And now, suddenly, an event had occurred, like all events, unforeseen, which in a few, brief, agitating8, tumultuous moments had singularly and utterly9 changed the relations that previously10 subsisted12 between him and the former object of his concealed13 tenderness. Millbank now stood with respect to Coningsby in the position of one who owes to another the greatest conceivable obligation; a favour which time could permit him neither to forget nor to repay. Pride was a sentiment that could no longer subsist11 before the preserver of his life. Devotion to that being, open, almost ostentatious, was now a duty, a paramount14 and absorbing tie. The sense of past peril15, the rapture16 of escape, a renewed relish17 for the life so nearly forfeited18, a deep sentiment of devout19 gratitude20 to the providence21 that had guarded over him, for Millbank was an eminently22 religious boy, a thought of home, and the anguish23 that might have overwhelmed his hearth24; all these were powerful and exciting emotions for a young and fervent25 mind, in addition to the peculiar26 source of sensibility on which we have already touched. Lord Vere, who lodged27 in the same house as Millbank, and was sitting by his bedside, observed, as night fell, that his mind wandered.
The illness of Millbank, the character of which soon transpired28, and was soon exaggerated, attracted the public attention with increased interest to the circumstances out of which it had arisen, and from which the parties principally concerned had wished to have diverted notice. The sufferer, indeed, had transgressed29 the rules of the school by bathing at an unlicensed spot, where there were no expert swimmers in attendance, as is customary, to instruct the practice and to guard over the lives of the young adventurers. But the circumstances with which this violation30 of rules had been accompanied, and the assurance of several of the party that they had not themselves infringed31 the regulations, combined with the high character of Millbank, made the authorities not over anxious to visit with penalties a breach32 of observance which, in the case of the only proved offender33, had been attended with such impressive consequences. The feat34 of Coningsby was extolled35 by all as an act of high gallantry and skill. It confirmed and increased the great reputation which he already enjoyed.
‘Millbank is getting quite well,’ said Buckhurst to Coningsby a few days after the accident. ‘Henry Sydney and I are going to see him. Will you come?’
‘I think we shall be too many. I will go another day,’ replied Coningsby.
So they went without him. They found Millbank up and reading.
‘Well, old fellow,’ said Buckhurst, ‘how are you? We should have come up before, but they would not let us. And you are quite right now, eh?’
‘Quite. Has there been any row about it?’
‘I have seen nobody yet,’ said Millbank; ‘they would not let me till to-day. Vere looked in this morning and left me this book, but I was asleep. I hope they will let me out in a day or two. I want to thank Coningsby; I never shall rest till I have thanked Coningsby.’
‘Oh, he will come to see you,’ said Henry Sydney; ‘I asked him just now to come with us.’
‘Yes!’ said Millbank, eagerly; ‘and what did he say?’
‘He thought we should be too many.’
‘I hope I shall see him soon,’ said Millbank, ‘somehow or other.’
‘I will tell him to come,’ said Buckhurst.
‘Oh! no, no, don’t tell him to come,’ said Millbank. ‘Don’t bore him.’
‘I know he is going to play a match at fives this afternoon,’ said Buckhurst, ‘for I am one.’
‘And who are the others?’ inquired Millbank.
‘Herbert and Campbell.’
‘Herbert is no match for Coningsby,’ said Millbank.
And then they talked over all that had happened since his absence; and Buckhurst gave him a graphic37 report of the excitement on the afternoon of the accident; at last they were obliged to leave him.
‘Well, good-bye, old fellow; we will come and see you every day. What can we do for you? Any books, or anything?’
‘If any fellow asks after me,’ said Millbank, ‘tell him I shall be glad to see him. It is very dull being alone. But do not tell any fellow to come if he does not ask after me.’
Notwithstanding the kind suggestions of Buckhurst and Henry Sydney, Coningsby could not easily bring himself to call on Millbank. He felt a constraint38. It seemed as if he went to receive thanks. He would rather have met Millbank again in school, or in the playing fields. Without being able then to analyse his feelings, he shrank unconsciously from that ebullition of sentiment, which in more artificial circles is described as a scene. Not that any dislike of Millbank prompted him to this reserve. On the contrary, since he had conferred a great obligation on Millbank, his prejudice against him had sensibly decreased. How it would have been had Millbank saved Coningsby’s life, is quite another affair. Probably, as Coningsby was by nature generous, his sense of justice might have struggled successfully with his painful sense of the overwhelming obligation. But in the present case there was no element to disturb his fair self-satisfaction. He had greatly distinguished39 himself; he had conferred on his rival an essential service; and the whole world rang with his applause. He began rather to like Millbank; we will not say because Millbank was the unintentional cause of his pleasurable sensations. Really it was that the unusual circumstances had prompted him to a more impartial40 judgment41 of his rival’s character. In this mood, the day after the visit of Buckhurst and Henry Sydney, Coningsby called on Millbank, but finding his medical attendant with him, Coningsby availed himself of that excuse for going away without seeing him.
The next day he left Millbank a newspaper on his way to school, time not permitting a visit. Two days after, going into his room, he found on his table a letter addressed to ‘Harry Coningsby, Esq.’
