A New Charmer
THE Carnival1 of the North at length arrived. All civilised eyes were on the most distinguished2 party of the most distinguished steward3, who with his horse Sanspareil seemed to share universal favour. The French Princes and the Duke of Burlington; the Protocolis, and the Fitz-pompeys, and the Bloomerlys; the Duke and Duchess of Shropshire, and the three Ladies Wrekin, who might have passed for the Graces; Lord and Lady Vatican on a visit from Rome, his Lordship taking hints for a heat in the Corso, and her Ladyship, a classical beauty with a face like a cameo; St. Maurice, and Annesley, and Squib, composed the party. The Premier4 was expected, and there was murmur5 of an Archduke. Seven houses had been prepared, a party-wall knocked down to make a dining-room, the plate sent down from London, and venison and wine from Hauteville.
The assemblage exceeded in quantity and quality all preceding years, and the Hauteville arms, the Hauteville liveries, and the Hauteville outriders, beat all hollow in blazonry, and brilliancy, and number. The North countrymen were proud of their young Duke and his carriages and six, and longed for the Castle to be finished. Nothing could exceed the propriety6 of the arrangements, for Sir Lucius was an unrivalled hand, and, though a Newmarket man, gained universal approbation7 even in Yorkshire. Lady Aphrodite was all smiles and new liveries, and the Duke of St. James reined8 in his charger right often at her splendid equipage.
The day’s sport was over, and the evening’s sport begun, to a quiet man, who has no bet more heavy than a dozen pair of gloves, perhaps not the least amusing. Now came the numerous dinner-parties, none to be compared to that of the Duke of St. James. Lady Aphrodite was alone wanting, but she had to head the ménage of Sir Lucius. Every one has an appetite after a race: the Duke of Shropshire attacked the venison as Samson the Philistines9; and the French princes, for once in their life, drank real champagne10.
Yet all faces were not so serene11 as those of the party of Hauteville. Many a one felt that strange mixture of fear and exultation12 which precedes a battle. To-morrow was the dreaded13 St. Leger.
’Tis night, and the banquet is over, and all are hastening to the ball.
In spite of the brilliant crowd, the entrance of the Hauteville party made a sensation. It was the crowning ornament14 to the scene, the stamp of the sovereign, the lamp of the Pharos, the flag of the tower. The party dispersed15, and the Duke, after joining a quadrille with Lady Caroline, wandered away to make himself generally popular.
As he was moving along, he turned his head; he started.
‘Ah!’ exclaimed his Grace.
The cause of this sudden and ungovernable exclamation16 can be no other than a woman. You are right. The lady who had excited it was advancing in a quadrille, some ten yards from her admirer. She was very young; that is to say, she had, perhaps, added a year or two to sweet seventeen, an addition which, while it does not deprive the sex of the early grace of girlhood, adorns17 them with that indefinable dignity which is necessary to constitute a perfect woman. She was not tall, but as she moved forward displayed a figure so exquisitely18 symmetrical that for a moment the Duke forgot to look at her face, and then her head was turned away; yet he was consoled a moment for his disappointment by watching the movements of a neck so white, and round, and long, and delicate, that it would have become Psyche19, and might have inspired Praxiteles. Her face is again turning towards him. It stops too soon; yet his eye feeds upon the outline of a cheek not too full, yet promising20 of beauty, like hope of Paradise.
She turns her head, she throws around a glance, and two streams of liquid light pour from her hazel eyes on his. It was a rapid, graceful21 movement, unstudied as the motion of a fawn22, and was in a moment withdrawn23, yet was it long enough to stamp upon his memory a memorable24 countenance25. Her face was quite oval, her nose delicately aquiline26, and her high pure forehead like a Parian dome27. The clear blood coursed under her transparent28 cheek, and increased the brilliancy of her dazzling eyes. His never left her. There was an expression of decision about her small mouth, an air of almost mockery in her curling lip, which, though in themselves wildly fascinating, strangely contrasted with all the beaming light and beneficent lustre29 of the upper part of her countenance. There was something, too, in the graceful but rather decided30 air with which she moved, that seemed to betoken31 her self-consciousness of her beauty or her rank; perhaps it might be her wit; for the Duke observed that while she scarcely smiled, and conversed32 with lips hardly parted, her companion, with whom she was evidently intimate, was almost constantly convulsed with laughter, although, as he never spoke33, it was clearly not at his own jokes.
