Was this fame? It was notoriety, at all events. To have your portrait in all the photograph-shops and the illustrated journals; to see your name blazing in large type in every newspaper, and on every hoarding31 and dead-wall of London; to read constant encomiastic mention of yourself in what are called, or miscalled, the organs of public opinion; to be pointed32 out by admiring friends to other admiring friends in the streets; to be the cynosure33 of crowds; to be the butt34 of the Scarifier--when some artist or contributor to that eminent35 journal has seen you on horseback while he was on foot, or seen you clean while he was dirty, or heard you praised while he was unnoticed--these are the recognitions of popularity received by art-workers, be they writers, or painters, or actors. Not very great, not very ennobling, perhaps, but pleasant--confess it, O my sisters and brethren in art! Pleasanter to earn hundreds by the novel, or the picture, or the acting--imperfect though each may be in its way--which shall cause thousands to think kindly of us, than to receive two guineas for verbal vitriol-throwing in the Scarifier; pleasanter than to stand up, earning nothing at all, to be howled at night after night by the vinous members of the opposite political party, and to be switched morning after morning by their press-organs; pleasanter than to go for forty years for six hours a day to the Tin-tax Office, and at last to arrive at six hundred a-year, with the chance of receiving a pension of two-thirds of the amount, if you prove by medical certificate that you are thoroughly37 worn out! That worn, gray old gentleman going in to enjoy the joint38, and the table, and a pint39 of sherry at the Senior United, lost his youth and his hopes and his liver in India, and in a few years may perhaps get--just in time to leave it to his heir--the prize-money which he won a quarter of a century ago; that Irish gentleman with a chin-tuft has sold the last of his paternal40 acres to carry him through his third election, and may possibly obtain from the Government, which he has always earnestly supported, a commissionership of five hundred a-year. We can do better than that, we others! So, let us say, with the French actress, "Qu'on leur donne des grimaces41 pour leur argent et vivons hereux!" and in a modified and anglicised sense, "Vive la vie de Bohème!"
Did Gertrude care much for this kind of cheap incense42 burnt in her honour? Truth to tell, she cared for it very little indeed. When she accepted the stage instead of the concert-room for her career, she was influenced, as we have seen, by an idea of the brilliancy of her triumph, should she succeed; but that triumph once secured, there was an end to such feeling in the matter, so far as she was personally concerned. She took it all in a perfectly43 businesslike manner; it was good, she supposed, for the theatre that she had succeeded. Gratified? O yes, of course, she was gratified; but when people came and told her there had never been anything heard like her, she was compelled to show them that, in accepting professional singing for her livelihood44, she had not quite abnegated any pretension45 to common sense. With the exception of devoting the necessary time to rehearsals46 and study, her time was spent very much as it was before her departure to Italy. The drawing-room of the little Bayswater villa48 was gorgeous and fragrant49 with anonymous50 bouquets51, offerings left the previous night at the stage-door; but Miss Lambert had not made one single new acquaintance since the night of her début. Occasionally on "off-nights" she would be seen at Carabas House, or at one or two of the other houses which she had been in the habit of visiting before the commencement of her professional career; but though she was inundated52 with invitations, she steadfastly53 refused to increase her visiting-list; and the lion-hunters, male and female, in vain sought to get her to their houses, and equally in vain sought admittance to hers.
To none was she a greater enigma54 than to her manager, Mr. Boulderson Munns. Proud of her success, and disposed in his open-hearted vulgarity to testify to her his appreciation55 of it, that liberal gentleman purchased a gaudy56 and expensive diamond-bracelet57, had an appropriate inscription58 in gilt59 letters put on to its morocco-leather case, and sent it to Miss Grace Lambert. The next morning, bracelet, case and all were laid on the managerial table, with a little note from Miss Lambert thanking Mr. Munns very sincerely for his kindness, but declining the present on the grounds that Miss Lambert was doing no more than fulfilling the terms of her engagement, and adding, that if Mr. Munns had found that engagement profitable, the time to show his appreciation of it would be when they came to settle terms for the next season. There was a combination of independence and business in this reply, which tickled60 Mr. Munns exceedingly. At first he was annoyed at the note, read it with a portentous61 frown, and strode up and down his room, plucking at the dyed whiskers wrathfully. But by the time Mr. Duff arrived with his usual budget of letters to be read, bills to be paid, questions to be asked, &c., the great impressario had softened62 down wonderfully, and had forgotten his rage at what he at first imagined the slight put upon him by his new singer, in his impossibility to comprehend her.
"I can't make her out, Billy," said he, "and that's the fact. I've known 'em of all kinds; but she licks the lot. Look here at her letter! She won't have that bracelet, Billy--just shove it into the strong-box, will you? we can get the inscription altered, and it'll do for somebody else--and talks about fresh terms for next season. Reg'lar knowing little shot, ain't she? Quiet little devil, too; wouldn't come down to my garden-party at Teddington, on Wednesday, though I had the Dook and Sir George, and a whole lot of 'em dyin' to be introduced to her, 'No go, your Grace!' I said, 'she won't come; but when Venus is bashful let's stick to Bacchus, who's always our friend.' I haven't had a classical education, Billy, but I think that was rather neat; and so they did, and punished the 'sham64' awfully65. However, it's all good for trade. She and that old cat, her aunt--not her aunt? well, Bloxam; you know who I mean--go about to Lady Carabas', and all the right sort of people, and the more she won't know the wrong sort of people, the more they want to know her, and the 'let's' tremendous. The other shop's done up, sir; chawed up, smashed! MacBone and Ivory and Déloge, and the rest of 'em, tell me they can't sell a stall for the Regent; and I hear that Miramella threatened Jacowski with a fork at dinner the other day, because he spoke67 of Miss Lambert, and swore she'd go to America. Best thing she could do, stupid old fool!"
Although this feeling in regard to Miss Lambert was perhaps nowhere expressed in language, so strongly symbolical68 as that used by Mr. Munns, there is no doubt that it was generally felt. There is a certain class of artist-patronising society which has the mot d'ordre of the siffleur's box, and revels69 in the gossip of the coulisses. These worthy70 persons were in the habit of talking to each other constantly of the new prima donna--how she came in "a regular fly, my dear;" how she was always dressed in black silk, "made quite plain, and rather dowdy71;" how she was always accompanied by the same old lady, who, whether at rehearsal47 or in the evening, never left her side; and how, with the exception of Lord Sandilands, with whom she seemed to be very intimate, she entered into conversation with no one during the performance;--in all which things Miss Grace Lambert differed very much from Madame Miramella, who--depending on the kind of temper in which she might happen to be--alternated between the most gorgeous garments and the most miserable73 chiffons; between a coroneted brougham with a five-hundred-gninea pair of horses, and a four-wheeler cab; between the loveliest complexion74, and the most battered75 old parchment mask; between the most queenlike courtesy to all around her in the theatre, and the use of French and Italian argot-abuse, which fortunately was incomprehensible to those to whom it was addressed. In this society Lord Sandilands was far too well-known for the smallest breath of scandal ever to attach to Miss Lambert's name by reason of his intimacy76 with her. People remembered how devoted77 he had been to the Rossignol--who died, poor lady, in the height of her success--who had the voice of an angel, and the face of a little sheep; how he had fought an uphill fight for Miss Laverock until he had seen her properly ranked in her profession; how he had always been the kind and disinterested78 friend of musical talent. They wondered that somebody else did not arrive, some English duke, some Italian prince, some millionnaire, and bear her away as Madame Sontag, Miss Chester, Miss Stephens, and Madame Duvernay had been borne away before her. She was "thoroughly proper, my dear," they told each other in confidence; and the obvious result of propriety79 being marriage, they waited for that result with great impatience80.
The successful début of the young lady whom the world regarded as his protégée, but whom he in his secret soul acknowledged as his daughter, had given Lord Sandilands unmitigated satisfaction! Unmitigated, because his worldly knowledge had given him sufficient insight into Gertrude's character to enable him to perceive that she could ride in safety over billows and through tempests in which a less evenly-ballasted bark would inevitably82 suffer shipwreck83; to perceive that the triumph which she had achieved would leave her head unturned; while in the position which she had gained, her heart would be just as much at her command as it was when she first surprised society in the drawing-room of Carabas House. So, thoroughly happy, the old nobleman permeated84 society, listening with eager ears, to all comments on Miss Grace Lambert. He heard them everywhere. Steady old boys at the Portland had heard of the new singer from their "people," and intended, the first evening they had to spare, to make one in the family-box, and hear her. Fast men, young and old, at the Arlington, relaxing their great minds--neque arcum semper tendit Apollo--between turf-talk and whist-playing, spoke of her in exaggerated laudation. In many of the houses where he had formerly85 been accustomed to drop in with tolerable regularity86, he had renewed the habit since Gertrude's arrival in London; pleasant, genial87, hospitable88 houses, all the more genial that neither frisky89 matrons, nor foolish virgins90, nor gilded91 youth, were to be reckoned among the component92 parts of the society to be found in them; and there he found that Miss Lambert was universally popular. A very great lady indeed--one who held herself, and, truth to tell, was generally held, far above the Carabas set, or any other of the kind--no less a lady than the Dowager Duchess of Broadwater--wrote to Lord Sandilands, saying that she had heard very much of Miss Lambert, and hoping that through Lord Sandilands' influence the young lady might be induced to come and see an old woman who never went out. If you have studied polite society and its Bible--the Peerage--you will know that the dowager duchess is the widow of that good, kind duke who was nothing more than the best landlord, and the most perfectly representative English nobleman of his time; who reduced the rents of his tenants93, and built model cottages for his labourers, and loved music next to his wife, and composed pretty little pieces, which were played with much applause at the Ancient Concerts. A stately gentleman, tall, clean shaven, with his white hair daintily arranged, with his blue coat, buff waistcoat, and tight gray trousers in the morning; his culotte courte, black-silk stockings, and buckled94 shoes in evening attire95. His son, the present