She was beautiful; she loved him; she was unhappy! To be loved by any woman is flattering to the feelings of every man, no matter how deeply he may have quaffed14 the bitter goblet15 of worldly knowledge. The praise of a fool is incense16 to the wisest of us; and though we believe ourselves broken-hearted, it still delights us to find that we are loved. The memory of Violet Fane was still as fresh, as sweet, to the mind of Vivian Grey as when he pressed her blushing cheek for the first and only time. To love again, really to love as he had done, he once thought was impossible; he thought so still. The character of the Baroness had interested him from the first. Her ignorance of mankind, and her perfect acquaintance with the polished forms of society; her extreme beauty, her mysterious rank, her proud spirit and impetuous feelings; her occasional pensiveness17, her extreme waywardness, had astonished, perplexed18, and enchanted19 him. But he had never felt in love. It never for a moment had entered into his mind that his lonely bosom21 could again be a fit resting-place for one so lovely and so young. Scared at the misery22 which had always followed in his track, he would have shuddered23 ere he again asked a human being to share his sad and blighted24 fortunes. The partiality of the Baroness for his society, without flattering his vanity, or giving rise to thoughts more serious than how he could most completely enchant20 for her the passing hour, had certainly made the time passed in her presence the least gloomy which he had lately experienced. At the same moment that he left the saloon of the palace he had supposed that his image quitted her remembrance; and if she had again welcomed him with cheerfulness and cordiality, he had felt that his reception was owing to not being, perhaps, quite as frivolous25 as the Count of Eberstein, and rather more amusing than the Baron2 of Gernsbach.
It was therefore with the greatest astonishment26 that, last night, he had found that he was loved, loved, too, by this beautiful and haughty27 girl, who had treated the advances of the most distinguished28 nobles with ill-concealed29 scorn, and who had so presumed upon her dubious30 relationship to the bourgeois31 Minister that nothing but her own surpassing loveliness and her parent’s all-engrossing influence could have excused or authorised her conduct.
Vivian had yielded to the magic of the moment, and had returned the feelings apparently32 no sooner expressed than withdrawn33. Had he left the gardens of the palace the Baroness’s plighted34 lover he might perhaps have deplored35 his rash engagement, and the sacred image of his first and hallowed love might have risen up in judgment against his violated affection; but how had he and the interesting stranger parted? He was rejected, even while his affection was returned; and while her flattering voice told him that he alone could make her happy, she had mournfully declared that happiness could not be hers. How was this? Could she be another’s? Her agitation36 at the Opera, often the object of his thought, quickly occurred to him! It must be so. Ah! another’s! and who this rival? this proud possessor of a heart which could not beat for him? Madame Carolina’s declaration that the Baroness must be married off was at this moment remembered: her marked observation, that von Sohnspeer was no son of Beckendorff’s, not forgotten. The Field Marshal, too, was the valued friend of the Minister; and it did not fail to occur to Vivian that it was not von Sohnspeer’s fault that his attendance on the Baroness was not as constant as his own. Indeed, the unusual gallantry of the Commander-in-Chief had been the subject of many a joke among the young lords of the Court, and the reception of his addresses by their unmerciful object not unobserved or unspared. But as for poor von Sohnspeer, what could be expected, as Emilius von Aslingen observed, “from a man whose softest compliment was as long, loud, and obscure as a birthday salute37!”
No sooner was the affair clear to Vivian, no sooner was he convinced that a powerful obstacle existed to the love or union of himself and the Baroness, than he began to ask what right the interests of third persons had to interfere38 between the mutual39 affection of any individuals. He thought of her in the moonlight garden, struggling with her pure and natural passion. He thought of her exceeding beauty, her exceeding love. He beheld40 this rare and lovely creature in the embrace of von Sohnspeer. He turned from the picture in disgust and indignation. She was his. Nature had decreed it. She should be the bride of no other man. Sooner than yield her up he would beard Beckendorff himself in his own retreat, and run every hazard and meet every danger which the ardent41 imagination of a lover could conceive. Was he madly to reject the happiness which Providence42, or Destiny, or Chance had at length offered him? If the romance of boyhood could never be realised, at least with this engaging being for his companion, he might pass through his remaining years in calmness and in peace. His trials were perhaps over. Alas43! this is the last delusion44 of unhappy men!
