There never was such a cordial meeting; and yet the faces of his friends were serious. The truth is, the paragraphs in the newspapers had circulated in the country, they had written to Coningsby, and after a brief delay he had confirmed their worst apprehensions6. Immediately they came up to town. Henry Sydney, a younger son, could offer little but sympathy, but he declared it was his intention also to study for the bar, so that they should not be divided. Buckhurst, after many embraces and some ordinary talk, took Coningsby aside, and said, ‘My dear fellow, I have no objection to Henry Sydney hearing everything I say, but still these are subjects which men like to be discussed in private. Of course I expect you to share my fortune. There is enough for both. We will have an exact division.’
There was something in Buckhurst’s fervent7 resolution very lovable and a little humorous, just enough to put one in good temper with human nature and life. If there were any fellow’s fortune in the world that Coningsby would share, Buckhurst’s would have had the preference; but while he pressed his hand, and with a glance in which a tear and a smile seemed to contend for mastery, he gently indicated why such arrangements were, with our present manners, impossible.
‘I see,’ said Buckhurst, after a moment’s thought, ‘I quite agree with you. The thing cannot be done; and, to tell you the truth, a fortune is a bore. What I vote that we three do at once is, to take plenty of ready-money, and enter the Austrian service. By Jove! it is the only thing to do.’
‘There is something in that,’ said Coningsby. ‘In the meantime, suppose you two fellows walk with me to the Temple, for I have an appointment to look at some chambers.’
It was a fine day, and it was by no means a gloomy walk. Though the two friends had arrived full of indignation against Lord Monmouth, and miserable8 about their companion, once more in his society, and finding little difference in his carriage, they assumed unconsciously their habitual9 tone. As for Buckhurst, he was delighted with the Temple, which he visited for the first time. The name enchanted10 him. The tombs in the church convinced him that the Crusades were the only career. He would have himself become a law student if he might have prosecuted11 his studies in chain armour12. The calmer Henry Sydney was consoled for the misfortunes of Coningsby by a fanciful project himself to pass a portion of his life amid these halls and courts, gardens and terraces, that maintain in the heart of a great city in the nineteenth century, so much of the grave romance and picturesque13 decorum of our past manners. Henry Sydney was sanguine14; he was reconciled to the disinheritance of Coningsby by the conviction that it was a providential dispensation to make him a Lord Chancellor15.
These faithful friends remained in town with Coningsby until he was established in Paper Buildings, and had become a pupil of a celebrated16 special pleader. They would have remained longer had not he himself suggested that it was better that they should part. It seemed a terrible catastrophe17 after all the visions of their boyish days, their college dreams, and their dazzling adventures in the world.
‘And this is the end of Coningsby, the brilliant Coningsby, that we all loved, that was to be our leader!’ said Buckhurst to Lord Henry as they quitted him. ‘Well, come what may, life has lost something of its bloom.’
‘The great thing now,’ said Lord Henry, ‘is to keep up the chain of our friendship. We must write to him very often, and contrive18 to be frequently together. It is dreadful to think that in the ways of life our hearts may become estranged19. I never felt more wretched than I do at this moment, and yet I have faith that we shall not lose him.’
‘Amen!’ said Buckhurst; ‘but I feel my plan about the Austrian service was, after all, the only thing. The Continent offers a career. He might have been prime minister; several strangers have been; and as for war, look at Brown and Laudohn, and half a hundred others. I had a much better chance of being a field-marshal than he has of being a Lord Chancellor.’
‘I feel quite convinced that Coningsby will be Lord Chancellor,’ said Henry Sydney, gravely.
This change of life for Coningsby was a great social revolution. It was sudden and complete. Within a month after the death of his grandfather his name had been erased20 from all his fashionable clubs, and his horses and carriages sold, and he had become a student of the Temple. He entirely21 devoted22 himself to his new pursuit. His being was completely absorbed in it. There was nothing to haunt his mind; no unexperienced scene or sensation of life to distract his intelligence. One sacred thought alone indeed there remained, shrined in the innermost sanctuary23 of his heart and consciousness. But it was a tradition, no longer a hope. The moment that he had fairly recovered from the first shock of his grandfather’s will; had clearly ascertained24 the consequences to himself, and had resolved on the course to pursue; he had communicated unreservedly with Oswald Millbank, and had renounced25 those pretensions26 to the hand of his sister which it ill became the destitute27 to prefer.
His letter was answered in person. Millbank met Henry Sydney and Buckhurst at the chambers of Coningsby. Once more they were all four together; but under what different circumstances, and with what different prospects28 from those which attended their separation at Eton! Alone with Coningsby, Millbank spoke29 to him things which letters could not convey. He bore to him all the sympathy and devotion of Edith; but they would not conceal30 from themselves that, at this moment, and in the present state of affairs, all was hopeless. In no way did Coningsby ever permit himself to intimate to Oswald the cause of his disinheritance. He was, of course, silent on it to his other friends; as any communication of the kind must have touched on a subject that was consecrated31 in his inmost soul.
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1
flora
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| n.(某一地区的)植物群 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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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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bustle
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| v.喧扰地忙乱，匆忙，奔忙；n.忙碌；喧闹 | |
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ushered
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| v.引，领，陪同( usher的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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apprehensions
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| 疑惧 | |
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fervent
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| adj.热的，热烈的，热情的 | |
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8
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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habitual
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| adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的 | |
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10
enchanted
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| adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
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11
prosecuted
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| a.被起诉的 | |
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armour
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| （=armor）n.盔甲；装甲部队 | |
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picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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sanguine
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| adj.充满希望的，乐观的，血红色的 | |
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chancellor
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| n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长 | |
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16
celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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catastrophe
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| n.大灾难，大祸 | |
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contrive
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| vt.谋划，策划；设法做到；设计，想出 | |
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estranged
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| adj.疏远的，分离的 | |
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erased
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| v.擦掉( erase的过去式和过去分词 )；抹去；清除 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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sanctuary
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| n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区 | |
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ascertained
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| v.弄清，确定，查明( ascertain的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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renounced
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| v.声明放弃( renounce的过去式和过去分词 )；宣布放弃；宣布与…决裂；宣布摒弃 | |
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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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destitute
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| adj.缺乏的；穷困的 | |
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prospects
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| n.希望，前途(恒为复数) | |
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29
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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consecrated
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| adj.神圣的，被视为神圣的v.把…奉为神圣，给…祝圣( consecrate的过去式和过去分词 )；奉献 | |
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