Changes, too, of clothes, of habits, customs, and morality. Scarlet13 and blue cloth taking the place of russet or peach-coloured satin; French dishes and kickshaws in the place of the honest beef and mutton which had made us "eat like wolves and fight like devils"; and with the dancing-master manners of Chesterfield and his imitators superseding14 the grace and dignity of earlier days. The rogue15 too was now a crafty16, scheming knave17 who feared public opinion as much as he feared the Lord Chief Justice and his subordinates, and began at this time to think as much of his respectability as of his neck; whereby he was an infinitely18 less interesting vagabond than his predecessor19, who revelled20 in his crimes, drank to the health of his friend, the gallows21, and went drunk to Tyburn, damning and cursing the populace who cheered him, and jerring at the parson who sat in the cart by his side, had been.
Two things, however, God be praised! were still left in existence in this England of ours, namely, masculine courage and feminine virtue23; and against them neither the vagabond nor the knave had any more chance than they had ever had or ever will have. When they succeeded they did so because their victims were either fools or wantons, and when they failed, as often enough was the case, if they did not find the gallows they found the cart-tail, or what to them, if they belonged to the upper classes, was often quite as bad--contempt and ridicule24.
* * * * * * *
Seventeen years had passed, consequently the world had arrived at the year of our Lord 1758, and Beau Bufton sat in his lodgings25 in the Haymarket one June afternoon. In front of him, because he was a beau, there stood three wigs26 upon blocks, one black, the other brown, a third one golden, and upon each his eye glanced with considerable complacency--a complacency which, however, was somewhat marred28 by the recollection that none were paid for, and, as far as Algernon Bufton knew, were not likely to be so just yet. Which fact would not, perhaps, have been particularly painful to him except for one other, namely, that his credit was running short and his creditors29 were beginning to pester30 him. Nevertheless, he smiled approvingly upon them; not because they themselves were splendid, and would be costly--if he should ever pay his bills!--but because he considered that they would become him vastly.
"It was the golden one I wore," he muttered to himself now, "when first I won her young and virgin31 heart at the Wells. Ay! the golden one. I do remember very well. I assumed it because it matched the blue frock and the green silk waistcoat trimmed with gold and the black breeches of velvet32. Ah! well, I will wear it again."
Then his eye, which was a dark, full one, fell upon a number of fans nailed against the wall, in the midst of which, spread out and open, was one that seemed to possess the place of honour. We know those fans because our grandmothers' grandmothers (when we had any!) left them behind after they had departed for a better world than this. We know the carved ivory sticks, the highly coloured landscape, the lover kneeling at his mistress's feet, with ever one amorous33 arm around her waist--as should be in such happy sylvan34 scenes!--also we know the blue sky and the sportive woolly sheep, as well as the bird upon the bough35, the rivulet36 and waterfall. Thus the fan appeared on which Beau Bufton gazed now, his chin--a long one, causing him to be a man mistrusted of other men--in his hand. Yet more particularly he gazed upon two letters carved into the topmost ivory rib37, and lacquered golden; two letters entwined together--the letters "A. T."
"Ah, Ariadne!" he whispered, with emotion, "although you did protest, you let me take it. Ah, Ariadne! In faith you must be mine. Those sweet clear eyes, that supple38 form, those gentle features, and," he concluded, perhaps a little inconsequently, "the Fanshawe Manor39 and the hundred thousand guineas. All--all must be mine."
Then he returned to his seat, with again the smirk40 of fervour on his face, while, still nursing that long chin, he pursued his meditations41.
