Chapter 61 Another duel

It happened that there were at this time certain matters of business to be settled between the Duke of Omnium and his nephew Mr Palliser, respecting which the latter called upon his uncle on the morning after the Duke had committed himself by his offer. Mr Palliser had come by appointment made with Mr Fothergill, the Duke’s man of business, and had expected to meet Mr Fothergill. Mr Fothergill, however, was not with the Duke, and the uncle told the nephew that the business had been postponed¹. Then Mr Palliser asked some question as to the reason of such postponement², not meaning much by his question — and the Duke, after a moment’s hesitation³, answered him, meaning very much by his answer. “The truth is, Plantagenet, that it is possible that I may marry, and if so this arrangement would not suit me.”

“Are you going to be married?” asked the astonished nephew.

“It is not exactly that — but it is possible that I may do so. Since I proposed this matter to Fothergill, I have been thinking over it, and I have changed my mind. It will make but little difference to you; and after all you are a far richer man than I am.”

“I am not thinking of money, Duke,” said Plantagenet Palliser.

“Of what then were you thinking?”

“Simply of what you told me. I do not in the least mean to interfere⁵.”

“I hope not, Plantagenet.”

“But I could not hear such a statement from you without some surprise. Whatever you do I hope will tend to make you happy.”

So much passed between the uncle and the nephew, and what the uncle told to the nephew, the nephew of course told to his wife. “He was with her again, yesterday,” said Lady Glencora, “for more than an hour. And he had been half the morning dressing⁶ himself before he went to her.”

“He is not engaged to her, or he would have told me,” said Plantagenet Palliser.

“I think he would, but there is no knowing. At the present moment I have only one doubt — whether to act upon him or upon her.”

“I do not see that you can do good by going to either.”

“Well, we will see. If she be the woman I take her to be, I think I could do something with her. I have never supposed her to be a bad woman — never. I will think of it.” Then Lady Glencora left her husband, and did not consult him afterwards as to the course she would pursue. He had his budget to manage, and his speeches to make. The little affair of the Duke and Madame Goesler, she thought it best to take into her own hands without any assistance from him. “What a fool I was,” she said to herself, to have her down there when the Duke was at Matching!”

Madame Goesler, when she was left alone, felt that now indeed she must make up her mind. She had asked for two days. The intervening day was a Sunday, and on the Monday she must send her answer. She might doubt at any rate for this one night — the Saturday night — and sit playing, as it were, with the coronet of a duchess in her lap. She had been born the daughter of a small country attorney, and now a duke had asked her to be his wife — and a duke who was acknowledged to stand above other dukes! Nothing at any rate could rob her of that satisfaction. Whatever resolution she might form at last, she had by her own resources reached a point of success in remembering which there would always be a keen gratification. It would be much to be Duchess of Omnium; but it would be something also to have refused to be a Duchess of Omnium. During that evening, that night, and the next morning, she remained playing with the coronet in her lap. She would not go to church. What good could any sermon do her while that bauble⁷ was dangling⁸ before her eyes? After church-time, about two o’clock, Phineas Finn came to her. Just at this period Phineas would come to her often — sometimes full of a new decision to forget Violet Effingham altogether, at others minded to continue his siege let the hope of success be ever so small. He had now heard that Violet and Lord Chiltern had in truth quarrelled, and was of course anxious to be advised to continue the siege. When he first came in and spoke⁹ a word or two, in which there was no reference to Violet Effingham, there came upon Madame Goesler a strong wish to decide at once that she would play no longer with the coronet, that the gem⁴ was not worth the cost she would be called upon to pay for it. There was something in the world better for her than the coronet — if only it might be had. But within ten minutes he had told her the whole tale about Lord Chiltern, and how he had seen Violet at Lady Baldock’s — and how there might yet be hope for him. What would she advise him to do? “Go home, Mr Finn,” she said, and write a sonnet¹⁰ to her eyebrow¹¹. See if that will have any effect.”

“Ah, well! It is natural that you should laugh at me; but somehow, I did not expect it from you.”

“Do not be angry with me. What I mean is that such little things seem to influence this Violet of yours.”

“Do they? I have not found that they do so.”

“If she had loved Lord Chiltern she would not have quarrelled with him for a few words. If she had loved you, she would not have accepted Lord Chiltern. If she loves neither of you, she should say so. I am losing my respect for her.”

“Do not say that, Madame Goesler. I respect her as strongly as I love her.” Then Madame Goesler almost made up her mind that she would have the coronet. There was a substance about the coronet that would not elude¹² her grasp.

