Indeed, Eleanor Churchill's life had not been a particularly happy one. Daughter of a country clergyman near Bath, she lost both her parents before she was eighteen, and remained in the school where she was being "finished" after their death, giving her services as teacher for her board and lodging9. Here she was seen and admired by Vance Churchill, who attended the school as drawing-master; a wild young fellow, full of talent, who worked (at intervals) like a horse, and whose splendid method of touching-up the pupils' drawings, so as to make them look all their own, redeemed10 many of his shortcomings, and caused him to be continued in favour at Minerva House. But when he fell in love with the pretty teacher, and muttered love to her as he was sharpening pencil-points, and was seen by the writing-master--an old person of seventy, who was jealous of his young confrère--to hand her a note in a copy of the Laws of Perspective, and on being taxed with his crime acknowledged it and gloried in it, it became impossible for the Miss Inderwicks, as the girls called them, or the Misses Inderwick, as they called themselves, to stand it any longer. So both the delinquents11 were discharged; and having nothing to live upon, they at once got married, and came up to London. Once there, Vance Churchill set to work with a will: he drew on wood, he lithographed, he drew languishing12 heads for the music-shops, and caricatures political and social; he finished several elaborate sketches13 in water-colour and in oil; but he sold scarcely any thing. There was not that demand for art in those days there is now, and consequently not that chance of livelihood14 for its possessors; and Vance Churchill and his young wife were very near to starvation indeed, and had buried one little girl-baby, who, had luxuries been provided for her, might have lived, when a small picture of Lady Macbeth, which had found a place in the Somerset-House Exhibition, was seen and purchased by Sir Jasper Wentworth, our old friend Sir Marmaduke's uncle and his predecessor15 in the baronetcy. From that time Vance Churchill's fortune was looked upon as made; for Sir Jasper, who had a nice eye for art, took him up, introduced him right and left, and got him commissions without end. Young Marmaduke, a free-spoken, jolly young man, coeval17 with the artist, took an immense fancy to him, and was never happy save in his society; money was, if not plentiful18, always to be had,--and Eleanor Churchill was more wretched than she had ever been in the days of her direst poverty.
For though Vance Churchill could struggle against poverty, neglect, and hardship, he could not withstand ease, comparative wealth, and the attractions of society. He was eminently19 a "social" man; a big, jolly jovial20 fellow, with bright blue eyes, large brown whiskers, and a splendid set of teeth. He had capital lungs, and sang a capital song in a deep baritone voice, and he had nice feeling in his singing, which so seldom accompanies correct musical execution; but when Vance Churchill sang "Farewell, my trim-built Wherry," or "Tom Bowling," all the female portion of his audience was in tears, while the men felt husky and uncomfortable. He became the rage in a certain set of fast young men about town, and in that pleasant Upper Bohemia wherein so many literary men, artists, and actors of that day used to spend their time; not a Bohemia of taprooms and sanded floors, of long clay-pipes and spittoons and twopennyworths of gin, nor of Haymarket night-houses and drunken trulls, nor of blind-hooky and vingt-et-un parties in dingy chambers21; but a Bohemia of green-rooms and coulisses, of sparkling little suppers afterwards at Vauxhall, where wit would flow as fast as the champagne22, where jokes would be more telling than the hot punch, and whence the mad party would not unfrequently dash away in their carriages to breakfast at the Star and Garter at Richmond, or to drink fresh milk and eat fresh butter in a Hampstead farmhouse23. A Bohemia, the denizens24 of which always would have good clothes and fine linen25 on their backs, gold watches in their pockets, and guineas in their purses, let who would pay for it; and who roared with laughter at the astonishment26 of the world at their vagaries27, increasing their eccentricities28, and saying of the world as Balzac's actress said, "Qu'importe? donne leur des grimaces29 pour leur argent, et vivons heureux!"
Petted and fêted by the style of society in which he revelled30, Vance Churchill had yet the grace not to attempt to force his wife to join it; indeed he had good reason for keeping her away. For the ladies liked Vance Churchill vastly, and Vance returned the compliment, and behaved just as though there were no moral and legal ties binding31 him to any one in particular. He loved his wife sincerely all the time, and in his quiet moments would tear his hair, and stamp upon the ground, and curse his own weakness and folly32, and his treatment of that angel who sat patiently at home attending to and teaching their little boy, and who never reproached him save by her pale face and broken spirit; and then, as evening came round, Marmaduke Wentworth would call for him, or the servant would bring him a dainty little note, written in a very scrawly33 hand, which she would hold in the corner of her dingy apron34, and which Vance would seize from her, and after reading it he would sally out, and commence his vagaries da capo.
