‘So you are here?’ said Sidonia. ‘Turn now with me, for I see you are only lounging, and tell me when you came, where you are, and what you have done since we parted. I have been here myself but a few days.’
There was much to tell. And when Coningsby had rapidly related all that had passed, they talked of Paris. Sidonia had offered him hospitality, until he learned that Lord Monmouth was in Paris, and that Coningsby was his guest.
‘I am sorry you cannot come to me,’ he remarked; ‘I would have shown you everybody and everything. But we shall meet often.’
‘I have already seen many remarkable1 things,’ said Coningsby; ‘and met many celebrated2 persons. Nothing strikes me more in this brilliant city than the tone of its society, so much higher than our own. What an absence of petty personalities3! How much conversation, and how little gossip! Yet nowhere is there less pedantry4. Here all women are as agreeable as is the remarkable privilege in London of some half-dozen. Men too, and great men, develop their minds. A great man in England, on the contrary, is generally the dullest dog in company. And yet, how piteous to think that so fair a civilisation5 should be in such imminent6 peril7!’
‘Yes! that is a common opinion: and yet I am somewhat sceptical of its truth,’ replied Sidonia. ‘I am inclined to believe that the social system of England is in infinitely8 greater danger than that of France. We must not be misled by the agitated9 surface of this country. The foundations of its order are deep and sure. Learn to understand France. France is a kingdom with a Republic for its capital. It has been always so, for centuries. From the days of the League to the days of the Sections, to the days of 1830. It is still France, little changed; and only more national, for it is less Frank and more Gallic; as England has become less Norman and more Saxon.’
‘And it is your opinion, then, that the present King may maintain himself?’
‘Every movement in this country, however apparently10 discordant11, seems to tend to that inevitable12 end. He would not be on the throne if the nature of things had not demanded his presence. The Kingdom of France required a Monarch13; the Republic of Paris required a Dictator. He comprised in his person both qualifications; lineage and intellect; blood for the provinces, brains for the city.’
‘What a position! what an individual!’ exclaimed Coningsby. ‘Tell me,’ he added, eagerly, ‘what is he? This Prince of whom one hears in all countries at all hours; on whose existence we are told the tranquillity14, almost the civilisation, of Europe depends, yet of whom we receive accounts so conflicting, so contradictory15; tell me, you who can tell me, tell me what he is.’
Sidonia smiled at his earnestness. ‘I have a creed16 of mine own,’ he remarked, ‘that the great characters of antiquity17 are at rare epochs reproduced for our wonder, or our guidance. Nature, wearied with mediocrity, pours the warm metal into an heroic mould. When circumstances at length placed me in the presence of the King of France, I recognised, ULYSSES!’
‘But is there no danger,’ resumed Coningsby, after the pause of a few moments, ‘that the Republic of Paris may absorb the Kingdom of France?’
‘I suspect the reverse,’ replied Sidonia. ‘The tendency of advanced civilisation is in truth to pure Monarchy18. Monarchy is indeed a government which requires a high degree of civilisation for its full development. It needs the support of free laws and manners, and of a widely-diffused intelligence. Political compromises are not to be tolerated except at periods of rude transition. An educated nation recoils19 from the imperfect vicariate of what is called a representative government. Your House of Commons, that has absorbed all other powers in the State, will in all probability fall more rapidly than it rose. Public opinion has a more direct, a more comprehensive, a more efficient organ for its utterance20, than a body of men sectionally chosen. The Printing-press is a political element unknown to classic or feudal21 times. It absorbs in a great degree the duties of the Sovereign, the Priest, the Parliament; it controls, it educates, it discusses. That public opinion, when it acts, would appear in the form of one who has no class interests. In an enlightened age the Monarch on the throne, free from the vulgar prejudices and the corrupt22 interests of the subject, becomes again divine!’
At this moment they reached that part of the Boulevards which leads into the Place of the Madeleine, whither Sidonia was bound; and Coningsby was about to quit his companion, when Sidonia said:
‘I am only going a step over to the Rue23 Tronchet to say a few words to a friend of mine, M. P——s. I shall not detain you five minutes; and you should know him, for he has some capital pictures, and a collection of Limoges ware24 that is the despair of the dilettanti.’
So saying they turned down by the Place of the Madeleine, and soon entered the court of the hotel of M. P——s. That gentleman received them in his gallery. After some general conversation, Coningsby turned towards the pictures, and left Sidonia with their host. The collection was rare, and interested Coningsby, though unacquainted with art. He sauntered on from picture to picture until he reached the end of the gallery, where an open door invited him into a suite25 of rooms also full of pictures and objects of curiosity and art. As he was entering a second chamber26, he observed a lady leaning back in a cushioned chair, and looking earnestly on a picture. His entrance was unheard and unnoticed, for the lady’s back was to the door; yet Coningsby, advancing in an angular direction, obtained nearly a complete view of her countenance27. It was upraised, gazing on the picture with an expression of delight; the bonnet28 thrown back, while the large sable29 cloak of the gazer had fallen partly off. The countenance was more beautiful than the beautiful picture. Those glowing shades of the gallery to which love, and genius, and devotion had lent their inspiration, seemed without life and lustre30 by the radiant expression and expressive31 presence which Coningsby now beheld32.
The finely-arched brow was a little elevated, the soft dark eyes were fully33 opened, the nostril34 of the delicate nose slightly dilated35, the small, yet rich, full lips just parted; and over the clear, transparent36 visage, there played a vivid glance of gratified intelligence.
The lady rose, advanced towards the picture, looked at it earnestly for a few moments, and then, turning in a direction opposite to Coningsby, walked away. She was somewhat above the middle stature37, and yet could scarcely be called tall; a quality so rare, that even skilful38 dancers do not often possess it, was hers; that elastic39 gait that is so winning, and so often denotes the gaiety and quickness of the spirit.
The fair object of his observation had advanced into other chambers40, and as soon as it was becoming, Coningsby followed her. She had joined a lady and gentleman, who were examining an ancient carving41 in ivory. The gentleman was middle-aged42 and portly; the elder lady tall and elegant, and with traces of interesting beauty. Coningsby heard her speak; the words were English, but the accent not of a native.
In the remotest part of the room, Coningsby, apparently engaged in examining some of that famous Limoges ware of which Sidonia had spoken, watched with interest and intentness the beautiful being whom he had followed, and whom he concluded to be the child of her companions. After some little time, they quitted the apartment on their return to the gallery; Coningsby remained behind, caring for none of the rare and fanciful objects that surrounded him, yet compelled, from the fear of seeming obtrusive43, for some minutes to remain. Then he too returned to the gallery, and just as he had gained its end, he saw the portly gentleman in the distance shaking hands with Sidonia, the ladies apparently expressing their thanks and gratification to M. P——s, and then all vanishing by the door through which Coningsby had originally entered.
‘What a beautiful countrywoman of yours!’ said M. P——s, as Coningsby approached him.
‘Is she my countrywoman? I am glad to hear it; I have been admiring her,’ he replied.
‘Yes,’ said M. P——s, ‘it is Sir Wallinger: one of your deputies; don’t you know him?’
‘Sir Wallinger!’ said Coningsby, ‘no, I have not that honour.’ He looked at Sidonia.
‘Sir Joseph Wallinger,’ said Sidonia, ‘one of the new Whig baronets, and member for ——. I know him. He married a Spaniard. That is not his daughter, but his niece; the child of his wife’s sister. It is not easy to find any one more beautiful.’
END OF BOOK V.
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1
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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3
personalities
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| n. 诽谤，（对某人容貌、性格等所进行的）人身攻击； 人身攻击；人格, 个性, 名人( personality的名词复数 ) | |
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pedantry
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| n.迂腐，卖弄学问 | |
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civilisation
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| n.文明，文化，开化，教化 | |
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imminent
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| adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的 | |
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peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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discordant
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| adj.不调和的 | |
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inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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13
monarch
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| n.帝王，君主，最高统治者 | |
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tranquillity
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| n. 平静, 安静 | |
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contradictory
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| adj.反驳的，反对的，抗辩的；n.正反对，矛盾对立 | |
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creed
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| n.信条；信念，纲领 | |
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antiquity
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| n.古老；高龄；古物，古迹 | |
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monarchy
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| n.君主，最高统治者；君主政体，君主国 | |
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recoils
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| n.（尤指枪炮的）反冲，后坐力( recoil的名词复数 )v.畏缩( recoil的第三人称单数 )；退缩；报应；返回 | |
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utterance
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| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
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feudal
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| adj.封建的，封地的，领地的 | |
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corrupt
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| v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的 | |
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rue
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| n.懊悔，芸香，后悔；v.后悔，悲伤，懊悔 | |
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ware
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| n.(常用复数)商品，货物 | |
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suite
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| n.一套(家具)；套房；随从人员 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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bonnet
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| n.无边女帽；童帽 | |
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sable
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| n.黑貂；adj.黑色的 | |
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lustre
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| n.光亮，光泽；荣誉 | |
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expressive
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| adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的 | |
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32
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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nostril
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| n.鼻孔 | |
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dilated
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| adj.加宽的，扩大的v.（使某物）扩大，膨胀，张大( dilate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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transparent
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| adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的 | |
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stature
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| n.（高度）水平，（高度）境界，身高，身材 | |
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skilful
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| (=skillful)adj.灵巧的，熟练的 | |
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elastic
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| n.橡皮圈，松紧带；adj.有弹性的；灵活的 | |
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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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41
carving
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| n.雕刻品，雕花 | |
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42
middle-aged
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| adj.中年的 | |
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obtrusive
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| adj.显眼的；冒失的 | |
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