Time had discolored the paper, and had turned the ink to a brownish hue2. The letters were all addressed to the same person —“THE RT. HON. LORD LYDIARD”— and were all signed in the same way —“Your affectionate cousin, James Tollmidge.” Judged by these specimens3 of his correspondence, Mr. Tollmidge must have possessed4 one great merit as a letter-writer — the merit of brevity. He will weary nobody’s patience, if he is allowed to have a hearing. Let him, therefore, be permitted, in his own high-flown way, to speak for himself.
First Letter.—“My statement, as your Lordship requests, shall be short and to the point. I was doing very well as a portrait-painter in the country; and I had a wife and children to consider. Under the circumstances, if I had been left to decide for myself, I should certainly have waited until I had saved a little money before I ventured on the serious expense of taking a house and studio at the west end of London. Your Lordship, I positively5 declare, encouraged me to try the experiment without waiting. And here I am, unknown and unemployed6, a helpless artist lost in London — with a sick wife and hungry children, and bankruptcy7 staring me in the face. On whose shoulders does this dreadful responsibility rest? On your Lordship’s!”
Second Letter.—“After a week’s delay, you favor me, my Lord, with a curt8 reply. I can be equally curt on my side. I indignantly deny that I or my wife ever presumed to see your Lordship’s name as a means of recommendation to sitters without your permission. Some enemy has slandered9 us. I claim as my right to know the name of that enemy.”
Third (and last) Letter.—“Another week has passed — and not a word of answer has reached me from your Lordship. It matters little. I have employed the interval10 in making inquiries11, and I have at last discovered the hostile influence which has estranged12 you from me. I have been, it seems, so unfortunate as to offend Lady Lydiard (how, I cannot imagine); and the all-powerful influence of this noble lady is now used against the struggling artist who is united to you by the sacred ties of kindred. Be it so. I can fight my way upwards13, my Lord, as other men have done before me. A day may yet come when the throng14 of carriages waiting at the door of the fashionable portrait-painter will include her Ladyship’s vehicle, and bring me the tardy15 expression of her Ladyship’s regret. I refer you, my Lord Lydiard, to that day!”
Having read Mr. Tollmidge’s formidable assertions relating to herself for the second time, Lady Lydiard’s meditations16 came to an abrupt17 end. She rose, took the letters in both hands to tear them up, hesitated, and threw them back in the cabinet drawer in which she had discovered them, among other papers that had not been arranged since Lord Lydiard’s death.
“The idiot!” said her Ladyship, thinking of Mr. Tollmidge, “I never even heard of him, in my husband’s lifetime; I never even knew that he was really related to Lord Lydiard, till I found his letters. What is to be done next?”
She looked, as she put that question to herself, at an open newspaper thrown on the table, which announced the death of “that accomplished18 artist Mr. Tollmidge, related, it is said, to the late well-known connoisseur19, Lord Lydiard.” In the next sentence the writer of the obituary20 notice deplored21 the destitute22 condition of Mrs. Tollmidge and her children, “thrown helpless on the mercy of the world.” Lady Lydiard stood by the table with her eyes on those lines, and saw but too plainly the direction in which they pointed23 — the direction of her check-book.
Turning towards the fireplace, she rang the bell. “I can do nothing in this matter,” she thought to herself, “until I know whether the report about Mrs. Tollmidge and her family is to be depended on. Has Moody24 come back?” she asked, when the servant appeared at the door. “Moody” (otherwise her Ladyship’s steward25) had not come back. Lady Lydiard dismissed the subject of the artist’s widow from further consideration until the steward returned, and gave her mind to a question of domestic interest which lay nearer to her heart. Her favorite dog had been ailing26 for some time past, and no report of him had reached her that morning. She opened a door near the fireplace, which led, through a little corridor hung with rare prints, to her own boudoir. “Isabel!” she called out, “how is Tommie?”
A fresh young voice answered from behind the curtain which closed the further end of the corridor, “No better, my Lady.”
A low growl27 followed the fresh young voice, and added (in dog’s language), “Much worse, my Lady — much worse!”
Lady Lydiard closed the door again, with a compassionate28 sigh for Tommie, and walked slowly to and fro in her spacious29 drawing-room, waiting for the steward’s return.
