But whether Florian was right in attributing Will’s success to himself or not, it is certain, at least, that Will was rapidly successful. The world recognised in him a certain genuine poetical16 vein17 which has seldom been vouchsafed18 to the English librettist19; it recognised in him, also, a certain depth and intensity20 of musical sense which has seldom been vouchsafed to the English dramatic composer.
One afternoon that spring, Will returned to town from a visit to the Provinces in connection with his new opera, The Lady of Llandudno, then about to be performed in several country theatres by Mr D’Arcy Clift’s operatic company. He drove almost straight from the station to Rue14’s. Florian was there in great form; and Mr Joaquin Holmes, the Colorado Seer, had dropped in for afternoon tea at his fair disciple’s. In spite of Will’s ridicule21, Rue continued to believe in Mr Holmes’ thought-reading and other manifestions. For the Seer had added by this time a touch of spiritualism to the general attractions of his flagging entertainments at the Assyrian Hall; and it is a mysterious dispensation of Providence22 that wealthy Americans, especially widows, fall a natural prey24 to all forms of transcendentalism or spiritualistic quackery25. It seems to be one of the strange devices which Providence adopts for putting excessive or monopolised wealth into circulation.
“Mr Holmes wants me to go to the Harmony to-night,” Rue said, with a smile?—?“you know what it is?—?the new Harmony Theatre. He says there’s a piece coming out there this evening I ought to see?—?a pretty new piece by an American composer. You’re going to be crushed, Will. They’ve got a fresh tenor26 there, a very good man, whom Mr Holmes thinks a deal of. I’ve half a mind to go; will you join our party?”
“You ought to hear it,” the Seer remarked, with his oracular air, turning to Will, and looking critical. “This new tenor’s a person you should keep your eye upon; I heard him rehearse, and I said to myself at once, ‘That fellow’s the very man Mr Deverill will want to write a first part for; if he doesn’t, I’ll retire at once from the prophetic business.’ He has a magnificent voice; you should get Blades to secure him next season for the Duke of Edinburgh’s. He’s worth fifty pounds a night, if he’s worth a penny.”
“Very good trade, a tenor’s,” Florian mused27 philosophically28. “I often regret I wasn’t brought up to it.”
“What’s his name?” Will asked with languid interest, for he had no great faith in the Seer’s musical ear and critical acumen29.
“His name? Heaven knows,” the Seer answered, with a short laugh; “but he calls himself Papadopoli?—?Signor Romeo Papadopoli.”
“There’s a deal in a name, in spite of that vastly overrated man, Shakespeare,” Florian murmured, musingly30. “It’s my belief, if the late lamented31 Lord Beaconsfield had only been christened Benjamin Jacobs, or even Benjamin Israels, he never would have lived to be Prime Minister of England. But as Benjamin Disraeli?—?ah, what poetry, what mystery, what Oriental depth, what Venetian suggestiveness! And Romeo’s good, too; Signor Romeo Papadopoli! Why, ’twas of Romeo himself the Bard32 first asked, ‘What’s in a name? the rose,’ etc?tera. And in the fulness of time, this singer man crops up with that very name to confute him. ‘Ah, Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?’ Why, because it looks so extremely romantic in a line of the playbill, and helps to attract the British public to your theatre! Papadopoli, indeed! and his real name’s Jenkins. I don’t doubt it’s Jenkins. There’s a Palazzo Papadopoli on the Grand Canal. But this fellow was born, you may take your oath, at Haggerston or Stepney!”
“Well, your own name has floated you in life, at any rate,” Rue put in, a little mischievously33.
Florian gazed at her hard?—?and changed the subject abruptly34. “And there’s a woman in the troupe35 who sings well, too, I’m told,” he interposed, with airy grace?—?the airy grace of five feet?—?turning to Joaquin Holmes. “I haven’t heard her myself; I’ve been away from town?—?you know how engaged I am?—?visits, visits in the country?—?Lady Barnes; Lady Ingleborough. But they say she sings well; really, Will, you ought to come with us.”
