Take honour from me and my life is done!”
Shakspeare.
The Earl of Dashleigh had suffered more acutely from the departure of his wife, than Annabella or the world believed. He missed her presence in his home more painfully than even to himself he would own. The nobleman was, as I have said, not of a hard disposition1, and by nature was of a sociable2 temperament3. Pride had indeed drawn4 around him an icy barrier which greatly shut him out from friendly intercourse5 with his neighbours, but this very isolation6 made him the more dependent upon the few with whom he could stoop to associate. Dashleigh had scarcely been aware of how much pleasure he had derived7 from his wife’s wit and lively conversation, till he found himself suddenly thrown on his own resources which were limited, and his own reflections which were unpleasant. He wandered listlessly through his long suite8 of apartments; their splendid decorations made them but appear to their[141] owner more empty, desolate9, and dull. Yet Dashleigh dared not quit them for more cheerful scenes, for he felt, with the instinctive10 shrinking of a shy, proud, sensitive man, that his domestic concerns were now the theme of a thousand tongues and that he could appear in no place where he would not be an object of observation and remark. Solitude11 was hateful to the peer, but society would have been yet more distasteful.
And Dashleigh was not satisfied with himself. The words of Augustine Aumerle, pleading for an inexperienced girl doing a foolish thing from a sudden ebullition of temper, often recurred12 to the mind of the husband. A thousand times the questions would force themselves on his mind. “Have I not been harsh to Annabella? might I not have overlooked a fault? would not a little indulgence have touched a warm heart like hers, and have made her destroy with her own hand what she knew must have given me offence? Was not the entrance of the duke at that most unfortunate moment when I myself had given way to passion, sufficient to irritate beyond all power of self-control a woman—a wife—and a peeress!” There was much of candour, much of generosity13 in the spirit of Dashleigh, and so strong did his self-reproach become, that the earl felt greatly disposed to pass a sponge over the past, and exchange mutual14 forgiveness with his wife. But then the first advance must be on her side; Pride[142] peremptorily15 insisted on that. If Annabella were penitent16, Reginald would be generous, but never would he degrade himself by suing for reconciliation17, however fervently18 he might desire it.
Thus day passed after day, each more intolerable than the last, Reginald always hoping that the pride of his young partner might give way, and yearning19 for the supplicating20 letter which might give him an excuse for forgiving.
One morning, as the Earl of Dashleigh sat at his solitary21 breakfast, he listlessly took up the last number of the —— Magazine, which the footman had, according to custom, placed beside the plate of his master. Light reading was that to which the earl could alone now bend his attention, and his thoughts often wandered as he glanced carelessly down the page. He was however instantly attracted by the name “Dashleigh” in capital letters on the sheet of advertisements, and read with a surprise which almost mastered even his indignation,—
Now in the press.
THE FAIRY LAKE: A Romance. By the
Countess of Dashleigh.
“This is indeed throwing away the scabbard; this is indeed making a parade of insolent22 disregard of my wishes and commands! I hardly expected this from Annabella!” Such was the nobleman’s muttered exclamation23, as he pushed back his chair from the table. But his feelings received a far ruder shock[143] when he examined the periodical more closely. He gazed on “The Precipice24 and the Peer,” as it seemed to glare upon him from the close-printed column, as if he scarcely could believe the evidence of his senses! Could it be,—yes—the initial and the dash could not deceive him, could deceive no one who knew him! Annabella had held him up to the ridicule25 of the world, as a poor, nervous, spiritless wretch26,—it was revenge, mean, despicable revenge, a blow aimed at the most vulnerable point!
The earl did not tear the periodical, and scatter27 its fragments on the wind, he knew that it was spreading at that hour through the halls and even cottages of the land; that it was lying on the tradesman’s counter, in the servant’s hall; that schoolboys were laughing over the peer’s adventure during the intervals28 of more active sport! Dashleigh laid down the magazine quietly, but with something resembling a groan29! Bardon had said that he would wince,—he did more, he actually writhed30 under the torture inflicted31 by the hand of his wife!
The servants, wondering at the delay of the accustomed ring, came at length unsummoned, and bore away the untasted breakfast. Dashleigh felt annoyed at the jingling32 sound, but scarcely comprehended its cause, and only experienced a sense of relief when the room became silent again. His reflections were bitter indeed; he was almost too wretched to be angry. Was he not a disgraced, an insulted man?—did[144] not his very rank make him only a more prominent mark for ridicule? Could he ever show his face again in circles which he had once deemed honoured by his presence? The time-darkened portraits of deceased Earls of Dashleigh seemed to scowl33 down from their heavy gilt34 frames on the first of the name who had ever been branded with the imputation35 of fear!
A servant brought a letter on a salver; the earl mechanically broke open the seal. It was from the vicar, Lawrence Aumerle, and had been written in the first impulse of his indignant surprise on the appearance of the obnoxious36 article which he could not doubt had been written by his niece.
