It is essential that a Master of Hounds should be somewhat feared by the men who ride with him. There should be much awe9 mixed with the love felt for him. He should be a man with whom other men will not care to argue; an irrational10, cut and thrust, unscrupulous, but yet distinctly honest man; one who can be tyrannical, but will tyrannise only over the evil spirits; a man capable of intense cruelty to those alongside of him, but who will know whether his victim does in truth deserve scalping before he draws his knife. He should be savage11 and yet good-humoured; severe and yet forbearing; truculent12 and pleasant in the same moment. He should exercise unflinching authority, but should do so with the consciousness that he can support it only by his own popularity. His speech should be short, incisive13, always to the point, but never founded on argument. His rules are based on no reason, and will never bear discussion. He must be the most candid14 of men, also the most close — and yet never a hypocrite. He must condescend15 to no explanation, and yet must impress men with an assurance that his decisions will certainly be right. He must rule all as though no man’s special welfare were of any account, and yet must administer all so as to offend none. Friends he must have, but not favourites. He must be self-sacrificing, diligent16, eager, and watchful17. He must be strong in health, strong in heart, strong in purpose, and strong in purse. He must be economical and yet lavish18; generous as the wind and yet obdurate19 as the frost. He should be assured that of all human pursuits hunting is the best, and that of all living things a fox is the most valuable. He must so train his heart as to feel for the fox a mingled20 tenderness and cruelty which is inexplicable21 to ordinary men and women. His desire to preserve the brute22 and then to kill him should be equally intense and passionate23. And he should do it all in accordance with a code of unwritten laws, which cannot be learnt without profound study. It may not perhaps be truly asserted that Lord Chiltern answered this description in every detail; but he combined so many of the qualities required that his wife showed her discernment when she declared that he seemed to have been made to be a Master of Hounds.
Early in that November he was riding home with Miss Palliser by his side, while the huntsmen and whips were trotting25 on with the hounds before him. “You call that a good run, don’t you?”
“No; I don’t.”
“What was the matter with it? I declare it seems to me that something is always wrong. Men like hunting better than anything else, and yet I never find any man contented26.”
“In the first place we didn’t kill.”
“You know you’re short of foxes at Gartlow,” said Miss Palliser, who, as is the manner with all hunting ladies, liked to show that she understood the affairs of the hunt.
“If I knew there were but one fox in a county, and I got upon that one fox, I would like to kill that one fox — barring a vixen in March.”
“I thought it very nice. It was fast enough for anybody.”
“You might go as fast with a drag, if that’s all. I’ll tell you something else. We should have killed him if Maule hadn’t once ridden over the hounds when we came out of the little wood. I spoke27 very sharply to him.”
“I heard you, Lord Chiltern.”
“And I suppose you thought I was a brute.”
“Who? I? No, I didn’t — not particularly, you know, Men do say such things to each other!”
“He doesn’t mind it, I fancy.”
“I suppose a man does not like to be told that directly he shows himself in a run the sport is all over and the hounds ought to be taken home.”
“Did I say that? I don’t remember now what I said, but I know he made me angry. Come, let us trot24 on. They can take the hounds home without us.”
“Good night, Cox,” said Miss Palliser, as they passed by the pack. “Poor Mr Maule! I did pity him, and I do think he does care for it, though he is so impassive. He would be with us now, only he is chewing the cud of his unhappiness in solitude28 half a mile behind us.”
“That is hard upon you.”
“Hard upon me, Lord Chiltern! It is hard upon him, and, perhaps, upon you. Why should it be hard upon me?”
“Hard upon him, I should have said. Though why it shouldn’t be the other way I don’t know. He’s a friend of yours.”
“Certainly.”
“And an especial friend, I suppose. As a matter of course Violet talks to me about you both.”
“No doubt she does. When once a woman is married she should be regarded as having thrown off her allegiance to her own sex. She is sure to be treacherous29 at any rate in one direction. Not that Lady Chiltern can tell anything of me that might not be told to all the world as far as I am concerned.”
“There is nothing in it, then?”
“Nothing at all.”
“Honour bright?”
“Oh — honour as bright as it ever is in such matters as these.”
“I am sorry for that — very sorry.”
“Why so, Lord Chiltern?”
