THOUGH resolved to face all out to the last, at whatever desperate hazard, Pierre had not started for the city without some reasonable plans, both with reference to his more immediate1 circumstances, and his ulterior condition.
There resided in the city a cousin of his, Glendinning Stanly, better known in the general family as Glen Stanly, and by Pierre, as Cousin Glen. Like Pierre, he was an only son; his parents had died in his early childhood; and within the present year he had returned from a protracted2 sojourn3 in Europe, to enter, at the age of twenty-one, into the untrammeled possession of a noble property, which in the hands of faithful guardians5, had largely accumulated.
In their boyhood and earlier adolescence6, Pierre and Glen had cherished a much more than cousinly attachment7. At the age of ten, they had furnished an example of the truth, that the friendship of fine-hearted, generous boys, nurtured8 amid the romance-engendering comforts and elegancies of life, sometimes transcends9 the bounds of mere10 boyishness, and revels11 for a while in the empyrean of a love which only comes short, by one degree, of the sweetest sentiment entertained between the sexes. Nor is this boy-love without the occasional fillips and spicinesses, which at times, by an apparent abatement12, enhance the permanent delights of those more advanced lovers who love beneath the cestus of Venus. Jealousies13 are felt. The sight of another lad too much consorting15 with the boy's beloved object, shall fill him with emotions akin16 to those of Othello's; a fancied slight, or lessening17 of the every-day indications of warm feelings, shall prompt him to bitter upbraidings and reproaches; or shall plunge18 him into evil moods, for which grim solitude19 only is congenial.
Nor are the letters of Aphroditean devotees more charged with headlong vows20 and protestations, more cross-written and crammed21 with discursive22 sentimentalities, more undeviating in their semi-weekliness, or dayliness, as the case may be, than are the love-friendship missives of boys. Among those bundles of papers which Pierre, in an ill hour, so frantically23 destroyed in the chamber24 of the inn, were two large packages of letters, densely25 written, and in many cases inscribed26 crosswise throughout with red ink upon black; so that the love in those letters was two layers deep, and one pen and one pigment27 were insufficient28 to paint it. The first package contained the letters of Glen to Pierre, the other those of Pierre to Glen, which, just prior to Glen's departure for Europe, Pierre had obtained from him, in order to re-read them in his absence, and so fortify29 himself the more in his affection, by reviving reference to the young, ardent30 hours of its earliest manifestations31.
But as the advancing fruit itself extrudes32 the beautiful blossom, so in many cases, does the eventual33 love for the other sex forever dismiss the preliminary love-friendship of boys. The mere outer friendship may in some degree—greater or less—survive; but the singular love in it has perishingly dropped away.
If in the eye of unyielding reality and truth, the earthly heart of man do indeed ever fix upon some one woman, to whom alone, thenceforth eternally to be a devotee, without a single shadow of the misgiving35 of its faith; and who, to him, does perfectly36 embody37 his finest, loftiest dream of feminine loveliness, if this indeed be so—and may Heaven grant that it be—nevertheless, in metropolitan38 cases, the love of the most single-eyed lover, almost invariably, is nothing more than the ultimate settling of innumerable wandering glances upon some one specific object; as admonished39, that the wonderful scope and variety of female loveliness, if too long suffered to sway us without decision, shall finally confound all power of selection. The confirmed bachelor is, in America, at least, quite as often the victim of a too profound appreciation40 of the infinite charmingness of woman, as made solitary41 for life by the legitimate42 empire of a cold and tasteless temperament43.
Though the peculiar44 heart-longings pertaining45 to his age, had at last found their glowing response in the bosom46 of Lucy; yet for some period prior to that, Pierre had not been insensible to the miscellaneous promptings of the passion. So that even before he became a declarative lover, Love had yet made him her general votary47; and so already there had gradually come a cooling over that ardent sentiment which in earlier years he had cherished for Glen.
All round and round does the world lie as in a sharp-shooter's ambush48, to pick off the beautiful illusions of youth, by the pitiless cracking rifles of the realities of the age. If the general love for women, had in Pierre sensibly modified his particular sentiment toward Glen; neither had the thousand nameless fascinations49 of the then brilliant paradises of France and Italy, failed to exert their seductive influence on many of the previous feelings of Glen. For as the very best advantages of life are not without some envious50 drawback, so it is among the evils of enlarged foreign travel, that in young and unsolid minds, it dislodges some of the finest feelings of the home-born nature; replacing them with a fastidious superciliousness51, which like the alledged bigoted52 Federalism of old times would not—according to a political legend—grind its daily coffee in any mill save of European manufacture, and was satirically said to have thought of importing European air for domestic consumption. The mutually curtailed53, lessening, long-postponed, and at last altogether ceasing letters of Pierre and Glen were the melancholy54 attestations of a fact, which perhaps neither of them took very severely56 to heart, as certainly, concerning it, neither took the other to task.
In the earlier periods of that strange transition from the generous impulsiveness57 of youth to the provident58 circumspectness of age, there generally intervenes a brief pause of unpleasant reconsidering; when finding itself all wide of its former spontaneous self, the soul hesitates to commit itself wholly to selfishness; more than repents59 its wanderings;—yet all this is but transient; and again hurried on by the swift current of life, the prompt-hearted boy scarce longer is to be recognized in matured man,—very slow to feel, deliberate even in love, and statistical60 even in piety61. During the sway of this peculiar period, the boy shall still make some strenuous62 efforts to retrieve63 his departing spontaneities; but so alloyed are all such endeavors with the incipiencies of selfishness, that they were best not made at all; since too often they seem but empty and self-deceptive sallies, or still worse, the merest hypocritical assumptions.