The clergyman, with instinctive delicacy37, avoided all direct reference to the piece so indiscreetly composed by Annabella; but he expressed the extreme distress38 felt by both his family and himself at the position in which she had placed herself. He entreated39 her husband to believe that if he gave the lady the protection of his home, it was not because he sanctioned or even palliated her more than imprudent conduct, but that he feared that harshness might drive her from a place where unceasing efforts were made to bring her to a sense of her duty.
“Lawrence Aumerle is a good man,” said the earl, passing his hand across his brow, and leaning thoughtfully back in his chair. “Since all connexion between me and her is broken now for ever—for ever,[145] better that the wretched girl should remain under the protection of her mother’s relations. It were worse, far worse that her pride and folly40 should be pampered41 by intercourse with the world,—that world to which she has sacrificed her husband!”
Dashleigh arose and paced slowly the length of the room, but returned with a more rapid step. The name of Aumerle had suddenly suggested to him a course by which he could fling from himself the opprobrium42 which attaches to the name of a coward. He grasped at the new idea with the energy of a drowning wretch. The world should have no cause to laugh at the man whose nerves had failed him on the heights of a mountain; he would do that which should from henceforth effectually silence such reproach. Taking up writing materials, Dashleigh with rapid hand traced the following note to Augustine:—
“Dear Aumerle,—You mentioned to me that a balloon is to ascend43 from your grounds on the 12th. I should feel greatly obliged by your reserving a place for me in the car, as it is my particular wish to make one in the excursion.—Ever yours,
“Dashleigh.”
The brief note written and despatched to Aspendale, the nobleman breathed more freely. He could meet the eye of his fellow-men. Pride rendered the effort needful; pride roused his spirit to make it, and Dashleigh would not now pause to consider how great that effort might be to one of his nervous[146] frame. He felt that his honour was at stake. The earl was somewhat in the position of the knight44 of old, whose lady flung her glove into the arena45 where a fierce lion and tiger were contending, and before a circle of noble spectators, bade him bring it back to her hand. The knight dreaded46 the laugh of the audience more than the yells of the furious beasts, and Dashleigh shrank from the sneer47 of the world more than the untried perils48 of the air. Annabella had put her husband on his mettle49; she had incited50 him to wrestle51 down nature; but it remained to be seen whether she had cause to triumph in the effect produced by her satirical pen.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
disposition
|
|
| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
sociable
|
|
| adj.好交际的，友好的，合群的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
temperament
|
|
| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
drawn
|
|
| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
intercourse
|
|
| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
isolation
|
|
| n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
derived
|
|
| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
suite
|
|
| n.一套(家具)；套房；随从人员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
desolate
|
|
| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
instinctive
|
|
| adj.(出于)本能的；直觉的；(出于)天性的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
solitude
|
|
| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
recurred
|
|
| 再发生，复发( recur的过去式和过去分词 )； 治愈 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
generosity
|
|
| n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
mutual
|
|
| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
peremptorily
|
|
| adv.紧急地，不容分说地，专横地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
penitent
|
|
| adj.后悔的；n.后悔者；忏悔者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
reconciliation
|
|
| n.和解，和谐，一致 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
fervently
|
|
| adv.热烈地，热情地，强烈地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
yearning
|
|
| a.渴望的；向往的；怀念的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
supplicating
|
|
| v.祈求，哀求，恳求( supplicate的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
solitary
|
|
| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
insolent
|
|
| adj.傲慢的，无理的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
exclamation
|
|
| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
precipice
|
|
| n.悬崖，危急的处境 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
ridicule
|
|
| v.讥讽，挖苦；n.嘲弄 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
wretch
|
|
| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
scatter
|
|
| vt.撒，驱散，散开；散布/播；vi.分散，消散 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
intervals
|
|
| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
groan
|
|
| vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
writhed
|
|
| （因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
inflicted
|
|
| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
jingling
|
|
| 叮当声 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
scowl
|
|
| vi.(at)生气地皱眉，沉下脸，怒视；n.怒容 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
gilt
|
|
| adj.镀金的；n.金边证券 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
imputation
|
|
| n.归罪，责难 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
obnoxious
|
|
| adj.极恼人的，讨人厌的，可憎的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
delicacy
|
|
| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
distress
|
|
| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
entreated
|
|
| 恳求，乞求( entreat的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
folly
|
|
| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
pampered
|
|
| adj.饮食过量的，饮食奢侈的v.纵容，宠，娇养( pamper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
opprobrium
|
|
| n.耻辱，责难 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
ascend
|
|
| vi.渐渐上升，升高；vt.攀登，登上 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
knight
|
|
| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
arena
|
|
| n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
dreaded
|
|
| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
sneer
|
|
| v.轻蔑；嘲笑；n.嘲笑，讥讽的言语 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
perils
|
|
| 极大危险( peril的名词复数 )； 危险的事（或环境） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
mettle
|
|
| n.勇气，精神 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
incited
|
|
| 刺激，激励，煽动( incite的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
wrestle
|
|
| vi.摔跤，角力；搏斗；全力对付 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |