Near her, in a low chair, Gondremark had arranged his limbs into a cat-like attitude, high-shouldered, stooping, and submiss. The formidable blue jowl of the man, and the dull bilious14 eye, set perhaps a higher value on his evident desire to please. His face was marked by capacity, temper, and a kind of bold, piratical dishonesty which it would be calumnious15 to call deceit. His manners, as he smiled upon the Princess, were over-fine, yet hardly elegant.
‘Possibly,’ said the Baron16, ‘I should now proceed to take my leave. I must not keep my sovereign in the ante-room. Let us come at once to a decision.’
‘It cannot, cannot be put off?’ she asked.
‘It is impossible,’ answered Gondremark. ‘Your Highness sees it for herself. In the earlier stages, we might imitate the serpent; but for the ultimatum17, there is no choice but to be bold like lions. Had the Prince chosen to remain away, it had been better; but we have gone too far forward to delay.’
‘What can have brought him?’ she cried. ‘To-day of all days?’
‘The marplot, madam, has the instinct of his nature,’ returned Gondremark. ‘But you exaggerate the peril18. Think, madam, how far we have prospered19, and against what odds20! Shall a Featherhead? — but no!’ And he blew upon his fingers lightly with a laugh.
‘Featherhead,’ she replied, ‘is still the Prince of Grunewald.’
‘On your sufferance only, and so long as you shall please to be indulgent,’ said the Baron. ‘There are rights of nature; power to the powerful is the law. If he shall think to cross your destiny — well, you have heard of the brazen21 and the earthen pot.’
‘Do you call me pot? You are ungallant, Baron,’ laughed the Princess.
‘Before we are done with your glory, I shall have called you by many different titles,’ he replied.
The girl flushed with pleasure. ‘But Frederic is still the Prince, MONSIEUR LE FLATTEUR,’ she said. ‘You do not propose a revolution? -you of all men?’
‘Dear madam, when it is already made!’ he cried. ‘The Prince reigns22 indeed in the almanac; but my Princess reigns and rules.’ And he looked at her with a fond admiration23 that made the heart of Seraphina swell24. Looking on her huge slave, she drank the intoxicating25 joys of power. Meanwhile he continued, with that sort of massive archness that so ill became him, ‘She has but one fault; there is but one danger in the great career that I foresee for her. May I name it? may I be so irreverent? It is in herself — her heart is soft.’
‘Her courage is faint, Baron,’ said the Princess. ‘Suppose we have judged ill, suppose we were defeated?’
‘Defeated, madam?’ returned the Baron, with a touch of ill-humour. ‘Is the dog defeated by the hare? Our troops are all cantoned along the frontier; in five hours the vanguard of five thousand bayonets shall be hammering on the gates of Brandenau; and in all Gerolstein there are not fifteen hundred men who can manoeuvre26. It is as simple as a sum. There can be no resistance.’
‘It is no great exploit,’ she said. ‘Is that what you call glory? It is like beating a child.’
‘The courage, madam, is diplomatic,’ he replied. ‘We take a grave step; we fix the eyes of Europe, for the first time, on Grunewald; and in the negotiations28 of the next three months, mark me, we stand or fall. It is there, madam, that I shall have to depend upon your counsels,’ he added, almost gloomily. ‘If I had not seen you at work, if I did not know the fertility of your mind, I own I should tremble for the consequence. But it is in this field that men must recognise their inability. All the great negotiators, when they have not been women, have had women at their elbows. Madame de Pompadour was ill served; she had not found her Gondremark; but what a mighty30 politician! Catherine de’ Medici, too, what justice of sight, what readiness of means, what elasticity31 against defeat! But alas32! madam, her Featherheads were her own children; and she had that one touch of vulgarity, that one trait of the good-wife, that she suffered family ties and affections to confine her liberty.’
These singular views of history, strictly33 AD USUM SERAPHINAE, did not weave their usual soothing34 spell over the Princess. It was plain that she had taken a momentary35 distaste to her own resolutions; for she continued to oppose her counsellor, looking upon him out of half-closed eyes and with the shadow of a sneer36 upon her lips. ‘What boys men are!’ she said; ‘what lovers of big words! Courage, indeed! If you had to scour37 pans, Herr Von Gondremark, you would call it, I suppose, Domestic Courage?’
‘I would, madam,’ said the Baron stoutly38, ‘if I scoured39 them well. I would put a good name upon a virtue40; you will not overdo41 it: they are not so enchanting42 in themselves.’
‘Well, but let me see,’ she said. ‘I wish to understand your courage. Why we asked leave, like children! Our grannie in Berlin, our uncle in Vienna, the whole family, have patted us on the head and sent us forward. Courage? I wonder when I hear you!’