“Because if you were engaged to him I thought that perhaps you might have induced him to ride a little less forward.”
“Lord Chiltern,” said Miss Palliser, seriously; “I will never again speak to you a word on any subject except hunting.”
At this moment Gerard Maule came up behind them, with a cigar in his mouth, apparently30 quite unconscious of any of that displeasure as to which Miss Palliser had supposed that he was chewing the cud in solitude. “That was a goodish thing, Chiltern,” he said.
“Very good.”
“And the hounds hunted him well to the end.”
“Very well.”
“It’s odd how the scent31 will die away at a moment. You see they couldn’t carry on a field after we got out of the copse.”
“Not a field.”
“Considering all things I am glad we didn’t kill him.”
“Uncommon glad,” said Lord Chiltern. Then they trotted32 on in silence a little way, and Maule again dropped behind. “I’m blessed if he knows that I spoke to him, roughly,” said Chiltern. “He’s deaf, I think, when he chooses to be.”
“You’re not sorry, Lord Chiltern.”
“Not in the least. Nothing will ever do any good. As for offending him, you might as well swear at a tree, and think to offend it. There’s comfort in that, anyway. I wonder whether he’d talk to you if I went away?”
“I hope that you won’t try the experiment.”
“I don’t believe he would, or I’d go at once, I wonder whether you really do care for him?”
“Not in the least.”
“Or he for you.”
“Quite indifferent, I should say; but I can’t answer for him, Lord Chiltern, quite as positively33 as I can for myself. You know, as things go, people have to play at caring for each other.”
“That’s what we call flirting34.”
“Just the reverse. Flirting I take to be the excitement of love, without its reality, and without its ordinary result in marriage. This playing at caring has none of the excitement, but it often leads to the result, and sometimes ends in down-right affection.”
“If Maule perseveres35 then you’ll take him, and by-and-bye you’ll come to like him.”
“In twenty years it might come to that, if we were always to live in the same house; but as he leaves Harrington tomorrow, and we may probably not meet each other for the next four years, I think the chance is small.”
Then Maule trotted up again, and after riding in silence with the other two for half an hour, he pulled out his case and lit a fresh cigar from the end of the old one, which he threw away, “Have a baccy, Chiltern?” he said.
“No, thank you, I never smoke going home; my mind is too full. I’ve all that family behind to think of, and I’m generally out of sorts with the miseries36 of the day. I must say another word to Cox, or I should have to go to the kennels37 on my way home.” And so he dropped behind.
Gerard Maule smoked half his cigar before he spoke a word, and Miss Palliser was quite resolved that she would not open her mouth till he had spoken. “I suppose he likes it?” he said at last.
“Who likes what, Mr Maule?”
“Chiltern likes blowing fellows up.”
“It’s a part of his business.”
“That’s the way I look at it. But I should think it must be disagreeable. He takes such a deal of trouble about it. I heard him going on today to someone as though his whole soul depended on it.”
“He is very energetic.”
“Just so. I’m quite sure it’s a mistake. What does a man ever get by it? Folks around you soon discount it till it goes for nothing.”
“I don’t think energy goes for nothing, Mr Maule.”
“A bull in a china shop is not a useful animal, nor is he ornamental38, but there can be no doubt of his energy. The hare was full of energy, but he didn’t win the race. The man who stands still is the man who keeps his ground.”
“You don’t stand still when you’re out hunting.”
“No — I ride about, and Chiltern swears at me. Every man is a fool sometimes.”
“And your wisdom, perfect at all other times, breaks down in the hunting-field?”
“I don’t in the least mind your chaffing. I know what you think of me just as well as though you told me.”
“What do I think of you?”
“That I’m a poor creature, generally half asleep, shallow-pated, slow-blooded, ignorant, useless, and unambitious.”
“Certainly unambitious, Mr Maule.”
“And that word carries all the others. What’s the good of ambition? There’s the man they were talking about last night — that Irishman.”
“Mr Finn?”
“Yes; Phineas Finn. He is an ambitious fellow. He’ll have to starve, according to what Chiltern was saying. I’ve sense enough to know I can’t do any good.”
“You are sensible, I admit.”
“Very well, Miss Palliser. You can say just what you like, of course. You have that privilege.”
