Among the larger shrubs5 and flowers which composed the outworks of the Welland gardens, the lilac, the laburnum, and the guelder-rose hung out their respective colours of purple, yellow, and white; whilst within these, belted round from every disturbing gale6, rose the columbine, the peony, the larkspur, and the Solomon’s seal. The animate8 things that moved amid this scene of colour were plodding9 bees, gadding10 butterflies, and numerous sauntering young feminine candidates for the impending11 confirmation, who, having gaily12 bedecked themselves for the ceremony, were enjoying their own appearance by walking about in twos and threes till it was time to start.
Swithin St. Cleeve, whose preparations were somewhat simpler than those of the village belles13, waited till his grandmother and Hannah had set out, and then, locking the door, followed towards the distant church. On reaching the churchyard gate he met Mr. Torkingham, who shook hands with him in the manner of a man with several irons in the fire, and telling Swithin where to sit, disappeared to hunt up some candidates who had not yet made themselves visible.
Casting his eyes round for Viviette, and seeing nothing of her, Swithin went on to the church porch, and looked in. From the north side of the nave14 smiled a host of girls, gaily uniform in dress, age, and a temporary repression15 of their natural tendency to ‘skip like a hare over the meshes16 of good counsel.’ Their white muslin dresses, their round white caps, from beneath whose borders hair-knots and curls of various shades of brown escaped upon their low shoulders, as if against their will, lighted up the dark pews and grey stone-work to an unwonted warmth and life. On the south side were the young men and boys — heavy, angular, and massive, as indeed was rather necessary, considering what they would have to bear at the hands of wind and weather before they returned to that mouldy nave for the last time.
Over the heads of all these he could see into the chancel to the square pew on the north side, which was attached to Welland House. There he discerned Lady Constantine already arrived, her brother Louis sitting by her side.
Swithin entered and seated himself at the end of a bench, and she, who had been on the watch, at once showed by subtle signs her consciousness of the presence of the young man who had reversed the ordained17 sequence of the Church services on her account. She appeared in black attire18, though not strictly19 in mourning, a touch of red in her bonnet20 setting off the richness of her complexion21 without making her gay. Handsomest woman in the church she decidedly was; and yet a disinterested22 spectator who had known all the circumstances would probably have felt that, the future considered, Swithin’s more natural mate would have been one of the muslin-clad maidens23 who were to be presented to the Bishop24 with him that day.
When the Bishop had arrived and gone into the chancel, and blown his nose, the congregation were sufficiently25 impressed by his presence to leave off looking at one another.
The Right Reverend Cuthbert Helmsdale, D.D., ninety-fourth occupant of the episcopal throne of the diocese, revealed himself to be a personage of dark complexion, whose darkness was thrown still further into prominence26 by the lawn protuberances that now rose upon his two shoulders like the Eastern and Western hemispheres. In stature27 he seemed to be tall and imposing28, but something of this aspect may have been derived29 from his robes.
The service was, as usual, of a length which severely30 tried the tarrying powers of the young people assembled; and it was not till the youth of all the other parishes had gone up that the turn came for the Welland bevy31. Swithin and some older ones were nearly the last. When, at the heels of Mr. Torkingham, he passed Lady Constantine’s pew, he lifted his eyes from the red lining32 of that gentleman’s hood33 sufficiently high to catch hers. She was abstracted, tearful, regarding him with all the rapt mingling34 of religion, love, fervour, and hope which such women can feel at such times, and which men know nothing of. How fervidly35 she watched the Bishop place his hand on her beloved youth’s head; how she saw the great episcopal ring glistening36 in the sun among Swithin’s brown curls; how she waited to hear if Dr. Helmsdale uttered the form ‘this thy child’ which he used for the younger ones, or ‘this thy servant’ which he used for those older; and how, when he said, ‘this thy CHILD,’ she felt a prick37 of conscience, like a person who had entrapped38 an innocent youth into marriage for her own gratification, till she remembered that she had raised his social position thereby39 — all this could only have been told in its entirety by herself.
As for Swithin, he felt ashamed of his own utter lack of the high enthusiasm which beamed so eloquently40 from her eyes. When he passed her again, on the return journey from the Bishop to his seat, her face was warm with a blush which her brother might have observed had he regarded her.
Whether he had observed it or not, as soon as St. Cleeve had sat himself down again Louis Glanville turned and looked hard at the young astronomer41. This was the first time that St. Cleeve and Viviette’s brother had been face to face in a distinct light, their first meeting having occurred in the dusk of a railway-station. Swithin was not in the habit of noticing people’s features; he scarcely ever observed any detail of physiognomy in his friends, a generalization42 from their whole aspect forming his idea of them; and he now only noted43 a young man of perhaps thirty, who lolled a good deal, and in whose small dark eyes seemed to be concentrated the activity that the rest of his frame decidedly lacked. This gentleman’s eyes were henceforward, to the end of the service, continually fixed44 upon Swithin; but as this was their natural direction, from the position of his seat, there was no great strangeness in the circumstance.
Swithin wanted to say to Viviette, ‘Now I hope you are pleased; I have conformed to your ideas of my duty, leaving my fitness out of consideration;’ but as he could only see her bonnet and forehead it was not possible even to look the intelligence. He turned to his left hand, where the organ stood, with Miss Tabitha Lark7 seated behind it.