It has been said that this chin made other men mistrust him. And, it may also be said, it was of so peculiar42 a shape as to make people dislike him. In truth, it was a blemish43 to what otherwise would have been a good-looking face--a long oval face, in which were set the soft dark eyes above mentioned. But this chin, running down to a point (so that some wondered how his barber shaved it, while others said it looked like a sheep's tail stuck on to an ordinary face), spoilt all. It caused him to look crafty; it seemed to make him lisp a little as he spoke, as though its weight was more than his lower jaw44 could bear; and it gained his enemies, since it irritated those who regarded it. It gave him, too, a cynical45 appearance, which was not obnoxious46 to him, as he considered that it emphasised the clever things which he flattered himself he was particularly smart at saying. For the rest, he was fairly tall, not badly knit, and as lean as a greyhound.
Thinking of her whom he apostrophised as Ariadne, and of her sweet, clear eyes and supple form--with the Fanshawe Manor and the hundred thousand guineas not forgotten!--his thoughts lent themselves to other things in connection with her. To a letter he had addressed to her at Fanshawe Manor, this side of Portsmouth--one full of holy vows47 of admiration48 and esteem49; a billet containing a little scrap50 of poetry (written for him, probably, by a garreteer of Grub Street for half-a-crown); one suggesting also that, by great good chance, he would be in the neighbourhood of Havant on a certain evening now close at hand, and that then "his wandering love-led steps" (for so he phrased it) would turn, as turns the needle to the pole, towards the avenue of limes where oft Phyllis was known to walk at eve and Philomel to warble. Perhaps, too, the gutter-poet had helped him in this charming composition!
"Ay, so I wrote," he said to himself now. "And so I did. Well! well! Now for the means. I vow12 they run uncommon51 short." Whereupon he unlocked a 'scrutoire that stood close to him, and thrusting his hand into a drawer, pulling forth52 a silk purse. A well-filled one, too, as it seemed by its weight; one heavy enough for any beau to carry, provided always that it was so carried simply to supply the wants of the passing hour, and was backed up by a good sound balance at Sir Mathew Decker's Bank, or at some other. But, should it happen to represent all the available cash that its owner was in possession of as his whole goods, then but a lean and sorry purse.
He turned its contents out upon the table before him, picking out amongst them five great three pound twelve shilling pieces, which he stacked carefully in a little heap by themselves.
"They look well," Beau Bufton said, while assuming the cynical smile which he practised in private, so that it should not fail him when required in public. "They give their possessor an air of sumptuousness54. To draw one out 'twixt thumb and finger from a well-gallooned waistcoat, and present it to, say, Ariadne's tiring maid, or some scurvy55 groom56, bespeaks57 wealth and ease. So, so. 'Tis very well."
Then he fell to counting the guineas and half-guineas which he had also tumbled out of the silken purse, though, as he did so, his chin seemed to grow longer. "Humph!" he muttered, "seventy-nine guineas in all. Devilish little. I thought there had been more. And where are more to be gotten? Seventy-nine guineas---- Come in!" he cried, breaking off. Come in!"--a knock being heard at the door, Yet, even as he did so, he thrust a copy of the Universal Chronicle over the little heap, or, rather, endeavoured to do so.
"The chink of money is always agreeable to the ears of the poor," said a man who now entered the room, "especially when those ears have learnt to discriminate58 'twixt gold and baser metals. And how does the illustrious Beau Bufton find his health and spirits to-day?"
The new-corner who asked this question was a man of about the same age as the Beau, neither of them being yet thirty, or within a year or so of it; yet, except in point of age, there was no similarity between them, for Bufton's clothes were of the newest and best--as why should they not be, since still the creditors were confiding59; his ruffles60 and neck-lace were clean and expensive. But with the other man things were mighty61 different. His coat was cloth, 'tis true, but cloth well worn; his linen62 and his lace were, say, dingy63; and his wig27 had had never a shilling spent on it at the curler's for many a long day. Also his spadroon stuck out two inches from its leathern scabbard and clinked against a heel that needed sadly the cobbler's aid. Nevertheless, he was a better-looking man than the Beau, in so far that his features were softly turned and much more manly64.
