evasion is quite out of the question now, I assure you.
'Oh! to what do you allude so cruelly, my love?' asked Miss Tox, through her tears.
'Lucretia,' said Mrs Chick, 'ask your own heart. I must entreat you not to address me by any such familiar term as you have just used, if you please. I have some self-respect left, though you may think otherwise.'
'Oh, Louisa!' cried Miss Tox. 'How can you speak to me like that?'
'How can I speak to you like that?' retorted Mrs Chick, who, in default of having any particular argument to sustain herself upon, relied principally on such repetitions for her most withering effects. 'Like that! You may well say like that, indeed!'
Miss Tox sobbed pitifully.
'The idea!' said Mrs Chick, 'of your having basked at my brother's fireside, like a serpent, and wound yourself, through me, almost into his confidence, Lucretia, that you might, in secret, entertain designs upon him, and dare to aspire to contemplate the possibility of his uniting himself to you! Why, it is an idea,' said Mrs Chick, with sarcastic dignity, 'the absurdity of which almost relieves its treachery.'
'Pray, Louisa,' urged Miss Tox, 'do not say such dreadful things.'
'Dreadful things!' repeated Mrs Chick. 'Dreadful things! Is it not a fact, Lucretia, that you have just now been unable to command your feelings even before me, whose eyes you had so completely closed?'
'I have made no complaint,' sobbed Miss Tox. 'I have said nothing. If I have been a little overpowered by your news, Louisa, and have ever had any lingering thought that Mr Dombey was inclined to be particular towards me, surely you will not condemn me.'
'She is going to say,' said Mrs Chick, addressing herself to the whole of the furniture, in a comprehensive glance of resignation and appeal, 'She is going to say - I know it - that I have encouraged her!'
'I don't wish to exchange reproaches, dear Louisa,' sobbed Miss Tox 'Nor do I wish to complain. But, in my own defence - '
'Yes,' cried Mrs Chick, looking round the room with a prophetic smile, 'that's what she's going to say. I knew it. You had better say it. Say it openly! Be open, Lucretia Tox,' said Mrs Chick, with desperate sternness, 'whatever you are.'
'In my own defence,' faltered Miss Tox, 'and only In my own defence against your unkind words, my dear Louisa, I would merely ask you if you haven't often favoured such a fancy, and even said it might happen, for anything we could tell?'
'There is a point,' said Mrs Chick, rising, not as if she were going to stop at the floor, but as if she were about to soar up, high, into her native skies, 'beyond which endurance becomes ridiculous, if not culpable. I can bear much; but not too much. What spell was on me when I came into this house this day, I don't know; but I had a presentiment - a dark presentiment,' said Mrs Chick, with a shiver, 'that something was going to happen. Well may I have had that foreboding, Lucretia, when my confidence of many years is destroyed in an instant, when my eyes are opened all at once, and when I find you revealed in your true colours. Lucretia, I have been mistaken in you. It is better for us both that this subject should end here. I wish you well, and I shall ever wish you well. But, as an individual who desires to be true to herself in her own poor position, whatever that position may be, or may not be - and as the sister of my brother - and as the sister-in-law of my brother's wife - and as a connexion by marriage of my brother's wife's mother - may I be permitted to add, as a Dombey? - I can wish you nothing else but good morning.'
These words, delivered with cutting suavity, tempered and chastened by a lofty air of moral rectitude, carried the speaker to the door. There she inclined her head in a ghostly and statue-like manner, and so withdrew to her carriage, to seek comfort and consolation in the arms of Mr Chick, her lord.
Figuratively speaking, that is to say; for the arms of Mr Chick were full of his newspaper. Neither did that gentleman address his eyes towards his wife otherwise than by stealth. Neither did he offer any consolation whatever. In short, he sat reading, and humming fag ends of tunes, and sometimes glancing furtively at her without delivering himself of a word, good, bad, or indifferent.
In the meantime Mrs Chick sat swelling and bridling, and tossing her head, as if she were still repeating that solemn formula of farewell to Lucretia Tox. At length, she said aloud, 'Oh the extent to which her eyes had been opened that day!'
'To which your eyes have been opened, my dear!' repeated Mr Chick.
'Oh, don't talk to me!' said Mrs Chic 'if you can bear to see me in this state, and not ask me what the matter is, you had better hold your tongue for ever.'