It being now sermon-time the youthful blower had fallen asleep over the handle of his bellows45, and Tabitha pulled out her handkerchief intending to flap him awake with it. With the handkerchief tumbled out a whole family of unexpected articles: a silver thimble; a photograph; a little purse; a scent-bottle; some loose halfpence; nine green gooseberries; a key. They rolled to Swithin’s feet, and, passively obeying his first instinct, he picked up as many of the articles as he could find, and handed them to her amid the smiles of the neighbours.
Tabitha was half-dead with humiliation46 at such an event, happening under the very eyes of the Bishop on this glorious occasion; she turned pale as a sheet, and could hardly keep her seat. Fearing she might faint, Swithin, who had genuinely sympathized, bent47 over and whispered encouragingly, ‘Don’t mind it, Tabitha. Shall I take you out into the air?’ She declined his offer, and presently the sermon came to an end.
Swithin lingered behind the rest of the congregation sufficiently long to see Lady Constantine, accompanied by her brother, the Bishop, the Bishop’s chaplain, Mr. Torkingham, and several other clergy48 and ladies, enter to the grand luncheon49 by the door which admitted from the churchyard to the lawn of Welland House; the whole group talking with a vivacity50 all the more intense, as it seemed, from the recent two hours’ enforced repression of their social qualities within the adjoining building.
The young man stood till he was left quite alone in the churchyard, and then went slowly homeward over the hill, perhaps a trifle depressed51 at the impossibility of being near Viviette in this her one day of gaiety, and joining in the conversation of those who surrounded her.
Not that he felt much jealousy52 of her situation, as his wife, in comparison with his own. He had so clearly understood from the beginning that, in the event of marriage, their outward lives were to run on as before, that to rebel now would have been unmanly in himself and cruel to her, by adding to embarrassments53 that were great enough already. His momentary54 doubt was of his own strength to achieve sufficiently high things to render him, in relation to her, other than a patronized young favourite, whom she had married at an immense sacrifice of position. Now, at twenty, he was doomed55 to isolation56 even from a wife; could it be that at, say thirty, he would be welcomed everywhere?
But with motion through the sun and air his mood assumed a lighter57 complexion, and on reaching home he remembered with interest that Venus was in a favourable58 aspect for observation that afternoon.
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1
confirmation
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| n.证实，确认，批准 | |
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2
joyous
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| adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的 | |
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rustic
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| adj.乡村的，有乡村特色的；n.乡下人，乡巴佬 | |
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foul
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| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
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5
shrubs
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| 灌木( shrub的名词复数 ) | |
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6
gale
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| n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等） | |
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7
lark
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| n.云雀，百灵鸟；n.嬉戏，玩笑；vi.嬉戏 | |
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8
animate
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| v.赋于生命，鼓励；adj.有生命的，有生气的 | |
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plodding
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| a.proceeding in a slow or dull way | |
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gadding
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| n.叮搔症adj.蔓生的v.闲逛( gad的现在分词 )；游荡；找乐子；用铁棒刺 | |
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impending
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| a.imminent, about to come or happen | |
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gaily
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| adv.欢乐地，高兴地 | |
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belles
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| n.美女( belle的名词复数 )；最美的美女 | |
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nave
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| n.教堂的中部；本堂 | |
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repression
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| n.镇压，抑制，抑压 | |
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16
meshes
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| 网孔( mesh的名词复数 )； 网状物； 陷阱； 困境 | |
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ordained
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| v.任命（某人）为牧师( ordain的过去式和过去分词 )；授予（某人）圣职；（上帝、法律等）命令；判定 | |
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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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strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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bonnet
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| n.无边女帽；童帽 | |
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complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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disinterested
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| adj.不关心的，不感兴趣的 | |
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maidens
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| 处女( maiden的名词复数 )； 少女； 未婚女子； （板球运动）未得分的一轮投球 | |
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bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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prominence
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| n.突出；显著；杰出；重要 | |
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stature
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| n.（高度）水平，（高度）境界，身高，身材 | |
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imposing
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| adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的 | |
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29
derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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bevy
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| n.一群 | |
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lining
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| n.衬里，衬料 | |
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hood
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| n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖 | |
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34
mingling
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| adj.混合的 | |
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fervidly
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| adv.热情地，激情地 | |
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glistening
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| adj.闪耀的，反光的v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的现在分词 ) | |
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prick
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| v.刺伤，刺痛，刺孔；n.刺伤，刺痛 | |
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38
entrapped
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| v.使陷入圈套，使入陷阱( entrap的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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39
thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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40
eloquently
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| adv. 雄辩地(有口才地, 富于表情地) | |
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41
astronomer
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| n.天文学家 | |
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42
generalization
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| n.普遍性，一般性，概括 | |
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43
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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44
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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45
bellows
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| n.风箱；发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的名词复数 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫v.发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的第三人称单数 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫 | |
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46
humiliation
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| n.羞辱 | |
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47
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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48
clergy
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| n.[总称]牧师，神职人员 | |
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49
luncheon
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| n.午宴，午餐，便宴 | |
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50
vivacity
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| n.快活，活泼，精神充沛 | |
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51
depressed
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| adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的 | |
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52
jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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53
embarrassments
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| n.尴尬( embarrassment的名词复数 )；难堪；局促不安；令人难堪或耻辱的事 | |
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54
momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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55
doomed
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| 命定的 | |
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56
isolation
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| n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离 | |
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57
lighter
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| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
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58
favourable
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| adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的 | |
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