Upon the return of Glen from abroad, the commonest courtesy, not to say the blood-relation between them, prompted Pierre to welcome him home, with a letter, which though not over-long, and little enthusiastic, still breathed a spirit of cousinly consideration and kindness, pervadingly touched by the then naturally frank and all-attractive spirit of Pierre. To this, the less earnest and now Europeanized Glen had replied in a letter all sudden suavity65; and in a strain of artistic66 artlessness, mourned the apparent decline of their friendship; yet fondly trusted that now, notwithstanding their long separation, it would revive with added sincerity68. Yet upon accidentally fixing his glance upon the opening salutation of this delicate missive, Pierre thought he perceived certain, not wholly disguisable chirographic tokens, that the "My very dear Pierre," with which the letter seemed to have been begun, had originally been written "Dear Pierre;" but that when all was concluded, and Glen's signature put to it, then the ardent words "My very" had been prefixed to the reconsidered "Dear Pierre;" a casual supposition, which possibly, however unfounded, materially retarded70 any answering warmth in Pierre, lest his generous flame should only embrace a flaunted71 feather. Nor was this idea altogether unreinforced, when on the reception of a second, and now half-business letter (of which mixed sort nearly all the subsequent ones were), from Glen, he found that the "My very dear Pierre" had already retreated into "My dear Pierre;" and on a third occasion, into "Dear Pierre;" and on a fourth, had made a forced and very spirited advanced march up to "My dearest Pierre." All of which fluctuations72 augured73 ill for the determinateness of that love, which, however immensely devoted74 to one cause, could yet hoist75 and sail under the flags of all nations. Nor could he but now applaud a still subsequent letter from Glen, which abruptly76, and almost with apparent indecorousness, under the circumstances, commenced the strain of friendship without any overture78 of salutation whatever; as if at last, owing to its infinite delicateness, entirely79 hopeless of precisely80 defining the nature of their mystical love, Glen chose rather to leave that precise definition to the sympathetical heart and imagination of Pierre; while he himself would go on to celebrate the general relation, by many a sugared sentence of miscellaneous devotion. It was a little curious and rather sardonically81 diverting, to compare these masterly, yet not wholly successful, and indeterminate tactics of the accomplished82 Glen, with the unfaltering stream of Beloved Pierres, which not only flowed along the top margin83 of all his earlier letters, but here and there, from their subterranean84 channel, flashed out in bright intervals85, through all the succeeding lines. Nor had the chance recollection of these things at all restrained the reckless hand of Pierre, when he threw the whole package of letters, both new and old, into that most honest and summary of all elements, which is neither a respecter of persons, nor a finical critic of what manner of writings it burns; but like ultimate Truth itself, of which it is the eloquent87 symbol, consumes all, and only consumes.
When the betrothment of Pierre to Lucy had become an acknowledged thing, the courtly Glen, besides the customary felicitations upon that event, had not omitted so fit an opportunity to re-tender to his cousin all his previous jars of honey and treacle88, accompanied by additional boxes of candied citron and plums. Pierre thanked him kindly89; but in certain little roguish ambiguities90 begged leave, on the ground of cloying91, to return him inclosed by far the greater portion of his present; whose non-substantialness was allegorically typified in the containing letter itself, prepaid with only the usual postage.
True love, as every one knows, will still withstand many repulses93, even though rude. But whether it was the love or the politeness of Glen, which on this occasion proved invincible94, is a matter we will not discuss. Certain it was, that quite undaunted, Glen nobly returned to the charge, and in a very prompt and unexpected answer, extended to Pierre all the courtesies of the general city, and all the hospitalities of five sumptuous95 chambers96, which he and his luxurious97 environments contrived98 nominally99 to occupy in the most fashionable private hotel of a very opulent town. Nor did Glen rest here; but like Napoleon, now seemed bent101 upon gaining the battle by throwing all his regiments102 upon one point of attack, and gaining that point at all hazards. Hearing of some rumor103 at the tables of his relatives that the day was being fixed69 for the positive nuptials104 of Pierre; Glen called all his Parisian portfolios105 for his rosiest106 sheet, and with scented107 ink, and a pen of gold, indited108 a most burnished109 and redolent letter, which, after invoking110 all the blessings111 of Apollo and Venus, and the Nine Muses112, and the Cardinal113 Virtues114 upon the coming event; concluded at last with a really magnificent testimonial to his love.
According to this letter, among his other real estate in the city, Glen had inherited a very charming, little, old house, completely furnished in the style of the last century, in a quarter of the city which, though now not so garishly116 fashionable as of yore, still in its quiet secludedness, possessed117 great attractions for the retired118 billings and cooings of a honeymoon119. Indeed he begged leave now to christen it the Cooery, and if after his wedding jaunt120, Pierre would deign121 to visit the city with his bride for a month or two's sojourn, then the Cooery would be but too happy in affording him a harbor. His sweet cousin need be under no apprehension122. Owing to the absence of any fit applicant123 for it, the house had now long been without a tenant124, save an old, confidential125, bachelor clerk of his father's, who on a nominal100 rent, and more by way of safe-keeping to the house than any thing else, was now hanging up his well-furbished hat in its hall. This accommodating old clerk would quickly unpeg his beaver126 at the first hint of new occupants. Glen would charge himself with supplying the house in advance with a proper retinue127 of servants; fires would be made in the long-unoccupied chambers; the venerable, grotesque128, old mahoganies, and marbles, and mirror-frames, and moldings could be very soon dusted and burnished; the kitchen was amply provided with the necessary utensils129 for cooking; the strong box of old silver immemorially pertaining to the mansion130, could be readily carted round from the vaults131 of the neighboring Bank; while the hampers132 of old china, still retained in the house, needed but little trouble to unpack133; so that silver and china would soon stand assorted134 in their appropriate closets; at the turning of a faucet135 in the cellar, the best of the city's water would not fail to contribute its ingredient to the concocting136 of a welcoming glass of negus before retiring on the first night of their arrival.
