Before the eventful day of which this, merry morn was the harbinger, the arrivals of guests at the castle had been numerous and important. First came the brother of the duchess, with his countess, and their fair daughter the Lady Katherine, whose fate, unconsciously to herself, had already been sealed by her noble relatives. She was destined7 to be the third Katherine of Bellamont that her fortunate house had furnished to these illustrious walls. Nor, if unaware8 of her high lot, did she seem unworthy of it. Her mien9 was prophetic of the state assigned to her. This was her first visit to Montacute since her early childhood, and she had not encountered her cousin since their nursery days. The day after them, Lord Eskdale came over from his principal seat in the contiguous county, of which he was lord-lieutenant. He was the first cousin of the duke, his father and the second Duke of Bellamont having married two sisters, and of course intimately related to the duchess and her family. Lord Eskdale exercised a great influence over the house of Montacute, though quite unsought for by him. He was the only man of the world whom they knew, and they never decided10 upon anything out of the limited circle of their immediate11 experience without consulting him. Lord Eskdale had been the cause of their son going to Eton; Lord Eskdale had recommended them to send him to Christ-church. The duke had begged his cousin to be his trustee when he married; he had made him his executor, and had intended him as the guardian12 of his son. Although, from the difference of their habits, little thrown together in their earlier youth, Lord Eskdale had shown, even then, kind consideration for his relative; he had even proposed that they should travel together, but the old duke would not consent to this. After his death, however, being neighbours as well as relatives, Lord Eskdale had become the natural friend and counsellor of his Grace.
The duke deservedly reposed13 in him implicit14 confidence, and entertained an almost unbounded admiration15 of his cousin’s knowledge of mankind. He was scarcely less a favourite or less an oracle16 with the duchess, though there were subjects on which she feared Lord Eskdale did not entertain views as serious as her own; but Lord Eskdale, with an extreme carelessness of manner, and an apparent negligence17 of the minor18 arts of pleasing, was a consummate19 master of the feminine idiosyncrasy, and, from a French actress to an English duchess, was skilled in guiding women without ever letting the curb20 be felt. Scarcely a week elapsed, when Lord Eskdale was in the country, that a long letter of difficulties was not received by him from Montacute, with an earnest request for his immediate advice. His lordship, singularly averse21 to letter writing, and especially to long letter writing, used generally in reply to say that, in the course of a day or two, he should be in their part of the world, and would talk the matter over with them.
And, indeed, nothing was more amusing than to see Lord Eskdale, imperturbable23, yet not heedless, with his peculiar24 calmness, something between that of a Turkish pasha and an English jockey, standing25 up with his back to the fire and his hands in his pockets, and hearing the united statement of a case by the Duke and Duchess of Bellamont; the serious yet quiet and unexaggerated narrative26 of his Grace, the impassioned interruptions, decided opinions, and lively expressions of his wife, when she felt the duke was not doing justice to the circumstances, or her view of them, and the Spartan27 brevity with which, when both his clients were exhausted29, their counsel summed up the whole affair, and said three words which seemed suddenly to remove all doubts, and to solve all difficulties. In all the business of life, Lord Eskdale, though he appreciated their native ability, and respected their considerable acquirements, which he did not share, looked upon his cousins as two children, and managed them as children; but he was really attached to them, and the sincere attachment30 of such a character is often worth more than the most passionate31 devotion. The last great domestic embarrassment32 at Montacute had been the affair of the cooks. Lord Eskdale had taken this upon his own shoulders, and, writing to Daubuz, had sent down Leander and his friends to open the minds and charm the palates of the north.
Lord Valentine and his noble parents, and their daughter, Lady Florentina, who was a great horsewoman, also arrived. The countess, who had once been a beauty with the reputation of a wit, and now set up for being a wit on the reputation of having been a beauty, was the lady of fashion of the party, and scarcely knew anybody present, though there were many who were her equals and some her superiors in rank. Her way was to be a little fine, always smiling and condescendingly amiable33; when alone with her husband shrugging her shoulders somewhat, and vowing34 that she was delighted that Lord Eskdale was there, as she had somebody to speak to. It was what she called ‘quite a relief.’ A relief, perhaps, from Lord and Lady Mountjoy, whom she had been avoiding all her life; unfortunate people, who, with a large fortune, lived in a wrong square, and asked to their house everybody who was nobody; besides, Lord Mountjoy was vulgar, and laughed too loud, and Lady Mountjoy called you ‘my dear,’ and showed her teeth. A relief, perhaps, too, from the Hon. and Rev28. Montacute Mountjoy, who, with Lady Eleanor, four daughters and two sons, had been invited to celebrate the majority of the future chieftain of their house. The countess had what is called ‘a horror of those Mountjoys, and those Montacute Mountjoys,’ and what added to her annoyance35 was, that Lord Valentine was always flirting36 with the Misses Montacute Mountjoy.