Vivian called at the Palace, but the fatigues45 of the preceding night prevented either of the ladies from being visible. In the evening he joined a small and select circle. The party, indeed, only consisted of the Grand Duke, Madame, their visitors, and the usual attendants, himself, and von Sohnspeer. The quiet of the little circle did not more strikingly contrast with the noise, and glare, and splendour of the last night than did Vivian’s subdued46 reception by the Baroness with her agitated47 demeanour in the garden. She was cordial, but calm. He found it quite impossible to gain even one moment’s private conversation with her. Madame Carolina monopolised his attention, as much to favour the views of the Field Marshal as to discuss the comparative merits of Pope as a moralist and a poet; and Vivian had the mortification48 of observing his odious49 rival, whom he now thoroughly50 detested51, discharge without ceasing his royal salutes52 in the impatient ear of Beckendorff’s lovely daughter.
Towards the conclusion of the evening a chamberlain entered the room and whispered his mission to the Baroness. She immediately rose and quitted the apartment. As the party was breaking up she again entered. Her countenance53 was agitated. Madame Carolina was in the art of being overwhelmed with the compliments of the Grand Marshal, and Vivian seized the opportunity of reaching the Baroness. After a few hurried sentences she dropped her glove. Vivian gave it her. So many persons were round them that it was impossible to converse54 except on the most common topics. The glove was again dropped.
“I see,” said the Baroness, with a meaning look, “that you are but a recreant55 knight56, or else you would not part with a lady’s glove so easily.”
Vivian gave a rapid glance round the room. No one was observing him, and the glove was immediately concealed. He hurried home, rushed up the staircase of the hotel, ordered lights, locked the door, and with a sensation of indescribable anxiety tore the precious glove from his bosom, seized, opened, and read the enclosed and following note. It was written in pencil, in a hurried hand, and some of the words were repeated:—
“I leave the Court to-night. He is here himself. No art can postpone57 my departure. Much, much, I wish to see you; to say, to say, to you. He is to have an interview with the Grand Duke to-morrow morning. Dare you come to his place in his absence? You know the private road. He goes by the high road, and calls in his way on a Forest Councillor: it is the white house by the barrier; you know it! Watch him to-morrow morning; about nine or ten I should think; here, here; and then for heaven’s sake let me see you. Dare everything! Fail not! Mind, by the private road: beware the other! You know the ground. God bless you:
“SYBILLA”
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1
baroness
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| n.男爵夫人，女男爵 | |
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baron
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| n.男爵；(商业界等)巨头，大王 | |
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sketched
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| v.草拟（sketch的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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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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conversing
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| v.交谈，谈话( converse的现在分词 ) | |
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exertion
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| n.尽力，努力 | |
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impelled
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| v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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artifices
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| n.灵巧( artifice的名词复数 )；诡计；巧妙办法；虚伪行为 | |
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exertions
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| n.努力( exertion的名词复数 )；费力；（能力、权力等的）运用；行使 | |
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inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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sleepless
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| adj.不睡眠的，睡不著的，不休息的 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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14
quaffed
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| v.痛饮( quaff的过去式和过去分词 )；畅饮；大口大口将…喝干；一饮而尽 | |
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goblet
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| n.高脚酒杯 | |
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incense
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| v.激怒；n.香，焚香时的烟，香气 | |
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17
pensiveness
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| n.pensive（沉思的）的变形 | |
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perplexed
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| adj.不知所措的 | |
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enchanted
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| adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
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enchant
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| vt.使陶醉，使入迷；使着魔，用妖术迷惑 | |
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bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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shuddered
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| v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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24
blighted
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| adj.枯萎的，摧毁的 | |
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frivolous
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| adj.轻薄的；轻率的 | |
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astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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dubious
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| adj.怀疑的，无把握的；有问题的，靠不住的 | |
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bourgeois
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| adj./n.追求物质享受的(人)；中产阶级分子 | |
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32
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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withdrawn
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| vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出 | |
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plighted
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| vt.保证，约定（plight的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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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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agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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salute
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| vi.行礼，致意，问候，放礼炮；vt.向…致意，迎接，赞扬；n.招呼，敬礼，礼炮 | |
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38
interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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39
mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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40
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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41
ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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42
providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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43
alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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44
delusion
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| n.谬见，欺骗，幻觉，迷惑 | |
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45
fatigues
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| n.疲劳( fatigue的名词复数 )；杂役；厌倦；（士兵穿的）工作服 | |
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46
subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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mortification
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| n.耻辱，屈辱 | |
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49
odious
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| adj.可憎的，讨厌的 | |
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50
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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51
detested
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| v.憎恶，嫌恶，痛恨( detest的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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52
salutes
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| n.致敬，欢迎，敬礼( salute的名词复数 )v.欢迎，致敬( salute的第三人称单数 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
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53
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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54
converse
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| vi.谈话，谈天，闲聊；adv.相反的，相反 | |
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55
recreant
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| n.懦夫；adj.胆怯的 | |
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56
knight
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| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
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57
postpone
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| v.延期，推迟 | |
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