“I did not mean to say anything severe. I do admit that you are master of a certain philosophy, for which much may be said. But you are not to expect that I shall express an approval which I do not feel.”
“But I want you to approve it.”
“Ah! — there, I fear, I cannot oblige you.”
“I want you to approve it, though no one else may.”
“Though all else should do so, I cannot.”
“Then take the task of curing the sick one, and of strengthening the weak one, into your own hands. If you will teach, perhaps I may learn.”
“I have no mission for teaching, Mr Maule.”
“You once said that — that — ”
“Do not be so ungenerous as to throw in my teeth what I once said — if I ever said a word that I would not now repeat.”
“I do not think that I am ungenerous, Miss Palliser.”
“I am sure you are not.”
“Nor am I self-confident. I am obliged to seek comfort from such scraps39 of encouragement as may have fallen in my way here and there. I once did think that you intended to love me.”
“Does love go by intentions?”
“I think so — frequently with men, and much more so with girls.”
“It will never go so with me. I shall never intend to love anyone. If I ever love any man it will be because I am made to do so, despite my intentions.”
“As a fortress40 is taken?”
“Well — if you like to put it so. Only I claim this advantage — that I can always get rid of my enemy when he bores me.”
“Am I boring you now?”
“I didn’t say so. Here is Lord Chiltern again, and I know by the rattle41 of his horse’s feet that something is the matter.”
Lord Chiltern came up full of wrath42. One of the men’s horses was thoroughly43 broken down, and, as the Master said, wasn’t worth the saddle he carried. He didn’t care a — for the horse, but the man hadn’t told him. “At this rate there won’t be anything to carry anybody by Christmas.”
“You’ll have to buy some more,” said Gerard Maule.
“Buy some more!” said Lord Chiltern, turning round, and looking at the man. “He talks of buying horses as he would sugar plums!” Then they trotted in at the gate, and in two minutes were at the hall door.
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1
coverts
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| n.隐蔽的，不公开的，秘密的( covert的名词复数 )；复羽 | |
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2
specially
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| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
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judicious
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| adj.明智的，明断的，能作出明智决定的 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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cubs
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| n.幼小的兽，不懂规矩的年轻人( cub的名词复数 ) | |
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6
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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7
uncommonly
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| adv. 稀罕(极，非常) | |
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8
laurels
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| n.桂冠，荣誉 | |
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9
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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irrational
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| adj.无理性的，失去理性的 | |
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savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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12
truculent
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| adj.野蛮的，粗野的 | |
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13
incisive
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| adj.敏锐的，机敏的，锋利的，切入的 | |
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candid
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| adj.公正的，正直的；坦率的 | |
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15
condescend
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| v.俯就，屈尊；堕落，丢丑 | |
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16
diligent
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| adj.勤勉的，勤奋的 | |
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17
watchful
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| adj.注意的，警惕的 | |
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18
lavish
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| adj.无节制的；浪费的；vt.慷慨地给予，挥霍 | |
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19
obdurate
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| adj.固执的，顽固的 | |
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20
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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21
inexplicable
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| adj.无法解释的，难理解的 | |
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brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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23
passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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24
trot
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| n.疾走，慢跑；n.老太婆；现成译本；(复数）trots:腹泻（与the 连用）；v.小跑，快步走，赶紧 | |
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25
trotting
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| 小跑，急走( trot的现在分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走 | |
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26
contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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27
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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28
solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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29
treacherous
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| adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的 | |
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30
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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31
scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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32
trotted
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| 小跑，急走( trot的过去分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走 | |
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33
positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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34
flirting
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| v.调情，打情骂俏( flirt的现在分词 ) | |
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35
perseveres
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| v.坚忍，坚持( persevere的第三人称单数 ) | |
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36
miseries
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| n.痛苦( misery的名词复数 )；痛苦的事；穷困；常发牢骚的人 | |
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37
kennels
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| n.主人外出时的小动物寄养处，养狗场；狗窝( kennel的名词复数 )；养狗场 | |
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38
ornamental
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| adj.装饰的；作装饰用的；n.装饰品；观赏植物 | |
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39
scraps
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| 油渣 | |
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40
fortress
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| n.堡垒，防御工事 | |
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41
rattle
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| v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓 | |
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42
wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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43
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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