But altogether the wedding went off with success; for the bishop was not only impressively solemn during the ceremony, but was pleasantly jocose22 afterwards, cracked tepid23 little jokes with infinite gusto; and a tepid jokelet from a bishop is worth more than a brilliant mot from a professional wit. And the company, though not very brilliant in intellect, was quite brilliant enough to laugh when a bishop said a good thing; and every body was very well dressed; and the wedding presents, duly set out on a side-table, made a splendid show. The Schr?ders were to the fore24 in the matter of wedding presents; the City magnates of the Townshend connexion did pretty well, so far as silver tea-services, and wine-coolers, and ice-pails, and fish knives and forks, and splendidly-carved ivory tankards with massive silver covers, were concerned, and in all the usual wedding-gift nonsense of butter-dish and card-bowl; but the Schr?ders gave diamond-necklaces and sets of turquoises25 and opals in old-fashioned filigree26 settings, and tiny watches from Leroy's, costing 3000 francs, and Barbedienne's rarest bronzes, and the choicest carvings27 from the Frankfort Zeil. Mr. Schr?der, too, had taken his bride elect, two days before the marriage, to Long Acre, and shown her the neat little single brougham, and the elegant open carriage; and then had driven on to Rice's, and had had trotted28 out the fast trotters and the elegant steppers which had been reserved for them. And Alice Townshend thought of all these things as she stood at the altar beside the elderly gentleman with the small eyes and the stubbly gray hair; and the shudder29 which passed through her, as she solemnly vowed30 to honour and obey him, was a little mitigated31 by the recollection of his wealth, and her consequent future position.
The honeymoon20 was spent partly at Brussels, partly at Paris, and then the newly-married couple came home to their house in Saxe-Coburg Square. Fifteen years ago, just before the first Great Exhibition (the Great Exhibition! we who had gelebt und geliebt before '51 know how poor the other one was in comparison to it!), the tract32 of land whereon Saxe-Coburg, Gotha, Coleraine, and Dilkington Squares, Adalbert Crescent, and Guelph Place now stand, was known as Grunter's Grounds, and was tenanted by an honest market-gardener, who found a very remunerative33 market in Covent Garden for his cabbage cultivation34. But Hodder, the great builder, marked the army of luxury marching rapidly west; and knowing that quarters must be found for it, saw in Grunter's Grounds the exact place for the erection of those squares, crescents, terraces, and places, of which his architect, Palladio Hicks, had so elaborately shown the elevation37 on paper, but had erected38 so few. Mr. Hodder discovered that the nurseryman was in the last eighteen months of his lease, and that Grunter's Grounds belonged to a charity, the trustees of which were always quarreling among themselves. This was enough for Hodder; he soon wormed his way into the confidence of some of the trustees; and eventually succeeded in getting the renewal39 of the lease refused to the market-gardener, and the ground made over to him, on building lease, at a very cheap rate. Now do you wonder why Mrs. Hodder drives one of the most stylish40 equipages in the Park; or why, in her amateur theatricals41, she manages to get hold of all that extraordinary histrionic genius, which, by an odd concurrence42 of events, always accompanies the possession of a clerkship in the Treasury43? That was a splendid speculation44 for Mr. Hodder. There are thirty-six houses in Saxe-Coburg Square, for instance; and each of them lets at 320l. a-year. They are all, as Mr. Thackeray said of the Pyramids, "very big," and very ugly; great gaunt stuccoed erections, bow-windowed, plate-glassed, and porticoed after the usual prevalent pattern, with a small square courtyard looking into a mews behind, and Mr. Swiveller's prospect45, "a delightful46 view of--over the way," in front. But they let wonderfully; it is the thing to live in that quarter; and hangers-on to the selvage of fashion, clerks in public offices, who have married into aristocratic poor families, and suchlike, will be found bargaining for a ghastly little hole in Adalbert Crescent or Guelph Place, when they could get a capital roomy house at Highgate or Hampstead, with a big garden, in which their "young barbarians47" could be "all at play" from morning till night, for far less money. Mr. Schr?der's house was furnished very expensively, and, considering all had been left to the upholsterer, in not bad taste. The dining-room was in light oak, carved high-backed chairs in green morocco; a large massive round-table in the centre, with half-a-dozen swinging moderator-lamps over it; Wardour-Street Rubenses and apocryphal48 ancestors on the walls. Behind this the library in dark oak, splendid writing-table, quaint49 old carved Davenport desk from a Carmelite monastery50; wonderful collection of books, the result of the blending of two library sales at Hodgson's,--one the gathering of a bibliomaniacal virtuoso52, the other of a sporting nobleman,--and before-letter proofs, after Landseer. The drawing-rooms I should utterly53 fail in endeavouring to describe, so content myself by remarking that they were halls of dazzling light,--allowed by their worst enemies, the critics, to be "delicious;" by their most captious54, to be "effective,"--splendidly furnished, and opening on to conservatories55 and boudoirs and canvas-covered balconies.