The countess could find no companions in the Duke and Duchess of Clanronald, because, as she told her husband, as they could not speak English and she could not speak Scotch37, it was impossible to exchange ideas. The bishop38 of the diocese was there, toothless and tolerant, and wishing to be on good terms with all sects39, provided they pay church-rates, and another bishop far more vigorous and of greater fame. By his administration the heir of Bellamont had entered the Christian40 Church, and by the imposition of his hands had been confirmed in it. His lordship, a great authority with the duchess, was specially22 invited to be present on the interesting occasion, when the babe that he had held at the font, and the child that he had blessed at the altar, was about thus publicly to adopt and acknowledge the duties and responsibility of a man. But the countess, though she liked bishops41, liked them, as she told her husband, ‘in their place.’ What that exactly was, she did not define; but probably their palaces or the House of Lords.
It was hardly to be expected that her ladyship would find any relief in the society of the Marquis and Marchioness of Hampshire; for his lordship passed his life in being the President of scientific and literary societies, and was ready for anything from the Royal, if his turn ever arrived, to opening a Mechanics’ Institute in his neighbouring town. Lady Hampshire was an invalid42; but her ailment43 was one of those mysteries which still remained insoluble, although, in the most liberal manner, she delighted to afford her friends all the information in her power. Never was a votary44 endowed with a faith at once so lively and so capricious. Each year she believed in some new remedy, and announced herself on the eve of some miraculous45 cure. But the saint was scarcely canonised before his claims to beatitude were impugned46. One year Lady Hampshire never quitted Leamington; another, she contrived47 to combine the infinitesimal doses of Hahnemann with the colossal48 distractions49 of the metropolis50. Now her sole conversation was the water cure. Lady Hampshire was to begin immediately after her visit to Montacute, and she spoke51 in her sawney voice of factitious enthusiasm, as if she pitied the lot of all those who were not about to sleep in wet sheets.
The members for the county, with their wives and daughters, the Hungerfords and the Ildertons, Sir Russell Malpas, or even Lord Hull52, an Irish peer with an English estate, and who represented one of the divisions, were scarcely a relief. Lord Hull was a bachelor, and had twenty thousand a year, and would not have been too old for Florentina, if Lord Hull had only lived in ‘society,’ learnt how to dress and how to behave, and had avoided that peculiar coarseness of manners and complexion53 which seem the inevitable54 results of a provincial55 life. What are forty-five or even forty-eight years, if a man do not get up too early or go to bed too soon, if he be dressed by the right persons, and, early accustomed to the society of women, he possesses that flexibility56 of manner and that readiness of gentle repartee57 which a feminine apprenticeship58 can alone confer? But Lord Hull was a man with a red face and a grey head on whom coarse indulgence and the selfish negligence of a country life had already conferred a shapeless form; and who, dressed something like a groom59, sat at dinner in stolid60 silence by Lady Hampshire, who, whatever were her complaints, had certainly the art, if only from her questions, of making her neighbours communicative. The countess examined Lord Hull through her eye-glass with curious pity at so fine a fortune and so good a family being so entirely61 thrown away. Had he been brought up in a civilised manner, lived six months in May Fair, passed his carnival62 at Paris, never sported except in Scotland, and occasionally visited a German bath, even Lord Hull might have ‘fined down.’ His hair need not have been grey if it had been attended to; his complexion would not have been so glaring; his hands never could have grown to so huge a shape.
What a party, where the countess was absolutely driven to speculate on the possible destinies of a Lord Hull! But in this party there was not a single young man, at least not a single young man one had ever heard of, except her son, and he was of no use. The Duke of Bellamont knew no young men; the duke did not even belong to a club; the Duchess of Bellamont knew no young men; she never gave and she never attended an evening party. As for the county youth, the young Hungerfords and the young Ildertons, the best of them formed part of the London crowd.