Preaching before Mary Queen of Scots and her maids of honour, old John Knox is reported to have said: "Oh, how beautiful, how charming, how pleasurable would be this life, if it would only last!" These were Mr. Vance Churchill's sentiments, but he soon found that it would not last. What the writers of those ghastly impositions, bacchanalian35 ditties, call "wine and women," or "beauty and the bowl," don't agree with hard work; and if you go to bed at five a.m. after orgies, you will not be able to paint your pictures next day, or to write your book, or mould your clay, or study your part. It is astonishing how slow people are to believe this, and how, year after year, we see friends and acquaintances still determined36, not merely upon burning the candle at both ends, but lighting38 any bit of wick that may protrude39 in the middle, and quite astonished when they see the flame flicker5 and feel the whole affair about to collapse40. Vance Churchill had plenty of commissions for pictures from first-rate people,--noblemen, connoisseurs41, and patrons of art,--but he did not give himself the chances of painting them: his brain was never clear enough for conception, his hand never steady enough for execution; and the result was, that his financial affairs became desperate. His noble patrons never dreamed of parting with their money until the work was done--and in truth not often then; and there were in those days no middle-men, no bland42 picture-dealers, to advance large sums on untouched canvases; and even if there had been, they would have been far too wise to let Vance Churchill have any money on the strength of "working it out." So the money dwindled43 and dwindled, and then Vance began borrowing of his friends until he found averted44 faces and buttoned pockets, and then he faded straight away out of his grand society, and took lodgings45 at Chelsea, and tried once again to work for his livelihood. He painted one picture, which showed but few traces of his old force and promise. It was plain that the mischief46 was done; and then Vance Churchill, after steadily47 drinking for four days, was found one morning with an empty laudanum-phial in his clenched48 fingers, and a heartbreaking letter to his wife by his side.
Then Eleanor Churchill--who, while perfectly49 conscious of her husband's frailties50 and imperfections, had never ceased worshipping him--fairly broke down; and had she not been attended by a skilful51 physician, and perseveringly52 nursed night and day by the girl who had been "scrub" at Miss Inderwick's school, and had left when Eleanor left to follow her fortunes, little Frank would have been motherless as well as fatherless. As it was, she recovered, and went away, as soon as she was able to move, to a little fishing-village in Devon, of which an old friend of her father's was vicar. Her income was a mere37 pittance53; contributions from old friends of her husband's family and her own grudgingly54 yielded; but her expenses were trifling55, and the old parson took the boy's education under his own charge, and gave him an excellent classical groundwork. The vicar died when Frank was about fifteen, and left the whole of his little savings--some seven hundred pounds--to Eleanor Churchill, "for the furtherance of her son's education;" and then the widow carried out her long-cherished plan of sending her son to some foreign university, where, in addition to his Classics, he could perfect himself in some of the modern languages. Frank was absent at Leipzig nearly four years, during which period he paid two flying visits to England, at the second of which he was introduced to his godfather, Sir Marmaduke Wentworth, who had succeeded to the family title on his uncle's death. Frank little thought that one of Sir Marmaduke's first acts on coming into his property had been to settle two hundred a year on Mrs. Churchill for her life; he would hear of no refusal. "It is merely an act of reparation," said he; "and but a scanty57 one. It was my folly, my bad example, that led poor Vance astray; and I should never rest if I thought that those he left behind him were in want, while I had means." But one condition was attached to this gift, and that was that Frank should never know of it. "I recollect58 Vance's spirit in his best days," Marmaduke said; "and if the boy is like him, he'd fling my money at my head."