The over-fastidiousness of some unhealthily critical minds, as well as the moral pusillanimity137 of others, equally bars the acceptance of effectually substantial favors from persons whose motive138 in proffering139 them, is not altogether clear and unimpeachable140; and toward whom, perhaps, some prior coolness or indifference141 has been shown. But when the acceptance of such a favor would be really convenient and desirable to the one party, and completely unattended with any serious distress142 to the other; there would seem to be no sensible objection to an immediate embrace of the offer. And when the acceptor is in rank and fortune the general equal of the profferer, and perhaps his superior, so that any courtesy he receives, can be amply returned in the natural course of future events, then all motives143 to decline are very materially lessened144. And as for the thousand inconceivable finicalnesses of small pros145 and cons14 about imaginary fitnesses, and proprieties146, and self-consistencies; thank heaven, in the hour of heart-health, none such shilly-shallying sail-trimmers ever balk147 the onward148 course of a bluff-minded man. He takes the world as it is; and carelessly accommodates himself to its whimsical humors; nor ever feels any compunction at receiving the greatest possible favors from those who are as able to grant, as free to bestow149. He himself bestows150 upon occasion; so that, at bottom, common charity steps in to dictate151 a favorable consideration for all possible profferings; seeing that the acceptance shall only the more enrich him, indirectly152, for new and larger beneficences of his own.
And as for those who noways pretend with themselves to regulate their deportment by considerations of genuine benevolence153, and to whom such courteous154 profferings hypocritically come from persons whom they suspect for secret enemies; then to such minds not only will their own worldly tactics at once forbid the uncivil blank repulse92 of such offers; but if they are secretly malicious155 as well as frigid156, or if they are at all capable of being fully157 gratified by the sense of concealed158 superiority and mastership (which precious few men are) then how delightful159 for such persons under the guise160 of mere acquiescence161 in his own voluntary civilities, to make genteel use of their foe162. For one would like to know, what were foes163 made for except to be used? In the rude ages men hunted and javelined the tiger, because they hated him for a mischief-minded wild-beast; but in these enlightened times, though we love the tiger as little as ever, still we mostly hunt him for the sake of his skin. A wise man then will wear his tiger; every morning put on his tiger for a robe to keep him warm and adorn164 him. In this view, foes are far more desirable than friends; for who would hunt and kill his own faithful affectionate dog for the sake of his skin? and is a dog's skin as valuable as a tiger's? Cases there are where it becomes soberly advisable, by direct arts to convert some well-wishers into foes. It is false that in point of policy a man should never make enemies. As well-wishers some men may not only be nugatory165 but positive obstacles in your peculiar plans; but as foes you may subordinately cement them into your general design.
But into these ulterior refinements166 of cool Tuscan policy, Pierre as yet had never become initiated167; his experiences hitherto not having been varied168 and ripe enough for that; besides, he had altogether too much generous blood in his heart. Nevertheless, thereafter, in a less immature169 hour, though still he shall not have the heart to practice upon such maxims170 as the above, yet shall he have the brain thoroughly171 to comprehend their practicability; which is not always the case. And generally, in worldly wisdom, men will deny to one the possession of all insight, which one does not by his every-day outward life practically reveal. It is a very common error of some unscrupulously infidel-minded, selfish, unprincipled, or downright knavish172 men, to suppose that believing men, or benevolent173-hearted men, or good men, do not know enough to be unscrupulously selfish, do not know enough to be unscrupulous knaves174. And thus—thanks to the world!—are there many spies in the world's camp, who are mistaken for strolling simpletons. And these strolling simpletons seem to act upon the principle, that in certain things, we do not so much learn, by showing that already we know a vast deal, as by negatively seeming rather ignorant. But here we press upon the frontiers of that sort of wisdom, which it is very well to possess, but not sagacious to show that you possess. Still, men there are, who having quite done with the world, all its mere worldly contents are become so far indifferent, that they care little of what mere worldly imprudence they may be guilty.
Now, if it were not conscious considerations like the really benevolent or neutral ones first mentioned above, it was certainly something akin to them, which had induced Pierre to return a straightforward175, manly176, and entire acceptance to his cousin of the offer of the house; thanking him, over and over, for his most supererogatory kindness concerning the pre-engagement of servants and so forth34, and the setting in order of the silver and china; but reminding him, nevertheless, that he had overlooked all special mention of wines, and begged him to store the bins177 with a few of the very best brands. He would likewise be obliged, if he would personally purchase at a certain celebrated178 grocer's, a small bag of undoubted Mocha coffee; but Glen need not order it to be roasted or ground, because Pierre preferred that both those highly important and flavor-deciding operations should be performed instantaneously previous to the final boiling and serving. Nor did he say that he would pay for the wines and the Mocha; he contented179 himself with merely stating the remissness180 on the part of his cousin, and pointing out the best way of remedying it.
He concluded his letter by intimating that though the rumor of a set day, and a near one, for his nuptials, was unhappily but ill-founded, yet he would not hold Glen's generous offer as merely based upon that presumption181, and consequently falling with it; but on the contrary, would consider it entirely good for whatever time it might prove available to Pierre. He was betrothed182 beyond a peradventure; and hoped to be married ere death. Meanwhile, Glen would further oblige him by giving the confidential clerk a standing67 notice to quit.
