The meaning of its words! He thought long upon that, ruminating1 in his easy-chair before the fire until far past midnight, until the dainty little Japanese saucer at his side was heaped up with cigar ashes, and the air was heavy with smoke.
Evidently this summons was directly connected with the remarks made by Tenney a fortnight before. He had said the Minster business should come to him, and here it was. The fact that Mrs. Minster wrote to him at his residence, rather than at his office, was proof that she too wished to have him alone, and not the firm of Tracy & Boyce, as her adviser2. That there should be this prejudice against Reuben, momentarily disturbed the young man; but, upon examination, he found it easy to account for it. Reuben was very nice—his partner even paused for a moment to reflect how decent a fellow Reuben really was—but then, he scarcely belonged to the class of society in which people like the Boyces and Minsters moved. Naturally the millionnaire widow, belonging as she did to an ancient family in the Hudson River valley, and bearing the queer name of a grandmother who had been a colonial beauty, would prefer to have as her family lawyer somebody who also had ancestors.
The invitation had its notable social side, too. There was no good in blinking the fact that his father the General—who had effected a somewhat noisy entrance to the house a half-hour ago, and the sound of whose burdened breathing now intermittently4 came to his ears in the silence of the night—had allowed the family status to lapse5. The Boyces were not what they had been. In the course of such few calls as he had made since his return, it had been impossible for him not to detect the existence of a certain surprise that he should have called at all. Everybody, too, had taken pains to avoid reference to his father, even when the course of talk made such allusion6 natural. This had for the moment angered the young man, and later had not a little discouraged him. As a boy he had felt it a great thing to be the son of a general, and to find it now to be a distinct detriment7 was disheartening indeed. But this black-bordered, perfumed note from Mrs. Minster put all, as by the sweep of a hand, into the background. Once he visited that proud household as a friend, once he looked Thessaly in the face as the confidential8 adviser of the Minster family, the Boyces were rehabilitated10.
To dwell upon the thought was very pleasant, for it led the way by sweetly vagrant11 paths to dreams of the dark-eyed, beautiful Kate. During the past month these visions had lost color and form under the disconcerting influences just spoken of, but now they became, as if by magic, all rosy-hued and definite again. He had planned to himself on that first November day a career which should be crowned by marriage with the lovely daughter of the millions, and had made a mental march around the walls encompassing13 her to spy out their least defended point. Now, all at once, marvellous as it seemed, he found himself transported within the battlements. He was to be her mother’s lawyer—nay, her lawyer as well, and to his sanguine14 fancy this meant everything.
Everything? The word seemed feeble. It meant one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen as his wife—a lady well-born, delicately nurtured15, clever, and good; it meant vast wealth, untold16 wealth, with which to be not only the principal personage of these provincial17 parts, but a great figure in New York or Washington or Europe. He might be senator in Congress, minister to Paris, or even aspire18 to the towering, solitary19 eminence20 of the Presidency21 itself with the backing of these millions. It meant a yacht, the very dream of sea-going luxury and speed, in which to bask22 under Hawaiian skies, to loiter lazily along the topaz shores of far Cathay, to flit to and fro between spice lands and cold northern seas, the whole watery23 globe subject to her keel. Why, there could be a castle on the Moselle, a country house in Devonshire, a flat in Paris, a villa24 at Mentone, a summer island home on the St. Lawrence, a mansion25 in New York—all together, if he liked, or as many as pleased his whim26. It might be worth the while to lease a shooting in Scotland, only the mischief27 was that badly bred Americans, the odious28 nouveaux riches, had rather discredited29 the national name in the Highlands.
So the young man’s fancies floated on the wreaths of scented30 smoke till at last he yawned in spite of himself, sated with the contemplation of the gifts the gods had brought him. He read Mrs. Minster’s note once again before he went to bed, and sleep overtook his brain while it was still pleasantly musing31 on the choicest methods of expending32 the income of her millions.
