In the county town of a certain shire there lived (about forty years ago) one Mr. Wilkins, a conveyancing attorney of considerable standing1.
The certain shire was but a small county, and the principal town in it contained only about four thousand inhabitants; so in saying that Mr. Wilkins was the principal lawyer in Hamley, I say very little, unless I add that he transacted2 all the legal business of the gentry3 for twenty miles round. His grandfather had established the connection; his father had consolidated4 and strengthened it, and, indeed, by his wise and upright conduct, as well as by his professional skill, had obtained for himself the position of confidential5 friend to many of the surrounding families of distinction. He visited among them in a way which no mere6 lawyer had ever done before; dined at their tables--he alone, not accompanied by his wife, be it observed; rode to the meet occasionally as if by accident, although he was as well mounted as any squire7 among them, and was often persuaded (after a little coquetting about "professional engagements," and "being wanted at the office") to have a run with his clients; nay8, once or twice he forgot his usual caution, was first in at the death, and rode home with the brush. But in general he knew his place; as his place was held to be in that aristocratic county, and in those days. Nor let be supposed that he was in any way a toadeater. He respected himself too much for that. He would give the most unpalatable advice, if need were; would counsel an unsparing reduction of expenditure9 to an extravagant10 man; would recommend such an abatement11 of family pride as paved the way for one or two happy marriages in some instances; nay, what was the most likely piece of conduct of all to give offence forty years ago, he would speak up for an unjustly-used tenant12; and that with so much temperate13 and well-timed wisdom and good feeling, that he more than once gained his point. He had one son, Edward. This boy was the secret joy and pride of his father's heart. For himself he was not in the least ambitious, but it did cost him a hard struggle to acknowledge that his own business was too lucrative14, and brought in too large an income, to pass away into the hands of a stranger, as it would do if he indulged his ambition for his son by giving him a college education and making him into a barrister. This determination on the more prudent15 side of the argument took place while Edward was at Eton. The lad had, perhaps, the largest allowance of pocket-money of any boy at school; and he had always looked forward to going to Christ Church along with his fellows, the sons of the squires16, his father's employers. It was a severe mortification17 to him to find that his destiny was changed, and that he had to return to Hamley to be articled to his father, and to assume the hereditary18 subservient19 position to lads whom he had licked in the play-ground, and beaten at learning.
His father tried to compensate20 him for the disappointment by every indulgence which money could purchase. Edward's horses were even finer than those of his father; his literary tastes were kept up and fostered, by his father's permission to form an extensive library, for which purpose a noble room was added to Mr. Wilkins's already extensive house in the suburbs of Hamley. And after his year of legal study in London his father sent him to make the grand tour, with something very like carte blanche as to expenditure, to judge from the packages which were sent home from various parts of the Continent.
At last he came home--came back to settle as his father's partner at Hamley. He was a son to be proud of, and right down proud was old Mr. Wilkins of his handsome, accomplished21, gentlemanly lad. For Edward was not one to be spoilt by the course of indulgence he had passed through; at least, if it had done him an injury, the effects were at present hidden from view. He had no vulgar vices22; he was, indeed, rather too refined for the society he was likely to be thrown into, even supposing that society to consist of the highest of his father's employers. He was well read, and an artist of no mean pretensions23. Above all, "his heart was in the right place," as his father used to observe. Nothing could exceed the deference24 he always showed to him. His mother had long been dead.
