But still, when he saw them, his heart arose and smote2 him. His very class prejudices fought hard on their behalf. These men were gentlemen, the eldest sons of a Kelmscott of Tilgate—true Kelmscotts to the core—handsome, courtly, erect3 of bearing. Guy was the very image of the Kelmscott of Tilgate Park who bled for King Charles at Marston Moor4; Cyril had the exact mien5 of Sir Rupert Kelmscott, Knight6 of Chetwood, the ablest of their race, whose portrait, by Kneller, hung in the great hall between his father; the Admiral, and his uncle, Sir Frederick. They had all the qualities the Colonel himself associated with the Kelmscott name. They were strong, brave, vigorous, able to hold their own against all comers. To leave them out in the cold was not only wrong—it was also, he felt in his heart of hearts, a treason to his order.
At last, after long watching, he fell asleep. But he slept uneasily. When he woke, it was with a start. He found himself murmuring to himself in his troubled sleep, “Break the entail7, and settle a sum on the two that will quiet them.”
It was the only way left to prevent public scandal, and to save Lady Emily and his son Granville from a painful disclosure: while, at the same time, it would to some extent satisfy the claims of his conscience.
Compromise, compromise; there’s nothing like compromise. Colonel Kelmscott had always had by temperament8 a truly British love of compromise.
To carry out his plan, indeed, it would be necessary to break the entail twice; once formally, and once again really. He must begin by getting Granville’s consent to the proposed arrangement, so as to raise ready money with which to bribe9 the young men; and as soon as Granville’s consent was obtained, he must put it plainly to Guy and Cyril, as an anonymous10 benefactor11, that if they would consent to accept a fixed12 sum in lieu of all contingencies13, then the secret of their birth would be revealed to them at last, and they would be asked to break the entail on the estates as eldest sons of a gentleman of property.
It was a hard bargain; a very hard bargain; but then these boys would jump at it, no doubt; expecting nothing as they did, they’d certainly jump at it. It’s a great point, you see, to come in suddenly, when you expect nothing, to a nice lump sum of five or six thousand!
So much so, indeed, that the real difficulty, he thought, would rather lie in approaching Granville.
After breakfast that morning, however, he tapped his son on the shoulder as he was leaving the table, and said to him, in his distinctly business tone, “Granville, will you step with me into the library for ten minutes’ talk? There’s a small matter of the estate I desire to discuss with you.”
Granville looked back at him with a curiously15 amused air.
“Why, yes,” he said shortly. “It’s a very odd coincidence. But do you know, I was going this morning myself to ask for a chance of ten minutes’ talk with you.”
He rose, and followed his father into the oak-panelled library. The Colonel sat down on one of the uncomfortable library chairs, especially designed, with their knobs and excrescences, to prevent the bare possibility of serious study. Granville took a seat opposite him, across the formal oak table. Colonel Kelmscott paused; and cleared his throat nervously16. Then, with military promptitude, he darted17 straight into the very thick of the fray18.
“Granville,” he said abruptly19, “I want to speak with you about a rather big affair. The fact of it is, I’m going to break the entail. I want to raise some money.”
The son gave a little start of surprise and amusement. “Why, this is very odd,” he exclaimed once more, in an astonished tone. “That’s just the precise thing I wanted to talk about with you.”
Colonel Kelmscott eyed him with an answering start.
“Not debts!” he said slowly. “My boy, my boy, this is bad. Not debts surely, Granville; I never suspected it.”
“Oh, dear no,” Granville answered frankly20. “No debts, you may be sure. But I wanted to feel myself on a satisfactory basis—as to income and so forth21: and I was prepared to pay for my freedom well. To tell you the truth outright22, I want to marry.”
Colonel Kelmscott eyed him close with a very puzzled look. “Not Elma Clifford, my boy,” he said again quickly. “For of course, if it is her, Granville, I need hardly say—”
The young man cut him short with a hasty little laugh. “Elma Clifford,” he repeated, with some scorn in his musical voice, “Oh, dear no, not HER. If it had been her you may be sure there’d be no reason of any sort for breaking the entail. But the fact is this: I dislike allowances one way or the other. I want to feel once for all I’m my own master. I want to marry—not this girl or that, but whom ever I will. I don’t care to come to you with my hat in my hand, asking how much you’ll be kind enough to allow me if I venture to take Miss So-and-so or Miss What-you-may-call-it. And as I know you want money yourself for this new wing you’re thinking of, why, I’m prepared to break the entail at once, and sell whatever building land you think right and proper.”