Curiously33 enough, during all these hours of happy castle-building, the question of why Schuyler Tenney had interested himself in the young man’s fortunes never once crossed that young man’s mind. To be frank, the pictures he painted were all of “gentlemen” and “ladies,” and his father’s partner, though his help might be of great assistance at the outset, could scarcely expect to mingle34 in such company, even in Horace’s tobacco reveries.
Neither to his father at the breakfast-table, nor to Reuben Tracy at the office, did young Mr. Boyce next day mention the fact that he was to call on Mrs. Minster. This enforced silence was not much to his liking35, primarily because his temperament36 was the reverse of secretive. When he had done anything or thought of doing something, the impulse to tell about it was always strong upon him. The fact that the desire to talk was not rigorously balanced by regard for the exact and prosaic37 truth may not have been an essential part of the trait when we come to analysis, but garrulity38 and exaggeration ran together in Horace’s nature. To repress them now, just at the time when the most important event of his life impended39, required a good deal of effort.
He had some qualms40 of conscience, too, so far as Reuben was concerned. Two or three things had happened within the past week which had laid him under special obligation to the courtesy and good feeling of his partner. They were not important, perhaps, but still the memory of them weighed upon his mind when, at three o’clock, he put on his coat and explained that he might not be back again that afternoon. Reuben nodded, and said, “All right: I shall be here. If so-and-so comes, I’ll go over the matter and make notes for you.” Then Horace longed very much to tell all about the Minster summons and the rest, and this longing3 arose as much from a wish to be frank and fair as from a craving41 to confide9 his secret to somebody; but he only hesitated for a second, and then went out.
Mrs. Minster received him in the chamber42 which had been her husband’s working room, and which still contained his desk, although it had since been furnished with book-shelves and was called the library. Horace noted43, as the widow rose to greet him, that, though the desk was open, its pigeon-holes did not seem to contain many papers.
After his hostess had bidden him to be seated, and had spoken in mildly deprecating tones about the weather, she closed her resolutely44 lined lips, folded her hands in her lap, and looked at him in amiable45 suspense46. As has been said before, Mrs. Minster’s dark face, with its high frame of white hair and its bright black eyes, habitually47 produced an impression of great cleverness and alert insight, and Horace was conscious of embarrassment48 in finding the task of conversation devolved upon himself. He took up the burden, however, and carried it along from subject to subject until at last it seemed fitting to broach49 the great topic.
“I didn’t get your note until evening,” he said, with a polite inquiring smile.
“No, I didn’t send it until after dinner,” she replied, and a pause ensued.
It fortunately occurred to Horace to say he was very glad to have her call upon him always, if in any way she saw how he could serve her. As he spoke12 these words, he felt that they were discreet50 and noncommittal, and yet must force her to come to the point. And they did, after a fashion.
“It is very kind of you, I’m sure,” she said, graciously, and came to a full stop.
“If there is anything I can do now,” Horace remarked tentatively.
“Well—oh yes! What I wanted to ask you was, do you know the Wendovers?”
“I don’t think I do.” murmured the young man, with a great sinking of the heart.
“They’re New York people,” the lady explained.
“I know almost nobody in New York,” answered Horace gloomily. “Wendover? No, I am quite sure the name is new to me.”
“That is curious,” said Mrs. Minster. She took a letter up from the desk. “This is from Judge Wendover, and it mentions you. I gathered from it that he knew you quite well.”
Oh, shades of the lies that might have been told, if one had only known!
Horace swiftly ransacked51 his brain for a way out of this dilemma52. Evidently this letter bore upon his selection as her lawyer. He guessed rightly that it had been written at Tenney’s suggestion and by some one who had Mrs. Minster’s confidence. Obviously this some one was of the legal profession. That was his cue.