“Yes; she’s not bad in her way,” the Seer admitted, with a stifled36 yawn, stroking his long moustache, and assuming the air of a connoisseur37 in female voices. “She’s got a fine rich organ, a little untrained, perhaps, but not bad for a débutante. A piquante little Italian; Signora Carlotta Casalmonte she calls herself. But Papadopoli’s the man; you should come, Mr Deverill; my friend Mr Florian has secured us a box; I dine at Mrs Palmer’s, and we all go together to the Harmony afterwards.”
“I should like to go,” Will replied with truth; for he hated to leave Rue undefended in that impostor’s clutches; “but, unfortunately, I’ve invited my sister and her husband to dine with me to-night at my rooms in Craven Street.”
“Well, wire to them at once to come on and dine here instead,” Rue suggested, with American expansiveness; “and then we can all go in a party together?—?the more the merrier.”
Will thought not badly of this idea; it was a capital compromise: the more so as he had asked nobody else to meet the Sartorises, and a family tête-à-tête with Maud and Arthur wasn’t greatly to his liking38. “I’ll do it,” he said, after a moment’s reflection, “if they’re at home and will answer me.”
Rue sent out a servant to the nearest office with the telegram at once; and, in due time, an answer arrived by return that Arthur and Maud would be happy to accept Mrs Palmer’s very kind invitation for this evening. It was most properly worded; Maud was nothing if not proper. Her husband had now been appointed incumbent39 of St Barnabas’s, Marylebone; and her dignity had received an immense accession. Indeed, she debated for ten minutes with dear Arthur whether it was really quite right for them to go at all on such hasty notice; and she was annoyed that Will, after inviting40 her himself, should have ventured to put her off with a vicarious dinner-party. But she went all the same, partly because she thought it would be such a good thing for Will, “and for our own dear boys, Arthur, if Will were to marry that rich bourgeoise American,” and partly because she remembered it would give her such an excellent opportunity of displaying her pretty new turquoise-blue dinner-dress among the best company, in a box at the Harmony. Besides, a first night is a thing never to be despised by the wise man or woman; it looks so well to see next day in the Society papers, “Mrs Palmer’s box contained, amongst others, Mr Florian Wood, Mr W. Deverill, his sister, Mrs Sartoris, and her husband, the incumbent of St Barnabas’s, Marylebone.”
So, at half-past seven, Maud Sartoris sailed in, torquoise-blue and all, and, holding out her hand with a forgiving smile, murmured gushingly41 to her hostess, “We thought it so friendly of you, dear Mrs Palmer, to invite us like that at a moment’s notice, as soon as you knew we were engaged to Will, and that Will couldn’t possibly go unless he took us with him! We want to see this new piece at the Harmony so much; a first night to us quiet clerical folks, you know, is always such a treat. We’re immensely obliged to you.”
Dinner went off well, as it usually did where Florian was of the party. To give Florian his due, he bubbled and sparkled, like the Apollinaris spring, with unfailing effervescence. That evening, too, he was in specially23 fine form; it amused him to hear Mr Joaquin Holmes discourse42 with an air of profound conviction on his own prophetic art, and then watch him glancing across the table under his long dark eyelashes to see between whiles how Florian took it. The follies43 and foibles of mankind were nuts to Florian. It gave the epicurean philosopher a calm sense of pleasure in his own superiority to see Rue and Arthur Sartoris drinking in open-mouthed the mysterious hints and self-glorificatory nonsense of the man whom he knew by his own confession44 to be a cheat and a humbug45. Their eyes seldom met; Joaquin Holmes avoided such disconcerting experiences; but whenever they did, Florian’s were brimful of suppressed amusement, while the Seer’s had a furtive46 hang-dog air as of one who at once would deprecate exposure and beseech47 indulgence.
