“Qu’est-ce que c’est?” inquired the governess.
“I have seen Mrs. Effingham’s trousseau!” cried Louisa. Arabella looked up from her drawing, and the exclamation1 of mademoiselle expressed her curiosity on a subject which is supposed to be one of some interest to the fair sex.
“I was passing the door of her dressing-room,” continued Louisa, “and as it happened to be ajar she saw me, and called to me to come in.”
“As one school-girl might another,” said Arabella contemptuously.
“She has not been accustomed to many servants,” observed Arabella, “and finds it most convenient to wait upon herself.”
“And the trousseau de madame was magnifique, no doubt?” said mademoiselle, with a little irony3 in her tone.
“Beautiful simplicity4!” laughed Louisa; “I suppose that Mrs. Effingham has met somewhere with the line, ‘Beauty when unadorned adorned5 the most,’ and has adopted it for her motto!”
“Perhaps,” suggested mademoiselle, “the marchande de modes at Stoneby—”
“Lived in the time of King Pharamond,” interrupted Louisa; “or the bride played marchande de modes herself; or, what is more probable still, employed her school-girls to run up her dresses, and make them true charity pattern! There’s not a flounce or a fringe in the whole set, from the white silk wedding-dress to the neat cotton-print.”
“Cotton-print! est-il possible!” exclaimed mademoiselle, lifting up her hands.
“And the dressing-case—oh!” cried Louisa, bursting into fresh laughter at the recollection.
“Quelque chose très-bizarre—very extraordinary!”
“Ordinary, certainly, without the extra! Brushes, combs, all enclosed in a simple bag, ingeniously made, with many pockets big and little, quite a curiosity of art;—I believe it was one of her wedding presents!”
Arabella and mademoiselle joined in the mirth which this idea inspired.
“I should like to have seen les cadeaux,” observed the latter.
“I saw everything—all her treasures,” cried Louisa; “I have a correct inventory6 of them in my head. The diamond ring which Mrs. Effingham wears is papa’s gift; so is the bracelet7, and his miniature surrounded with brilliants.”
“Oh! but her own family—her own friends, what did they give?” asked mademoiselle.
“Her own family seems to consist of her old uncle, Captain Thistlewood, who presented her with—let me see! an old-fashioned locket containing her parents’ hair. It does not look like gold; I think that he must have picked it up at a pawnbroker’s. Oh! and she has some distant lady relations, who seem to enjoy a monopoly of making markers—red, pink, and blue; and that she may have no lack of books to put them into, the clergyman, Mr. Gray, has given her a Church-Service; and his wife—such a present for a bridal! it would have been much more appropriate for a funeral—Baxter’s ‘Saint’s Everlasting8 Rest’!”
“The gem10 of the collection is to come. You should have seen Mrs. Effingham unfolding it, and the look with which she surveyed it! A huge patchwork11 table-cover all the colours of the rainbow. ‘My dear school-girls’ present,’ said she, as tenderly as if each ugly patch had been a love-token set in jewels!”
“I hope that she’s not going to display it in our drawing-room,” exclaimed Arabella.
“I think that madame should wear it as a shawl—bring in a new mode,” said Lafleur.
“I wish that I’d thought of recommending that!” exclaimed Louisa, clapping her hands; “she looks so unsophisticated and ready to believe. I’d lay anything that were we to tell her that the hoods12 of opera-cloaks are worn expressly as pockets to hold bits of bread for distribution to beggars, that such is the approved method of being charitable in London, she would say, with one of her gentle smiles, ‘What an admirable plan!’ and adopt the fashion directly. I thought of passing something of the kind upon her, but somehow I could not command my countenance13 when she looked at me with her inquiring blue eyes!”
“I suspect she’s sharper than you think,” said Arabella shortly.
“Well, she is going to the milliner and dressmaker to-day—she saw the necessity for that; and I’m going in the carriage with her, and Aunt Selina also, I fancy.”