“The name does sound familiar, on second thought,” he said. “I daresay it is, if I could only place it. You see, I had a number of offers to enter legal firms in New York, and in that way I saw a good many people for a few minutes, you know, and quite probably I’ve forgotten some of their names. They would remember me, of course, but I might confuse them one with another, don’t you see? Strange, I don’t fix the man you mean. Was he a middle-aged53 man, grayish hair, well dressed?”
“Yes, that describes him.” She did not add that it would equally describe seven out of every ten other men called “judge” throughout the United States.
“Now I place him,” said Horace triumphantly54. “There was some talk of my going into his office as a junior partner. Mutual55 friends of ours proposed it, I remember. But it didn’t attract me. Curious that I should have forgotten his name. One’s memory plays such whimsical tricks, though.”
“I didn’t know Judge Wendover was practising law,” said Mrs. Minster. “He never was much of a lawyer. He was county judge once down in Peekskill, about the time I was married, but he didn’t get reelected; and I thought he gave it all up when he went to New York.”
“If it’s the man I mean,” put in Horace, groping his way despairingly, “there wasn’t much business in his office. That is why I didn’t go in, I daresay: it wouldn’t be worth my while unless he himself was devoted56 to the law, and carried on a big practice.”
“I daresay it’s the same man,” remarked Mrs. Minster. “He probably would have a kind of law office. They generally do.”
“Well, may I ask,” Horace ventured after another pause, “in what connection he mentions my name?”
“He recommends me to consult you about affairs—to—well, how shall I say it?—to make you my lawyer?”
Eureka! The words were out, and the difficult passage about Judge What’s-his-name was left safely behind. Horace felt his brain swimming on a sea of exaltation, but he kept his face immobile, and bowed his head with gravity.
“I am very young for so serious a responsibility, I’m afraid,” he said modestly.
The widow reassured57 him with a smile. “There isn’t really much to do,” she answered. “And somebody would have to learn what there is; and you can do that as well as any one else, better than a stranger. The difficulty is,” she spoke more slowly, and Horace listened with all his ears: “you have a partner, I’m told.”
The young man did not hesitate for an instant. “Only in a limited way,” he replied. “Mr. Tracy and I have combined on certain lines of work where two heads are better than one, but we each keep distinct our own private practice. It is much better.”
“I certainly prefer it,” said Mrs. Minster. “I am glad to hear you keep separate. I do not know Mr. Tracy, and, indeed, he is very highly spoken of as a lawyer; but certain things I have heard—social matters, I mean—”
The lady broke off discreetly58. She could not tell this young man what she had heard about that visit to the Lawton house. Horace listened to her without the remotest notion of her meaning, and so could only smile faintly and give the least suggestion of a sigh. Clearly he must throw Reuben overboard.
“We can’t have everything in this world just to our minds,” he said judicially59, and it seemed to him to cover the case with prudent60 vagueness.
“I suppose you thought the partnership61 would be a good thing?” she asked.
“At the time—yes,” answered Horace. “And, to be fair, it really has some advantages. Mr. Tracy is a prodigious62 worker, for one thing, and he is very even-tempered and willing; so that the burden of details is taken off my shoulders to a great extent, and that disposes one to overlook a good many things, you know.”
Mrs. Minster nodded appreciation63. She also knew what it was to delight in relief from the burden of details, and she said to herself that fortunately Mr. Boyce would thus have the more leisure to devote the affairs of the Minsters.
Into their further talk it is not needful to pursue the lady and her lawyer. She spoke only in general terms, outlining her interests and investments which required attention, and vaguely64 defining what she expected him to do. Horace listened very closely, but beyond a nebulous comprehension of the existence of a big company and a little company, which together controlled the iron-works and its appurtenances, he learned next to nothing. One of the first things which she desired of Horace was, however, that he should go to Florida and talk the whole subject over with Mr. Clarke, and to this he gladly assented65.