"Has't done it?" asked Bufton now, his dark eye roaming over the other's worn garments, and resting with extreme displeasure on the sight of his visitor's feet, which were lifted with an indifferent air on to a neighbouring chair, across which was thrown a scarlet cloak. "Has't done it, Granger?"
"Ay! ay! She loves you, Algernon, as I do think. The letter is in her hands, and she awaits you in the lime-tree avenue. Thursday is the night. Fortunate man!"
"You have rid post haste back?"
"Post-haste! Ay, in the devil's chariot. A lumbering65 waggon66 thing from Portsmouth was my coach. A waggon lined with straw; and, for comrades, two of Knowles' sailors, drunk; a demirep; also a Jew who furnishes for the Press-gang. What travelling! What a sumptuous53 coach! I protest, Algy, you starve your jackal."
"Better fare next time. When we have bagged the luscious67 plum. Then the jackal shall be starved no longer. Meanwhile, you know----" and here he gave the well-accustomed smile and fingered his chin, so that the man called Granger began to feel his gall22 arising, and instantly interrupted him, saying--
"NO jokes. No bites. Starve me as you will, keep me short of money, but in the name of God, spare me your wit. My stomach is weak from heavy fasting. I desire no emetics68."
"At least you yourself waste no politeness. You do not curb69 a bitter tongue."
"Better so, nevertheless. Better I cursed and swore, as Knowles' sailors did all through the night, than listened to your emasculated gibes70. Algernon, my friend, in spite of your having won the love of a great heiress, you will never succeed in life if you fail to recognise that you are not a wit. The fourth-form little boy humour with which you regaled us once at Shrewsbury becomes not London. I do remember that humour with pain. I think you killed your little sister Lucy, by repeating your schoolboy wit to her, or perhaps you put your finishing stroke to her end by your Cambridge----"
"Be still! be still!" Beau Bufton exclaimed, wincing71 as the other mentioned his dead sister's name. In truth he had loved that child, and thinking himself cynical, had sometimes retailed72 to her his sallies made both at Shrewsbury and at Clare. And now, to hear that his humour, as he deemed it, had slain73 her! 'Twas too much. "Be still," he cried, "or I will find some other to do my work--to do----"
"Your dirty work! That's what I do. Because of my infirmities. My fall from the position of a gentleman. Well! I have done it. A. T.--she," and he pointed74 to the fan which occupied the place of honour, "loves you. If you woo her carefully, and do not weary her with your accursed flabby wit, you may win her. Then--then--why, then--oh! my God!" he exclaimed, breaking off into a strident peal75 of laughter, "you may be so happy together. So happy. So happy." And again he laughed.
"You have been drinking," Bufton said, fingering his chin still. "Drinking again. Come, tell me once more before you forget. About the meeting? Where, and when is it?"
"Have I not said! At the lime-tree avenue, leading up to Fanshawe Manor. Eight of the evening is the hour, and Thursday is the day. Win her--fail not to win her; she is yours for the trouble, and then there is the fortune and a large per centum for me."
"I shall not fail."
"I'll make very sure you do not. Remember, if I am a broken man--I--I can break--bah! Threats are unnecessary. Now, I want money."
Saying which he flung the Universal Chronicle aside, and then started at the sight of the little heap of gold before him. "What!" he exclaimed. "What! And three pound twelve shilling pieces, too. Gad76! No Shoe Lane ordinary for me to-night."
Whereupon he took two of those coins and dropped them into his waistcoat pocket.
