‘Fair Women and Brave Men.’
MR. DACRE received him with affection: his daughter with a cordiality which he had never yet experienced from her. Though more simply dressed than when she first met his ardent1 gaze, her costume again charmed his practised eye. ‘It must be her shape,’ thought the young Duke; ‘it is magical!’
The rooms were full of various guests, and some of these were presented to his Grace, who was, of course, an object of universal notice, but particularly by those persons who pretended not to be aware of his entrance. The party assembled at Castle Dacre consisted of some thirty or forty persons, all of great consideration, but of a different character from any with whom the Duke of St. James had been acquainted during his short experience of English society. They were not what are called fashionable people. We have no princes and no ambassadors, no duke who is a gourmand2, no earl who is a jockey, no manoeuvring mothers, no flirting3 daughters, no gambling4 sons, for your entertainment. There is no superfine gentleman brought down specially5 from town to gauge6 the refinement7 of the manners of the party, and to prevent them, by his constant supervision8 and occasional sneer9, from losing any of the beneficial results of their last campaign. We shall sadly want, too, a Lady Patroness to issue a decree or quote her code of consolidated10 etiquette11. We are not sure that Almack’s will ever be mentioned: quite sure that Maradan has never yet been heard of. The Jockey Club may be quoted, but Crockford will be a dead letter. As for the rest, Boodle’s is all we can promise; miserable12 consolation13 for the bow-window. As for buffoons14 and artists, to amuse a vacant hour or sketch15 a vacant face, we must frankly16 tell you at once that there is not one. Are you frightened? Will you go on? Will you trust yourself with these savages17? Try. They are rude, but they are hospitable18.
The party, we have said, were all persons of great consideration; some were noble, most were rich, all had ancestors. There were the Earl and Countess of Faulconcourt. He looked as if he were fit to reconquer Palestine, and she as if she were worthy19 to reward him for his valour. Misplaced in this superior age, he was sans peur and she sans reproche. There was Lord Mildmay, an English peer and a French colonel. Methinks such an incident might have been a better reason for a late measure than an Irishman being returned a member of our Imperial Parliament. There was our friend Lord St. Jerome; of course his stepmother, yet young, and some sisters, pretty as nuns20. There were some cousins from the farthest north, Northumbria’s bleakest21 bound, who came down upon Yorkshire like the Goths upon Italy, and were revelling22 in what they considered a southern clime.
There was an M.P. in whom the Catholics had hopes. He had made a great speech; not only a great speech, but a great impression. His matter certainly was not new, but well arranged, and his images not singularly original, but appositely introduced; in short, a bore, who, speaking on a subject in which a new hand is indulged, and connected with the families whose cause he was pleading, was for once courteously23 listened to by the very men who determined24 to avenge25 themselves for their complaisance26 by a cough on the first opportunity. But the orator27 was prudent28; he reserved himself, and the session closed with his fame yet full-blown.
Then there were country neighbours in great store, with wives that were treasures, and daughters fresh as flowers. Among them we would particularise two gentlemen. They were great proprietors29, and Catholics and Baronets, and consoled themselves by their active maintenance of the game-laws for their inability to regulate their neighbours by any other. One was Sir Chetwode Chetwode of Chetwode; the other was Sir Tichborne Tichborne of Tichborne. It was not easy to see two men less calculated to be the slaves of a foreign and despotic power, which we all know Catholics are. Tall, and robust30, and rosy31, with hearts even stouter32 than their massy frames, they were just the characters to assemble in Runnymede, and probably, even at the present day, might have imitated their ancestors, even in their signatures. In disposition33 they were much the same, though they were friends. In person there were some differences, but they were slight. Sir Chetwode’s hair was straight and white; Sir Tichborne’s brown and curly. Sir Chetwode’s eyes were blue; Sir Tichborne’s grey.
Sir Chetwode’s nose was perhaps a snub; Sir Tichborne’s was certainly a bottle. Sir Chetwode was somewhat garrulous34, and was often like a man at a play, in the wrong box! Sir Tichborne was somewhat taciturn; but when he spoke35, it was always to the purpose, and made an impression, even if it were not new. Both were kind hearts; but Sir Chetwode was jovial36, Sir Tichborne rather stern. Sir Chetwode often broke into a joke; Sir Tichborne sometimes backed into a sneer. .
A few of these characters were made known by Mr. Dacre to his young friend, but not many, and in an easy way; those that stood nearest. Introduction is a formality and a bore, and is never resorted to by your well-bred host, save in a casual way. When proper people meet at proper houses, they give each other credit for propriety37, and slide into an acquaintance by degrees. The first day they catch a name; the next, they ask you whether you are the son of General ——. ‘No; he was my uncle.’ ‘Ah! I knew him well. A worthy soul!’ And then the thing is settled. You ride together, shoot, or fence, or hunt. A game of billiards38 will do no great harm; and when you part, you part with a hope that you may meet again.