Though at first quite amazed at this letter,—for indeed, his offer might possibly have proceeded as much from ostentation183 as any thing else, nor had he dreamed of so unhesitating an acceptance,—Pierre's cousin was too much of a precocious184 young man of the world, disclosedly to take it in any other than a very friendly, and cousinly, and humorous, and yet practical way; which he plainly evinced by a reply far more sincere and every way creditable, apparently185, both to his heart and head, than any letter he had written to Pierre since the days of their boyhood. And thus, by the bluffness186 and, in some sort, uncompunctuousness of Pierre, this very artificial youth was well betrayed into an act of effective kindness; being forced now to drop the empty mask of ostentation, and put on the solid hearty187 features of a genuine face. And just so, are some people in the world to be joked into occasional effective goodness, when all coyness, and coolness, all resentments188, and all solemn preaching, would fail.
II.
BUT little would we comprehend the peculiar relation between Pierre and Glen—a relation involving in the end the most serious results—were there not here thrown over the whole equivocal, preceding account of it, another and more comprehensive equivocalness, which shall absorb all minor189 ones in itself; and so make one pervading64 ambiguity190 the only possible explanation for all the ambiguous details.
It had long been imagined by Pierre, that prior to his own special devotion to Lucy, the splendid Glen had not been entirely insensible to her surprising charms. Yet this conceit191 in its incipiency192, he knew not how to account for. Assuredly his cousin had never in the slightest conceivable hint betrayed it; and as for Lucy, the same intuitive delicacy193 which forever forbade Pierre to question her on the subject, did equally close her own voluntary lips. Between Pierre and Lucy, delicateness put her sacred signet on this chest of secrecy194; which like the wax of an executor upon a desk, though capable of being melted into nothing by the smallest candle, for all this, still possesses to the reverent195 the prohibitive virtue115 of inexorable bars and bolts.
If Pierre superficially considered the deportment of Glen toward him, therein he could find no possible warrant for indulging the suspicious idea. Doth jealousy196 smile so benignantly and offer its house to the bride? Still, on the other hand, to quit the mere surface of the deportment of Glen, and penetrate197 beneath its brocaded vesture; there Pierre sometimes seemed to see the long-lurking and yet unhealed wound of all a rejected lover's most rankling198 detestation of a supplanting199 rival, only intensified200 by their former friendship, and the unimpairable blood-relation between them. Now, viewed by the light of this master-solution, all the singular enigmas201 in Glen; his capriciousness in the matter of the epistolary—"Dear Pierres" and "Dearest Pierres;" the mercurial202 fall from the fever-heat of cordiality, to below the Zero of indifference; then the contrary rise to fever-heat; and, above all, his emphatic203 redundancy of devotion so soon as the positive espousals of Pierre seemed on the point of consummation; thus read, all these riddles204 apparently found their cunning solution. For the deeper that some men feel a secret and poignant205 feeling, the higher they pile the belying206 surfaces. The friendly deportment of Glen then was to be considered as in direct proportion to his hoarded207 hate; and the climax208 of that hate was evinced in throwing open his house to the bride. Yet if hate was the abstract cause, hate could not be the immediate motive of the conduct of Glen. Is hate so hospitable209? The immediate motive of Glen then must be the intense desire to disguise from the wide world, a fact unspeakably humiliating to his gold-laced and haughty210 soul: the fact that in the profoundest desire of his heart, Pierre had so victoriously211 supplanted212 him. Yet was it that very artful deportment in Glen, which Glen profoundly assumed to this grand end; that consummately213 artful deportment it was, which first obtruded214 upon Pierre the surmise215, which by that identical method his cousin was so absorbedly intent upon rendering216 impossible to him. Hence we here see that as in the negative way the secrecy of any strong emotion is exceedingly difficult to be kept lastingly217 private to one's own bosom by any human being; so it is one of the most fruitless undertakings218 in the world, to attempt by affirmative assumptions to tender to men, the precisely opposite emotion as yours. Therefore the final wisdom decrees, that if you have aught which you desire to keep a secret to yourself, be a Quietist there, and do and say nothing at all about it. For among all the poor chances, this is the least poor. Pretensions219 and substitutions are only the recourse of under-graduates in the science of the world; in which science, on his own ground, my Lord Chesterfield, is the poorest possible preceptor. The earliest instinct of the child, and the ripest experience of age, unite in affirming simplicity220 to be the truest and profoundest part for man. Likewise this simplicity is so universal and all-containing as a rule for human life, that the subtlest bad man, and the purest good man, as well as the profoundest wise man, do all alike present it on that side which they socially turn to the inquisitive221 and unscrupulous world.
III.
NOW the matter of the house had remained in precisely the above-stated awaiting predicament, down to the time of Pierre's great life-revolution, the receipt of Isabel's letter. And though, indeed, Pierre could not but naturally hesitate at still accepting the use of the dwelling222, under the widely different circumstances in which he now found himself; and though at first the strongest possible spontaneous objections on the ground of personal independence, pride, and general scorn, all clamorously declared in his breast against such a course; yet, finally, the same uncompunctuous, ever-adaptive sort of motive which had induced his original acceptation, prompted him, in the end, still to maintain it unrevoked. It would at once set him at rest from all immediate tribulations223 of mere bed and board; and by affording him a shelter, for an indefinite term, enable him the better to look about him, and consider what could best be done to further the permanent comfort of those whom Fate had intrusted to his charge.