“I wonder what pleasure you can find!”
“Oh! it will be the rarest fun in the world! She is such a shy, timid creature, I can see at a glance that she has an awe14 for my aunt, and is afraid of the sound of her own voice when the earl’s daughter is present; so what between Lady Selina, and chattering15 little Madame La Voye, we’ll get Mrs. Effingham into such a whirlpool of fashion, we’ll bewilder her so with our nouveautes, that she will order anything and everything that we please, and come out into the world so gay that she will not know herself when she looks in her glass!”
The visits to the fashionable dressmaker and milliner were accomplished16 that afternoon under the auspices17 of Lady Selina, who, in according her undesired presence, contrived18 to make Clemence very sensibly feel that she was performing an act of condescension19. If Clemence was ignorant of the intricacies of the peerage, she was also entirely20 at fault in the mysteries of la mode; she scarcely knew moire antique and point d’Alen?on even by name, and the jargon21 of French terms which flowed so glibly22 from the tongue of Madame La Voye, would have been scarcely more unintelligible23 to Mrs. Effingham if uttered in the Japanese language. This and that rich article of attire24, to be adorned in some incomprehensible style, was recommended as absolutely indispensable, and in a manner which left the shy young wife scarcely the option of refusal. If knowledge be power, ignorance is weakness; and Clemence, dazzled, confused, painfully anxious to please, and shrinking from exposing herself to ridicule25, suffered her own taste and inclination26 to be overborne by those of her fashionable companions.
Clemence returned home with the disagreeable conviction that she had been led into extravagance to an extent which she was unable to calculate; for in the presence of Lady Selina she had not ventured to ask the cost of anything. She felt that she had yielded with the helplessness of a child to an influence which her judgment27 told her was not an influence for good.
“How exceedingly weakly I have acted to-day!” such was the mortifying28 reflection of Clemence as soon as she had leisure for thought. “I fear that I have abused the generosity29 and confidence of my dear husband, and spent more in selfish indulgence in one hour than should have sufficed me for a year. True, my situation in life has been changed, and some things were really necessary; but I was carried away like a feather on the breeze, afraid to say what I liked or disliked, afraid to show that I thought money of any value except as a means of gratifying caprice. What a strange, new existence this is! I seem to be breathing quite a different atmosphere—to have entered a world where ideas of right and wrong, important and trivial, are utterly30 unlike those to which I have been accustomed from my childhood. Except my beloved husband, there is no one here to whom I could speak the feelings of my heart, believing that they would be even understood. I wonder if, as I become experienced in the ways of the world, I shall gradually become like those around me—if I shall ever resemble Lady Selina!” A smile passed across Clemence’s face as the idea first suggested itself to her mind; but it almost instantly faded away, and was succeeded by an expression of serious thought. “I fear that I am very unfit to meet the temptations of this new scene. The world appears to me like a petrifying31 stream. Some spirits, like my noble Vincent’s, can drink of it uninjured, and then rise above it on the strong wings of reason and faith; but I fear that I shall be like some weak spray, gradually losing all inward life, and growing harder and colder as the waters flow by it! These two days have shown me more of weakness and folly32, yes, and vanity too, in my own heart, than I was ever sensible of before. I have felt as much ashamed of my ignorance of that which I have never had an opportunity of knowing, as if I had been charged with a serious fault. I have been tempted33 to equivocation34, and have more than once assented35 with my lips, or by my silence, to that which in my heart I denied. I have felt my vanity gratified even by the silly flattery of one who probably considers flattery as a part of her trade. If I am thus on first entering these scenes, fresh from the instructions of my pious36 friends, full of the earnest resolutions made before God in my home, what shall I be when time may have weakened the remembrance of those instructions, the strength of those resolutions? If I stumble at the very first step, how shall I walk steadily37 and faithfully along a path which I foresee will for me be full of snares38? O my God, help me, for I am a weak, infirm child! Let me not forget Thy warning, Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. The difficulties which beset39 me must make me more earnest in prayer, more diligent40 in self-examination, more watchful41 over my deceitful heart!”