‘My Princess is unlike herself,’ returned the Baron. ‘She has forgotten where the peril lies. True, we have received encouragement on every hand; but my Princess knows too well on what untenable conditions; and she knows besides how, in the publicity43 of the diet, these whispered conferences are forgotten and disowned. The danger is very real’ — he raged inwardly at having to blow the very coal he had been quenching44 — ‘none the less real in that it is not precisely45 military, but for that reason the easier to be faced. Had we to count upon your troops, although I share your Highness’s expectations of the conduct of Alvenau, we cannot forget that he has not been proved in chief command. But where negotiation27 is concerned, the conduct lies with us; and with your help, I laugh at danger.’
‘It may be so,’ said Seraphina, sighing. ‘It is elsewhere that I see danger. The people, these abominable46 people — suppose they should instantly rebel? What a figure we should make in the eyes of Europe to have undertaken an invasion while my own throne was tottering47 to its fall!’
‘Nay, madam,’ said Gondremark, smiling, ‘here you are beneath yourself. What is it that feeds their discontent? What but the taxes? Once we have seized Gerolstein, the taxes are remitted48, the sons return covered with renown49, the houses are adorned50 with pillage51, each tastes his little share of military glory, and behold52 us once again a happy family! “Ay,” they will say, in each other’s long ears, “the Princess knew what she was about; she was in the right of it; she has a head upon her shoulders; and here we are, you see, better off than before.” But why should I say all this? It is what my Princess pointed53 out to me herself; it was by these reasons that she converted me to this adventure.’
‘I think, Herr von Gondremark,’ said Seraphina, somewhat tartly54, ‘you often attribute your own sagacity to your Princess.’
For a second Gondremark staggered under the shrewdness of the attack; the next, he had perfectly55 recovered. ‘Do I?’ he said. ‘It is very possible. I have observed a similar tendency in your Highness.’
It was so openly spoken, and appeared so just, that Seraphina breathed again. Her vanity had been alarmed, and the greatness of the relief improved her spirits. ‘Well,’ she said, ‘all this is little to the purpose. We are keeping Frederic without, and I am still ignorant of our line of battle. Come, co-admiral, let us consult. . . . How am I to receive him now? And what are we to do if he should appear at the council?’
‘Now,’ he answered. ‘I shall leave him to my Princess for just now! I have seen her at work. Send him off to his theatricals56! But in all gentleness,’ he added. ‘Would it, for instance, would it displease57 my sovereign to affect a headache?’
‘Never!’ said she. ‘The woman who can manage, like the man who can fight, must never shrink from an encounter. The knight58 must not disgrace his weapons.’
‘Then let me pray my BELLE59 DAME29 SANS MERCI,’ he returned, ‘to affect the only virtue that she lacks. Be pitiful to the poor young man; affect an interest in his hunting; be weary of politics; find in his society, as it were, a grateful repose60 from dry considerations. Does my Princess authorise the line of battle?’
‘Well, that is a trifle,’ answered Seraphina. ‘The council — there is the point.’
‘The council?’ cried Gondremark. ‘Permit me, madam.’ And he rose and proceeded to flutter about the room, counterfeiting61 Otto both in voice and gesture not unhappily. ‘What is there to-day, Herr von Gondremark? Ah, Herr Cancellarius, a new wig62! You cannot deceive me; I know every wig in Grunewald; I have the sovereign’s eye. What are these papers about? O, I see. O, certainly. Surely, surely. I wager63 none of you remarked that wig. By all means. I know nothing about that. Dear me, are there as many as all that? Well, you can sign them; you have the procuration. You see, Herr Cancellarius, I knew your wig. And so,’ concluded Gondremark, resuming his own voice, ‘our sovereign, by the particular grace of God, enlightens and supports his privy64 councillors.’
But when the Baron turned to Seraphina for approval, he found her frozen. ‘You are pleased to be witty65, Herr von Gondremark,’ she said, ‘and have perhaps forgotten where you are. But these rehearsals66 are apt to be misleading. Your master, the Prince of Grunewald, is sometimes more exacting67.’
Gondremark cursed her in his soul. Of all injured vanities, that of the reproved buffoon68 is the most savage69; and when grave issues are involved, these petty stabs become unbearable70. But Gondremark was a man of iron; he showed nothing; he did not even, like the common trickster, retreat because he had presumed, but held to his point bravely. ‘Madam,’ he said, ‘if, as you say, he prove exacting, we must take the bull by the horns.’