Mr. Schr?der was not the man to hide his candle under a bushel; nor, having spent a vast amount of money on his house and its decorations, to keep them solely56 for the contemplation of himself and his wife: so it was at his suggestion that the dinner-party and reception were organised. Mrs. Schr?der at once gave her acquiescence57; indeed, just at this period of her life, she was in too dazed a state to do any thing more than follow suit. She knew her father to be wealthy, and always had lived in good style; but she also knew that her parent was a great tyrant--one of those "stern" persons so popular in novels; and she had had many visions of resisting him; of flying from his roof with some young lover not overburdened with riches; of love in a cottage, and other maniacal51 ideas of the same description; and now she found that the time had come and passed; that she had not resisted at all; and that she was settled down with a gray-headed, elderly husband, who was one of the richest men in London. It was not her childhood's dream, perhaps; but it was by no means uncomfortable; and Mrs. Schr?der wisely determined58, to accept the riches, and to forget the grayness of the head; and went in for the dinner-party with spirit.
Husband and wife furnished about an equal complement59 of friends to the banquet, which was very splendid, but at first rather dull. Old Heinrich Schr?der, who had not yet returned to Frankfort, was present; and as he spoke60 scarcely any English, he did not enliven the conversation; which, however, was often polyglot61. The magnates from the City and their wives ate a good deal, and talked very little; while some of the younger and more aristocratic people brought in by Mrs. Schr?der were silent as becomes "swells," and only occasionally worked eyebrow62 or shoulder telegraphs to each other, in silent wonder at, and depreciation63 of, their neighbours. Mr. Beresford began to be awfully64 bored, and tried topic after topic without meeting with the least success. At last, however, he seemed to have stumbled on one that awoke a certain amount of general interest.
"Seen your newly-elected brother-director of the Terra-del-Fuego Company yet, Mr. Schr?der?" he asked.
"Colonel Levison?" said Mr. Schr?der; "no, not yet; we've had no board-day since his election."
"Man of mark, sir," said an old gentleman, who had painted his chin and shirt-front with turtle-soup.
"What Levison is it, Beresford?" asked Captain Lyster, who was seated near Mrs. Schr?der.
"Has he?" said Mrs. Schr?der, on whom the dulness had settled like a pall36. "Oh, do tell us about it, Mr. Beresford; that is, if you may."
"Oh, yes, I may," laughed Beresford; "though it's nothing much to tell. Jack was in the 9th, and came into five thousand pounds at his father's death; sold out; speculated in cotton, and made it twenty; speculated in hides, and lost every sixpence. Went out to Australia on the first discovery of gold; was a boot-black in Melbourne; actually had a stand and brushed boots, you know; afterwards was cad to the Ballarat omnibus; fact, give you my word! At last got up to the diggings; worked with varying luck, until at last turned up monster nugget, and hit upon a splendid vein66; stuck to it quietly, and made a fortune. Realised; came back to England, and has doubled it. Curious life, isn't it?"
"How very odd!" said Mrs. Schr?der, trying to extract a remark from a very gorgeous lady on her right; "fancy, blacking boots!"
"And what do you call 'em to a bus?" said the lady, who, though gorgeous, was Clapham-born, and still possessed67 her native dialect.
"Must be clayver man," hazarded a tall, thin gentleman, a light of the Draft and Docket Office, who was very short-sighted, and perpetually kept in his eye a glass, with which he endeavoured to focus somebody into conversation; hitherto hopelessly.
"Oh, yes," said his neighbour, a bald man, with cinnamon whiskers, whose life was passed in saying the wrong thing in the wrong place--"oh, yes; but don't you know he's Boswell Levison's brother. He's a Jew!"