MRS. EFFINGHAM.
Clemence slowly paced her apartment, and wingèd thought earned her back to her childhood’s home. “How true are the words which I once heard,—Every new change in the course of our lives, like a bend in a river, brings before us new difficulties, new duties, and new dangers, and shows us our own characters in a new light! I have hitherto been gently gliding42 with the tide; and if the banks sometimes appeared a little flat and dull, there was nothing in outward circumstances to shut out from me the light of Heaven. In seeking to please God, I best pleased the dear ones who regarded me with such partial affection. My duties accorded with my inclinations43. But now,—my duties, what are they?” Clemence paused for some minutes and reflected. “I must learn to be able to say ‘No’—a painful task, from which my cowardice44 shrinks; I must be content sometimes not to please, and yet in indifferent matters be as careful—even more careful than ever—not to give offence or cause displeasure. I must exercise the grave duties of a housewife, nor from indolence or timidity shift upon others the responsibilities which God made mine when I became a wife. Mine own Vincent!”—her eye rested on the miniature of her husband—“would that I were more qualified45 to make his home what that home ought to be! But he will cheer and encourage me in the attempt to do so; he will have indulgence on my ignorance; he will be my support, my guide, my example; and he will teach me to become more worthy46 to be his wife!”
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1
exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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unpacking
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| n.取出货物，拆包[箱]v.从（包裹等）中取出（所装的东西），打开行李取出( unpack的现在分词 )；拆包；解除…的负担；吐露（心事等） | |
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3
irony
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| n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄 | |
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simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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inventory
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| n.详细目录，存货清单 | |
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bracelet
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| n.手镯，臂镯 | |
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everlasting
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| adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的 | |
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sneer
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| v.轻蔑；嘲笑；n.嘲笑，讥讽的言语 | |
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gem
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| n.宝石，珠宝；受爱戴的人 [同]jewel | |
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patchwork
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| n.混杂物；拼缝物 | |
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hoods
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| n.兜帽( hood的名词复数 )；头巾；（汽车、童车等的）折合式车篷；汽车发动机罩v.兜帽( hood的第三人称单数 )；头巾；（汽车、童车等的）折合式车篷；汽车发动机罩 | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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chattering
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| n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式 | |
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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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auspices
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| n.资助，赞助 | |
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contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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condescension
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| n.自以为高人一等，贬低(别人) | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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jargon
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| n.术语，行话 | |
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glibly
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| adv.流利地，流畅地；满口 | |
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unintelligible
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| adj.无法了解的，难解的，莫明其妙的 | |
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attire
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| v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装 | |
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ridicule
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| v.讥讽，挖苦；n.嘲弄 | |
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inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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mortifying
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| adj.抑制的，苦修的v.使受辱( mortify的现在分词 )；伤害（人的感情）；克制；抑制（肉体、情感等） | |
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29
generosity
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| n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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petrifying
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| v.吓呆，使麻木( petrify的现在分词 )；使吓呆，使惊呆；僵化 | |
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folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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equivocation
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| n.模棱两可的话，含糊话 | |
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assented
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| 同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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38
snares
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| n.陷阱( snare的名词复数 )；圈套；诱人遭受失败（丢脸、损失等）的东西；诱惑物v.用罗网捕捉，诱陷，陷害( snare的第三人称单数 ) | |
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39
beset
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| v.镶嵌；困扰，包围 | |
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diligent
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| adj.勤勉的，勤奋的 | |
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watchful
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| adj.注意的，警惕的 | |
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42
gliding
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| v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的 | |
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43
inclinations
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| 倾向( inclination的名词复数 )； 倾斜； 爱好； 斜坡 | |
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44
cowardice
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| n.胆小，怯懦 | |
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45
qualified
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| adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的 | |
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46
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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