'What is the matter, my dear?' asked Mr Chick
'To think,' said Mrs Chick, in a state of soliloquy, 'that she should ever have conceived the base idea of connecting herself with our family by a marriage with Paul! To think that when she was playing at horses with that dear child who is now in his grave - I never liked it at the time - she should have been hiding such a double-faced design! I wonder she was never afraid that something would happen to her. She is fortunate if nothing does.'
'I really thought, my dear,' said Mr Chick slowly, after rubbing the bridge of his nose for some time with his newspaper, 'that you had gone on the same tack yourself, all along, until this morning; and had thought it would be a convenient thing enough, if it could have been brought about.'
Mrs Chick instantly burst into tears, and told Mr Chick that if he wished to trample upon her with his boots, he had better do It.
'But with Lucretia Tox I have done,' said Mrs Chick, after abandoning herself to her feelings for some minutes, to Mr Chick's great terror. 'I can bear to resign Paul's confidence in favour of one who, I hope and trust, may be deserving of it, and with whom he has a perfect right to replace poor Fanny if he chooses; I can bear to be informed, In Paul's cool manner, of such a change in his plans, and never to be consulted until all is settled and determined; but deceit I can not bear, and with Lucretia Tox I have done. It is better as it is,' said Mrs Chick, piously; 'much better. It would have been a long time before I could have accommodated myself comfortably with her, after this; and I really don't know, as Paul is going to be very grand, and these are people of condition, that she would have been quite presentable, and might not have compromised myself. There's a providence in everything; everything works for the best; I have been tried today but on the whole I do not regret it.'