After taking his degree, Frank was fortunate enough to render himself so agreeable to young Fortinbrass, the son of the great Indian pale-ale brewer59, that that young plutocrat insisted on taking him with him as half-secretary, half-bear-leader, in his tour through Europe and the East; and as they stopped at every place where there was any thing to be done, and a good many at which there was nothing to be done, and as they had the usual share of quarantine, and as Fortinbrass took ill at Smyrna and had to lay up for four months, it was, full three years before Frank returned to England. Then he determined to settle down and get to work in earnest; and after a few rebuffs and discouragements, philosophically60 encountered, he made his mark in the press world, and obtained constant and fairly remunerative61 employment. Then the house in Great Adullam Street was taken, as handy to the Statesman office, Frank's head-quarters, and furnished partly with the best of the Devonshire furniture, and partly with odds62 and ends bought cheap at sales, for the joint63 income was but small, and Eleanor had a wholesome64 horror of debt. And then the full tide of Eleanor Churchill's happiness flowed in: she had loved her husband; she had worshipped his memory in her holy of holies; she had preserved his image, and had bowed down before it; with his death vanished all his shortcomings, but his better qualities--the early affection, kindness, and chivalry--were remembered. But now that her son was with her, the old image faded and rapidly paled. Here was one uniting the excellences65 of his father with virtues66 which his father never possessed67, tempering high spirits and ardent68 affection with earnestness, industry, and honour; no mawkish69 sentimentalist, no prudish70 Pharisee; a man of passions and impulse, yet a Christian71 and a gentleman, and above all--her own boy. That was the touchstone; that was the grand secret. He had his flirtations, of course; his intrigues72, perhaps; but he was her son, her companion, and she was his honoured mother, but she was also his trusted friend. All his hopes and fears, all the fun and gossip of the day, were brought by him to her; he talked to her on books and art and social questions; he read to her and with her; he advised her on her own reading, and he brought home with him men of European fame and name, and introduced her to them, and made much of her before them. If it would only last! Beware of that, Eleanor Churchill! Some one must reign56 after you, and with her uprising must be your downsetting. It was ever so. Ask not why tarry the wheels of his chariot, for the news that he brings with him will wring73 and torture your fond, trusting heart.
The old lady's face, which had grown somewhat worn and rigid74 in watching, brightened as she heard the sound of wheels in the distance, and as she saw a hansom cab come plunging75 and rattling76 over the uneven77 stones, to be finally pulled up with a jerk before the door.
As Frank Churchill sprang out, he looked up to the window and waved his hand. In a minute he had run upstairs and was in his mother's arms.
"Why, my boy, how late you are!" said Mrs. Churchill, as she relaxed her embrace. "You must be famished78 for your dinner, my poor fellow!"
"Excursion-trains, mother, your favourite doctrine79 of health and change for your old protégé the working-man, you know, have contributed to your anxiety and my delay. We were stopped at Forest Hill for a train full of people, with drooping80 hats and feathers and banners and bands and general tomfoolery, who had been having a day at the Crystal Palace."
"Well, so long as you're here and all safe, that's all the old mother cares about, Frank. Dinner, Lucy, now, at once; Mr. Frank's half-starved. Let me look at you, my boy, and see whether the trip's done you any good. Eh, you're certainly tanned, and a little stouter81, Frank, I think."
"Perhaps so, mother, though I've been taking more exercise than usual too. Any news? I saw a pile of letters on the study-table as I rushed past, but I didn't stop to look at them. Any body been?"
"Mr. Harding was here yesterday, to see if you had returned from among the 'swells,' as he called them. I think he's a little envious82 of your going into such society; eh, Frank?"
"Not a bit of it, mother; nothing would take old George Harding beyond his own set. But he's afraid of my getting my head turned."
"No fear of that in my boy," said Mrs. Churchill somewhat gravely; "there is the difference between you and your poor father, Frank. And now, how is Sir Marmaduke? and what sort of people were staying there? and was he kind and friendly to you? and how did you enjoy yourself?"
As Mrs. Churchill finished speaking, Lucy the old servant entered the room and announced dinner. She was a tall gaunt woman, with a hard unpleasant face, which did not soften83 much when Churchill, looking up, said, "Well, Lucy, back at home, once again, you see."
"Yes, I see, Master Frank," the woman replied coldly. "We've been waiting dinner until we must be faint, I should think."
"Bat it wasn't Mr. Frank's fault, Lucy," said Mrs. Churchill; "the train was late. Now, my boy, come; you must be starved in earnest;" and they went downstairs.
"We've not got such a dinner for you as you've been having lately, maybe," said Lucy, as she uncovered the dishes. "But you can't be always among lords and ladies, Master Frank."
"Lucy, you silly thing!" said Mrs. Churchill, half-laughing, but looking half-ashamed.
"I've not been among them at all, Lucy, for the matter of that," said Churchill good-humouredly, though his brow began to cloud.
"Well," said the woman, leisurely84 handing the dishes, "it's not for the want of wishing. Here we are, left at home, in the hot autumn weather; while you--"
"Lucy!" exclaimed Mrs. Churchill.