Every body looked involuntarily at old Heinrich Schr?der, about whose origin there could be no doubt, and who had that face which you may see repeated by hundreds in the Frankfort Juden-Gasse.
"Ha! ha!" said the old gentleman, catching68 the last word, and finding himself the centre of attraction; "was Chew! ya, zo; Chew ist goot."
Mr. Schr?der turned a dull lead colour, and a general awe-struck silence fell upon the company, which was broken by Beresford, who, again coming to the rescue, said:
"You knew Levison, Monkhouse? We stayed together in his uncle's house two years ago."
The man with the eyeglass made a vain attempt to focus Beresford, and said, "Did we?"
Mr. Monkhouse dropped his glass from his eye, and looked up to the ceiling for inspiration; then, re-fixing it, said, "Oh, ah! Elgin! I know!--where the marble comes from?"
The Levison subject now being evidently exhausted69, and the conversation becoming hopelessly-idiotic, Captain Lyster strikes in at a tangent, and asks Mrs. Schr?der whether she has seen any thing recently of her friend, Mrs. Churchill,--Miss Lexden that was.
Mrs. Schr?der replies in the negative, adding that she had called upon Barbara "in, oh, such a strange street!" but had not found her at home: the Churchills had been asked to dine there that day, but had declined on account of Mr. Churchill's engagements. It was, however, probable that they might come in the evening. Hearing the name of Churchill mentioned, Mr. Beresford chimes in.
"Ah, by the way, the Churchills! friends of yours, Mrs. Schr?der? How are they getting on? Love-match, and all that kind of thing, hey? Clever man, Churchill; but should have kept to his own set; married the daughter of his printer or publisher, or some fellow of that sort; not taken away one of our stars."
"What do you mean by his own set, Mr. Beresford?" said Lyster, rousing himself. "Mr. Churchill, I take it, is a gentleman in every sense of the word. I don't know whom you have been accustomed to associate with, but I never saw a better-bred man."
Mr. Beresford pauses for a moment, startled at the attack; then a smile passes over his face as he says, "I didn't impugn70 your friend's breeding, Captain Lyster; but I suppose even such a Corydon as you would allow the folly71 of a love-match with no money on either side?"
It is probable that Captain Lyster might have replied, even seeing, clearly as he did, that the tendency of the conversation was towards an argument in which he would have to exert himself; but the cinnamon-whiskered man, who had been waiting for an opportunity of speaking, now saw his chance, and burst forth--"Love-match!" said he; "no money on either side! What then? Do you imagine that two people, young, attached to each other, who risk a--a--what d'ye call um?--fight in the great battle of life"--looking round and repeating "in the great battle of life--are not much happier than those who make, what you may call, sordid72 matches? Thus, for the sake of argument, an elderly man marries a young girl; nothing in common between them; she simply married for position, or to oblige her parents; and he--well, I think we know the contemptible73 figure he cuts; a case of buying and selling, as you would say in the City, eh, Schr?der?" and the cinnamon-coloured man, who was great at a debating-society, looked in triumph at his host.
Mr. Schr?der, more leaden-coloured than ever, said, "Certainly." Mrs. Schr?der, who had been looking down at the table, and playing with her dessert-knife, rose with the rest of the ladies, and left the room. After their departure, the West-end section, including Beresford, Lyster, and Monkhouse, seemed to get silent and abstracted; while Mr. Schr?der's particular friends from the City, the bank-directors and public-company men, re-invigorated themselves with port, and discussed the politics of Threadneedle Street and the chances of change in the discount rate in hoarse74 whispers. Solemn dulness fell upon the West-end division: Lyster dropped into a semi-dose; Mr. Monkhouse tried to focus the talkers one by one, but failing, fell to polishing his eyeglass and admiring his nails; the cinnamon-whiskered man cut into the conversation once in the wrong place, and, having plainly showed himself to be an idiot, was promptly75 extinguished; and Beresford fell into a dreamy state, in which his liabilities ranged themselves in horrible array before him, and he went into wild speculations76 as to how they might be met. While in this state, he became conscious of old Mr. Townshend's voice, laying down the law, in most imperative77 style, on matters of finance, and suddenly he remembered his promise to Simnel. He waited for his opportunity when Mr. Townshend ceased for an instant, and then said: "My dear Mr. Schr?der, you can't tell how horrible it is for us impecunious78 people to listen to this tremendously ingotted talk. We look upon you as a dozen Sinbad the Sailors, each having found his own peculiar79 treasure in the Valley of Diamonds. Ah! if it were only given to me to fathom80 the secret of money-making!"