In which Christian spirit, Mrs Chick dried her eyes and smoothed her lap, and sat as became a person calm under a great wrong. Mr Chick feeling his unworthiness no doubt, took an early opportunity of being set down at a street corner and walking away whistling, with his shoulders very much raised, and his hands in his pockets.
While poor excommunicated Miss Tox, who, if she were a fawner and toad-eater, was at least an honest and a constant one, and had ever borne a faithful friendship towards her impeacher and had been truly absorbed and swallowed up in devotion to the magnificence of Mr Dombey - while poor excommunicated Miss Tox watered her plants with her tears, and felt that it was winter in Princess's Place.
跟董贝先生公馆有关的这些以往罕见的现象——脚手架啦，梯子啦，还有那些头上扎着手绢、像会飞的鸟儿一样，在窗口瞪着眼睛往里看的工人啦，——托克斯小姐丝毫也不知道。在这一段多事的时期中的一个早晨，她按照平常的食谱吃完了早餐，也就是说，吃了一个咬起来喀嚓喀嚓发响的花卷蛋糕，一个新鲜的（或卖蛋人保证是新鲜的）鸡蛋和喝了一小壶茶（在这个小壶里，分量为一银勺的茶叶是为托克斯小姐沏的；另一银勺是为这个茶壶沏的；这是善良的主妇们所喜爱的一种奇思妙想）；然后托克斯小姐上楼去，准备把“鸟儿圆舞曲”曲谱摆在大键琴上，给花浇浇水和整整枝叶，给小摆设抹抹灰尘，并按照她平日的习惯，把她的小客厅布置成为公主广场的一个花环。
托克斯小姐戴上一双枯叶色的旧式手套（她习惯在干这些活的时候戴上它，在其他时候则把它藏在桌子抽屉里，不让别人看见），有条不紊地动手工作；开始是把“鸟儿圆舞曲”曲谱摆好；由于自然的联想，她接着跑去照料她的鸟儿——这是一只胸口很窄的金丝雀，它已经老了，羽毛十分蓬乱，但却是一个声音尖锐的歌唱家，在公主广场是很有名的——；按照次序，下面轮到瓷做的装饰品，纸做的捕蝇笼，等等。然后她按时地转到花卉上，根据托克斯小姐十分信服的生物学的理由，需要用剪刀把它们这里那里剪去一些。
这天早晨，托克斯小姐是不慌不忙地前去照料花卉的。气候温暖，南风吹拂，公主广场上荡漾着夏天的气息，这使托克斯小姐的思想转到了乡间。“公主纹章”酒馆的服务员拿着一个喷壶出来洒水，在公主广场上布满了流动的图案；经他这样喷洒之后，长着野草的土地散发出了新鲜的香气——托克斯小姐说，这完全是野草生长的香气。从大街拐角偷偷地透进一点阳光，那些被烟熏黑的麻雀跳过它，又跳回来，在阳光下闪闪发亮；要不然它们就像沐浴在溪流中一样，沐浴在阳光中，成了光彩夺目的麻雀，好像从没和烟囱为邻似的。
“公主纹章”酒馆的橱窗中显眼地陈列着赞扬姜汁啤酒的广告，广告中画着口渴的顾客正被翻滚着的泡沫淹没或被飞出的瓶塞打得不省人事。城外的什么地方，人们正在翻晒晚割的干草，虽然香气要经过远远的距离才能传过来，而且还得跟穷人茅屋中间散发出的迥然不同的气味相竞争（有些值得尊敬的大人先生们认为瘟疫是我们祖先智慧不可缺少的部分，并竭尽他们微薄的力量来把这些肮脏破烂的茅屋保存下来；愿上帝奖赏这些大人先生们吧！），然而这些香气还是微弱地飘送到了公主广场，低声诉说着大自然和它有益于健康的空气，而且无视市参议员和骑士先生们的反对，（他们贤明地点一点头，这转动的世界也就会停止不动；而他们是怎样点头的啊！），甚至把这些喁喁私语也传送到了囚犯、俘虏以及那些孤独无依和遭受压迫的人们那里（这样的事情总是会发生的）。
托克斯小姐在窗下坐下，想到了她死去的好爸爸——在海关署当公务员的托克斯先生；想到了她在一个海港度过的童年，那海港带有几分乡村风味，附近有大量的冷焦油；她沉湎在往昔岁月中那些草地的甜蜜的回忆之中；那些闪烁着毛茛的草地，真好像布满金色的星星的苍穹上下颠倒过来似的；她记得她曾经怎样用蒲公英的梗子为那些海誓山盟、主要穿着土布的年轻情侣们编织脚镣，这些脚镣不久又怎样枯萎和破碎了。