Accurately30 described, Lord Lydiard’s widow was short and fat, and, in the matter of age, perilously31 near her sixtieth birthday. But it may be said, without paying a compliment, that she looked younger than her age by ten years at least. Her complexion32 was of that delicate pink tinge33 which is sometimes seen in old women with well-preserved constitutions. Her eyes (equally well preserved) were of that hard light blue color which wears well, and does not wash out when tried by the test of tears. Add to this her short nose, her plump cheeks that set wrinkles at defiance34, her white hair dressed in stiff little curls; and, if a doll could grow old, Lady Lydiard, at sixty, would have been the living image of that doll, taking life easily on its journey downwards35 to the prettiest of tombs, in a burial-ground where the myrtles and roses grew all the year round.
These being her Ladyship’s personal merits, impartial36 history must acknowledge, on the list of her defects, a total want of tact37 and taste in her attire38. The lapse39 of time since Lord Lydiard’s death had left her at liberty to dress as she pleased. She arrayed her short, clumsy figure in colors that were far too bright for a woman of her ages. Her dresses, badly chosen as to their hues40, were perhaps not badly made, but were certainly badly worn. Morally, as well as physically41, it must be said of Lady Lydiard that her outward side was her worst side. The anomalies of her dress were matched by the anomalies of her character. There were moments when she felt and spoke42 as became a lady of rank; and there were other moments when she felt and spoke as might have become the cook in the kitchen. Beneath these superficial inconsistencies, the great heart, the essentially43 true and generous nature of the woman, only waited the sufficient occasion to assert themselves. In the trivial intercourse44 of society she was open to ridicule45 on every side of her. But when a serious emergency tried the metal of which she was really made, the people who were loudest in laughing at her stood aghast, and wondered what had become of the familiar companion of their everyday lives.
Her Ladyship’s promenade46 had lasted but a little while, when a man in black clothing presented himself noiselessly at the great door which opened on the staircase. Lady Lydiard signed to him impatiently to enter the room.
“I have been expecting you for some time, Moody,” she said. “You look tired. Take a chair.”
The man in black bowed respectfully, and took his seat.
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1
meditating
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| a.沉思的，冥想的 | |
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hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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specimens
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| n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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unemployed
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| adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的 | |
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bankruptcy
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| n.破产；无偿付能力 | |
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8
curt
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| adj.简短的，草率的 | |
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slandered
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| 造谣中伤( slander的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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10
interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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estranged
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| adj.疏远的，分离的 | |
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upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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throng
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| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
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tardy
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| adj.缓慢的，迟缓的 | |
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meditations
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| 默想( meditation的名词复数 )； 默念； 沉思； 冥想 | |
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17
abrupt
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| adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的 | |
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18
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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connoisseur
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| n.鉴赏家，行家，内行 | |
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obituary
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| n.讣告，死亡公告；adj.死亡的 | |
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deplored
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| v.悲叹，痛惜，强烈反对( deplore的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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destitute
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| adj.缺乏的；穷困的 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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moody
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| adj.心情不稳的，易怒的，喜怒无常的 | |
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steward
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| n.乘务员，服务员；看管人；膳食管理员 | |
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26
ailing
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| v.生病 | |
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growl
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| v.（狗等）嗥叫，（炮等）轰鸣；n.嗥叫，轰鸣 | |
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28
compassionate
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| adj.有同情心的，表示同情的 | |
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spacious
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| adj.广阔的，宽敞的 | |
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accurately
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| adv.准确地，精确地 | |
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perilously
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| adv.充满危险地，危机四伏地 | |
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32
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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tinge
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| vt.(较淡)着色于，染色；使带有…气息；n.淡淡色彩，些微的气息 | |
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defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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downwards
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| adj./adv.向下的（地），下行的（地） | |
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impartial
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| adj.(in,to)公正的，无偏见的 | |
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tact
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| n.机敏，圆滑，得体 | |
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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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39
lapse
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| n.过失，流逝，失效，抛弃信仰，间隔；vi.堕落，停止，失效，流逝；vt.使失效 | |
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40
hues
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| 色彩( hue的名词复数 )； 色调； 信仰； 观点 | |
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41
physically
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| adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律 | |
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42
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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43
essentially
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| adv.本质上，实质上，基本上 | |
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44
intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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45
ridicule
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| v.讥讽，挖苦；n.嘲弄 | |
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46
promenade
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| n./v.散步 | |
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