Irrespective, it would seem, of that wide general awaking of his profounder being, consequent upon the extraordinary trials he had so aggregatively encountered of late; the thought was indignantly suggested to him, that the world must indeed be organically despicable, if it held that an offer, superfluously224 accepted in the hour of his abundance, should now, be rejected in that of his utmost need. And without at all imputing225 any singularity of benevolent-mindedness to his cousin, he did not for a moment question, that under the changed aspect of affairs, Glen would at least pretend the more eagerly to welcome him to the house, now that the mere thing of apparent courtesy had become transformed into something like a thing of positive and urgent necessity. When Pierre also considered that not himself only was concerned, but likewise two peculiarly helpless fellow-beings, one of them bound to him from the first by the most sacred ties, and lately inspiring an emotion which passed all human precedent226 in its mixed and mystical import; these added considerations completely overthrew227 in Pierre all remaining dictates228 of his vague pride and false independence, if such indeed had ever been his.
Though the interval86 elapsing between his decision to depart with his companions for the city, and his actual start in the coach, had not enabled him to receive any replying word from his cousin; and though Pierre knew better than to expect it; yet a preparative letter to him he had sent; and did not doubt that this proceeding229 would prove well-advised in the end.
In naturally strong-minded men, however young and inexperienced in some things, those great and sudden emergencies, which but confound the timid and the weak, only serve to call forth all their generous latentness, and teach them, as by inspiration, extraordinary maxims of conduct, whose counterpart, in other men, is only the result of a long, variously-tried and pains-taking life. One of those maxims is, that when, through whatever cause, we are suddenly translated from opulence230 to need, or from a fair fame to a foul231; and straightway it becomes necessary not to contradict the thing—so far at least as the mere imputation232 goes,—to some one previously233 entertaining high conventional regard for us, and from whom we would now solicit234 some genuine helping235 offices; then, all explanation or palation should be scorned; promptness, boldness, utter gladiatorianism, and a defiant236 non-humility should mark every syllable237 we breathe, and every line we trace.
The preparative letter of Pierre to Glen, plunged238 at once into the very heart of the matter, and was perhaps the briefest letter he had ever written him. Though by no means are such characteristics invariable exponents239 of the predominant mood or general disposition240 of a man (since so accidental a thing as a numb241 finger, or a bad quill242, or poor ink, or squalid paper, or a rickety desk may produce all sorts of modifications), yet in the present instance, the handwriting of Pierre happened plainly to attest55 and corroborate243 the spirit of his communication. The sheet was large; but the words were placarded upon it in heavy though rapid lines, only six or eight to the page. And as the footman of a haughty visitor—some Count or Duke—announces the chariot of his lord by a thunderous knock on the portal; so to Glen did Pierre, in the broad, sweeping244, and prodigious245 superscription of his letter, forewarn him what manner of man was on the road.
In the moment of strong feeling a wonderful condensativeness points the tongue and pen; so that ideas, then enunciated246 sharp and quick as minute-guns, in some other hour of unruffledness or unstimulatedness, require considerable time and trouble to verbally recall.
Not here and now can we set down the precise contents of Pierre's letter, without a tautology247 illy doing justice to the ideas themselves. And though indeed the dread248 of tautology be the continual torment249 of some earnest minds, and, as such, is surely a weakness in them; and though no wise man will wonder at conscientious250 Virgil all eager at death to burn his ?niad for a monstrous251 heap of inefficient252 superfluity; yet not to dread tautology at times only belongs to those enviable dunces, whom the partial God hath blessed, over all the earth, with the inexhaustible self-riches of vanity, and folly253, and a blind self-complacency.
Some rumor of the discontinuance of his betrothment to Lucy Tartan; of his already consummated254 marriage with a poor and friendless orphan255; of his mother's disowning him consequent upon these events; such rumors256, Pierre now wrote to his cousin, would very probably, in the parlors257 of his city-relatives and acquaintances, precede his arrival in town. But he hinted no word of any possible commentary on these things. He simply went on to say, that now, through the fortune of life—which was but the proverbially unreliable fortune of war—he was, for the present, thrown entirely upon his own resources, both for his own support and that of his wife, as well as for the temporary maintenance of a girl, whom he had lately had excellent reason for taking under his especial protection. He proposed a permanent residence in the city; not without some nearly quite settled plans as to the procuring258 of a competent income, without any ulterior reference to any member of their wealthy and widely ramified family. The house, whose temporary occupancy Glen had before so handsomely proffered259 him, would now be doubly and trebly desirable to him. But the pre-engaged servants, and the old china, and the old silver, and the old wines, and the Mocha, were now become altogether unnecessary. Pierre would merely take the place—for a short interval—of the worthy260 old clerk; and, so far as Glen was concerned, simply stand guardian4 of the dwelling, till his plans were matured. His cousin had originally made his most bounteous261 overture, to welcome the coming of the presumed bride of Pierre; and though another lady had now taken her place at the altar, yet Pierre would still regard the offer of Glen as impersonal262 in that respect, and bearing equal reference to any young lady, who should prove her claim to the possessed hand of Pierre.
Since there was no universal law of opinion in such matters, Glen, on general worldly grounds, might not consider the real Mrs. Glendinning altogether so suitable a match for Pierre, as he possibly might have held numerous other young ladies in his eye: nevertheless, Glen would find her ready to return with sincerity all his cousinly regard and attention. In conclusion, Pierre said, that he and his party meditated263 an immediate departure, and would very probably arrive in town in eight-and-forty hours after the mailing of the present letter. He therefore begged Glen to see the more indispensable domestic appliances of the house set in some little order against their arrival; to have the rooms aired and lighted; and also forewarn the confidential clerk of what he might soon expect. Then, without any tapering264 sequel of—"Yours, very truly and faithfully, my dear Cousin Glen," he finished the letter with the abrupt77 and isolated265 signature of—"PIERRE."
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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protracted
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| adj.拖延的；延长的v.拖延“protract”的过去式和过去分词 | |
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sojourn
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| v./n.旅居，寄居；逗留 | |
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guardian
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| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
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guardians
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| 监护人( guardian的名词复数 )； 保护者，维护者 | |
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adolescence
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| n.青春期，青少年 | |
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attachment
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| n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附 | |
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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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9
transcends
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| 超出或超越（经验、信念、描写能力等）的范围( transcend的第三人称单数 )； 优于或胜过… | |
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10
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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11
revels
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| n.作乐( revel的名词复数 )；狂欢；着迷；陶醉v.作乐( revel的第三人称单数 )；狂欢；着迷；陶醉 | |
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12
abatement
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| n.减(免)税，打折扣，冲销 | |
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jealousies
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| n.妒忌( jealousy的名词复数 )；妒羡 | |
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cons
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| n.欺骗，骗局( con的名词复数 )v.诈骗，哄骗( con的第三人称单数 ) | |
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15
consorting
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| v.结伴( consort的现在分词 )；交往；相称；调和 | |
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16
akin
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| adj.同族的，类似的 | |
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17
lessening
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| 减轻，减少，变小 | |
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18
plunge
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| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
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19
solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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20
vows
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| 誓言( vow的名词复数 )； 郑重宣布，许愿 | |
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21
crammed
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| adj.塞满的，挤满的；大口地吃；快速贪婪地吃v.把…塞满；填入；临时抱佛脚( cram的过去式) | |
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22
discursive
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| adj.离题的，无层次的 | |
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23
frantically
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| ad.发狂地, 发疯地 | |
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24
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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25
densely
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| ad.密集地；浓厚地 | |
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26
inscribed
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| v.写，刻( inscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；内接 | |
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27
pigment
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| n.天然色素，干粉颜料 | |
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28
insufficient
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| adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的 | |
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29
fortify
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| v.强化防御，为…设防；加强，强化 | |
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30
ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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31
manifestations
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| n.表示，显示（manifestation的复数形式） | |
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32
extrudes
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| v.挤压出( extrude的第三人称单数 )；挤压成；突出；伸出 | |
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33
eventual
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| adj.最后的，结局的，最终的 | |
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34
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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35
misgiving
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| n.疑虑，担忧，害怕 | |
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36
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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37
embody
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| vt.具体表达，使具体化；包含，收录 | |
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38
metropolitan
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| adj.大城市的，大都会的 | |
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39
admonished
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| v.劝告( admonish的过去式和过去分词 )；训诫；（温和地）责备；轻责 | |
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40
appreciation
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| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
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41
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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42
legitimate
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| adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法 | |
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43
temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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44
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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45
pertaining
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| 与…有关系的，附属…的，为…固有的(to) | |
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46
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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47
votary
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| n.崇拜者；爱好者；adj.誓约的，立誓任圣职的 | |
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48
ambush
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| n.埋伏(地点)；伏兵；v.埋伏；伏击 | |
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49
fascinations
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| n.魅力( fascination的名词复数 )；有魅力的东西；迷恋；陶醉 | |
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50
envious
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| adj.嫉妒的，羡慕的 | |
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51
superciliousness
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| n.高傲，傲慢 | |
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52
bigoted
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| adj.固执己见的，心胸狭窄的 | |
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53
curtailed
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| v.截断，缩短( curtail的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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54
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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55
attest
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| vt.证明，证实；表明 | |
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56
severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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57
impulsiveness
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| n.冲动 | |
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58
provident
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| adj.为将来做准备的，有先见之明的 | |
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59
repents
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| 对（自己的所为）感到懊悔或忏悔( repent的第三人称单数 ) | |
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60
statistical
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| adj.统计的，统计学的 | |
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61
piety
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| n.虔诚，虔敬 | |
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62
strenuous
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| adj.奋发的，使劲的；紧张的；热烈的，狂热的 | |
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63
retrieve
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| vt.重新得到，收回；挽回，补救；检索 | |
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64
pervading
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| v.遍及，弥漫( pervade的现在分词 ) | |
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65
suavity
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| n.温和；殷勤 | |
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66
artistic
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| adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的 | |
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67
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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68
sincerity
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| n.真诚，诚意；真实 | |
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69
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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70
retarded
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| a.智力迟钝的，智力发育迟缓的 | |
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71
flaunted
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| v.炫耀，夸耀( flaunt的过去式和过去分词 )；有什么能耐就施展出来 | |
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72
fluctuations
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| 波动，涨落，起伏( fluctuation的名词复数 ) | |
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73
augured
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| v.预示，预兆，预言( augur的过去式和过去分词 )；成为预兆；占卜 | |
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74
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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75
hoist
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| n.升高，起重机，推动；v.升起，升高，举起 | |
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76
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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77
abrupt
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| adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的 | |
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78
overture
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| n.前奏曲、序曲，提议，提案，初步交涉 | |
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79
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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80
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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81
sardonically
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| adv.讽刺地，冷嘲地 | |
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82
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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83
margin
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| n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘 | |
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84
subterranean
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| adj.地下的，地表下的 | |
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85
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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86
interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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87
eloquent
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| adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的 | |
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88
treacle
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| n.糖蜜 | |
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89
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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90
ambiguities
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| n.歧义( ambiguity的名词复数 )；意义不明确；模棱两可的意思；模棱两可的话 | |