"Be good enough to leave the room," said Churchill; "this minute!" he said, bringing his hand heavily down on the table, as the woman lingered, looking towards her mistress. "Why, mother darling, what is this?" he asked, when they were alone; "that woman's tongue was always free, and her manner always familiar; but this is quite a new experience."
"It is, my child," said poor Mrs. Churchill; "I don't know how to excuse her, except that it is all done out of excess of affection for me, and--"
"That's quite enough excuse for me, mother," said Churchill, rising, and kissing her. "There, now we'll change the conversation;" and they talked merrily enough on indifferent topics throughout dinner.
When the cloth was removed, and after Frank had produced his old meerschaum, and had drawn85 up his chair to the newly-lighted bit of fire, he said to his mother, "I've some news to tell you, mum."
"Tell it, my boy!" said the old lady, settling her gold-rimmed glasses on her nose, and beginning to make play with a portentous86 piece of knitting; "what is it, Frank?"
"Well, it's news that concerns both of us," said Churchill, slowly puffing87 at his pipe, "but me more especially. The fact is, mum--I'm going to be married."
It had come at last! that news which she had dreaded88 so many years past, that news which spoke16 to her of separation from all she loved, which heralded89 to her the commencement of a new existence--had come at last! Her heart seemed to give one great bound within her breast as the words fell upon her ears, and her eyes were for an instant dimmed; then recovering herself, she smiled and said, "To be married? that is news indeed, my boy!"
"Ay, mother, my turn has come at last. I thought I had settled down into a regular old bachelor, but I believe that is just the state of mind in which one is most liable to infection. However that may be, I have caught it, and am in for it, as badly as any young lad of twenty."
Mrs. Churchill had risen from her seat, and crossed the room to Frank. Putting her hand lightly on his head, she then flung her arms round him and kissed him warmly, saying, "God bless you, my darling boy, and grant you happiness! God bless you, my son, my own son!" and she fairly broke down, and the tears coursed down her cheeks.
"Why, mum!" said Churchill, gently caressing90 her; "why, mum!" continued he, stroking her soft gray hair with one hand, while the other was wound round her. "You must not do this, mum. And here's a mother for you! I declare she has never yet asked who or what the lady is!"
"That will come presently, darling; just now I am only thinking of you--thinking how different it--how, after so long--how strange--there, come now, and tell me all about it;" and with one great effort Mrs. Churchill composed herself, and sat down by her son's side to hear his story.
That story lasted far into the night. Frank told of all his hesitation91; of his determination not to propose; of the accident that brought about the great result of his happiness; and of the manner in which the affair was viewed by old Miss Lexden. He then said that he and Barbara were determined upon getting married at once, and that he had come up to town principally with the view of looking out some lodgings which he could take in the neighbourhood for them to return to after their honeymoon92. His mother listened patiently throughout, with her calm, earnest eyes fixed93 upon his face, and only now and then commenting in a low tone; but when he finished, she laid her hand on his and said quietly:
"You will bring your bride here, Frank, and I will go into the lodgings. Henceforth this house is yours, my boy! You are the head of our family now, and I--so long as I'm near you and can see you from time to time, what more do I want? So long as you are happy, I am happy, and--"
"But you don't imagine, mother, I'm going to turn you out, and--"
"There's no turning out in the case, my darling. Lucy and I could not occupy the house by ourselves, and we shall be much better in lodgings. Besides, we won't have any one say that you had not a house of your own to bring your wife to. I shall see her soon, Frank? Do you think she'll like me, my darling? When she knows how I love you, I am sure she will; and yet I am not certain of that. You'll come and see me often, won't you, Frank? and--oh, my boy, my own darling boy!" and she fell on his neck and wept bitterly.