托克斯小姐坐在窗下，眼望着麻雀和闪烁的阳光，又想到了她死去的，妈妈——那位头上敷粉和梳了一根辫子的人的姐姐——，想到了她的善行美德和她的风湿病。有一个两腿粗壮、声音刺耳的男子跑到公主广场来卖花；他头上沉重的篮子把他的帽子压得像一块黑色的松饼一样；他每么喝一声，胆怯的雏菊就颤抖一下，仿佛他是个叫卖小孩的吃人魔鬼似的；这时托克斯小姐夏日的回忆强烈地涌上心头，她摇摇头，咕哝着说，她将在她没有觉察之前就变老了——这似乎是很可能的。
托克斯小姐在沉思状态中开始想到了董贝先生，也许是因为少校已经回到了对面的住所，刚才还从他的窗口向她鞠躬致意的缘故。要不然，还有什么别的原因能使托克斯小姐把董贝先生跟她关于夏天与蒲公英编织的脚镣的回忆联系起来呢？他是不是快活一些了？托克斯小姐想。他是不是安于命运的摆布？他是不是将会再婚呢？如果是的话，跟谁结婚呢？她是个什么样的人呢！
托克斯小姐的脸上泛起一阵红晕——天气是温暖的——，因为当她正沉陷在这些思想中的时候，她回过头去，惊奇地看到了烟囱上镜子里正反照出她自己在沉思的形象。当她看到一辆小马车驶进公主广场，直奔她的家门时，脸上又涌上另一阵红晕。托克斯小姐站起身来，急忙拿起剪刀，最后走到花旁；当奇克夫人走进房间的时候，她正十分忙碌地剪着。
“我最亲爱的朋友，您好吗？”托克斯小姐张开胳膊，高声喊道。
托克斯小姐的最亲爱的朋友的态度中有几分庄严，但她吻了托克斯小姐，说道，“卢克丽霞，谢谢您，我很好。我希望您也一样。嗯赫！”
奇克夫人奇特地一声一声不连贯的咳嗽，这是连声咳嗽的导火线或前奏曲。
“您对我真好，这么早就来看我，我亲爱的！”托克斯小姐继续说道，“您吃过早饭了吗？”
“谢谢您，卢克丽霞，”奇克夫人说道，“我吃过了。今天早饭吃得很早——”这位善良的夫人似乎对公主广场感到好奇，一边说一边环顾着四周，“是跟我哥哥一道吃的，他已经回家了。”
“我想他比过去好些了吧，我亲爱的，”托克斯小姐结结巴巴地说道。
“他好得多了，谢谢您，嗯赫！”
“亲爱的路易莎，你得注意您的咳嗽，”托克斯小姐说道。
“没什么，”奇克夫人回答道，“只不过是因为气候变化的缘故。我们必须预料到会有变化。”
“是指气候变化吗？”托克斯小姐以她特有的纯朴的表情问道。
“任何事情的变化，”奇克夫人回答道，“我们当然必须预料到。这是个充满变化的世界。任何人如果企图对抗或回避那些显而易见的真理，都会使我大吃一惊的，卢克丽霞，并会大大改变我对她（他）是否通晓事理的看法的。变化！”奇克夫人带着严肃的哲学意味，高声喊道，“哎呀，天哪，还有什么不发生变化的！即使是蚕，我本以为它不会在这方面给自己找麻烦的，可是它却连续不断地变成各种意想不到的东西。”
“我的路易莎，”温柔的托克斯小姐说道，“总是举出巧妙的例子来说明。”
“卢克丽霞，”稍稍温和下来的奇克夫人回答道，“我相信，您这么说和这么想是您的一片好意。我希望，我们两人谁也不会有什么理由来改变彼此的看法。”
“我完全相信，”托克斯小姐回答道。
奇克夫人像先前一样咳嗽，并用她的阳伞的象牙顶在地毯上画着线条。托克斯小姐熟悉她这位女朋友的脾气，知道她稍有一点疲劳或烦恼，就容易急躁地东拉西扯，所以趁着停息的时间，改变了话题。
“请原谅我，我亲爱的路易莎，”托克斯小姐说，“不过我好像在马车里看到了奇克先生雄伟的身姿了？”
“他是在那里，”奇克夫人说道，“不过让他待在那里吧。他有报纸，他将会十分甘心乐意地在那里消磨掉两小时。继续弄你的花吧，卢克丽霞，请允许我坐在这里休息一下。”“我的路易莎知道，”托克斯小姐说道，“在我们这样的朋友之间，根本不必讲什么礼节。因此——”因此托克斯小姐就用行动，而不是用言语来结束她的这句话；她又戴上原先脱下的手套，重新拿起剪刀，开始又细心又勤奋地修剪叶子。
“弗洛伦斯也回家了，”奇克夫人头歪向一边，用阳伞顶在地板上画着图画，这样默默坐了一会儿之后说道，“说实在的，弗洛伦斯现在年纪太大了，不能再让她过她过去习惯了的孤独的生活了。她当然是太大了。这是毫无疑问的。说真的，谁要是提出不同的看法的话，那么我们就不会再尊敬他们。不管我的愿望怎么样，我也不能再尊敬他们了。我们不能把我们的感情支配到那样的地步。”
托克斯小姐虽然并不十分理解这些话的含意，但她表示同意。
“如果她是个奇怪的女孩子，”奇克夫人说道，“如果我的哥哥保罗在经历了所有那些悲伤的事情、遭受了所有那些可怕的挫折之后，觉得跟她在一起不很自在的话，那么该怎么回答这个问题呢？回答是：他必须作出努力，他应当作出努力。我们这个家族的一个显著的特点就是能作出努力。保罗是我们一家之首，几乎是我们这个家族留下的唯一代表——
因为我算得了什么？——我是个无足轻重的人。”
