Born into the world with many other gifts, this last and least definable gift of popularity was added to complete them all. Nobody criticised her, nobody was jealous of her, her very rivals lent her their new music and their lovers; and her own discarded wooers always sought her to be a bridesmaid when they married somebody else.
She was one of those persons who seem to have come into the world well-dressed. There was an atmosphere of elegance3 around her, like a costume; every attitude implied a presence-chamber or a ball-room. The girls complained that in private theatricals4 no combination of disguises could reduce Kate to the ranks, nor give her the “make-up” of a waiting-maid. Yet as her father was a New York merchant of the precarious5 or spasmodic description, she had been used from childhood to the wildest fluctuations6 of wardrobe;—a year of Paris dresses,—then another year spent in making over ancient finery, that never looked like either finery or antiquity7 when it came from her magic hands. Without a particle of vanity or fear, secure in health and good-nature and invariable prettiness, she cared little whether the appointed means of grace were ancient silk or modern muslin. In her periods of poverty, she made no secret of the necessary devices; the other girls, of course, guessed them, but her lovers never did, because she always told them. There was one particular tarlatan dress of hers which was a sort of local institution. It was known to all her companions, like the State House. There was a report that she had first worn it at her christening; the report originated with herself. The young men knew that she was going to the party if she could turn that pink tarlatan once more; but they had only the vaguest impression what a tarlatan was, and cared little on which side it was worn, so long as Kate was inside.
During these epochs of privation her life, in respect to dress, was a perpetual Christmas-tree of second-hand8 gifts. Wealthy aunts supplied her with cast-off shoes of all sizes, from two and a half up to five, and she used them all. She was reported to have worn one straw hat through five changes of fashion. It was averred9 that, when square crowns were in vogue12, she flattened13 it over a tin pan, and that, when round crowns returned, she bent14 it on the bedpost. There was such a charm in her way of adapting these treasures, that the other girls liked to test her with new problems in the way of millinery and dress-making; millionnaire friends implored15 her to trim their hats, and lent her their own things in order to learn how to wear them. This applied16 especially to certain rich cousins, shy and studious girls, who adored her, and to whom society only ceased to be alarming when the brilliant Kate took them under her wing, and graciously accepted a few of their newest feathers. Well might they acquiesce17, for she stood by them superbly, and her most favored partners found no way to her hand so sure as to dance systematically18 through that staid sisterhood. Dear, sunshiny, gracious, generous Kate!—who has ever done justice to the charm given to this grave old world by the presence of one free-hearted and joyous19 girl?
At the time now to be described, however, Kate’s purse was well filled; and if she wore only second-best finery, it was because she had lent her very best to somebody else. All that her doting20 father asked was to pay for her dresses, and to see her wear them; and if her friends wore a part of them, it only made necessary a larger wardrobe, and more varied21 and pleasurable shopping. She was as good a manager in wealth as in poverty, wasted nothing, took exquisite22 care of everything, and saved faithfully for some one else all that was not needed for her own pretty person.
Pretty she was throughout, from the parting of her jet-black hair to the high instep of her slender foot; a glancing, brilliant, brunette beauty, with the piquant23 charm of perpetual spirits, and the equipoise of a perfectly24 healthy nature. She was altogether graceful25, yet she had not the fresh, free grace of her cousin Hope, who was lithe26 and strong as a hawthorne spray: Kate’s was the narrower grace of culture grown hereditary27, an in-door elegance that was born in her, and of which dancing-school was but the natural development. You could not picture Hope to your mind in one position more than in another; she had an endless variety of easy motion. When you thought of Kate, you remembered precisely28 how she sat, how she stood, and how she walked. That was all, and it was always the same. But is not that enough? We do not ask of Mary Stuart’s portrait that it should represent her in more than one attitude, and why should a living beauty need more than two or three?
Kate was betrothed29 to her cousin Harry30, Hope’s brother, and, though she was barely twenty, they had seemed to appertain to each other for a time so long that the memory of man or maiden aunt ran not to the contrary. She always declared, indeed, that they were born married, and that their wedding-day would seem like a silver wedding. Harry was quiet, unobtrusive, and manly31. He might seem commonplace at first beside the brilliant Kate and his more gifted sister; but thorough manhood is never commonplace, and he was a person to whom one could anchor. His strong, steadfast32 physique was the type of his whole nature; when he came into the room, you felt as if a good many people had been added to the company. He made steady progress in his profession of the law, through sheer worth; he never dazzled, but he led. His type was pure Saxon, with short, curling hair, blue eyes, and thin, fair skin, to which the color readily mounted. Up to a certain point he was imperturbably33 patient and amiable34, but, when overtaxed, was fiery35 and impetuous for a single instant, and no more. It seemed as if a sudden flash of anger went over him, like the flash that glides36 along the glutinous37 stem of the fraxinella, when you touch it with a candle; the next moment it had utterly38 vanished, and was forgotten as if it had never been.