The father held his breath. What on earth could this mean? “And who is the girl, Granville?” he asked, with unconcealed interest.
“You won’t care to hear,” his son answered carelessly.
Colonel Kelmscott looked across at him with a very red face. “Not some girl who’ll bring disgrace upon your mother, I hope?” he said, with a half-pang of remorse23, remembering Lucy. “Not some young woman beneath your own station in life. For to that, you may be sure, I’ll never consent under any circumstances.”
Granville drew himself up proudly, with a haughty24 smile. He was a Kelmscott, too, as arrogant25 as the best of them.
“No, that’s not the difficulty,” he answered, looking rather amused than annoyed or frightened. “My tastes are NOT low. I hope I know better than to disgrace my family. The lady I want to marry, and for whose sake I wish you to make some arrangement beforehand is—don’t be surprised—well, Gwendoline Gildersleeve.”
“Gwendoline Gildersleeve,” his father echoed, astonished; for there was feud26 between the families, “That rascally27, land-grabbing barrister’s daughter! Why, how on earth do you come to know anything of her, Granville? Nobody in Surrey ever had the impertinence yet to ask me or mine to meet the Gildersleeves anywhere, since that disgraceful behaviour of his about the boundary fences. And I didn’t suppose you’d ever even seen her.”
“Nobody in Surrey ever did ask me to meet her,” Granville answered somewhat curtly28. “But you can’t expect every one in London society to keep watch over the quarrels of every country parish in provincial29 England! It wouldn’t be reasonable. I met Gwendoline, if you want to know, at the Bertrams’, in Berkeley Square, and she and I got on so well together that we’ve—well, we’ve met from time to time in the Park, since our return from town, and we think by this time we may consider ourselves informally engaged to one another.”
Colonel Kelmscott gazed at his son in a perfect access of indignant amazement30. Gilbert Gildersleeve’s daughter! That rascally Q.C.‘s! At any other moment such a proposal would have driven him forthwith into open hostilities31. If Granville chose to marry a girl like that, why, Granville might have lived on what his father would allow him.
Just now, however, with this keen fit of remorse quite fresh upon his soul about poor Lucy’s sons, Colonel Kelmscott was almost disposed to accept the opening thus laid before him by Granville’s proposal.
So he temporized32 for awhile, nursing his chin with his hand, and then, after much discussion, yielded at last a conditional33 consent—conditional upon their mutual34 agreement as to the terms on which the entail was to be finally broken.
“And what sort of arrangement do you propose I should make for your personal maintenance, and this Gildersleeve girl’s household?” the Colonel asked at length, with a very red face, descending35 to details.
His son, without appearing to notice the implied slight to Gwendoline, named the terms that he thought would satisfy him.
“That’s a very stiff sum,” the master of Tilgate retorted; “but perhaps I could manage it; per—haps I could manage it. We must sell the Dowlands farm at once, that’s certain, and I must take the twelve thousand or so the land will fetch for my own use, absolutely and without restriction36.”
“To build the new wing with?” the son put in, with a gesture of assent37.
“To build the new wing with? Why, certainly not,” his father answered angrily. “Am I to bargain with my son what use I’m to make of my own property? Mark my words, I won’t submit to interference. To do precisely38 as I choose with, sir. To roll in if I like! To fling into the sea, if the fancy takes me!”
Granville Kelmscott stared hard at him. Twelve thousand pounds! What on earth could his father mean by this whim39? he wondered. “Twelve thousand pounds is a very big sum to fling away from the estate without a question asked,” he retorted, growing hot “It seems to me, you too closely resemble our ancestors who came over from Holland. In matters of business, you know, the fault of the Dutch is giving too little and asking too much.”
His father glared at him. That’s the worst of this huckstering and higgling with your own flesh and blood. You have to put up with such intolerable insults. But he controlled himself, and continued. The longer he talked, however, the hotter and angrier he became by degrees. And what made him the hottest and angriest of all was the knowledge meanwhile that he was doing it every bit for Granville’s own sake; nay40, more, that consideration for Granville alone had brought him originally into this peck of trouble.
At last he could contain himself with indignation no longer. His temper broke down. He flared41 up and out with it. “Take care what you do!” he cried. “Take care what you say, Granville! I’m not going to be bearded with impunity42 in my den14. If you press me too hard, remember, I’ll ruin all. I can cut you off with a shilling, sir, if I choose—cut you off with a shilling. Yes, and do justice to others I’ve wronged for your sake. Don’t provoke me too far, I say, If you do, you’ll repent43 it.”
“Cut me off with a shilling, sir!” his son answered angrily, rising and staring hard at him. “Why, what do you mean by that? You know you can’t do it, My interest in the estate’s as good as your own. I’m the eldest son—”
He broke off suddenly; for at those fatal words, Colonel Kelmscott’s face, fiery44 red till then, grew instantly blanched45 and white with terror. “Oh, what have I done?” the unhappy man cried, seeing his son’s eyes read some glimpse of the truth too clearly in his look. “Oh, what have I said? Forget it, Granny, forget it! I didn’t mean to go so far as I did in my anger. I was a fool—a fool! I gave way too much. For Heaven’s sake, my boy, forget it, forget it!”
The young man looked across at him with a dazed and puzzled look, yet very full of meaning. “I shall never forget it,” he said slowly. “I shall learn what it means. I don’t know how things stand; but I see you meant it. Do as you like about the entail. It’s no business of mine. Take your pound of flesh, your twelve thousand down, and pay your hush-money! I don’t know whom you bribe, and I have nothing to say to it. I never dragged the honour of the Kelmscotts in the dust. I won’t drag it now. I wash my hands clean from it. I ask no questions. I demand no explanations. I only say this. Until I know what you mean—know whether I’m lawful46 heir to Tilgate Park or not, I won’t marry the girl I meant to marry. I have too much regard for her, and for the honour of our house, to take her on what may prove to be false expectations. Break the entail, I say! Raise your twelve thousand. Pay off your bloodhounds. But never expect me to touch a penny of your money, henceforth and for ever, till I know whether it was yours and mine at all to deal with.”
Colonel Kelmscott bent47 down his proud head meekly48. “As you will, Granville,” he answered, quite broken with remorse, and silenced by shame. “My boy, my boy, I only wanted to save you!”
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1
eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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smote
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| v.猛打，重击，打击( smite的过去式 ) | |
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erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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4
moor
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| n.荒野，沼泽；vt.(使)停泊；vi.停泊 | |
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mien
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| n.风采；态度 | |
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knight
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| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
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entail
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| vt.使承担，使成为必要，需要 | |
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temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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9
bribe
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| n.贿赂；v.向…行贿，买通 | |
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10
anonymous
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| adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的 | |
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benefactor
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| n. 恩人，行善的人，捐助人 | |
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12
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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contingencies
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| n.偶然发生的事故，意外事故( contingency的名词复数 )；以备万一 | |
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den
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| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
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15
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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nervously
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| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
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darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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18
fray
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| v.争吵；打斗；磨损，磨破；n.吵架；打斗 | |
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19
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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outright
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| adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的 | |
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remorse
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| n.痛恨，悔恨，自责 | |
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haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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arrogant
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| adj.傲慢的，自大的 | |
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feud
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| n.长期不和；世仇；v.长期争斗；世代结仇 | |
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rascally
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| adj. 无赖的，恶棍的 adv. 无赖地，卑鄙地 | |
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curtly
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| adv.简短地 | |
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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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amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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hostilities
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| n.战争；敌意(hostility的复数)；敌对状态；战事 | |
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32
temporized
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| v.敷衍( temporize的过去式和过去分词 )；拖延；顺应时势；暂时同意 | |
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33
conditional
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| adj.条件的，带有条件的 | |
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34
mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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restriction
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| n.限制，约束 | |
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assent
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| v.批准，认可；n.批准，认可 | |
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precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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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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nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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41
Flared
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| adj. 端部张开的, 爆发的, 加宽的, 漏斗式的 动词flare的过去式和过去分词 | |
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42
impunity
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| n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除 | |
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43
repent
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| v.悔悟，悔改，忏悔，后悔 | |
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44
fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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45
blanched
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| v.使变白( blanch的过去式 )；使（植物）不见阳光而变白；酸洗（金属）使有光泽；用沸水烫（杏仁等）以便去皮 | |
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46
lawful
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| adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的 | |
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47
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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48
meekly
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| adv.温顺地，逆来顺受地 | |
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