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91
cloying
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| adj.甜得发腻的 | |
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92
repulse
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| n.击退，拒绝；vt.逐退，击退，拒绝 | |
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93
repulses
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| v.击退( repulse的第三人称单数 )；驳斥；拒绝 | |
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94
invincible
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| adj.不可征服的，难以制服的 | |
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95
sumptuous
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| adj.豪华的，奢侈的，华丽的 | |
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96
chambers
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| n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅 | |
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97
luxurious
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| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
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98
contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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99
nominally
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| 在名义上，表面地； 应名儿 | |
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100
nominal
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| adj.名义上的；(金额、租金)微不足道的 | |
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101
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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102
regiments
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| （军队的）团( regiment的名词复数 )； 大量的人或物 | |
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103
rumor
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| n.谣言，谣传，传说 | |
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104
nuptials
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| n.婚礼；婚礼( nuptial的名词复数 ) | |
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105
portfolios
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| n.投资组合( portfolio的名词复数 )；（保险）业务量；（公司或机构提供的）系列产品；纸夹 | |
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106
rosiest
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| adj.玫瑰色的( rosy的最高级 )；愉快的；乐观的；一切都称心如意 | |
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107
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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108
indited
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| v.写（文章，信等）创作，赋诗，创作( indite的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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109
burnished
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| adj.抛光的，光亮的v.擦亮（金属等），磨光( burnish的过去式和过去分词 )；被擦亮，磨光 | |
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110
invoking
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| v.援引( invoke的现在分词 )；行使（权利等）；祈求救助；恳求 | |
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111
blessings
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| n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福 | |
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112
muses
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| v.沉思，冥想( muse的第三人称单数 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
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113
cardinal
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| n.(天主教的)红衣主教；adj.首要的，基本的 | |
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114
virtues
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| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
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115
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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116
garishly
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| adv.鲜艳夺目地，俗不可耐地；华丽地 | |
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117
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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118
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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119
honeymoon
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| n.蜜月（假期）；vi.度蜜月 | |
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120
jaunt
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| v.短程旅游；n.游览 | |
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121
deign
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| v. 屈尊, 惠允 ( 做某事) | |
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122
apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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123
applicant
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| n.申请人，求职者，请求者 | |
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124
tenant
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| n.承租人；房客；佃户；v.租借，租用 | |
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125
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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126
beaver
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| n.海狸，河狸 | |
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127
retinue
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| n.侍从；随员 | |
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128
grotesque
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| adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物） | |
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129
utensils
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| 器具，用具，器皿( utensil的名词复数 )； 器物 | |
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130
mansion
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| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
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131
vaults
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| n.拱顶( vault的名词复数 )；地下室；撑物跳高；墓穴 | |
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132
hampers
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| 妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的第三人称单数 ) | |
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133
unpack
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| vt.打开包裹（或行李），卸货 | |
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134
assorted
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| adj.各种各样的，各色俱备的 | |
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135
faucet
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| n.水龙头 | |
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136
concocting
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| v.将（尤指通常不相配合的）成分混合成某物( concoct的现在分词 )；调制；编造；捏造 | |
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137
pusillanimity
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| n.无气力，胆怯 | |
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138
motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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139
proffering
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| v.提供，贡献，提出( proffer的现在分词 ) | |
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140
unimpeachable
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| adj.无可指责的；adv.无可怀疑地 | |
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141
indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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142
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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143
motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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144
lessened
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| 减少的，减弱的 | |
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145
pros
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| abbr.prosecuting 起诉；prosecutor 起诉人；professionals 自由职业者；proscenium （舞台）前部n.赞成的意见( pro的名词复数 )；赞成的理由；抵偿物；交换物 | |
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146
proprieties
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| n.礼仪，礼节；礼貌( propriety的名词复数 )；规矩；正当；合适 | |
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147
balk
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| n.大方木料；v.妨碍；不愿前进或从事某事 | |
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148
onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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149
bestow
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| v.把…赠与，把…授予；花费 | |
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150
bestows
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| 赠给，授予( bestow的第三人称单数 ) | |
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151
dictate
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| v.口授；(使)听写；指令，指示，命令 | |
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152
indirectly
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| adv.间接地，不直接了当地 | |
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153
benevolence
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| n.慈悲，捐助 | |
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154
courteous
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| adj.彬彬有礼的，客气的 | |
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155
malicious
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| adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的 | |
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156
frigid
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| adj.寒冷的，凛冽的；冷淡的；拘禁的 | |
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157
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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158
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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159
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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160
guise
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| n.外表，伪装的姿态 | |
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161
acquiescence
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| n.默许；顺从 | |
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162
foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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163
foes
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| 敌人，仇敌( foe的名词复数 ) | |
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164
adorn
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| vt.使美化，装饰 | |
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165
nugatory
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| adj.琐碎的，无价值的 | |
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166
refinements
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| n.（生活）风雅；精炼( refinement的名词复数 )；改良品；细微的改良；优雅或高贵的动作 | |
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167
initiated
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| n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入 | |
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168
varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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169
immature
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| adj.未成熟的，发育未全的，未充分发展的 | |
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170
maxims
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| n.格言，座右铭( maxim的名词复数 ) | |
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171
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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172
knavish
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| adj.无赖（似）的，不正的；刁诈 | |
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173
benevolent
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| adj.仁慈的，乐善好施的 | |
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174
knaves
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| n.恶棍，无赖( knave的名词复数 )；（纸牌中的）杰克 | |
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175
straightforward
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|
| adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的 | |
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176
manly
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| adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地 | |
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177
bins
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| n.大储藏箱( bin的名词复数 )；宽口箱（如面包箱，垃圾箱等）v.扔掉，丢弃( bin的第三人称单数 ) | |