Late that afternoon, while she was still hesitating, there came another caller to the cottage in Park Lane. She was still hesitating, feeling that she had as yet another night before her. Should she be Duchess of Omnium or not? All that she wished to be, she could not be — but to be Duchess of Omnium was within her reach. Then she began to ask herself various questions. Would the Queen refuse to accept her in her new rank? Refuse! How could any Queen refuse to accept her? She had not done aught amiss in life. There was no slur¹³ on her name; no stain on her character. What though her father had been a small attorney, and her first husband a Jew banker! She had broken no law of God or man, had been accused of breaking no law, which breaking or which accusation¹⁴ need stand in the way of her being as good a duchess as any other woman! She was sitting thinking of this, almost angry with herself at the awe¹⁵ with which the proposed rank inspired her, when Lady Glencora was announced to her.

“Madame Goesler,” said Lady Glencora, I am very glad to find you.”

“And I more than equally so, to be found,” said Madame Goesler, smiling with all her grace.

“My uncle has been with you since I saw you last?”

“Oh yes — more than once if I remember right. He was here yesterday at any rate.”

“He comes often to you then?”

“Not so often as I would wish, Lady Glencora. The Duke is one of my dearest friends.”

“It has been a quick friendship.”

“Yes — a quick friendship,” said Madame Goesler. Then there was a pause for some moments which Madame Goesler was determined¹⁶ that she would not break. It was clear to her now on what ground Lady Glencora had come to her, and she was fully¹⁷ minded that if she could bear the full light of the god himself in all his glory, she would not allow herself to be scorched¹⁸ by any reflected heat coming from the god’s niece. She thought she could endure anything that Lady Glencora might say; but she would wait and hear what might be said.

“I think, Madame Goesler, that I had better hurry on to my subject at once,” said Lady Glencora, almost hesitating as she spoke, and feeling that the colour was rushing up to her cheeks and covering her brow. “Of course what I have to say will be disagreeable. Of course I shall offend you. And yet I do not mean it.”

“I shall be offended at nothing, Lady Glencora, unless I think that you mean to offend me.”

“I protest that I do not. You have seen my little boy.”

“Yes, indeed. The sweetest child! God never gave me anything half so precious as that.”

“He is the Duke’s heir.”

“So I understand.”

“For myself, by my honour as a woman, I care nothing. I am rich and have all that the world can give me. For my husband, in this matter, I care nothing. His career he will make for himself, and it will depend on no title.”

“Why all this to me, Lady Glencora? What have I to do with your husband’s titles?”

“Much — if it be true that there is an idea of marriage between you and the Duke of Omnium.”

“Psha!” said Madame Goesler, with all the scorn of which she was mistress.

“It is untrue, then?” asked Lady Glencora.

“No — it is not untrue. There is an idea of such a marriage.”

“And you are engaged to him?”

“No — I am not engaged to him.”

“Has he asked you?”

“Lady Glencora, I really must say that such a cross-questioning from one lady to another is very unusual. I have promised not to be offended, unless I thought that you wished to offend me. But do not drive me too far.”

“Madame Goesler, if you will tell me that I am mistaken, I will beg your pardon, and offer to you the most sincere friendship which one woman can give another.”

“Lady Glencora, I can tell you nothing of the kind.”

“Then it is to be so! And have you thought what you would gain?”

“I have thought much of what I should gain: and something also of what I should lose.”

“You have money.”

“Yes, indeed; plenty — for wants so moderate as mine.”

“And position.”

“Well, yes; a sort of position. Not such as yours, Lady Glencora. That, if it be not born to a woman, can only come to her from a husband. She cannot win it for herself.”

“You are free as air, going where you like, and doing what you like.”

“Too free, sometimes,” said Madame Goesler.

“And what will you gain by changing all this simply for a title?”

“But for such a title, Lady Glencora! It may be little to you to be Duchess of Omnium, but think what it must be to me!”

“And for this you will not hesitate to rob him of all his friends, to embitter¹⁹ his future life, to degrade him among his peers — ”

“Degrade him! Who dares say that I shall degrade him? He will exalt²⁰ me, but I shall no whit²¹ degrade him. You forget yourself, Lady Glencora.”

“Ask anyone. It is not that I despise you. If I did, would I offer you my hand in friendship? But an old man, over seventy, carrying the weight and burden of such rank as his, will degrade himself in the eyes of his fellows, if he marries a young woman without rank, let her be ever so clever, ever so beautiful. A Duke of Omnium may not do as he pleases, as may another man.”

“It may be well, Lady Glencora, for other dukes, and for the daughters and heirs and cousins of other dukes, that His Grace should try that question. I will, if you wish it, argue this matter with you on many points, but I will not allow you to say that I should degrade any man whom I might marry. My name is as unstained as your own.”

“I meant nothing of that,” said Lady Glencora.