The City section were pleased at this concession81, and took the remarks as complimentary82. Mr. Schr?der smiled, and said sententiously: "Business has its cares as well as its pleasures." Mr. Townshend nodded his head, saying, "You gentlemen despise our prosaic83 ways and business routine; with you--"
"Business routine!" exclaimed Beresford. "Why, you make a fortune by the arrival of a telegram, by the nod of a cabinet-minister's head. I'm not so ignorant of these mercantile matters as you may fancy. When I was in the habit of staying with my intimate friend Pigott, of the firm of Pigott and Wells--"
"Pigott and Wells," repeated Beresford slowly, looking at him stedfastly; "merchants of Combcardingham. Do you know the firm?"
"No, not at all. That is--I--" and Mr. Townshend's teeth chattered85 as he gulped86 down a bumper87 of port and cowered89 in his chair, as a tremendous knock, reverberating90 through the house, announced the arrival of the first guests for the reception.
The reception. Item, Herr Klavierspieler, the celebrated91 pianiste, who was so fall of soul, and so mysterious, and so thin, and so long-haired, and so silent. All sorts of stories afloat about Herr Klavierspieler,--that he communed with spirits; that he was a ghoule; that he was consuming away under an unrequited passion for an Austrian countess of excessive haughtiness92; whereas in real truth he was the son of a saddler in the Breite Strasse of Dresden, and his liver was deranged93, perhaps by his eating five heavy meals a day, and, save when he was playing in public, never being without a pipe in his mouth. Item, M. Bloffski, the Pole, the violincellist of the world, a fat man in spectacles, who perspired94 a great deal, breathed through his nose, had a red-cotton pocket-handkerchief, and played his instrument divinely. Item, Mr. Schrink, musical critic of the Statesman newspaper, a little man with a hump-back and a frightfully sensitive ear; a little man who would cower88 and, shrink under false notes, and stamp and growl95 under bad singing; a little man whom every one hated, and who did not particularly like himself. Item, Fr?ulein Wünster, one of those German young ladies who, ever since Jenny Lind's success, have been imported into England under the firm idea that they were "going to do it," and who, having filled up gaps in the Hanover Square and St. James's Hall concerts, have returned to Vaterland without having made the smallest mark. Mr. Dabb, fashionable artist, whose portrait of Mr. Schr?der decorated the walls, was there; as was Mr. Fleem, the author of Fashion and Satire--a young gentleman who, for a cynic, seemed on remarkably96 good terms with himself and his fellow-creatures. Mr. Pringle and Mr. Prescott arrived together; and just after the gentlemen came up from the dining-room, Mr. and Mrs. Churchill were announced.
If Mrs. Churchill had been the Empress of Austria or the Queen of the Cannibal Islands, she could not have entered the room more haughtily97, or created a greater effect. She was dressed in a plain dark-gray silk, with a bunch of scarlet geraniums in her hair, and a black-lace shawl over her shoulders. Her little head was erect35, her delicate nostrils98 distended99, and her eye seemed to challenge any unpleasant remark. Frank Churchill was, as usual, quiet and sedate100; but it was evident he marked the impression which his wife made, and was pleased thereby101. Was he pleased with the expression of her face, as he marked it contracted for an instant, though immediately afterwards the features resumed their calm statuesque immobility? Was he pleased with the tone of her voice, which became a little hard and metallic102, instead of that soft whispering which he knew as hers? Barbara's trial was on her at that instant: she had returned to that society in which she had all her life lived; those luxuries, which had been in daily use, were around her, after she had been for weeks absent from them; the mere103 size of the rooms, the lighting104, the perfume, the presence of guests,--all seemed to render the events of the past months as a dream; and she had to bring her presence of mind into play to argue with herself.
Mrs. Schr?der rushed up to her at once; no doubt of the empressement of her manner! affection a little too palpable, as Barbara thought.
"Oh, Barbara darling! so glad you're come! I thought you'd disappointed us. How late you are!"
"Frank was detained; as I expected, Alice; make him explain himself."
"No occasion for that, I hope? Mrs. Schr?der," said Churchill; "the slaves of the lamp, you know!"