duke, wears a rough red beard, buys his frieze96 shooting-coat and sixteen-shilling trousers from a cheap tailor, smokes a short pipe, and talks like a stable-man. His mother who adores him--he adores her, let us confess, and is as soft and docile97 with her as when he was a child--looks at him wonderingly; she is of the vieille cour, and cannot understand the "lowering" tone of the present day. Grande dame72 as she is, she relaxes always towards the professors of that art which her husband so loved; and when Miss Lambert was brought to her by Lord Sandilands, and sang two little convent-airs which the old lady recollected having heard, ah, how many years ago! she drew the girl towards her, and with streaming eyes kissed her forehead, and bade her thank God for the great talent which He had bestowed99 upon her, and which ought always to be used in His service. After that interview, Gertrude saw a great deal of the old duchess, who always received her with the greatest affection, and introduced her to the small circle of intimate acquaintances by which she was surrounded.
And Lady Carabas, who was necessarily apprised100 of all that happened in Grace Lambert's life, was by no means annoyed at or jealous of her protégée's introduction to the Dowager Duchess of Broadwater, of whom, in truth, her ladyship stood somewhat in awe66; not that she ever confessed this for an instant, speaking of her always as a "most charming person," and "quite the nicest old lady of the day;" but having at the same time an inward feeling that the "charming person," though always perfectly polite, did not reciprocate101 the respect which Lady Carabas professed102, and, indeed, really felt for her. The dowager duchess's society was as rigidly104 exclusive as Lady Carabas' was decidedly mixed; and the platonic105 liaisons106 into which the Marchioness's Soul was always leading her were regarded with very stony107 glances from under very rigid103 eyebrows108 by the Broadwater faction81. Lady Carabas had somewhat more than a dim idea of all this, and had quite sufficient sense of the fitness of things to be aware that it was more politic36 in her to accept the position than to fight against it--to know that for a recognised protégée of hers to be received by the Broadwater clique109 tacitly reflected credit on her; and so, while she shrugged110 her shoulders when she heard of Lady Lowndes, and undisguisedly expressed her scorn at the attempts made by other lion-hunters to get hold of Gertrude, she warmly congratulated Lord Sandilands on the Broadwater connection, and redoubled her praises of Miss Lambert's voice and virtues111. These laudations, skilfully112 served, as a woman of Lady Carabas' worldly experience alone knows how to express them, were always well received by the old nobleman, who could not hear too much in Gertrude's favour, and who day by day felt himself growing fonder of her, and more thoroughly associated with her plans and her welfare.
And there was one other person to whom this lady was equally enchanting113, who never wanted the song pitched in any other key, who listened in rapt delight so long as he was allowed to listen and gaze and dream--Miles Challoner, who had left town so soon as he found the pretty Bayswater villa deserted114, on Gertrude's departure for Italy. He had no farther tie to London, and cared not to remain haunting the neighbourhood of the nest whence his "bird with the shining head" had fled. He became suddenly convinced of the utter emptiness of metropolitan115 existence, and expatiated116 thereon to Lord Sandilands in a way which greatly amused the old nobleman. He declared that these nineteenth-century views of life were false and wrongly based; that half the vices117 and shortcomings of the provincial118 poor and the labouring classes were due to the absenteeism of the landlords, who by example should lead their inferiors. The holder119 of an estate, Miles said, be it small or large, had duties which should keep him among his people. He felt that he had neglected these duties; and though he was not specially120 cut for a country gentleman's life, he knew that he ought to go down to Rowley Court, and do his best to get on in that sphere of life to which he had been called. The young man said all this with great earnestness, for at the moment he really believed it; and he was half-inclined to be angry when Lord Sandilands, who had listened to the rhapsody with a grave and attentive121 face, could contain himself no longer, but broke into a smile as he said that he thought Miles perfectly right, "particularly as the shooting-season was coming on." So Miles left London, and went to his old ancestral home. The bright bountiful beauty of summer still decked the woods and fields; the old servants and the villagers vied with each other in welcoming the young squire122; and Miles felt that he had done rightly in following what he was pleased to call the dictates123 of his conscience, in coming back. The small sum of money which he had expended124 on the estate had been judiciously125 laid out, and improvement was manifest everywhere--in heavy crops, mended fences, and common land drained and reclaimed126; in repaired outhouses, and shooting properly preserved; and, better than all, in a higher class of tenantry, and larger rents. Miles Challoner had never felt the pleasant sense of proprietorship127 until this visit to his home. He walked round his fields, he stood on little vantage-points and surveyed his estate, with an inward feeling of pride which he did not care to check. It was something to be an English country gentleman, after all. He had been nothing and no one in London, a hanger-on, a unit in the great social stream--no better than a dancing barrister, or a flirting128 clerk in a government office; two-thirds of the people he visited knowing his name, and that he had been properly introduced to them by some accountable person, but nothing more. While here, he was the young squire; as he passed, the "hat was plucked from the slavish villager's head;" everybody knew him, and was anxious to be seen by him; he was the man of the place, and--Yes, it would not be difficult to make out one's life in that position; not as a bachelor, of course, but provided he had someone with him. Someone? No difficulty in finding her! If he knew the language of laughing eyes, Emily Walbrook would not object to become the mistress of Rowley Court. And with her father Sir Thomas's money what might not be done? The old place might be rehabilitated129, the lost lands recovered, the old dignity of the family restored.