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1
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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Oxford
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| n.牛津（英国城市） | |
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dingy
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| adj.昏暗的，肮脏的 | |
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flickering
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| adj.闪烁的，摇曳的，一闪一闪的 | |
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flicker
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| vi./n.闪烁，摇曳，闪现 | |
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cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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mittens
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| 不分指手套 | |
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refinement
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| n.文雅；高尚；精美；精制；精炼 | |
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lodging
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| n.寄宿，住所；(大学生的)校外宿舍 | |
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redeemed
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| adj. 可赎回的，可救赎的 动词redeem的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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delinquents
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| n.（尤指青少年）有过失的人，违法的人( delinquent的名词复数 ) | |
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languishing
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| a. 衰弱下去的 | |
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sketches
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| n.草图( sketch的名词复数 )；素描；速写；梗概 | |
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livelihood
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| n.生计，谋生之道 | |
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predecessor
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| n.前辈，前任 | |
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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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coeval
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| adj.同时代的；n.同时代的人或事物 | |
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plentiful
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| adj.富裕的，丰富的 | |
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eminently
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| adv.突出地；显著地；不寻常地 | |
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jovial
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| adj.快乐的，好交际的 | |
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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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champagne
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| n.香槟酒；微黄色 | |
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farmhouse
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| n.农场住宅（尤指主要住房） | |
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denizens
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| n.居民，住户( denizen的名词复数 ) | |
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linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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vagaries
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| n.奇想( vagary的名词复数 )；异想天开；异常行为；难以预测的情况 | |
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eccentricities
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| n.古怪行为( eccentricity的名词复数 )；反常；怪癖 | |
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grimaces
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| n.（表蔑视、厌恶等）面部扭曲，鬼脸( grimace的名词复数 )v.扮鬼相，做鬼脸( grimace的第三人称单数 ) | |
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revelled
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| v.作乐( revel的过去式和过去分词 )；狂欢；着迷；陶醉 | |
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binding
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| 有约束力的，有效的，应遵守的 | |
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folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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scrawly
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| 潦草地写 | |
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apron
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| n.围裙；工作裙 | |
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bacchanalian
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| adj.闹酒狂饮的；n.发酒疯的人 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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protrude
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| v.使突出，伸出，突出 | |
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collapse
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| vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷 | |
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connoisseurs
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| n.鉴赏家，鉴定家，行家( connoisseur的名词复数 ) | |
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bland
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| adj.淡而无味的，温和的，无刺激性的 | |
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dwindled
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| v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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averted
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| 防止，避免( avert的过去式和过去分词 )； 转移 | |
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45
lodgings
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| n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍 | |
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mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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47
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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48
clenched
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| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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49
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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50
frailties
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| n.脆弱( frailty的名词复数 )；虚弱；（性格或行为上的）弱点；缺点 | |
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51
skilful
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| (=skillful)adj.灵巧的，熟练的 | |
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perseveringly
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| 坚定地 | |
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pittance
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| n.微薄的薪水，少量 | |
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grudgingly
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trifling
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| adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的 | |
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reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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scanty
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| adj.缺乏的，仅有的，节省的，狭小的，不够的 | |
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recollect
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| v.回忆，想起，记起，忆起，记得 | |
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brewer
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| n. 啤酒制造者 | |
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philosophically
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| adv.哲学上；富有哲理性地；贤明地；冷静地 | |
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remunerative
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| adj.有报酬的 | |
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odds
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| n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别 | |
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joint
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| adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合 | |
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wholesome
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| adj.适合；卫生的；有益健康的；显示身心健康的 | |
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excellences
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| n.卓越( excellence的名词复数 )；（只用于所修饰的名词后）杰出的；卓越的；出类拔萃的 | |
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virtues
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| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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mawkish
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| adj.多愁善感的的；无味的 | |
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prudish
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| adj.装淑女样子的，装规矩的，过分规矩的；adv.过分拘谨地 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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intrigues
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| n.密谋策划( intrigue的名词复数 )；神秘气氛；引人入胜的复杂情节v.搞阴谋诡计( intrigue的第三人称单数 )；激起…的好奇心 | |
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wring
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| n.扭绞；v.拧，绞出，扭 | |
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rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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plunging
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| adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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rattling
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| adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词 | |
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uneven
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| adj.不平坦的，不规则的，不均匀的 | |
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famished
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| adj.饥饿的 | |
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doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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drooping
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| adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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stouter
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| 粗壮的( stout的比较级 )； 结实的； 坚固的； 坚定的 | |
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envious
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| adj.嫉妒的，羡慕的 | |
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soften
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| v.(使)变柔软；(使)变柔和 | |
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leisurely
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| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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portentous
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| adj.不祥的，可怕的，装腔作势的 | |
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puffing
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| v.使喷出( puff的现在分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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dreaded
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| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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heralded
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| v.预示( herald的过去式和过去分词 )；宣布（好或重要） | |
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caressing
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| 爱抚的，表现爱情的，亲切的 | |
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hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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honeymoon
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| n.蜜月（假期）；vi.度蜜月 | |
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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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