“I will write to him that you are coming,” she said, as she rose. “I may tell you that he personally preferred Mr. Tracy as his successor; but, as I have told you—well, there were reasons why—”
Horace made haste to bow and say “quite so,” and thus spare Mrs. Minster the trouble of explanations. “Perhaps it will be better to say nothing to any one until I have returned from Florida,” he added, as a parting suggestion, and it had her assent66.
The young man walked buoyantly down the gravel67 path and along the streets, his veins68 fairly tingling69 with excitement and joy. The great prize had come to him—wealth, honor, fame, were all within his grasp. He thought proudly, as he strode along, of what he would do after his marriage. Even the idea of hyphenating the two names in the English fashion, Minster-Boyce, came into his mind, and was made welcome. Perhaps, though, it couldn’t well be done until his father was dead; and that reminded him—he really must speak to the General about his loose behavior.
Thus Horace exultantly70 communed with his happy self, and formed resolutions, dreamed dreams, discussed radiant probabilities as he walked, until his abstracted eye was suddenly, insensibly arrested by the sight of a familiar sign across the street—“S. Tenney & Co.” Then for the first time he remembered his promise, and the air grew colder about him as he recalled it. He crossed the road after a moment’s hesitation71, and entered the hardware store.
Mr. Tenney was alone in the little office partitioned off by wood and glass from the open store. He received the account given by Horace of his visit to the Minster mansion with no indication of surprise, and with no outward sign of satisfaction.
“So far, so good,” he said, briefly72. Then, after a moment’s meditation73, he looked up sharply in the face of the young man, who was still standing74: “Did you say anything about your terms?”
“Of course not. How could I? You don’t show price-lists like a storekeeper, in the law!”
Mr. Tenney smiled just a little at Horace’s haughty75 tone—a smile of furtive76 amusement. “It’s just as well,” he said. “I’ll talk with you about that later. The old lady’s rather close-fisted. We may make a point there—by sending in bills much smaller than old Clarke’s used to be. I ought to have told you about that. Luckily it wasn’t needed.”
The matter-of-fact way in which Mr. Tenney used this “we” grated disagreeably on the young man’s ear, suggesting as it did a new partnership uncomfortably vague in form; but he deemed it wise not to touch upon the subject. His next question, as to the identity of Judge Wendover, brought upon the stage, however, still a third partner in the shadowy firm to which he had committed himself.
“Oh, Wendover’s in with us. He’s all right,” replied Schuyler Tenney, lightly. “Never heard of him, eh? He’s the president of the Thessaly Manufacturing Company. You’ll hear a good deal about that later on.” The speaker showed his teeth again by a smiling movement of the lips at this assurance, and Horace somehow felt his uneasiness growing.
“She wants me to go to Florida to see Clarke, and talk things over,” he said.
“Just so. That’s important. We must consider all that very carefully before you go. Clarke requires handling. Leave that to me. I’ll think out what you are to tell him.”
Horace was momentarily shrinking in importance before his own mental vision; and, though he resented it, he could not but submit. “I suppose I’d better make some other excuse to Tracy about the Florida trip,” he said, almost deferentially77; “what do you think?”
“Oh, you think so, do you?” Mr. Tenney was interested, and made a renewed scrutiny78 of the young man’s face. “Perhaps. I’ll think about it, and let you know to-morrow. Look in about this time, and don’t say anything till then. So long!”
Thus dismissed, Horace took his leave, and it was not until he had nearly reached his home that the thoughts chasing each other in his mind began to take on once more roseate hues79 and hopeful outlines.
Mr. Tenney watched his partner’s son through the partition until he was out of sight, and then smiled at the papers on his desk in confidence. “He’s ready to lie at a minute’s notice,” he mused80; “offered on his own hook to lie to Tracy. That’s all right—only he mustn’t try it on with me!”