"Oh, there! that horrible business! your constant excuse; you're all alike. Gustav! Gustav! here's Mr. Churchill excusing himself from being late, and pleads business; take him away, and discuss the wretched subject together. I want to talk to Barbara,--a long talk. No, Gustav! I don't care what you say about my duties as hostess: I will talk to my old friend!" So Schr?der and Churchill went off, and Alice and Barbara seated themselves in a far window.
"Now, Barbara dear, tell me every thing. I needn't ask you if you're happy; that's a matter of course. Do you like your house? Is the boudoir in pale-green silk, as we always said we'd have it? Mine's in rose-colour; but that's Gustav's taste; I always liked your notion best."
"My boudoir, Alice? you forget."
"Oh, so I do. How ridiculous! But look here, Barbara darling; you'll come out for a drive with me whenever I fetch you?"
"Oh, thanks, Alice; I'm too far out of your way to be fetched often."
"Not a bit, Barbara; what else have the horses to do? though it is a difficult place to find out. Edwards--the coachman, I mean--had never heard of it, though he knows all sorts of short cuts; and we had to ask our way perpetually."
Barbara had something on the tip of her tongue, but it was never framed into words. She contented106 herself with saying, "the situation is handy for my husband, you know. I should not like the thought that he had far to come late at night."
"Oh! is he ever out late at night? How dreadful! how dull you must be! how wretched for you! I should make my maid sit up and read me to sleep."
"There has been no need for any such violent measures at present," said Barbara, with a slight smile. "Frank has managed to do his work at home, hitherto; but of course there may be occasions when he will be obliged to be out."
"You must come to us then. Promise! won't you, Barbara dear? You'll like Mr. Schr?der; at least I think you will. He's very quiet; but so kind-hearted and thoughtful. Oh, Captain Lyster! how you startled me!"
"Very sorry, Mrs. Schr?der," drawled the Captain, creeping leisurely107 towards them; "wouldn't have put you out for the world; but this is scarcely fair, you know; two ladies monopolising each other when we're dying to talk to them; and we're left to listen to that horrible hirsute108 wretch105 who's thumping109 the piano."
"Klavierspieler a horrible wretch! Did you hear that, Barbara? Well, Captain Lyster, I won't monopolise Mrs. Churchill any more, and you shall have a chat with her;" and Mrs. Schr?der walked off, laughing. Barbara had been looking at Mr. Schr?der, who was standing110 in the doorway111 talking with Frank Churchill; and had noticed his face fall as Lyster approached them. When Mrs. Schr?der moved away, her husband seemed relieved.
Captain Lyster sat down by Barbara, and talked long, and for him earnestly. She saw at once that he wanted to be numbered among her friends; and in a score of little delicate sentences he conveyed to her his appreciation112 of her conduct in marrying a man whom she loved, in spite of the opposition113 of her friends, his respect for her husband's character and talents, and his desire to serve them. Then he turned the conversation upon Mrs. Schr?der; and Barbara noticed that his manner changed; that he hesitated, and kept his eyes down, as he wondered whether she were happy; whether she loved he husband; whether it had really been her duty to obey her father's will, and not consult her own inclinations114, as people said had been the case. For the first time a light broke upon Barbara, and she knew Captain Lyster's story as plainly as if he had told it to her in so many words. Following his glance as he stopped speaking, she saw that it rested on Alice Schr?der, to whom Mr. Beresford was now talking, bending over her chair with great apparent devotion; and looking from them to Mr. Schr?der, Barbara remarked that the gloom had returned to his face, while Frank Churchill himself looked somewhat annoyed.
It was not without a very great deal of trouble that Mr. Pringle had induced his friend Prescott to accompany him to Saxe-Coburg Square. Even after that gentleman had given a reluctant consent he withdrew it, and on the very morning of the reception Mr. Pringle was not aware whether or not he should have to go alone. For Mr. Prescott was very much in love with Kate Mellon still: that interview in the Park had by no means had the effect of curing him of his passion; although, being a sensible young fellow, he saw that there was not the slightest use in giving way to it.