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178
celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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179
contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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180
remissness
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| n.玩忽职守；马虎；怠慢；不小心 | |
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181
presumption
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| n.推测，可能性，冒昧，放肆，[法律]推定 | |
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182
betrothed
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| n. 已订婚者 动词betroth的过去式和过去分词 | |
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183
ostentation
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| n.夸耀，卖弄 | |
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184
precocious
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| adj.早熟的；较早显出的 | |
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185
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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186
bluffness
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| 率直，坦率，直峭 | |
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187
hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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188
resentments
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| （因受虐待而）愤恨，不满，怨恨( resentment的名词复数 ) | |
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189
minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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190
ambiguity
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| n.模棱两可；意义不明确 | |
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191
conceit
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| n.自负，自高自大 | |
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192
incipiency
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| n.起初，发端 | |
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193
delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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194
secrecy
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| n.秘密，保密，隐蔽 | |
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195
reverent
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| adj.恭敬的，虔诚的 | |
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196
jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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197
penetrate
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| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
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198
rankling
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| v.（使）痛苦不已，（使）怨恨不已( rankle的现在分词 ) | |
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199
supplanting
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| 把…排挤掉，取代( supplant的现在分词 ) | |
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200
intensified
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| v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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201
enigmas
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| n.难于理解的问题、人、物、情况等，奥秘( enigma的名词复数 ) | |
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202
mercurial
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|
| adj.善变的，活泼的 | |
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203
emphatic
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| adj.强调的，着重的；无可置疑的，明显的 | |
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204
riddles
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| n.谜（语）( riddle的名词复数 )；猜不透的难题，难解之谜 | |
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205
poignant
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| adj.令人痛苦的，辛酸的，惨痛的 | |
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206
belying
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| v.掩饰，与…不符，使…失望；掩饰( belie的现在分词 )；证明（或显示）…为虚假；辜负；就…扯谎 | |
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207
hoarded
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| v.积蓄并储藏（某物）( hoard的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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208
climax
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| n.顶点；高潮；v.(使)达到顶点 | |
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209
hospitable
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| adj.好客的；宽容的；有利的，适宜的 | |
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210
haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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211
victoriously
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| adv.获胜地，胜利地 | |
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212
supplanted
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| 把…排挤掉，取代( supplant的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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213
consummately
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| adv.完成地，至上地 | |
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214
obtruded
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| v.强行向前，强行，强迫( obtrude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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215
surmise
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| v./n.猜想，推测 | |
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216
rendering
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| n.表现，描写 | |
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217
lastingly
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| [医]有残留性，持久地，耐久地 | |
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218
undertakings
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| 企业( undertaking的名词复数 )； 保证； 殡仪业； 任务 | |
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219
pretensions
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| 自称( pretension的名词复数 )； 自命不凡； 要求； 权力 | |
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220
simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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221
inquisitive
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| adj.求知欲强的，好奇的，好寻根究底的 | |
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222
dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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223
tribulations
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| n.苦难( tribulation的名词复数 )；艰难；苦难的缘由；痛苦 | |
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224
superfluously
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| 过分地； 过剩地 | |
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225
imputing
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| v.把（错误等）归咎于( impute的现在分词 ) | |
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226
precedent
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| n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的 | |
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227
overthrew
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| overthrow的过去式 | |
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228
dictates
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| n.命令，规定，要求( dictate的名词复数 )v.大声讲或读( dictate的第三人称单数 )；口授；支配；摆布 | |
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229
proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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230
opulence
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| n.财富，富裕 | |
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231
foul
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| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
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232
imputation
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| n.归罪，责难 | |
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233
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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234
solicit
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| vi.勾引；乞求；vt.请求，乞求；招揽(生意) | |
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235
helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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236
defiant
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| adj.无礼的，挑战的 | |
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237
syllable
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| n.音节；vt.分音节 | |
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238
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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239
exponents
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| n.倡导者( exponent的名词复数 )；说明者；指数；能手 | |
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240
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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241
numb
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| adj.麻木的，失去感觉的；v.使麻木 | |
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242
quill
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| n.羽毛管；v.给（织物或衣服）作皱褶 | |
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243
corroborate
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| v.支持，证实，确定 | |
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244
sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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245
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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246
enunciated
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| v.（清晰地）发音( enunciate的过去式和过去分词 )；确切地说明 | |
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247
tautology
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| n.无谓的重复；恒真命题 | |
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248
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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249
torment
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| n.折磨；令人痛苦的东西(人)；vt.折磨；纠缠 | |
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250
conscientious
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| adj.审慎正直的，认真的，本着良心的 | |
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251
monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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252
inefficient
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| adj.效率低的，无效的 | |
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253
folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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254
consummated
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| v.使结束( consummate的过去式和过去分词 )；使完美；完婚；（婚礼后的）圆房 | |
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255
orphan
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| n.孤儿；adj.无父母的 | |
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256
rumors
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| n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷 | |
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257
parlors
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| 客厅( parlor的名词复数 )； 起居室； （旅馆中的）休息室； （通常用来构成合成词）店 | |
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258
procuring
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的现在分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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259
proffered
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| v.提供，贡献，提出( proffer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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260
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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261
bounteous
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| adj.丰富的 | |
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262
impersonal
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| adj.无个人感情的，与个人无关的，非人称的 | |
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263
meditated
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| 深思，沉思，冥想( meditate的过去式和过去分词 )； 内心策划，考虑 | |
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264
tapering
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| adj.尖端细的 | |
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265
isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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