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第7章 御雷神剑术

　　'I have none.'

　　I lingered at the gates; I lingered on the lawn; I pacedbackwards and forwards on the pavement; the shutters of the glass doorwere closed; I could not see into the interior; and both my eyes andspirit seemed drawn from the gloomy house- from the grey hollow filledwith rayless cells, as it appeared to me- to that sky expandedbefore me,- a blue sea absolved from taint of cloud; the moonascending it in solemn march; her orb seeming to look up as she leftthe hill-tops, from behind which she had come, far and farther belowher, and aspired to the zenith, midnight dark in its fathomlessdepth and measureless distance; and for those trembling stars thatfollowed her course; they made my heart tremble, my veins glow whenI viewed them. Little things recall us to earth; the clock struck inthe hall; that sufficed; I turned from moon and stars, opened aside-door, and went in.

　　I explained to her that I had no parents. She inquired how longthey had been dead: then how old I was, what was my name, whether Icould read, write, and sew a little: then she touched my cheekgently with her forefinger, and saying, 'She hoped I should be agood child,' dismissed me along with Miss Miller.

　　The door nearest me opened, and a servant came out,- a woman ofbetween thirty and forty; a set, square-made figure, red-haired, andwith a hard, plain face: any apparition less romantic or lessghostly could scarcely be conceived.

　　'What does He say?'

　　'But it was always in her,' was the reply. 'I've told Missisoften my opinion about the child, and Missis agreed with me. She'san underhand little thing: I never saw a girl of her age with somuch cover.'

　　With Bewick on my knee, I was then happy: happy at least in my way.I feared nothing but interruption, and that came too soon. Thebreakfast-room door opened.

　　'Would you like to drink, or could you eat anything?'

　　I sat up in bed by way of arousing this said brain: it was a chillynight; I covered my shoulders with a shawl, and then I proceeded tothink again with all my might.