"He's a thoroughly changed buffer115, is Jim, sir!" Mr. Pringle would remark of him; "he used to be the cheeriest of birds; always good for going out some where, and no end of fun; always in tip-top spirits, and the best chap out. But now he sits in his chambers116, and smokes his pipe, and grizzles himself to death, pretty near; wishing he'd got more money, and all sorts of things. That won't do, you know! He must be picked up and trotted out; and the man for that line of business is yours truly." In pursuance of which determination Mr. Pringle opened a system of attack on his friend, and in the first place insisted that they should go together to Mr. Schr?der's reception. Even at the last, when Prescott gave in his final consent, it was under strong protest. "I shall be dreary117, old boy; and you'll be sorry you took me. You know I'm not very good company just now, George. I've not got over--"
"All right; I know. 'Tell me, my heart, can this be?' &c. But we'll have some dinner at Simpson's, and a bottle of old port; and that'll set you up, and make you see life under a different aspect, as they say in novels."
The dinner was very good; and finding his friend still silent and low-spirited, Mr. Pringle exerted himself to rouse him. He was very well known at the dining-rooms, and called the waiters by their Christian118 names, and asked after their families, and little events in their private lives.
Mr. Prescott could not help laughing at the absurdities119 perpetrated by his friend, and gradually his spirits revived. After dinner they went to Mr. Pringle's chambers, and smoked and had some hot whisky-and-water, which, coming after the port-wine, had a very hilarious120 effect upon Mr. Pringle, who then wanted to "go out some where," and not to go to the Schr?ders at all; but Mr. Prescott overruling this, they dressed and went. Mr. Pringle--and especially Mr. Pringle after half a bottle of port-wine and a couple of tumblers of whisky-punch--was a trying person to go about with, and Prescott had to call him to order several times. When they arrived at the house, and were asked their names, he gave them as the Duke of Wellington and Mr. Babbage; and on the servant's being about gravely to repeat them, he stopped him, saying they did not wish their names announced, as they were detectives come on very private business. On the staircase he feigned121 a wild terror at the powdered heads of the footmen; asked "how they came so white;" by nature or not? and altogether so behaved himself, that Mr. Prescott declared he would not enter the room with him.
Once in the room, Mr. Pringle toned down visibly, and conducted himself like an ordinary mortal. He was very friendly with Alice Schr?der, and expressed poignant122 regret at Mr. Townshend's sudden indisposition (for that worthy123 gentleman declined to come upstairs after dinner; Beresford's mention of Pigott and Wells had been too much for him), though secretly Mr. Pringle was pleased at missing his godfather, whom he was accustomed to regard as the essence of sternness; and he was introduced to Churchill, of whom he spoke the next day at the office as a "deuced clever fellow, a literary bird;" and he listened for a few minutes to Klavierspieler's pianoforte-fireworks; and, then went down and got some refreshment124. He endeavoured to induce Mr. Prescott to accompany him; but that gentleman not merely absolutely declined, but addressed his friend in strong words of warning, and declared that as for himself he was thoroughly happy where he was.
Indeed, once more in society, surrounded by well-looking, well-dressed people, listening to music and conversation in a splendidly-appointed home, Mr. Prescott began to think to himself that the solitary125 pipe-smokings in dreary chambers, the shutting himself away from the world, and giving himself up to melancholy126, was rather a mistake. Of course the grand cause of it all remained unaltered,--he never could get over his passion, he never would give up thinking of Kate,--and just then he started as he heard a light, musical, girlish voice behind him say, "it is James Prescott!" He turned rapidly round, and saw two or three people standing by him; one of whom, a very pretty, fresh-coloured buxom127 girl, stepped forward, laughed as he made a rather distant bow, and said, "You don't recollect me! Oh, what a horridly128 bad compliment!"
"It is excessively absurd, to be sure, on my part, I know. I cannot, by Jove! Emily Murray!" Prescott burst out as the face recurred129 to his memory.
"Emily Murray, of course!" said the young lady, still laughing; "Why, what ages since we've met! not since you left Havering; and how's the dear Vicar and the girls? which of them are married? I should so like to see them; and you--you're in some Government Office we heard; which is it? and--"
"I must come to Mr. Prescott's rescue, Emily, if you'll introduce me. You've stunned130 him with questions," said an elderly lady standing by.
"Oh, aunt, how can you say so! James--Mr. Prescott,--I don't know which I ought to say; but I always used to say James,--this is my aunt, Mrs. Wilmslow, with whom we're staying. I say we, for papa is in town; but his gout was threatening; so he wouldn't come to-night."
"My brother will be very pleased to see you, though, Mr. Prescott," said Mrs. Wilmslow; "I know he has the kindliest recollection of your father at Havering. Will you come and lunch with us to-morrow?"