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1
ruminating
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| v.沉思( ruminate的现在分词 )；反复考虑；反刍；倒嚼 | |
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adviser
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| n.劝告者，顾问 | |
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longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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intermittently
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| adv.间歇地；断断续续 | |
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lapse
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| n.过失，流逝，失效，抛弃信仰，间隔；vi.堕落，停止，失效，流逝；vt.使失效 | |
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allusion
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| n.暗示，间接提示 | |
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detriment
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| n.损害；损害物，造成损害的根源 | |
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confidential
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| adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的 | |
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confide
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| v.向某人吐露秘密 | |
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rehabilitated
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| 改造（罪犯等）( rehabilitate的过去式和过去分词 )； 使恢复正常生活； 使恢复原状； 修复 | |
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vagrant
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| n.流浪者，游民；adj.流浪的，漂泊不定的 | |
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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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13
encompassing
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| v.围绕( encompass的现在分词 )；包围；包含；包括 | |
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sanguine
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| adj.充满希望的，乐观的，血红色的 | |
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nurtured
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| 养育( nurture的过去式和过去分词 )； 培育； 滋长； 助长 | |
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untold
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| adj.数不清的，无数的 | |
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provincial
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| adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人 | |
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aspire
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| vi.(to，after)渴望，追求，有志于 | |
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solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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eminence
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| n.卓越，显赫；高地，高处；名家 | |
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presidency
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| n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期) | |
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bask
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| vt.取暖，晒太阳，沐浴于 | |
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watery
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| adj.有水的，水汪汪的；湿的，湿润的 | |
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villa
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| n.别墅，城郊小屋 | |
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mansion
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| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
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whim
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| n.一时的兴致，突然的念头；奇想，幻想 | |
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mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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odious
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| adj.可憎的，讨厌的 | |
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discredited
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| 不足信的，不名誉的 | |
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scented
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| adj.有香味的；洒香水的；有气味的v.嗅到(scent的过去分词) | |
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musing
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| n. 沉思，冥想 adj. 沉思的, 冥想的 动词muse的现在分词形式 | |
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expending
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| v.花费( expend的现在分词 )；使用（钱等）做某事；用光；耗尽 | |
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curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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mingle
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| vt.使混合，使相混；vi.混合起来；相交往 | |
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liking
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| n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢 | |
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temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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prosaic
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| adj.单调的，无趣的 | |
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garrulity
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| n.饶舌，多嘴 | |
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impended
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| v.进行威胁，即将发生( impend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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qualms
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| n.不安；内疚 | |
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craving
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| n.渴望,热望 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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resolutely
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| adj.坚决地，果断地 | |
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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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suspense
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| n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑 | |
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habitually
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| ad.习惯地，通常地 | |
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48
embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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49
broach
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| v.开瓶，提出(题目) | |
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50
discreet
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| adj.(言行)谨慎的；慎重的；有判断力的 | |
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51
ransacked
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| v.彻底搜查( ransack的过去式和过去分词 )；抢劫，掠夺 | |
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52
dilemma
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| n.困境，进退两难的局面 | |
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53
middle-aged
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| adj.中年的 | |
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54
triumphantly
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| ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地 | |
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mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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57
reassured
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| adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词) | |
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58
discreetly
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| ad.(言行)审慎地，慎重地 | |
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59
judicially
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| 依法判决地，公平地 | |
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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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partnership
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| n.合作关系，伙伴关系 | |
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prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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appreciation
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| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
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vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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assented
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| 同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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assent
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| v.批准，认可；n.批准，认可 | |
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gravel
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| n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石 | |
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veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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tingling
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| v.有刺痛感( tingle的现在分词 ) | |
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exultantly
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| adv.狂欢地，欢欣鼓舞地 | |
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hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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meditation
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| n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录 | |
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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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haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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furtive
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| adj.鬼鬼崇崇的，偷偷摸摸的 | |
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deferentially
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| adv.表示敬意地，谦恭地 | |
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scrutiny
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| n.详细检查，仔细观察 | |
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hues
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| 色彩( hue的名词复数 )； 色调； 信仰； 观点 | |
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mused
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| v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
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