Kate’s love for her lover was one of those healthy and assured ties that often outlast39 the ardors of more passionate40 natures. For other temperaments41 it might have been inadequate42; but theirs matched perfectly, and it was all sufficient for them. If there was within Kate’s range a more heroic and ardent43 emotion than that inspired by Harry, it was put forth44 toward Hope. This was her idolatry; she always said that it was fortunate Hope was Hal’s sister, or she should have felt it her duty to give them to each other, and not die till the wedding was accomplished45. Harry shared this adoration46 to quite a reasonable extent, for a brother; but his admiration47 for Philip Malbone was one that Kate did not quite share. Harry’s quieter mood had been dazzled from childhood by Philip, who had always been a privileged guest in the household. Kate’s clear, penetrating48, buoyant nature had divined Phil’s weaknesses, and had sometimes laughed at them, even from her childhood; though she did not dislike him, for she did not dislike anybody. But Harry was magnetized by him very much as women were; believed him true, because he was tender, and called him only fastidious where Kate called him lazy.
Kate was spending that summer with her aunt Jane, whose especial pet and pride she was. Hope was spending there the summer vacation of a Normal School in which she had just become a teacher. Her father had shared in the family ups and downs, but had finally stayed down, while the rest had remained up. Fortunately, his elder children were indifferent to this, and indeed rather preferred it; it was a tradition that Hope had expressed the wish, when a child, that her father might lose his property, so that she could become a teacher. As for Harry, he infinitely49 preferred the drudgery50 of a law office to that of a gentleman of leisure; and as for their step-mother, it turned out, when she was left a widow, that she had secured for herself and Emilia whatever property remained, so that she suffered only the delightful51 need of living in Europe for economy.
The elder brother and sister had alike that fine physical vigor52 which New England is now developing, just in time to save it from decay. Hope was of Saxon type, though a shade less blonde than her brother; she was a little taller, and of more commanding presence, with a peculiarly noble carriage of the shoulders. Her brow was sometimes criticised as being a little too full for a woman; but her nose was straight, her mouth and teeth beautiful, and her profile almost perfect. Her complexion54 had lost by out-door life something of its delicacy55, but had gained a freshness and firmness that no sunlight could impair56. She had that wealth of hair which young girls find the most enviable point of beauty in each other. Hers reached below her knees, when loosened, or else lay coiled, in munificent57 braids of gold, full of sparkling lights and contrasted shadows, upon her queenly head.
Her eyes were much darker than her hair, and had a way of opening naively58 and suddenly, with a perfectly infantine expression, as if she at that moment saw the sunlight for the first time. Her long lashes59 were somewhat like Emilia’s, and she had the same deeply curved eyebrows60; in no other point was there a shade of resemblance between the half-sisters. As compared with Kate, Hope showed a more abundant physical life; there was more blood in her; she had ampler outlines, and health more absolutely unvaried, for she had yet to know the experience of a day’s illness. Kate seemed born to tread upon a Brussels carpet, and Hope on the softer luxury of the forest floor. Out of doors her vigor became a sort of ecstasy61, and she walked the earth with a jubilee62 of the senses, such as Browning attributes to his Saul.
This inexhaustible freshness of physical organization seemed to open the windows of her soul, and make for her a new heaven and earth every day. It gave also a peculiar53 and almost embarrassing directness to her mental processes, and suggested in them a sort of final and absolute value, as if truth had for the first time found a perfectly translucent63 medium. It was not so much that she said rare things, but her very silence was eloquent64, and there was a great deal of it. Her girlhood had in it a certain dignity as of a virgin65 priestess or sibyl. Yet her hearty66 sympathies and her healthy energy made her at home in daily life, and in a democratic society. To Kate, for instance, she was a necessity of existence, like light or air. Kate’s nature was limited; part of her graceful equipoise was narrowness. Hope was capable of far more self-abandonment to a controlling emotion, and, if she ever erred10, would err11 more widely, for it would be because the whole power of her conscience was misdirected. “Once let her take wrong for right,” said Aunt Jane, “and stop her if you can; these born saints give a great deal more trouble than children of this world, like my Kate.” Yet in daily life Hope yielded to her cousin nine times out of ten; but the tenth time was the key to the situation. Hope loved Kate devotedly67; but Kate believed in her as the hunted fugitive68 believes in the north star.
