Not much to look back upon, but a world to look forward to. To Stephen, dowered though she was with rare personal gifts and with wealth and position accorded to but few, the hours of waiting were longer than the years that were past. Yet the time had new and startling incidents for her. Towards Christmas in the second year the Boer war had reached its climax1 of evil. As the news of disaster after disaster was flashed through the cable she like others felt appalled2 at the sacrifices that were being exacted by the God of War.
One day she casually3 read in The Times that the Earl de Lannoy had died in his London mansion4, and further learned that he had never recovered from the shock of hearing that his two sons and his nephew had been killed. The paragraph concluded: “By his death the title passes to a distant relative. The new Lord de Lannoy is at present in India with his regiment5, the 35th or ‘Grey’ Hussars, of which he is Colonel.” She gave the matter a more than passing thought, for it was sad to find a whole family thus wiped out at a blow.
Early in February she received a telegram from her London solicitor6 saying that he wished to see her on an important matter. Her answer was: “Come at once”; and at tea-time Mr. Copleston arrived. He was an old friend and she greeted him warmly. She was a little chilled when he answered with what seemed unusual deference7:
‘I thank your Ladyship for your kindness!’ She raised her eyebrows8 but made no comment: she was learning to be silent under surprise. When she had handed the old gentleman his tea she said:
‘My aunt has chosen to remain away, thinking that you might wish to see me privately9. But I take it that there is nothing which she may not share. I have no secrets from her.’
‘Not at all; not at all! I should like her to be present. It will, I am sure, be a delight to us all.’
Again raised eyebrows; again silence on the subject. When a servant answered her bell she told him to ask Miss Rowly if she would kindly11 join them.
Aunt Laetitia and the solicitor were old cronies, and their greeting was most friendly. When the old gentlewoman had seated herself and taken her cup of tea, Mr. Copleston said to Stephen, with a sort of pomposity12:
‘I have to announce your succession to the Earldom de Lannoy!’
Stephen sat quite still. She knew the news was true; Mr. Copleston was not one who would jest on a business subject, and too accurate a lawyer to make an error in a matter of fact. But the fact did not seem to touch her. It was not that she was indifferent to it; few women could hear such news without a thrill. Mr. Copleston seemed at a loss. Miss Rowly rose and quietly kissed her, and saying simply, ‘God bless you, my dear!’ went back to her seat.
Realising that Mr. Copleston expected some acknowledgment, Stephen held out her hand to him and said quietly:
‘Thank you!’
After a long pause she added quietly:
‘Now, won’t you tell us about it? I am in absolute ignorance; and don’t understand.’
‘I had better not burden you, at first, with too many details, which can come later; but give you a rough survey of the situation.’
‘Your title of Countess de Lannoy comes to you through your ancestor Isobel, third and youngest daughter of the sixth Earl; Messrs Collinbrae and Jackson, knowing that my firm acted for your family, communicated with us. Lest there should be any error we followed most carefully every descendant and every branch of the family, for we thought it best not to communicate with you till your right of inheritance was beyond dispute. We arrived independently at the same result as Messrs. Collinbrae and Jackson. There is absolutely no doubt whatever of your claim. You will petition the Crown, and on reference to the House of Lords the Committee for Privileges will admit your right. May I offer my congratulations, Lady de Lannoy on your acquisition? By the way, I may say that all the estates of the Earldom, which have been from the first kept in strict entail13, go with the title de Lannoy.’
During the recital14 Stephen was conscious of a sort of bitter comment on the tendencies of good fortune.
‘Too late! too late!’ something seemed to whisper, ‘what delight it would have been had Father inherited . . . If Harold had not gone . . . !’ All the natural joy seemed to vanish, as bubbles break into empty air.
To Aunt Laetitia the new title was a source of pride and joy, far greater than would have been the case had it come to herself. She had for so many years longed for new honours for Stephen that she had almost come to regard them as a right whose coming should not be too long delayed. Miss Rowly had never been to Lannoy; and, indeed, she knew personally nothing of the county Angleshire in which it was situated15. She was naturally anxious to see the new domain16; but kept her feeling concealed17 during the months that elapsed until Stephen’s right had been conceded by the Committee for Privileges. But after that her impatience18 became manifest to Stephen, who said one day in a teasing, caressing19 way, as was sometimes her wont20:
‘Why, Auntie, what a hurry you are in! Lannoy will keep, won’t it?’
‘Oh, my dear,’ she replied, shaking her head, ‘I can understand your own reticence21, for you don’t want to seem greedy and in a hurry about your new possessions. But when people come to my age there’s no time to waste. I feel I would not have complete material for happiness in the World-to-come, if there were not a remembrance of my darling in her new home!’
Stephen was much touched; she said impulsively22:
‘We shall go to-morrow, Auntie. No! Let us go to-day. You shall not wait an hour that I can help!’ She ran to the bell; but before her hand was on the cord the other said:
‘Not yet! Stephen dear. It would flurry me to start all at once; to-morrow will be time enough. And that will give you time to send word so that they will be prepared for your coming.’
How often do we look for that to-morrow which never comes? How often do we find that its looked-for rosy23 tints24 are none other than the gloom-laden grey of the present?