Was she married? Could it be? Impossible! Yet there was a richness in her costume which was not usual for unmarried women. A diamond arrow had pierced her clustering and auburn locks; she wore, indeed, no necklace; with such a neck it would have been sacrilege; no ear-rings, for her ears were too small for such a burthen; yet her girdle was of brilliants; and a diamond cross worthy34 of Belinda and her immortal35 bard36 hung upon her breast.
The Duke seized hold of the first person he knew: it was Lord Bagshot.
‘Tell me,’ he said, in the stern, low voice of a despot; ‘tell me who that creature is.’
‘Which creature?’ asked Lord Bagshot.
‘Where?’
‘There!
‘What, my mother?’
‘Who do you mean?’
‘There, there, dancing with that raw-boned youth with red hair.’
‘What, Lord St. Jerome! Lor! he is a Catholic. I never speak to them. My governor would be so savage39.’
‘But the girl?’
‘Oh! the girl! Lor! she is a Catholic, too.’
‘But who is she?’
‘Lor! don’t you know?’
‘Speak, hound; speak!’
‘Lor! that is the beauty of the county; but then she is a Catholic. How shocking! Blow us all up as soon as look at us.’
‘If you do not tell me who she is directly, you shall never get into White’s. I will black-ball you regularly.’
‘Lor! man, don’t be in a passion. I will tell. But then I know you know all the time. You are joking. Everybody knows the beauty of the county; everybody knows May Dacre.’
‘May Dacre!’ said the Duke of St. James, as if he were shot.
‘Why, what is the matter now?’ asked Lord Bag-shot.
‘What, the daughter of Dacre of Castle Dacre?’ pursued his Grace.
‘The very same; the beauty of the county. Everybody knows May Dacre. I knew you knew her all the time. You did not take me in. Why, what is the matter?’
‘Nothing; get away!’
‘Civil! But you will remember your promise about White’s?’
‘Ay! ay! I shall remember you when you are proposed.’
‘Here, here is a business!’ soliloquized the young Duke. ‘May Dacre! What a fool I have been! Shall I shoot myself through the head, or embrace her on the spot? Lord St. Jerome, too! He seems mightily40 pleased. And my family have been voting for two centuries to emancipate41 this fellow! Curse his grinning face! I am decidedly anti-Catholic. But then she is a Catholic! I will turn Papist. Ah! there is Lucy. I want a counsellor.’
He turned to his fellow-steward. ‘Oh, Lucy! such a woman! such an incident!’
‘What! the inimitable Miss Dacre, I suppose. Everybody speaking of her; wherever I go, one subject of conversation. Burlington wanting to waltz with her, Charles Annesley being introduced, and Lady Bloomerly decidedly of opinion that she is the finest creature in the county. Well, have you danced with her?’
‘Danced, my dear fellow! Do not speak to me.’
‘What is the matter?’
‘The most diabolical42 matter that you ever heard of.’
‘Well, well?’
‘I have not even been introduced.’
‘Well! come on at once.’
‘I cannot.’
‘Are you mad?’
‘Worse than mad. Where is her father?’
‘Who cares?’
‘I do. In a word, my dear Lucy, her father is that guardian43 whom I have perhaps mentioned to you, and to whom I have behaved so delicately.’
‘Why! I thought your guardian was an old curmudgeon44.’
‘What does that signify, with such a daughter!’