ETON, May—, 1832.
‘DEAR CONINGSBY, I very much fear that you must think me a very ungrateful fellow, because you have not heard from me before; but I was in hopes that I might get out and say to you what I feel; but whether I speak or write, it is quite impossible for me to make you understand the feelings of my heart to you. Now, I will say at once, that I have always liked you better than any fellow in the school, and always thought you the cleverest; indeed, I always thought that there was no one like you; but I never would say this or show this, because you never seemed to care for me, and because I was afraid you would think I merely wanted to con3 with you, as they used to say of some other fellows, whose names I will not mention, because they always tried to do so with Henry Sydney and you. I do not want this at all; but I want, though we may not speak to each other more than before, that we may be friends; and that you will always know that there is nothing I will not do for you, and that I like you better than any fellow at Eton. And I do not mean that this shall be only at Eton, but afterwards, wherever we may be, that you will always remember that there is nothing I will not do for you. Not because you saved my life, though that is a great thing, but because before that I would have done anything for you; only, for the cause above mentioned, I would not show it. I do not expect that we shall be more together than before; nor can I ever suppose that you could like me as you like Henry Sydney and Buckhurst, or even as you like Vere; but still I hope you will always think of me with kindness now, and let me sign myself, if ever I do write to you, ‘Your most attached, affectionate, and devoted42 friend,
‘OSWALD MILLBANK.’
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1 sublime | |
adj.崇高的,伟大的;极度的,不顾后果的 | |
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2 speculations | |
n.投机买卖( speculation的名词复数 );思考;投机活动;推断 | |
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3 con | |
n.反对的观点,反对者,反对票,肺病;vt.精读,学习,默记;adv.反对地,从反面;adj.欺诈的 | |
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4 recoiled | |
v.畏缩( recoil的过去式和过去分词 );退缩;报应;返回 | |
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5 inordinate | |
adj.无节制的;过度的 | |
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6 variance | |
n.矛盾,不同 | |
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7 engrossed | |
adj.全神贯注的 | |
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8 agitating | |
搅动( agitate的现在分词 ); 激怒; 使焦虑不安; (尤指为法律、社会状况的改变而)激烈争论 | |
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9 utterly | |
adv.完全地,绝对地 | |
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10 previously | |
adv.以前,先前(地) | |
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11 subsist | |
vi.生存,存在,供养 | |
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12 subsisted | |
v.(靠很少的钱或食物)维持生活,生存下去( subsist的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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13 concealed | |
a.隐藏的,隐蔽的 | |
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14 paramount | |
a.最重要的,最高权力的 | |
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15 peril | |
n.(严重的)危险;危险的事物 | |
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16 rapture | |
n.狂喜;全神贯注;着迷;v.使狂喜 | |
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17 relish | |
n.滋味,享受,爱好,调味品;vt.加调味料,享受,品味;vi.有滋味 | |
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18 forfeited | |
(因违反协议、犯规、受罚等)丧失,失去( forfeit的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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19 devout | |
adj.虔诚的,虔敬的,衷心的 (n.devoutness) | |
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20 gratitude | |
adj.感激,感谢 | |
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21 providence | |
n.深谋远虑,天道,天意;远见;节约;上帝 | |
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22 eminently | |
adv.突出地;显著地;不寻常地 | |
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23 anguish | |
n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦,烦恼 | |
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24 hearth | |
n.壁炉炉床,壁炉地面 | |
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25 fervent | |
adj.热的,热烈的,热情的 | |
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26 peculiar | |
adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的 | |
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27 lodged | |
v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 );暂住;埋入;(权利、权威等)归属 | |
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28 transpired | |
(事实,秘密等)被人知道( transpire的过去式和过去分词 ); 泄露; 显露; 发生 | |
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29 transgressed | |
v.超越( transgress的过去式和过去分词 );越过;违反;违背 | |
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30 violation | |
n.违反(行为),违背(行为),侵犯 | |
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31 infringed | |
v.违反(规章等)( infringe的过去式和过去分词 );侵犯(某人的权利);侵害(某人的自由、权益等) | |
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32 breach | |
n.违反,不履行;破裂;vt.冲破,攻破 | |
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33 offender | |
n.冒犯者,违反者,犯罪者 | |
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34 feat | |
n.功绩;武艺,技艺;adj.灵巧的,漂亮的,合适的 | |
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35 extolled | |
v.赞颂,赞扬,赞美( extol的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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36 trump | |
n.王牌,法宝;v.打出王牌,吹喇叭 | |
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37 graphic | |
adj.生动的,形象的,绘画的,文字的,图表的 | |
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38 constraint | |
n.(on)约束,限制;限制(或约束)性的事物 | |
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39 distinguished | |
adj.卓越的,杰出的,著名的 | |
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40 impartial | |
adj.(in,to)公正的,无偏见的 | |
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41 judgment | |
n.审判;判断力,识别力,看法,意见 | |
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42 devoted | |
adj.忠诚的,忠实的,热心的,献身于...的 | |
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