Before the morrow’s sun was high in the heavens Stephen was hurriedly summoned to her aunt’s bedside. She lay calm and peaceful; but one side of her face was alive and the other seemingly dead. In the night a paralytic25 stroke had seized her. The doctors said she might in time recover a little, but she would never be her old active self again. She herself, with much painful effort, managed to convey to Stephen that she knew the end was near. Stephen, knowing the wish of her heart and thinking that it might do her good to gratify her wish, asked if she should arrange that she be brought to Lannoy. Feebly and slowly, word by word, she managed to convey her idea.
‘Not now, dear one. I shall see it all in time!—Soon! And I shall understand and rejoice!’ For a long time she lay still, holding with her right hand, which was not paralysed, the other’s hand. Then she murmured:
‘You will find happiness there!’ She said no more; but seemed to sleep.
From that sleep she never woke, but faded slowly, softly away.
Stephen was broken-hearted. Now, indeed, she felt alone and desolate26. All were gone. Father, uncle, aunt!—And Harold. The kingdoms of the Earth which lay at her feet were of no account. One hour of the dead or departed, any of them, back again were worth them all!
Normanstand was now too utterly27 lonely to be endurable; so Stephen determined28 to go, for a time at any rate, to Lannoy. She was becoming accustomed to be called ‘my lady’ and ‘your ladyship,’ and the new loneness made her feel better prepared to take her place amongst new surroundings.
In addition, there was another spur to her going. Leonard Everard, knowing of her absolute loneliness, and feeling that in it was a possibility of renewing his old status, was beginning to make himself apparent. He had learned by experience a certain wisdom, and did not put himself forward obtrusively29. But whenever they met he looked at her so meekly30 and so lovingly that it brought remembrances which came with blushes. So, all at once, without giving time for the news to permeate31 through the neighbourhood, she took her way to Lannoy with a few servants.
Stephen’s life had hitherto been spent inland. She had of course now and again been for short periods to various places; but the wonder of the sea as a constant companion had been practically unknown to her.
Now at her new home its full splendour burst upon her; and so impressed itself upon her that new life seemed to open.
Lannoy was on the north-eastern coast, the castle standing32 at the base of a wide promontory33 stretching far into the North Sea. From the coast the land sloped upward to a great rolling ridge34. The outlook seaward was over a mighty35 expanse of green sward, dotted here and there with woods and isolated36 clumps37 of trees which grew fewer and smaller as the rigour of the northern sea was borne upon them by the easterly gales38.
The coast was a wild and lonely one. No habitation other than an isolated fisher’s cottage was to be seen between the little fishing-port at the northern curve away to the south, where beyond a waste of sandhills and strand39 another tiny fishing-village nestled under a high cliff, sheltering it from northerly wind. For centuries the lords of Lannoy had kept their magnificent prospect40 to themselves; and though they had treated their farmers and cottagers well, none had ever been allowed to settle in the great park to seaward of the castle.
From the terrace of the castle only than one building, other than the cottage on the headland, could be seen. Far off on the very crest41 of the ridge was the tower of an old windmill.
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1
climax
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| n.顶点；高潮；v.(使)达到顶点 | |
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appalled
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| v.使惊骇，使充满恐惧( appall的过去式和过去分词)adj.惊骇的；丧胆的 | |
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casually
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| adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地 | |
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mansion
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| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
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regiment
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| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
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solicitor
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| n.初级律师，事务律师 | |
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7
deference
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| n.尊重，顺从；敬意 | |
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8
eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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9
privately
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| adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地 | |
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genially
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| adv.亲切地，和蔼地；快活地 | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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12
pomposity
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| n.浮华；虚夸；炫耀；自负 | |
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entail
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| vt.使承担，使成为必要，需要 | |
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14
recital
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| n.朗诵，独奏会，独唱会 | |
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situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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16
domain
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| n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围 | |
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17
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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18
impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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19
caressing
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| 爱抚的，表现爱情的，亲切的 | |
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20
wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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reticence
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| n.沉默，含蓄 | |
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impulsively
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| adv.冲动地 | |
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rosy
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| adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的 | |
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tints
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| 色彩( tint的名词复数 )； 带白的颜色； （淡色）染发剂； 痕迹 | |
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25
paralytic
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| adj. 瘫痪的 n. 瘫痪病人 | |
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desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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obtrusively
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| adv.冒失地，莽撞地 | |
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meekly
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| adv.温顺地，逆来顺受地 | |
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31
permeate
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| v.弥漫，遍布，散布；渗入，渗透 | |
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32
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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promontory
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| n.海角；岬 | |
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34
ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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35
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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36
isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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37
clumps
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| n.（树、灌木、植物等的）丛、簇( clump的名词复数 )；（土、泥等）团；块；笨重的脚步声v.（树、灌木、植物等的）丛、簇( clump的第三人称单数 )；（土、泥等）团；块；笨重的脚步声 | |
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38
gales
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| 龙猫 | |
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39
strand
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| vt.使（船）搁浅，使（某人）困于（某地） | |
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40
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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41
crest
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| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
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