Mr. Prescott accepted with thanks, and Mrs. Wilmslow moved back to her party; but Emily Murray stayed behind, and they had a very long conversation; during which he settled not merely that he would lunch in Portland Place on the next day, but that he would afterwards accompany Miss Murray and some of her friends in their subsequent ride. As Miss Murray departed with her friends, Mr. Pringle came up and apologised for having left his friend so much alone. "Very sorry, old fellow, but I got into an argument with an old German buffer downstairs. Very good fellow, but spoke very shy English. Told me he was nearly eighty years old; and that he accounted for his good health by having been always in the habit of taking a walk past dinner. Took me full ten minutes to find out he meant after dinner. But I say, old fellow, I'm really sorry; you must have had a very slow evening."
"On the contrary," said Mr. Prescott, "I've enjoyed myself amazingly."
Mr. Pringle looked hard at his friend, and whistled plaintively131.
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thoroughly
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bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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entrapped
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| v.使陷入圈套，使入陷阱( entrap的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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sloth
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| n.[动]树懒；懒惰，懒散 | |
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cavalcade
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alacrity
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banking
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| n.银行业，银行学，金融业 | |
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brokering
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| v.做掮客（或中人等）( broker的现在分词 )；作为权力经纪人进行谈判；以中间人等身份安排… | |
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shipping
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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genial
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| adj.亲切的，和蔼的，愉快的，脾气好的 | |
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scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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eminent
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| adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的 | |
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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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17
trump
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| n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭 | |
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18
shuffled
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| v.洗（纸牌）( shuffle的过去式和过去分词 )；拖着脚步走；粗心地做；摆脱尘世的烦恼 | |
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19
honeymooning
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| 度蜜月（honeymoon的现在分词形式） | |
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20
honeymoon
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| n.蜜月（假期）；vi.度蜜月 | |
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21
recollect
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| v.回忆，想起，记起，忆起，记得 | |
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22
jocose
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| adj.开玩笑的，滑稽的 | |
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tepid
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| adj.微温的，温热的，不太热心的 | |
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24
fore
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| adv.在前面；adj.先前的；在前部的；n.前部 | |
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25
turquoises
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| n.绿松石( turquoise的名词复数 )；青绿色 | |
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26
filigree
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| n.金银丝做的工艺品；v.用金银细丝饰品装饰；用华而不实的饰品装饰；adj.金银细丝工艺的 | |
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27
carvings
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| n.雕刻( carving的名词复数 )；雕刻术；雕刻品；雕刻物 | |
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trotted
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| 小跑，急走( trot的过去分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走 | |
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29
shudder
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| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
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30
vowed
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| 起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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31
mitigated
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| v.减轻，缓和( mitigate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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32
tract
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| n.传单，小册子，大片(土地或森林) | |
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33
remunerative
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| adj.有报酬的 | |
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34
cultivation
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| n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成 | |
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35
erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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36
pall
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| v.覆盖，使平淡无味；n.柩衣，棺罩；棺材；帷幕 | |
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37
elevation
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| n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高 | |
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38
ERECTED
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| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
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39
renewal
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| adj.(契约)延期，续订，更新，复活，重来 | |
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40
stylish
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| adj.流行的，时髦的；漂亮的，气派的 | |
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41
theatricals
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| n.（业余性的）戏剧演出，舞台表演艺术；职业演员；戏剧的( theatrical的名词复数 )；剧场的；炫耀的；戏剧性的 | |
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42
concurrence
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| n.同意；并发 | |
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43
treasury
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| n.宝库；国库，金库；文库 | |
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44
speculation
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| n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机 | |
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45
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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46
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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47
barbarians
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| n.野蛮人( barbarian的名词复数 )；外国人；粗野的人；无教养的人 | |
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48
apocryphal
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| adj.假冒的，虚假的 | |
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49
quaint
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| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
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50
monastery
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| n.修道院，僧院，寺院 | |
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51
maniacal
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| adj.发疯的 | |
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52
virtuoso
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| n.精于某种艺术或乐器的专家，行家里手 | |
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53
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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54
captious
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| adj.难讨好的，吹毛求疵的 | |
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55
conservatories
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| n.（培植植物的）温室，暖房( conservatory的名词复数 ) | |
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56
solely
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| adv.仅仅，唯一地 | |
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57
acquiescence
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| n.默许；顺从 | |
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58
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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59
complement
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| n.补足物，船上的定员；补语；vt.补充，补足 | |
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60
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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61
polyglot
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| adj.通晓数种语言的；n.通晓多种语言的人 | |
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62
eyebrow
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| n.眉毛，眉 | |
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63
depreciation
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| n.价值低落，贬值，蔑视，贬低 | |