But Miles Challoner, being a gentleman and not an adventurer, told himself, after very little self-examination, that he did not care for Miss Walbrook, and that he never could care for her, consequently that he would be a scoundrel to think of proposing for her hand; told himself further that he only did care and only had cared--apart from some boyish follies130 which had not done him nor anyone else any harm--for one person in the world, Grace Lambert. Did she care for him? He did not know; but, honestly, he thought she did not. And if she did, should he bring her there, to Rowley Court, as his wife? Did he care for her sufficiently131 to suffer the universal inquiries132 as to who she was, the generally uplifted eyebrows and supercilious133 remarks when the reply was given? At present she was only known as a young lady received in excellent society on account of her musical talents; but if this report was true--this report that she had gone to Italy with the intention of perfecting herself as a singer on the operatic stage? A singer? The stage? The general and only notion of the stage in the neighbourhood of Rowley Court was founded on reminiscences of the travelling troupe134 of mummers who had once or twice come to Bleakholme Fair; poor half-starved creatures, who had performed a dismal135 tragedy in an empty barn, by the light of a hoop136 of guttering137 tallow candles. How could he prepare the Bosotian mind of Gloucestershire to receive as his wife a woman who would bring with her such associations as these? What would be said by the old county neighbours, by whom the old Challoner name was yet held in the highest respect and regard? What by the wealthy new-comers, whose influence was day by day increasing, and who gave themselves airs of pride and position and exclusiveness far more intolerable than the loftiest hauteur138 of the real territorial139 seigneurie? Poor Miles! and after all--even if he had made up his mind to brave all the outcry that might arise; to say, "I love this woman, and I bestow98 on her my rank and my position; accept her as my wife, or leave her alone; think as you please, talk as you please, and go to the deuce!"--he was by no means certain that Miss Grace Lambert would see the magnitude of the sacrifice he was making for her, or, indeed, that she would have anything to say to him.
That was a dull winter for Miles Challoner, that duty season when he steadfastly went through the character of the English country gentleman, to the tolerable satisfaction of his neighbours and his tenants, but to his own intense disgust. He hunted twice a week, he shot constantly; he attended church regularly, and kept rigidly awake during the dear old vicar's dull sermons; he gave two or three dull bachelor dinners, where the vicar, the curate, little Dr. Barford, and two or three neighbouring foxhunting squires140, ate and drank, and prosed wearily for three or four hours; and he went out occasionally. He dined with Lord Boscastle, the lord-lieutenant and principal grandee141 of the county, where he met all "the best people," but where his attention was principally concentrated on his hostess; for Lady Boscastle was née Amelia Milliken, and, as Amelia Milliken, had been the great attraction for two seasons at the Theatre Royal Hatton Garden, during the lesseeship142 of the great Wuff. Miles could hardly realise to himself that the mild, elegant, dried-up, farinaceous-looking old lady had been the incomparable actress who, as he had heard his father relate, entered so thoroughly into her art that she would shed real scalding tears upon the stage; and whose Juliet yet remained in the memory of old playgoers as the most perfect impersonation ever witnessed. She was an actress when Lord Boscastle married her; and see her now, with a cabinet minister on her right hand, and the best families of the county honoured by her intercourse143! Why could not he do the same with Grace Lambert? And then Miles recollected that he was not so great a man as Lord Boscastle, had not the same weight and prestige; remembered also that he had heard his father say that Lady Boscastle made her way very slowly into the county society; that she had an immense number of disagreeables to contend with at first; and that it was only the sweetness of her disposition144, and her wonderful patience and forbearance, that carried her through. And though Miles Challoner was undoubtedly145 in love with Miss Lambert, he scarcely thought that sweetness of disposition, patience, and long-suffering were the virtues in which she specially excelled. Miles also dined with Sir Thomas Walbrook, where there was much more display and formality than at Lord Boscastle's--only that the display was in bad taste, and the formality betokened146 ill-breeding; and he went to a hunt-ball, and tried to attend the weekly meetings of a whist-club, but broke down in the attempt. In the daytime he did not fare so badly, for he was full of life and health, and the love for field-sports which had distinguished147 him when a boy came back renewed when he again joined in those sports; but in the long evenings he moped and moaned, and was dreadfully bored.