“我亲爱的，”托克斯小姐表示异议地说道。
奇克夫人抹干了一时间汪汪涌出的眼泪，继续说道：
“所以，他比任何时候都应当作出努力。虽然他所作出的努力使我感到了一种震惊——因为我的性格是很软弱和很可笑的，这无论如何也不是一件值得高兴的事，我时常希望我的心是块大理石板，或是块铺路的石头——”
“我亲爱的路易莎，”托克斯小姐又表示异议地说道。
“可是我还是十分高兴地知道他不愧为他本人，也不愧姓董贝这个姓；虽然，这是当然的，我过去也总知道，他将会这样的！我仅仅希望，”奇克夫人停了一下之后说道，“她也配姓那个姓。”
托克斯小姐从水罐中给一个绿色的小喷水壶中灌满了水，当她灌完之后抬起眼睛的时候，她十分吃惊地看到奇克夫人用那么意味深长的神色看着她的脸孔，因此她就把小喷水壶暂时放在桌子上，在桌旁坐下。
“我亲爱的路易莎，”托克斯小说道，“如果我听了您的那句话，冒昧地回答说，我这个卑贱的人认为您可爱的侄女在各方面都是个极有希望的孩子的话，那么也许你会很不高兴吧？”
“您是什么意思，卢克丽霞？”奇克夫人用更加庄重的态度回答道，“您是指我的哪句话，我亲爱的？”
“她配姓那个姓，我亲爱的，”托克斯小姐回答道。
“如果我没有把话说明白的话，”奇克夫人庄严而耐心地说道，“卢克丽霞，那么这自然是我的过错。要不是由于我们交情深厚，也许我根本就没有必要说明白，卢克丽霞，我非常希望——满怀信心地希望——，不会发生任何事情来破坏我们亲密的友谊。因为我怎么能不这样想呢？没有任何理由发生那样的事情。那是荒谬的。但是我希望把我的话说明白，卢克丽霞，因此我想回到我所说的那句话，我得说，我那句话绝对不是指弗洛伦斯。”
“真的吗？”托克斯小姐回答道。
“是的，”奇克夫人简短而坚决地说道。
“请原谅我，我亲爱的，”她温顺的朋友回答道，“但是我听不明白。我担心我的脑子迟钝了。”
奇克夫人向房间四处看看，又看看广场对过；看看花，看看鸟，看看喷水壶，几乎看了在她视野之内的一切东西，只是没有看托克斯小姐；最后当她向地面低下眼睛时，她向托克斯小姐匆匆地看了一眼，然后看着地毯，但却又扬起眉毛，说道：
“我说她要配姓那个姓，卢克丽霞，我是指我哥哥保罗的第二个妻子。虽然我没有使用现在的语言，但我想我已经表达了我的意思。他打算再婚。”
托克斯小姐急忙离开座位，回到花旁，像理发师给穷人理发那样毫不留情地剪着枝叶。
“她是不是将充分认识到给予她的光荣，”奇克夫人用高傲的声音说道，“这完全是另外一个问题。我希望她会认识到。在这个世界上我们应当彼此往好里去想，我希望她会认识到。这件事没有跟我商量过。如果跟我商量的话，那么他也不会把我的意见当一回事，所以像现在这样做反而无比地好得多。
我宁肯像现在这样。”
托克斯小姐低着头，依旧在剪枝叶，奇克夫人不时有力地摇摇头，继续说下去，仿佛在向什么人挑战似的。
“如果我的哥哥保罗跟我商量一下的话——他有时是跟我商量的，或者说得正确些，他过去有时是常爱跟我商量的；要知道，他现在自然不会再跟我商量了，我认为这倒使我解脱了责任，”奇克夫人歇斯底里地说道，“因为谢天谢地，我并不妒嫉——”这时奇克夫人又掉下了眼泪，“如果我的哥哥保罗前来对我说，‘路易莎，你给我出出主意，我找的妻子要具备什么条件？’我自然会回答：‘保罗，你必须找一个门第高贵的，你必须找一个容貌漂亮的，你必须找一个举止端庄的，你必须找一个亲戚体面的，’这些就是我要说的话。即使在这之后你立即把我带去上断头台，”奇克夫人说道，仿佛这一后果是很可能发生似的，“那么我还是要说这些话。如果我竟会对他说，‘保罗！你娶第二个妻子不要有高贵的门第！不要有漂亮的容貌！不要有端庄的举止！不要有体面的亲戚！’世界上的人只要不是发疯的，谁也不会梦想到敢有这样荒谬的想法！”
托克斯小姐停止剪枝叶，把头低向花丛，全神贯注地听着。也许托克斯小姐以为在这番开场白和奇克夫人的热情中存在着一些希望吧。
“我必须采取这种议论事理的程序，”这位考虑周到的夫人继续说道，“因为我相信，我不是个傻瓜。我并不奢望人们把我看成是智慧高超的人（虽然我相信，有人实在离奇，竟会这样看我，不过对于像我这样一个没有人会去巴结迎合的人，这类错误不久就会纠正过来的），可是我希望，我不是一个十足的傻瓜。要是有人对我说，”奇克夫人用难以形容的轻蔑的表情说道，“我的哥哥保罗•董贝可以考虑跟不具备这些不可缺少的条件的任何人成亲，——我不管是谁对我说的——”她说这短语的语气比她话语中的任何其他部分都更为尖锐和有力，“那就是侮辱我所具有的理智，那就等于告诉我，我生下来是只象，并像象一样地被养大；也许下一步就要对我这么说了，”奇克夫人露出逆来顺受的表情，说道，“这一点并不会使我吃惊。我等待着。”