To these maidens69, thus united, came Emilia home from Europe. The father of Harry and Hope had been lured70 into a second marriage with Emilia’s mother, a charming and unscrupulous woman, born with an American body and a French soul. She having once won him to Paris, held him there life-long, and kept her step-children at a safe distance. She arranged that, even after her own death, her daughter should still remain abroad for education; nor was Emilia ordered back until she brought down some scandal by a romantic attempt to elope from boarding-school with a Swiss servant. It was by weaning her heart from this man that Philip Malbone had earned the thanks of the whole household during his hasty flight through Europe. He possessed71 some skill in withdrawing the female heart from an undesirable72 attachment73, though it was apt to be done by substituting another. It was fortunate that, in this case, no fears could be entertained. Since his engagement Philip had not permitted himself so much as a flirtation74; he and Hope were to be married soon; he loved and admired her heartily75, and had an indifference76 to her want of fortune that was quite amazing, when we consider that he had a fortune of his own.
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1
maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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feuds
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| n.长期不和，世仇( feud的名词复数 ) | |
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elegance
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| n.优雅；优美，雅致；精致，巧妙 | |
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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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precarious
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| adj.不安定的，靠不住的；根据不足的 | |
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fluctuations
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| 波动，涨落，起伏( fluctuation的名词复数 ) | |
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antiquity
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| n.古老；高龄；古物，古迹 | |
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second-hand
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| adj.用过的，旧的，二手的 | |
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averred
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| v.断言( aver的过去式和过去分词 )；证实；证明…属实；作为事实提出 | |
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erred
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| 犯错误，做错事( err的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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err
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| vi.犯错误，出差错 | |
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Vogue
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| n.时髦，时尚；adj.流行的 | |
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flattened
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| [医]（水）平扁的，弄平的 | |
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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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implored
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| 恳求或乞求（某人）( implore的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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acquiesce
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| vi.默许，顺从，同意 | |
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systematically
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| adv.有系统地 | |
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joyous
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| adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的 | |
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doting
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| adj.溺爱的，宠爱的 | |
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varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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piquant
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| adj.辛辣的，开胃的，令人兴奋的 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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lithe
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| adj.(指人、身体)柔软的，易弯的 | |
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hereditary
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| adj.遗传的，遗传性的，可继承的，世袭的 | |
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precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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betrothed
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| n. 已订婚者 动词betroth的过去式和过去分词 | |
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harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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manly
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| adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地 | |
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32
steadfast
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| adj.固定的，不变的，不动摇的；忠实的；坚贞不移的 | |
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imperturbably
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| adv.泰然地，镇静地，平静地 | |
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amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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glides
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| n.滑行( glide的名词复数 )；滑音；音渡；过渡音v.滑动( glide的第三人称单数 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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glutinous
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| adj.粘的，胶状的 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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outlast
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| v.较…耐久 | |
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passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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41
temperaments
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| 性格( temperament的名词复数 )； （人或动物的）气质； 易冲动； （性情）暴躁 | |
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inadequate
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| adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的 | |
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43
ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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44
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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46
adoration
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| n.爱慕，崇拜 | |
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47
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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48
penetrating
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| adj.（声音）响亮的，尖锐的adj.（气味）刺激的adj.（思想）敏锐的，有洞察力的 | |
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49
infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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50
drudgery
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| n.苦工，重活，单调乏味的工作 | |
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51
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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52
vigor
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| n.活力，精力，元气 | |
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53
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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54
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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56
impair
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| v.损害，损伤；削弱，减少 | |
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munificent
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| adj.慷慨的，大方的 | |
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naively
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| adv. 天真地 | |
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59
lashes
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| n.鞭挞( lash的名词复数 )；鞭子；突然猛烈的一击；急速挥动v.鞭打( lash的第三人称单数 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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60
eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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61
ecstasy
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| n.狂喜，心醉神怡，入迷 | |
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jubilee
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| n.周年纪念；欢乐 | |
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translucent
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| adj.半透明的；透明的 | |
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eloquent
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| adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的 | |
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virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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66
hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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devotedly
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| 专心地； 恩爱地； 忠实地； 一心一意地 | |
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68
fugitive
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| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 | |
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69
maidens
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| 处女( maiden的名词复数 )； 少女； 未婚女子； （板球运动）未得分的一轮投球 | |
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70
lured
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| 吸引，引诱（lure的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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71
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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72
undesirable
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| adj.不受欢迎的，不良的，不合意的，讨厌的；n.不受欢迎的人，不良分子 | |
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73
attachment
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| n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附 | |
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74
flirtation
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| n.调情，调戏，挑逗 | |
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75
heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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