After dinner, the Seer kept them laughing so long at his admirable stories of the Far West of his childhood (which Arthur Sartoris received with the conventional “Ah really, now, Mr Holmes!” of forced clerical disapprobation) that they were barely in time for the beginning of the opera. As they entered, the tenor held possession of the stage. Will didn’t think so much of him; Florian, his head on one side in a critical attitude, observed oracularly, at the end of his first song, that the Papadopoli was perhaps not wholly without capabilities48. That’s the sort of criticism that Florian loved best; it enables a man to hedge in accordance with the event. If the fellow turns out well in the near future, you can say you declared from the very first he had capabilities; if the public doesn’t catch on, you can remark with justice that he hasn’t developed what little promise he once showed, and that from the beginning you never felt inclined to say much for him.
Presently, from the rear of the stage, down the mimic49 rocks that formed the background of the scenery, a beautiful woman, entering almost unobserved, sprang lightly from boulder50 to boulder of the torrent51 bed, with the true elastic52 step of a mountain-bred maiden53. She had a fine ripe figure, very lithe54 and vigorous-looking; her features were full, but extremely regular; her mouth, though large and somewhat rich in the lips, was yet rosy55 and attractive. Eyes full of fire, and a rounded throat, with a waxy56 softness of outline that recalled a nightingale’s, gave point to her beauty. She was exquisitely57 dressed in a pale cream bodice, with what passes on the stage for a peasant kirtle, and round her rich brown neck she wore a drooping58 circlet of half-barbaric-looking lance-like red coral pendants. Before she opened her mouth, her mere form and grace of movement took the house by surprise. A little storm of applause burst spontaneous at once from stalls, boxes, and gallery. The singer paused, and curtsied. She looked lovelier still as she flushed up with excitement. Every eye in the house was instinctively59 fixed60 upon her.
Will had been gazing round the boxes as the actress entered, to see what friends of his they might contain, and to nod recognition. The burst of applause recalled him suddenly to what was passing on the stage. He looked round and stared at her. For a moment he saw only a very beautiful girl, in the prime of her days, gracefully61 clad for her part, and most supple62 in her movements. At the self-same instant, before he had time to note more, the singer opened her mouth, and began to pour forth63 on his ear lavish64 floods of liquid music. Will started with surprise; in a flash of recognition, voice and face came back to him. He seized Florian by the arm. “Great God!” he cried, “it’s Linnet!”
Florian struck a little attitude. “Oh, unexpected felicity! Oh, great gain!” he murmured, in his supremest manner. “You’re right! So it is! A most undoubted Linnet!”
And Linnet it was; dressed in the impossible peasant costume of theatrical fancy; grown fuller and more beautiful about the neck and throat; with her delicate voice highly trained and developed by all that Italian or Bavarian masters could suggest to improve it; but Linnet still for all that?—?the same beautiful, simple, sweet Linnet as ever.
Joaquin Holmes glanced at the programme. “And this,” he murmured low, “is Signora Carlotta Casalmonte that I spoke65 about.”
Florian’s eyes opened wide. “Why, of course!” he exclaimed with a start. “I wonder we didn’t see it. It’s a mere translation: Casalmonte?—?Hausberger: Carlotta?—?Carolina?—?Lina?—?Linnet; there you have it!” And he turned, self-applausive of his own cleverness, to Rue, who sat beside him.
As for Rue, her first feeling was a sudden flush of pain; so this girl had come back to keep Will still apart from her! One moment later that feeling gave place with lightning speed to another; would he care for this peasant woman so much, and regret her so deeply, if he saw her here in England, another man’s wife, and an actress on the stage, dressed up in all the vulgar tinsel gew-gaws, surrounded by all the sordid66 disenchanting realities of theatrical existence?
But Will himself knew two things, and two things alone. That was Linnet who stood singing there?—?and she wore the necklet he had sent her from Innsbruck.