Some of them, by complicated manouvres, might even have made their way into the countess’s crowded saloons on a miscellaneous night. She knew the length of their tether. They ranged, as the Price Current says, from eight to three thousand a year. Not the figure that purchases a Lady Florentina!
There were many other guests, and some of them notable, though not of the class and character to interest the fastidious mother of Lord Valentine; but whoever and whatever they might be, of the sixty or seventy persons who were seated each day in the magnificent banqueting-room of Montacute Castle, feasting, amid pyramids of gold plate, on the masterpieces of Leander, there was not a single individual who did not possess one of the two great qualifications: they were all of them cousins of the Duke of Bellamont, or proprietors63 in his county.
But we must not anticipate, the great day of the festival having hardly yet commenced.
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1
peal
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| n.钟声；v.鸣响 | |
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artillery
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| n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队) | |
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3
tunes
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| n.曲调，曲子( tune的名词复数 )v.调音( tune的第三人称单数 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调 | |
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4
galloped
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| （使马）飞奔，奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 )； 快速做[说]某事 | |
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plume
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| n.羽毛；v.整理羽毛，骚首弄姿，用羽毛装饰 | |
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6
clattering
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| 发出咔哒声（clatter的现在分词形式） | |
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7
destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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8
unaware
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| a.不知道的，未意识到的 | |
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mien
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| n.风采；态度 | |
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10
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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11
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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12
guardian
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| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
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13
reposed
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| v.将（手臂等）靠在某人（某物）上( repose的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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14
implicit
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| a.暗示的，含蓄的，不明晰的，绝对的 | |
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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16
oracle
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| n.神谕，神谕处，预言 | |
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negligence
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| n.疏忽，玩忽，粗心大意 | |
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18
minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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19
consummate
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| adj.完美的；v.成婚；使完美 [反]baffle | |
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20
curb
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| n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制 | |
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21
averse
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| adj.厌恶的；反对的，不乐意的 | |
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22
specially
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| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
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23
imperturbable
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| adj.镇静的 | |
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24
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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25
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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26
narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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spartan
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| adj.简朴的，刻苦的；n.斯巴达；斯巴达式的人 | |
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rev
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| v.发动机旋转，加快速度 | |
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exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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attachment
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| n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附 | |
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31
passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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32
embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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vowing
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| 起誓，发誓（vow的现在分词形式） | |
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annoyance
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| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
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36
flirting
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| v.调情，打情骂俏( flirt的现在分词 ) | |
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37
scotch
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| n.伤口，刻痕；苏格兰威士忌酒；v.粉碎，消灭，阻止；adj.苏格兰(人)的 | |
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38
bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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39
sects
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| n.宗派，教派( sect的名词复数 ) | |
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40
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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41
bishops
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| （基督教某些教派管辖大教区的）主教( bishop的名词复数 )； （国际象棋的）象 | |
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42
invalid
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| n.病人，伤残人；adj.有病的，伤残的；无效的 | |
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43
ailment
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| n.疾病，小病 | |
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44
votary
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| n.崇拜者；爱好者；adj.誓约的，立誓任圣职的 | |
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45
miraculous
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| adj.像奇迹一样的，不可思议的 | |
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46
impugned
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| v.非难，指谪( impugn的过去式和过去分词 )；对…有怀疑 | |
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47
contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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48
colossal
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| adj.异常的，庞大的 | |
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49
distractions
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| n.使人分心的事[人]( distraction的名词复数 )；娱乐，消遣；心烦意乱；精神错乱 | |
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50
metropolis
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| n.首府；大城市 | |
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51
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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52
hull
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| n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳 | |
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53
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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54
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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55
provincial
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| adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人 | |
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56
flexibility
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| n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性 | |
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57
repartee
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| n.机敏的应答 | |
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58
apprenticeship
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| n.学徒身份；学徒期 | |
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59
groom
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| vt.给（马、狗等）梳毛，照料，使...整洁 | |
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60
stolid
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| adj.无动于衷的，感情麻木的 | |
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61
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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62
carnival
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| n.嘉年华会，狂欢，狂欢节，巡回表演 | |
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63
proprietors
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| n.所有人，业主( proprietor的名词复数 ) | |
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