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64
awfully
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| adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地 | |
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65
jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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66
vein
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| n.血管，静脉；叶脉，纹理；情绪；vt.使成脉络 | |
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67
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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68
catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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69
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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70
impugn
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| v.指责，对…表示怀疑 | |
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71
folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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72
sordid
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| adj.肮脏的，不干净的，卑鄙的，暗淡的 | |
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73
contemptible
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| adj.可鄙的，可轻视的，卑劣的 | |
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74
hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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75
promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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76
speculations
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| n.投机买卖( speculation的名词复数 )；思考；投机活动；推断 | |
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77
imperative
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| n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的 | |
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78
impecunious
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| adj.不名一文的，贫穷的 | |
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79
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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80
fathom
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| v.领悟，彻底了解 | |
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81
concession
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| n.让步，妥协；特许(权) | |
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82
complimentary
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| adj.赠送的，免费的，赞美的，恭维的 | |
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83
prosaic
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| adj.单调的，无趣的 | |
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84
blanched
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| v.使变白( blanch的过去式 )；使（植物）不见阳光而变白；酸洗（金属）使有光泽；用沸水烫（杏仁等）以便去皮 | |
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85
chattered
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| （人）喋喋不休( chatter的过去式 )； 唠叨； （牙齿）打战； （机器）震颤 | |
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86
gulped
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| v.狼吞虎咽地吃，吞咽( gulp的过去式和过去分词 )；大口地吸（气）；哽住 | |
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87
bumper
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| n.(汽车上的)保险杠；adj.特大的，丰盛的 | |
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88
cower
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| v.畏缩，退缩，抖缩 | |
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89
cowered
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| v.畏缩，抖缩( cower的过去式 ) | |
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90
reverberating
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| 回响，回荡( reverberate的现在分词 )； 使反响，使回荡，使反射 | |
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91
celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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92
haughtiness
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| n.傲慢；傲气 | |
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93
deranged
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| adj.疯狂的 | |
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94
perspired
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| v.出汗，流汗( perspire的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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95
growl
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| v.（狗等）嗥叫，（炮等）轰鸣；n.嗥叫，轰鸣 | |
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96
remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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97
haughtily
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| adv. 傲慢地, 高傲地 | |
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98
nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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99
distended
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| v.（使）膨胀，肿胀( distend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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100
sedate
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| adj.沉着的，镇静的，安静的 | |
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101
thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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102
metallic
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| adj.金属的；金属制的；含金属的；产金属的；像金属的 | |
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103
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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104
lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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105
wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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106
contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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107
leisurely
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| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
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108
hirsute
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| adj.多毛的 | |
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109
thumping
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| adj.重大的，巨大的；重击的；尺码大的；极好的adv.极端地；非常地v.重击(thump的现在分词)；狠打；怦怦地跳；全力支持 | |
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110
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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111
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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112
appreciation
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| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
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113
opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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114
inclinations
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| 倾向( inclination的名词复数 )； 倾斜； 爱好； 斜坡 | |
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115
buffer
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| n.起缓冲作用的人(或物)，缓冲器；vt.缓冲 | |
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116
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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117
dreary
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| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
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118
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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119
absurdities
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| n.极端无理性( absurdity的名词复数 )；荒谬；谬论；荒谬的行为 | |
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120
hilarious
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| adj.充满笑声的，欢闹的；[反]depressed | |
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121
feigned
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| a.假装的，不真诚的 | |
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122
poignant
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| adj.令人痛苦的，辛酸的，惨痛的 | |
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123
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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124
refreshment
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| n.恢复，精神爽快，提神之事物；（复数）refreshments:点心，茶点 | |
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125
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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126
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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127
buxom
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| adj.（妇女）丰满的，有健康美的 | |
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128
horridly
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| 可怕地，讨厌地 | |
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129
recurred
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| 再发生，复发( recur的过去式和过去分词 )； 治愈 | |
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130
stunned
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| adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词 | |
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131
plaintively
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| adv.悲哀地，哀怨地 | |
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