I do not know whether it was Edward's own ambition or his proud father's wishes that had led him to attend the Hamley assemblies. I should conjecture25 the latter, for Edward had of himself too much good taste to wish to intrude26 into any society. In the opinion of all the shire, no society had more reason to consider itself select than that which met at every full moon in the Hamley assembly-room, an excrescence built on to the principal inn in the town by the joint27 subscription28 of all the county families. Into those choice and mysterious precincts no towns person was ever allowed to enter; no professional man might set his foot therein; no infantry29 officer saw the interior of that ball, or that card-room. The old original subscribers would fain have had a man prove his sixteen quarterings before he might make his bow to the queen of the night; but the old original founders30 of the Hamley assemblies were dropping off; minuets had vanished with them, country dances had died away; quadrilles were in high vogue--nay, one or two of the high magnates of ---shire were trying to introduce waltzing, as they had seen it in London, where it had come in with the visit of the allied31 sovereigns, when Edward Wilkins made his _debut_ on these boards. He had been at many splendid assemblies abroad, but still the little old ballroom32 attached to the George Inn in his native town was to him a place grander and more awful than the most magnificent saloons he had seen in Paris or Rome. He laughed at himself for this unreasonable33 feeling of awe34; but there it was notwithstanding. He had been dining at the house of one of the lesser35 gentry, who was under considerable obligations to his father, and who was the parent of eight "muckle-mou'ed" daughters, so hardly likely to oppose much aristocratic resistance to the elder Mr. Wilkins's clearly implied wish that Edward should be presented at the Hamley assembly-rooms. But many a squire glowered36 and looked black at the introduction of Wilkins the attorney's son into the sacred precincts; and perhaps there would have been much more mortification than pleasure in this assembly to the young man, had it not been for an incident that occurred pretty late in the evening. The lord-lieutenant of the county usually came with a large party to the Hamley assemblies once in a season; and this night he was expected, and with him a fashionable duchess and her daughters. But time wore on, and they did not make their appearance. At last there was a rustling37 and a bustling38, and in sailed the superb party. For a few minutes dancing was stopped; the earl led the duchess to a sofa; some of their acquaintances came up to speak to them; and then the quadrilles were finished in rather a flat manner. A country dance followed, in which none of the lord-lieutenant's party joined; then there was a consultation39, a request, an inspection40 of the dancers, a message to the orchestra, and the band struck up a waltz; the duchess's daughters flew off to the music, and some more young ladies seemed ready to follow, but, alas41! there was a lack of gentlemen acquainted with the new-fashioned dance. One of the stewards42 bethought him of young Wilkins, only just returned from the Continent. Edward was a beautiful dancer, and waltzed to admiration43. For his next partner he had one of the Lady ---s; for the duchess, to whom the--shire squires and their little county politics and contempts were alike unknown, saw no reason why her lovely Lady Sophy should not have a good partner, whatever his pedigree might be, and begged the stewards to introduce Mr. Wilkins to her. After this night his fortune was made with the young ladies of the Hamley assemblies. He was not unpopular with the mammas; but the heavy squires still looked at him askance, and the heirs (whom he had licked at Eton) called him an upstart behind his back.
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1
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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transacted
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| v.办理（业务等）( transact的过去式和过去分词 )；交易，谈判 | |
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gentry
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| n.绅士阶级，上层阶级 | |
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4
consolidated
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| a.联合的 | |
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5
confidential
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| adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的 | |
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6
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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7
squire
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| n.护卫, 侍从, 乡绅 | |
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8
nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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9
expenditure
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| n.(时间、劳力、金钱等)支出；使用，消耗 | |
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10
extravagant
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| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
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11
abatement
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| n.减(免)税，打折扣，冲销 | |
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12
tenant
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| n.承租人；房客；佃户；v.租借，租用 | |
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13
temperate
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| adj.温和的，温带的，自我克制的，不过分的 | |
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14
lucrative
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| adj.赚钱的，可获利的 | |
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15
prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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16
squires
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| n.地主，乡绅( squire的名词复数 ) | |
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17
mortification
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| n.耻辱，屈辱 | |
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18
hereditary
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| adj.遗传的，遗传性的，可继承的，世袭的 | |
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19
subservient
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| adj.卑屈的，阿谀的 | |
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20
compensate
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| vt.补偿，赔偿；酬报 vi.弥补；补偿；抵消 | |
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21
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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22
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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23
pretensions
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| 自称( pretension的名词复数 )； 自命不凡； 要求； 权力 | |
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24
deference
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| n.尊重，顺从；敬意 | |
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25
conjecture
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| n./v.推测，猜测 | |
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26
intrude
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| vi.闯入；侵入；打扰，侵扰 | |
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27
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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28
subscription
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| n.预订，预订费，亲笔签名，调配法，下标（处方） | |
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29
infantry
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| n.[总称]步兵(部队) | |
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30
founders
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| n.创始人( founder的名词复数 ) | |
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31
allied
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| adj.协约国的；同盟国的 | |
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32
ballroom
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| n.舞厅 | |
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33
unreasonable
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| adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的 | |
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34
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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35
lesser
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| adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地 | |
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36
glowered
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| v.怒视( glower的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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37
rustling
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| n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的 | |
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38
bustling
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| adj.喧闹的 | |
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39
consultation
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| n.咨询；商量；商议；会议 | |
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40
inspection
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| n.检查，审查，检阅 | |
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41
alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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42
stewards
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| （轮船、飞机等的）乘务员( steward的名词复数 )； （俱乐部、旅馆、工会等的）管理员； （大型活动的）组织者； （私人家中的）管家 | |
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43
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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