‘We shall see,’ she said, and she arranged her skirt like one about to rise. Temper, scorn, disgust, all the more acrid71 feelings, became her like jewels; and she now looked her best.
‘Pray God they quarrel,’ thought Gondremark. ‘The damned minx may fail me yet, unless they quarrel. It is time to let him in. Zz — fight, dogs!’ Consequent on these reflections, he bent72 a stiff knee and chivalrously73 kissed the Princess’s hand. ‘My Princess,’ he said, ‘must now dismiss her servant. I have much to arrange against the hour of council.’
‘Go,’ she said, and rose.
And as Gondremark tripped out of a private door, she touched a bell, and gave the order to admit the Prince.
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收听单词发音
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1
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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misogynistic
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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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comely
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| adj.漂亮的，合宜的 | |
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eloquent
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| adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的 | |
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immature
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| adj.未成熟的，发育未全的，未充分发展的 | |
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inviting
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| adj.诱人的，引人注目的 | |
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fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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rapacious
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| adj.贪婪的，强夺的 | |
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chafing
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| n.皮肤发炎v.擦热（尤指皮肤）( chafe的现在分词 )；擦痛；发怒；惹怒 | |
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subjugate
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| v.征服；抑制 | |
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snare
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| n.陷阱，诱惑，圈套；（去除息肉或者肿瘤的）勒除器；响弦，小军鼓；vt.以陷阱捕获，诱惑 | |
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contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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bilious
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| adj.胆汁过多的；易怒的 | |
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calumnious
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| adj.毁谤的，中伤的 | |
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baron
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| n.男爵；(商业界等)巨头，大王 | |
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ultimatum
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| n.最后通牒 | |
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peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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prospered
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| 成功，兴旺( prosper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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odds
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| n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别 | |
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brazen
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| adj.厚脸皮的，无耻的，坚硬的 | |
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reigns
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| n.君主的统治( reign的名词复数 )；君主统治时期；任期；当政期 | |
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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swell
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| vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强 | |
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intoxicating
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| a. 醉人的,使人兴奋的 | |
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manoeuvre
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| n.策略，调动；v.用策略，调动 | |
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negotiation
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| n.谈判，协商 | |
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negotiations
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| 协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过 | |
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dame
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| n.女士 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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elasticity
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| n.弹性，伸缩力 | |
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alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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soothing
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| adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的 | |
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momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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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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scour
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| v.搜索；擦，洗，腹泻，冲刷 | |
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stoutly
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| adv.牢固地，粗壮的 | |
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scoured
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| 走遍（某地）搜寻（人或物）( scour的过去式和过去分词 )； （用力）刷； 擦净； 擦亮 | |
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40
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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41
overdo
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| vt.把...做得过头，演得过火 | |
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enchanting
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| a.讨人喜欢的 | |
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publicity
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| n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告 | |
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44
quenching
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| 淬火，熄 | |
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precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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46
abominable
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| adj.可厌的，令人憎恶的 | |
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47
tottering
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| adj.蹒跚的，动摇的v.走得或动得不稳( totter的现在分词 )；踉跄；蹒跚；摇摇欲坠 | |
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48
remitted
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| v.免除（债务），宽恕( remit的过去式和过去分词 )；使某事缓和；寄回，传送 | |
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renown
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| n.声誉，名望 | |
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adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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51
pillage
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| v.抢劫；掠夺；n.抢劫，掠夺；掠夺物 | |
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52
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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53
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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54
tartly
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| adv.辛辣地，刻薄地 | |
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55
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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56
theatricals
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| n.（业余性的）戏剧演出，舞台表演艺术；职业演员；戏剧的( theatrical的名词复数 )；剧场的；炫耀的；戏剧性的 | |
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57
displease
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| vt.使不高兴，惹怒；n.不悦，不满，生气 | |
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58
knight
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| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
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belle
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| n.靓女 | |
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60
repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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counterfeiting
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| n.伪造v.仿制，造假( counterfeit的现在分词 ) | |
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wig
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| n.假发 | |
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wager
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| n.赌注；vt.押注，打赌 | |
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privy
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| adj.私用的；隐密的 | |
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witty
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| adj.机智的，风趣的 | |
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rehearsals
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| n.练习( rehearsal的名词复数 )；排练；复述；重复 | |
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67
exacting
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| adj.苛求的，要求严格的 | |
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buffoon
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| n.演出时的丑角 | |
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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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70
unbearable
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| adj.不能容忍的；忍受不住的 | |
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acrid
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| adj.辛辣的，尖刻的，刻薄的 | |
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72
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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chivalrously
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| adv.象骑士一样地 | |
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