The fact is that, however much he endeavoured to persuade himself to the contrary, he was in love with Miss Grace Lambert; and the more persistently148 he turned his thoughts from that young lady, the more he found himself taking interest in persons and things associated with her. He corresponded regularly with Lord Sandilands, and his every letter contained some inquiry149 after or allusion150 to "your young friend in Italy." The old nobleman chuckled151 over the frequency and the tone of these letters, but replied to them regularly, and invariably said something about Grace; something, too, which he thought would please the recipient152 of the letter, for he loved Miles with fatherly affection; and, if Gertrude saw fit, nothing would have pleased him better than that the two young people should make a match of it. That, however, was entirely153 for Gertrude to determine; and nothing could come of it yet, at all events, as she had the stage career before her. Meantime, there was no reason why pleasant reports of her progress should not go down to Rowley Court. And when Miles received the letters, he ran his eye over them hurriedly to see where the name appeared, and read those bits first, and re-read them, and then dropped very coolly and leisurely154 into the perusal155 of his old friend's gossip.
He was a queer, odd fellow, though, this Miles Challoner; full of that dogged determination which we call "British," and are extremely proud of (though, like the man who "treated resolution," in the end we often do the thing which we have so stubbornly refused to do); and although he knew that Miss Lambert had returned, and was about making her début in public, he remained stationary156 at Rowley Court. He received letters regularly from Lord Sandilands, but none of them ever contained a hint or a suggestion that he should come up to town; indeed, Miles guessed that Miss Lambert would be far too much occupied to admit of his seeing her, and he had said he would "give that up"--"that" being the guiding motive157 of his life--and he would hold to it. So Miles Challoner was not in the Grand Scandinavian Opera-house on the night when Gertrude made her triumphal entry into theatrical18 life. But when, the next day, he read the flaming accounts of her success in the newspapers; when he received letters from Lord Sandilands and other friends, filled with ravings about her voice, her beauty, and her elegance158; when he felt that this fresh flame would enormously increase the circle of her admirers, many of whom might have the chance--which they would not neglect as he was neglecting it--of personal acquaintance with her,--he could withstand the influence no longer, but made immediate159 arrangements for returning to London.
His old friend received him with his accustomed warmth, talked about the length of time he had been away, and rallied him on the probable cause of his detention160. "I know, my dear boy!" said Lord Sandilands; "I know all about what you're going to tell me,--the pleasure a man feels in his own terre; the delightful161 days you used to have with Sir Peter's pack; the unequalled cover-shooting, and all the rest of it. Those things don't keep a young man down in the country, leading that frightful162 dead-alive existence which we try to think pleasant. I know all about it; and I know that there's nothing more horrible. There must be beaux yeux somewhere, when a man voluntarily accepts that kind of life; and, by Jove! it's a kind of life to make one find the most ordinary eyes beaux. That confounded country life has produced more mésalliances, and more--hem! What are you going to do with yourself to-day?" The old nobleman stopped his discourse163 abruptly164; with the reflection, perhaps, that mésalliances scarcely fitted him for a theme. Answering him, Miles said that he had nothing to do, and that he was entirely at his friend's disposal.
"Then," said Lord Sandilands, "suppose we stroll out Bayswater way? You have not seen Miss Lambert for a long time now, though you know--for I wrote to you, and you must have heard in a hundred other places--of her success. Really, the greatest thing for years. Everybody enchanted165; and, best of all, has not made the smallest difference in her; just the same unaffected, quiet, unpretending girl as when we met her that first night--don't you recollect11?--at Carabas House."
They walked across Kensington-gardens and speedily reached the bye-road in which Miss Lambert's pretty villa was situated166. Up and down this road, fretting167 against the slowness of the pace allowed them, stepping grandly, and sending the foam168 in flying flakes169 around them, were a pair of horses in a handsome mail-phaeton, driven by a correctly-appointed groom170.