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1
strife
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| n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争 | |
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holder
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| n.持有者，占有者；(台，架等)支持物 | |
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3
receding
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| v.逐渐远离( recede的现在分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题 | |
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alteration
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| n.变更，改变；蚀变 | |
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5
sonorous
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| adj.响亮的，回响的；adv.圆润低沉地；感人地；n.感人，堂皇 | |
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exponent
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| n.倡导者，拥护者；代表人物；指数，幂 | |
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7
jargon
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| n.术语，行话 | |
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8
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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9
mincing
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| adj.矫饰的；v.切碎；切碎 | |
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10
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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vowel
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| n.元音；元音字母 | |
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vow
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| n.誓(言)，誓约；v.起誓，立誓 | |
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13
scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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superseding
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| 取代，接替( supersede的现在分词 ) | |
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15
rogue
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| n.流氓；v.游手好闲 | |
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crafty
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| adj.狡猾的，诡诈的 | |
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knave
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| n.流氓；（纸牌中的）杰克 | |
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infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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predecessor
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| n.前辈，前任 | |
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revelled
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| v.作乐( revel的过去式和过去分词 )；狂欢；着迷；陶醉 | |
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gallows
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| n.绞刑架，绞台 | |
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gall
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| v.使烦恼，使焦躁，难堪；n.磨难 | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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ridicule
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| v.讥讽，挖苦；n.嘲弄 | |
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25
lodgings
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| n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍 | |
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26
wigs
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| n.假发，法官帽( wig的名词复数 ) | |
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wig
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| n.假发 | |
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marred
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| adj. 被损毁, 污损的 | |
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creditors
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| n.债权人，债主( creditor的名词复数 ) | |
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pester
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| v.纠缠，强求 | |
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virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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32
velvet
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| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
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amorous
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| adj.多情的；有关爱情的 | |
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sylvan
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| adj.森林的 | |
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bough
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| n.大树枝，主枝 | |
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rivulet
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| n.小溪，小河 | |
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rib
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| n.肋骨，肋状物 | |
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supple
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| adj.柔软的，易弯的，逢迎的，顺从的，灵活的；vt.使柔软，使柔顺，使顺从；vi.变柔软，变柔顺 | |
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manor
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| n.庄园，领地 | |
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smirk
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| n.得意地笑；v.傻笑；假笑着说 | |
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meditations
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| 默想( meditation的名词复数 )； 默念； 沉思； 冥想 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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blemish
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| v.损害；玷污；瑕疵，缺点 | |
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jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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45
cynical
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| adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的，不信世道向善的 | |
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obnoxious
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| adj.极恼人的，讨人厌的，可憎的 | |
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vows
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| 誓言( vow的名词复数 )； 郑重宣布，许愿 | |
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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esteem
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| n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作 | |
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scrap
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| n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废 | |
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uncommon
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| adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的 | |
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52
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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53
sumptuous
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| adj.豪华的，奢侈的，华丽的 | |
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sumptuousness
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| 奢侈，豪华 | |
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scurvy
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| adj.下流的，卑鄙的，无礼的；n.坏血病 | |
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56
groom
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| vt.给（马、狗等）梳毛，照料，使...整洁 | |
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57
bespeaks
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| v.预定( bespeak的第三人称单数 )；订（货）；证明；预先请求 | |
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58
discriminate
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| v.区别，辨别，区分；有区别地对待 | |
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59
confiding
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| adj.相信人的，易于相信的v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的现在分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等） | |
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60
ruffles
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| 褶裥花边( ruffle的名词复数 ) | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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dingy
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| adj.昏暗的，肮脏的 | |
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64
manly
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| adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地 | |
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lumbering
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| n.采伐林木 | |
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waggon
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| n.运货马车，运货车；敞篷车箱 | |
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67
luscious
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| adj.美味的；芬芳的；肉感的，引与性欲的 | |
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emetics
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| n.催吐药( emetic的名词复数 ) | |
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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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70
gibes
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| vi.嘲笑，嘲弄（gibe的第三人称单数形式） | |
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71
wincing
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| 赶紧避开，畏缩( wince的现在分词 ) | |
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72
retailed
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| vt.零售（retail的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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73
slain
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| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词) | |
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74
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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75
peal
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| n.钟声；v.鸣响 | |
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gad
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| n.闲逛；v.闲逛 | |
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