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1
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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theatrical
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| adj.剧场的，演戏的；做戏似的，做作的 | |
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crochets
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| v.用钩针编织( crochet的第三人称单数 )；趾钩 | |
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exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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aroma
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| n.香气，芬芳，芳香 | |
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hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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battered
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| adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损 | |
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fiddle
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| n.小提琴；vi.拉提琴；不停拨弄，乱动 | |
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9
rusticating
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| v.罚（大学生）暂时停学离校( rusticate的现在分词 )；在农村定居 | |
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10
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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11
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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persevere
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| v.坚持，坚忍，不屈不挠 | |
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13
resounded
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| v.（指声音等）回荡于某处( resound的过去式和过去分词 )；产生回响；（指某处）回荡着声音 | |
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14
rue
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| n.懊悔，芸香，后悔；v.后悔，悲伤，懊悔 | |
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15
sage
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| n.圣人，哲人；adj.贤明的，明智的 | |
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16
poetical
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| adj.似诗人的；诗一般的；韵文的；富有诗意的 | |
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17
vein
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| n.血管，静脉；叶脉，纹理；情绪；vt.使成脉络 | |
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18
vouchsafed
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| v.给予，赐予( vouchsafe的过去式和过去分词 )；允诺 | |
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19
librettist
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| n.(歌剧、音乐剧等的)歌词作者 | |
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intensity
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| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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ridicule
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| v.讥讽，挖苦；n.嘲弄 | |
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22
providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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specially
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| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
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prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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25
quackery
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| n.庸医的医术，骗子的行为 | |
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26
tenor
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| n.男高音（歌手），次中音（乐器），要旨，大意 | |
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27
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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28
philosophically
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| adv.哲学上；富有哲理性地；贤明地；冷静地 | |
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acumen
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| n.敏锐，聪明 | |
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musingly
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| adv.沉思地，冥想地 | |
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31
lamented
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| adj.被哀悼的，令人遗憾的v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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32
bard
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| n.吟游诗人 | |
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mischievously
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| adv.有害地；淘气地 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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35
troupe
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| n.剧团，戏班；杂技团；马戏团 | |
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36
stifled
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| （使）窒息， （使）窒闷( stifle的过去式和过去分词 )； 镇压，遏制； 堵 | |
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37
connoisseur
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| n.鉴赏家，行家，内行 | |
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38
liking
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| n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢 | |
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39
incumbent
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| adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的 | |
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40
inviting
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| adj.诱人的，引人注目的 | |
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41
gushingly
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42
discourse
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| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
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43
follies
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| 罪恶，时事讽刺剧； 愚蠢，蠢笨，愚蠢的行为、思想或做法( folly的名词复数 ) | |
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44
confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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45
humbug
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| n.花招，谎话，欺骗 | |
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46
furtive
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| adj.鬼鬼崇崇的，偷偷摸摸的 | |
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47
beseech
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| v.祈求，恳求 | |
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48
capabilities
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| n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力 | |
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49
mimic
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| v.模仿，戏弄；n.模仿他人言行的人 | |
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50
boulder
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| n.巨砾；卵石，圆石 | |
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51
torrent
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| n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发 | |
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52
elastic
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| n.橡皮圈，松紧带；adj.有弹性的；灵活的 | |
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53
maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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54
lithe
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| adj.(指人、身体)柔软的，易弯的 | |
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55
rosy
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| adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的 | |
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56
waxy
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| adj.苍白的；光滑的 | |
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57
exquisitely
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| adv.精致地；强烈地；剧烈地；异常地 | |
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58
drooping
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| adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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59
instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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60
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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61
gracefully
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| ad.大大方方地；优美地 | |
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62
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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63
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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64
lavish
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| adj.无节制的；浪费的；vt.慷慨地给予，挥霍 | |
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65
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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66
sordid
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| adj.肮脏的，不干净的，卑鄙的，暗淡的 | |
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