"Mr. Munns here!" said Lord Sandilands testily171, as this sight broke upon him. "Horribly vexing172, when we hoped to have the young lady all to ourselves, eh, Miles? A worthy man, Mr. Munns, but a dreadful vulgarian. Tell me, is it my shortsightedness, or has this fellow really mounted a cockade in his man's hat?"
"There certainly is a cockade in the man's hat," said Miles, with a smile which died away as, on a nearer approach, he added, "and a coronet on the harness."
"A coronet? Why, the man can never hare been ass63 enough to--eh? O dear me, impossible! Who's phaeton's that, sir, eh?"
"Earl of Ticehurst's, my lord!" said the groom, touching173 his hat; "lordship's in there, my lord," pointing to the villa with his whip, "with her ladyship."
"With her ladyship!" echoed Lord Sandilands in bewilderment. "Let us go in, Miles, and see what it all means."
They saw what it all meant when they found Lady Carabas talking about education to Mrs. Bloxam in the drawing-room, and saw Lord Ticehurst walking with Miss Lambert round the little garden. Lord Sandilands frowned very gloomily, but Lady Carabas made straight at him. She had been dying to see dear Miss Lambert; she wanted so to see how she bore her success--ah, what a success!--and how charming she is over it all! not changed in the smallest degree. And her own horses were regularly knocked up with all their work just now; and as it was such a long way (fashionable people think anything west of Apsley House or north of Park-lane quite out of bounds), she had asked her nephew Etchingham to drive her over. Lord Sandilands bowed very grimly, and Miles Challoner then came forward. Lady Carabas was enchanted to see him; rallied him on his absence on the night of the début; hoped to have him constantly at Carabas House, and was overwhelmingly gracious. Then Lord Ticehurst and Gertrude came in, and after a few conventional remarks, the young patrician174, after a casual glance out of the window, informed his aunt that "the chestnuts175 had already stamped up the road into a regular ploughed field, by Jove! and that, as the parish would probably send in the paving-bill, perhaps the best thing they could do was to be off;" and accordingly he and Lady Carabas retired176, with many adieux.
When they were gone, Lord Sandilands approached Gertrude and congratulated her with mock solemnity on her new acquaintance. "You have achieved an earl, my dear child, and there is no saying now to what you may not aspire177. Charles the Fifth picking up Titian's pencil will be equalled by Lord Ticehurst's turning over the leaves of your music-book for you. Or in time we might get a duke to--"
"We want no higher member of the peerage than a baron178, apparently179, to render his order ridiculous," said Gertrude, turning upon him with a sarcastic180 bow and a little moue. "Don't be angry, dear friend," she continued; "but I own I cannot stand raillery where Lord Ticehurst is concerned. I have no doubt he means well--I am sure of it; all he says is genuine, and, so far as he can make it, polite; but he is very silly and very slangy, and--I can't endure him.--And now, Mr. Challoner, tell me of all your doings during your long absence in the country."
Lord Sandilands had a great deal to say to Mrs. Bloxam on the subject of any future visits which Lord Ticehurst might wish to pay to the Bayswater villa, and said it pointedly181, and without circumlocution182. When he rejoined the young people, he found them deep in conversation, and Miles, at least, looking very happy.
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treasurer
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| n.司库，财务主管 | |
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opposition
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intrude
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| vi.闯入；侵入；打扰，侵扰 | |
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eulogy
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laudatory
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besieged
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| 包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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turbulence
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fugitive
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recreant
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recollected
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| adj.冷静的；镇定的；被回忆起的；沉思默想的v.记起，想起( recollect的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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recollect
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| v.回忆，想起，记起，忆起，记得 | |
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middle-aged
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| adj.中年的 | |
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raved
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| v.胡言乱语( rave的过去式和过去分词 )；愤怒地说；咆哮；痴心地说 | |
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14
laurels
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| n.桂冠，荣誉 | |
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15
gallantly
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| adv. 漂亮地，勇敢地，献殷勤地 | |
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gracefully
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| ad.大大方方地；优美地 | |
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17
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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theatrical
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| adj.剧场的，演戏的；做戏似的，做作的 | |
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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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20
tune
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| n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整 | |
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21
illustrated
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| adj. 有插图的，列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词 | |
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22
engraving
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| n.版画；雕刻（作品）；雕刻艺术；镌版术v.在（硬物）上雕刻（字，画等）( engrave的现在分词 )；将某事物深深印在（记忆或头脑中） | |
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23
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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24
subscribed
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| v.捐助( subscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；签署，题词；订阅；同意 | |
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25
inscribed
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| v.写，刻( inscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；内接 | |
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26
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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27
fiddle
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| n.小提琴；vi.拉提琴；不停拨弄，乱动 | |
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28
renowned
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| adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的 | |
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29
arcade
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| n.拱廊；(一侧或两侧有商店的)通道 | |
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30
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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31
hoarding
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| n.贮藏；积蓄；临时围墙；囤积v.积蓄并储藏（某物）( hoard的现在分词 ) | |
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32
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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33
cynosure
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| n.焦点 | |
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34
butt
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| n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶 | |
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35
eminent
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| adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的 | |
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36
politic
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| adj.有智虑的；精明的；v.从政 | |
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37
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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38
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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39
pint
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| n.品脱 | |
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40
paternal
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| adj.父亲的，像父亲的，父系的，父方的 | |
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41
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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42
incense
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| v.激怒；n.香，焚香时的烟，香气 | |
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43
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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44
livelihood
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| n.生计，谋生之道 | |
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45
pretension
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| n.要求；自命，自称；自负 | |
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46
rehearsals