Lord Mildmay was glad to meet with the son of an old friend. He knew the late Duke well, and loved him better. It is pleasant to hear our fathers praised. We, too, may inherit their virtues39 with their lands, or cash, or bonds; and, scapegraces as we are, it is agreeable to find a precedent40 for the blood turning out well. And, after all, there is no feeling more thoroughly41 delightful42 than to be conscious that the kind being from whose loins we spring, and to whom we cling with an innate43 and overpowering love, is viewed by others with regard, with reverence44, or with admiration45. There is no pride like the pride of ancestry46, for it is a blending of all emotions. How immeasurably superior to the herd47 is the man whose father only is famous! Imagine, then, the feelings of one who can trace his line through a thousand years of heroes and of princes!
’Tis dinner! hour that I have loved as loves the bard48 the twilight49; but no more those visions rise that once were wont50 to spring in my quick fancy. The dream is past, the spell is broken, and even the lore51 on which I pondered in my first youth is strange as figures in Egyptian tombs.
No more, no more, oh! never more to me, that hour shall bring its rapture52 and its bliss53! No more, no more, oh! never more for me, shall Flavour sit upon her thousand thrones, and, like a syren with a sunny smile, win to renewed excesses, each more sweet! My feasting days are over: me no more the charms of fish, or flesh, still less of fowl54, can make the fool of that they made before. The fricandeau is like a dream of early love; the fricassee, with which I have so often flirted55, is like the tattle of the last quadrille; and no longer are my dreams haunted with the dark passion of the rich rago?t. Ye soups! o’er whose creation I have watched, like mothers o’er their sleeping child! Ye sauces! to which I have even lent a name, where are ye now? Tickling56, perchance, the palate of some easy friend, who quite forgets the boon57 companion whose presence once lent lustre58 even to his ruby59 wine and added perfume to his perfumed hock!
Our Duke, however, had not reached the age of retrospection. He pecked as prettily60 as any bird. Seated on the right hand of his delightful hostess, nobody could be better pleased; supervised by his j?ger, who stood behind his chair, no one could be better attended. He smiled, with the calm, amiable61 complacency of a man who feels the world is quite right.
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1
ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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gourmand
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| n.嗜食者 | |
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flirting
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| v.调情，打情骂俏( flirt的现在分词 ) | |
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gambling
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| n.赌博；投机 | |
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specially
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| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
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gauge
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| v.精确计量；估计；n.标准度量；计量器 | |
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7
refinement
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| n.文雅；高尚；精美；精制；精炼 | |
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supervision
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| n.监督，管理 | |
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sneer
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| v.轻蔑；嘲笑；n.嘲笑，讥讽的言语 | |
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consolidated
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| a.联合的 | |
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etiquette
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| n.礼仪，礼节；规矩 | |
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miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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buffoons
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| n.愚蠢的人( buffoon的名词复数 )；傻瓜；逗乐小丑；滑稽的人 | |
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15
sketch
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| n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述 | |
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16
frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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savages
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| 未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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18
hospitable
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| adj.好客的；宽容的；有利的，适宜的 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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nuns
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| n.（通常指基督教的）修女， （佛教的）尼姑( nun的名词复数 ) | |
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21
bleakest
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| 阴冷的( bleak的最高级 )； （状况）无望的； 没有希望的； 光秃的 | |
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22
revelling
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| v.作乐( revel的现在分词 )；狂欢；着迷；陶醉 | |
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23
courteously
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| adv.有礼貌地，亲切地 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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avenge
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| v.为...复仇，为...报仇 | |
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complaisance
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| n.彬彬有礼，殷勤，柔顺 | |
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orator
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| n.演说者，演讲者，雄辩家 | |
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prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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proprietors
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| n.所有人，业主( proprietor的名词复数 ) | |
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30
robust
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| adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的 | |
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rosy
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| adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的 | |
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stouter
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| 粗壮的( stout的比较级 )； 结实的； 坚固的； 坚定的 | |
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33
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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garrulous
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| adj.唠叨的，多话的 | |
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35
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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36
jovial
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| adj.快乐的，好交际的 | |
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propriety
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| n.正当行为；正当；适当 | |
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billiards
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| n.台球 | |
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39
virtues
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| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
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40
precedent
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| n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的 | |
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41
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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42
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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43
innate
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| adj.天生的，固有的，天赋的 | |
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44
reverence
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| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
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45
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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46
ancestry
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| n.祖先，家世 | |
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47
herd
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| n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起 | |
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48
bard
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| n.吟游诗人 | |
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49
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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50
wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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51
lore
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| n.传说；学问，经验，知识 | |
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52
rapture
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| n.狂喜；全神贯注；着迷；v.使狂喜 | |
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53
bliss
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| n.狂喜，福佑，天赐的福 | |
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54
fowl
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| n.家禽，鸡，禽肉 | |
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55
flirted
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| v.调情，打情骂俏( flirt的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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56
tickling
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| 反馈，回授，自旋挠痒法 | |
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57
boon
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| n.恩赐，恩物，恩惠 | |
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58
lustre
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| n.光亮，光泽；荣誉 | |
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59
ruby
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| n.红宝石，红宝石色 | |
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60
prettily
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| adv.优美地；可爱地 | |
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61
amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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