‘Oh! here is some mistake. This is the only child of Dacre of Castle Dacre, a most delightful45 fellow; one of the first fellows in the county; I was introduced to him today on the course. I thought you knew them. You were admiring his outriders today, the green and silver.’
‘Why, Bag told me they were old Lord Sunderland’s.’
‘Bag! How can you believe a word that booby says? He always has an answer. To-day, when Afy drove in, I asked Bag who she was, and he said it was his aunt, Lady de Courcy. I begged to be introduced, and took over the blushing Bag and presented him.’
‘But the father; the father, Lucy! How shall I get out of this scrape?’
‘Oh! put on a bold face. Here! give him this ring, and swear you procured46 it for him at Genoa, and then say that, now you are here, you will try his pheasants.’
‘My dear fellow, you always joke. I am in agony. Seriously, what shall I do?’
‘Why, seriously, be introduced to him, and do what you can.’
‘Which is he?’
‘At the extreme end, next to the very pretty woman, who, by-the-bye, I recommend to your notice: Mrs. Dallington Vere. She is amusing. I know her well. She is some sort of relation to your Dacres. I will present you to both at once.’
‘Why! I will think of it.’
‘Well, then! I must away. The two stewards47 knocking their heads together is rather out of character. Do you know it is raining hard? I am cursedly nervous about tomorrow.’
‘Pooh! pooh! If I could get through to-night, I should not care for tomorrow.’
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1
carnival
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| n.嘉年华会，狂欢，狂欢节，巡回表演 | |
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2
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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3
steward
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| n.乘务员，服务员；看管人；膳食管理员 | |
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4
premier
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| adj.首要的；n.总理，首相 | |
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5
murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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6
propriety
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| n.正当行为；正当；适当 | |
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7
approbation
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| n.称赞；认可 | |
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8
reined
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| 勒缰绳使（马）停步( rein的过去式和过去分词 )； 驾驭； 严格控制； 加强管理 | |
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9
philistines
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| n.市侩，庸人( philistine的名词复数 )；庸夫俗子 | |
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10
champagne
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| n.香槟酒；微黄色 | |
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11
serene
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| adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的 | |
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12
exultation
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| n.狂喜，得意 | |
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13
dreaded
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| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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14
ornament
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| v.装饰，美化；n.装饰，装饰物 | |
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15
dispersed
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| adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的 | |
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16
exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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17
adorns
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| 装饰，佩带( adorn的第三人称单数 ) | |
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18
exquisitely
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| adv.精致地；强烈地；剧烈地；异常地 | |
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19
psyche
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| n.精神；灵魂 | |
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20
promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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21
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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22
fawn
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| n.未满周岁的小鹿；v.巴结，奉承 | |
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23
withdrawn
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| vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出 | |
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24
memorable
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| adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的 | |
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25
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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26
aquiline
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| adj.钩状的，鹰的 | |
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27
dome
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| n.圆屋顶，拱顶 | |
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28
transparent
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| adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的 | |
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29
lustre
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| n.光亮，光泽；荣誉 | |
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30
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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31
betoken
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| v.预示 | |
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32
conversed
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| v.交谈，谈话( converse的过去式 ) | |
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33
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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34
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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35
immortal
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| adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的 | |
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36
bard
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| n.吟游诗人 | |
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37
brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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38
cub
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| n.幼兽，年轻无经验的人 | |
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39
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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40
mightily
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| ad.强烈地；非常地 | |
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41
emancipate
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| v.解放，解除 | |
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42
diabolical
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| adj.恶魔似的，凶暴的 | |
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43
guardian
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| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
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44
curmudgeon
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| n. 脾气暴躁之人，守财奴，吝啬鬼 | |
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45
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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46
procured
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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47
stewards
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| （轮船、飞机等的）乘务员( steward的名词复数 )； （俱乐部、旅馆、工会等的）管理员； （大型活动的）组织者； （私人家中的）管家 | |
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