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| n.练习( rehearsal的名词复数 )；排练；复述；重复 | |
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47
rehearsal
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| n.排练，排演；练习 | |
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48
villa
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| n.别墅，城郊小屋 | |
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49
fragrant
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| adj.芬香的，馥郁的，愉快的 | |
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50
anonymous
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| adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的 | |
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51
bouquets
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| n.花束( bouquet的名词复数 )；（酒的）芳香 | |
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52
inundated
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| v.淹没( inundate的过去式和过去分词 )；（洪水般地）涌来；充满；给予或交予（太多事物）使难以应付 | |
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53
steadfastly
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| adv.踏实地，不变地；岿然；坚定不渝 | |
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54
enigma
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| n.谜，谜一样的人或事 | |
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55
appreciation
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| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
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56
gaudy
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| adj.华而不实的；俗丽的 | |
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57
bracelet
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| n.手镯，臂镯 | |
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58
inscription
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| n.（尤指石块上的）刻印文字，铭文，碑文 | |
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59
gilt
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| adj.镀金的；n.金边证券 | |
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60
tickled
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| （使）发痒( tickle的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）愉快，逗乐 | |
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61
portentous
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| adj.不祥的，可怕的，装腔作势的 | |
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62
softened
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| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
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63
ass
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| n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人 | |
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64
sham
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| n./adj.假冒(的)，虚伪(的) | |
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65
awfully
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| adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地 | |
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66
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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67
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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68
symbolical
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| a.象征性的 | |
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69
revels
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| n.作乐( revel的名词复数 )；狂欢；着迷；陶醉v.作乐( revel的第三人称单数 )；狂欢；着迷；陶醉 | |
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70
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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71
dowdy
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| adj.不整洁的；过旧的 | |
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72
dame
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| n.女士 | |
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73
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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74
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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75
battered
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| adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损 | |
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76
intimacy
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| n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行 | |
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77
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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78
disinterested
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| adj.不关心的，不感兴趣的 | |
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79
propriety
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| n.正当行为；正当；适当 | |
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80
impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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81
faction
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| n.宗派，小集团；派别；派系斗争 | |
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82
inevitably
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| adv.不可避免地；必然发生地 | |
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83
shipwreck
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| n.船舶失事，海难 | |
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84
permeated
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| 弥漫( permeate的过去式和过去分词 )； 遍布； 渗入； 渗透 | |
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85
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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86
regularity
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| n.规律性，规则性；匀称，整齐 | |
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87
genial
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| adj.亲切的，和蔼的，愉快的，脾气好的 | |
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88
hospitable
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| adj.好客的；宽容的；有利的，适宜的 | |
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89
frisky
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| adj.活泼的，欢闹的；n.活泼，闹着玩；adv.活泼地，闹着玩地 | |
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90
virgins
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| 处女，童男( virgin的名词复数 )； 童贞玛利亚（耶稣之母） | |
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91
gilded
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| a.镀金的，富有的 | |
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92
component
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| n.组成部分，成分，元件；adj.组成的，合成的 | |
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93
tenants
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| n.房客( tenant的名词复数 )；佃户；占用者；占有者 | |
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94
buckled
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| a. 有带扣的 | |
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95
attire
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| v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装 | |
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96
frieze
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| n.(墙上的)横饰带，雕带 | |
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97
docile
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| adj.驯服的，易控制的，容易教的 | |
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98
bestow
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| v.把…赠与，把…授予；花费 | |
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99
bestowed
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| 赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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100
apprised
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| v.告知，通知( apprise的过去式和过去分词 )；评价 | |
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101
reciprocate
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| v.往复运动；互换；回报，酬答 | |
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102
professed
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| 公开声称的，伪称的，已立誓信教的 | |
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103
rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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104
rigidly
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| adv.刻板地，僵化地 | |
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105
platonic
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| adj.精神的；柏拉图（哲学）的 | |
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106
liaisons
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| n.联络( liaison的名词复数 )；联络人；（尤指一方或双方已婚的）私通；组织单位间的交流与合作 | |
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107
stony
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| adj.石头的，多石头的，冷酷的，无情的 | |
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108
eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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109
clique
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| n.朋党派系，小集团 | |
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110
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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111
virtues
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| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
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112
skilfully
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| adv. (美skillfully)熟练地 | |
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113