“For him — I certainly would not willingly injure him. Who wishes to injure a friend? And, in truth, I have so little to gain, that the temptation to do him an injury, if I thought it one, is not strong. For your little boy, Lady Glencora, I think your fears are premature²².” As she said this, there came a smile over her face, which threatened to break from control and almost become laughter. “But, if you will allow me to say so, my mind will not be turned against this marriage half so strongly by any arguments you can use as by those which I can adduce myself. You have nearly driven me into it by telling me I should degrade his house. It is almost incumbent²³ on me to prove that you are wrong. But you had better leave me to settle the matter in my own bosom²⁴. You had indeed.”

After a while Lady Glencora did leave her — to settle the matter within her own bosom — having no other alternative.

1 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

2 postponement   

n.推迟

参考例句：

• He compounded with his creditors for a postponement of payment. 他与债权人达成协议延期付款。
• Rain caused the postponement of several race-meetings. 几次赛马大会因雨延期。

3 hesitation   

n.犹豫，踌躇

参考例句：

• After a long hesitation, he told the truth at last.踌躇了半天，他终于直说了。
• There was a certain hesitation in her manner.她的态度有些犹豫不决。

4 gem   

n.宝石，珠宝；受爱戴的人 [同]jewel

参考例句：

• The gem is beyond my pocket.这颗宝石我可买不起。
• The little gem is worth two thousand dollars.这块小宝石价值两千美元。

5 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

6 dressing   

n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料

参考例句：

• Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
• The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。

7 bauble   

n.美观而无价值的饰物

参考例句：

• That little bauble is not to be compared with this enormous jewel.那个小摆设不能与这个大宝石相比较。
• A bauble is a showy ornament of little value.廉价珠宝是华而不实的装饰品。

8 dangling   

悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口

参考例句：

• The tooth hung dangling by the bedpost, now. 结果，那颗牙就晃来晃去吊在床柱上了。
• The children sat on the high wall,their legs dangling. 孩子们坐在一堵高墙上，摇晃着他们的双腿。

9 spoke   

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

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

10 sonnet   

n.十四行诗

参考例句：

• The composer set a sonnet to music.作曲家为一首十四行诗谱了曲。
• He wrote a sonnet to his beloved.他写了一首十四行诗，献给他心爱的人。

11 eyebrow   

n.眉毛，眉

参考例句：

• Her eyebrow is well penciled.她的眉毛画得很好。
• With an eyebrow raised,he seemed divided between surprise and amusement.他一只眉毛扬了扬，似乎既感到吃惊，又觉有趣。

12 elude   

v.躲避，困惑

参考例句：

• If you chase it,it will elude you.如果你追逐着它， 它会躲避你。
• I had dared and baffled his fury.I must elude his sorrow.我曾经面对过他的愤怒，并且把它挫败了；现在我必须躲避他的悲哀。

13 slur   

v.含糊地说；诋毁；连唱；n.诋毁；含糊的发音

参考例句：

• He took the remarks as a slur on his reputation.他把这些话当作是对他的名誉的中伤。
• The drug made her speak with a slur.药物使她口齿不清。

14 accusation   

n.控告，指责，谴责

参考例句：

• I was furious at his making such an accusation.我对他的这种责备非常气愤。
• She knew that no one would believe her accusation.她知道没人会相信她的指控。

15 awe   

n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧

参考例句：

• The sight filled us with awe.这景色使我们大为惊叹。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

16 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

17 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

18 scorched   

烧焦，烤焦( scorch的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（植物）枯萎，把…晒枯； 高速行驶； 枯焦

参考例句：

• I scorched my dress when I was ironing it. 我把自己的连衣裙熨焦了。
• The hot iron scorched the tablecloth. 热熨斗把桌布烫焦了。

19 embitter   

v.使苦；激怒

参考例句：

• The loss of all his money embitters the old man.失去全部的钱，使这位老人甚为痛苦。
• Hops serve to embitter beer.酒花的作用是使啤酒发苦。

20 exalt   

v.赞扬，歌颂，晋升，提升

参考例句：

• She thanked the President to exalt her.她感谢总统提拔她。
• His work exalts all those virtues that we,as Americans,are taught to hold dear.他的作品颂扬了所有那些身为美国人应该珍视的美德。

21 whit   

n.一点，丝毫

参考例句：

• There's not a whit of truth in the statement.这声明里没有丝毫的真实性。
• He did not seem a whit concerned.他看来毫不在乎。

22 premature   

adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的

参考例句：

• It is yet premature to predict the possible outcome of the dialogue.预言这次对话可能有什么结果为时尚早。
• The premature baby is doing well.那个早产的婴儿很健康。

23 incumbent   

adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的

参考例句：

• He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
• It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。

24 bosom   

n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的

参考例句：

• She drew a little book from her bosom.她从怀里取出一本小册子。
• A dark jealousy stirred in his bosom.他内心生出一阵恶毒的嫉妒。