enchanting
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| a.讨人喜欢的 | |
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114
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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115
metropolitan
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| adj.大城市的，大都会的 | |
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116
expatiated
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| v.详述，细说( expatiate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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117
vices
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| 缺陷( vice的名词复数 )； 恶习； 不道德行为； 台钳 | |
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118
provincial
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| adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人 | |
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119
holder
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| n.持有者，占有者；(台，架等)支持物 | |
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120
specially
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| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
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121
attentive
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| adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的 | |
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122
squire
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| n.护卫, 侍从, 乡绅 | |
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123
dictates
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| n.命令，规定，要求( dictate的名词复数 )v.大声讲或读( dictate的第三人称单数 )；口授；支配；摆布 | |
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124
expended
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| v.花费( expend的过去式和过去分词 )；使用（钱等）做某事；用光；耗尽 | |
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125
judiciously
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| adv.明断地，明智而审慎地 | |
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126
reclaimed
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| adj.再生的；翻造的；收复的；回收的v.开拓( reclaim的过去式和过去分词 )；要求收回；从废料中回收（有用的材料）；挽救 | |
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127
proprietorship
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| n.所有（权）；所有权 | |
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128
flirting
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| v.调情，打情骂俏( flirt的现在分词 ) | |
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129
rehabilitated
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| 改造（罪犯等）( rehabilitate的过去式和过去分词 )； 使恢复正常生活； 使恢复原状； 修复 | |
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130
follies
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| 罪恶，时事讽刺剧； 愚蠢，蠢笨，愚蠢的行为、思想或做法( folly的名词复数 ) | |
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131
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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132
inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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133
supercilious
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| adj.目中无人的，高傲的；adv.高傲地；n.高傲 | |
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134
troupe
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| n.剧团，戏班；杂技团；马戏团 | |
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135
dismal
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| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
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136
hoop
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| n.（篮球）篮圈，篮 | |
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137
guttering
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| n.用于建排水系统的材料；沟状切除术；开沟 | |
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138
hauteur
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| n.傲慢 | |
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139
territorial
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| adj.领土的，领地的 | |
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140
squires
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| n.地主，乡绅( squire的名词复数 ) | |
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141
grandee
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| n.贵族；大公 | |
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142
lesseeship
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| n.承租人的处境(或状况) | |
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143
intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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144
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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145
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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146
betokened
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| v.预示，表示( betoken的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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148
persistently
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| ad.坚持地；固执地 | |
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149
inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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150
allusion
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| n.暗示，间接提示 | |
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151
chuckled
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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152
recipient
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| a.接受的,感受性强的 n.接受者,感受者,容器 | |
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153
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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154
leisurely
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| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
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155
perusal
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| n.细读，熟读；目测 | |
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156
stationary
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| adj.固定的，静止不动的 | |
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157
motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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158
elegance
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| n.优雅；优美，雅致；精致，巧妙 | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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160
detention
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| n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下 | |
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161
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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163
discourse
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| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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165
enchanted
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| adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
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166
situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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167
fretting
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| n. 微振磨损 adj. 烦躁的, 焦虑的 | |
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168
foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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169
flakes
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| 小薄片( flake的名词复数 )； （尤指）碎片； 雪花； 古怪的人 | |
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170
groom
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| vt.给（马、狗等）梳毛，照料，使...整洁 | |
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171
testily
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| adv. 易怒地, 暴躁地 | |
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172
vexing
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| adj.使人烦恼的，使人恼火的v.使烦恼( vex的现在分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论 | |
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173
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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174
patrician
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| adj.贵族的，显贵的；n.贵族；有教养的人；罗马帝国的地方官 | |
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175
chestnuts
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| n.栗子( chestnut的名词复数 )；栗色；栗树；栗色马 | |
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176
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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177
aspire
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| vi.(to，after)渴望，追求，有志于 | |
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178
baron
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| n.男爵；(商业界等)巨头，大王 | |
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179
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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180
sarcastic
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| adj.讥讽的，讽刺的，嘲弄的 | |
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181
pointedly
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| adv.尖地，明显地 | |
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182
circumlocution
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| n. 绕圈子的话，迂回累赘的陈述 | |
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