It was not till Trumperton had finished that I discovered Lessingham. The tedious ancient resumed his seat amidst a murmur1 of sounds which, I have no doubt, some of the pressmen interpreted next day as ‘loud and continued applause.’ There was movement in the House, possibly expressive2 of relief; a hum of voices; men came flocking in. Then, from the Opposition3 benches, there rose a sound which was applause,—and I perceived that, on a cross bench close to the gangway, Paul Lessingham was standing4 up bareheaded.
I eyed him critically,—as a collector might eye a valuable specimen5, or a pathologist a curious subject. During the last four and twenty hours my interest in him had grown apace. Just then, to me, he was the most interesting man the world contained.
When I remembered how I had seen him that same morning, a nerveless, terror-stricken wretch6, grovelling7, like some craven cur, upon the floor, frightened, to the verge8 of imbecility, by a shadow, and less than a shadow, I was confronted by two hypotheses. Either I had exaggerated his condition then, or I exaggerated his condition now. So far as appearance went, it was incredible that this man could be that one.
I confess that my feeling rapidly became one of admiration9. I love the fighter. I quickly recognised that here we had him in perfection. There was no seeming about him then,—the man was to the manner born. To his finger-tips a fighting man. I had never realised it so clearly before. He was coolness itself. He had all his faculties10 under complete command. While never, for a moment, really exposing himself, he would be swift in perceiving the slightest weakness in his opponents’ defence, and, so soon as he saw it, like lightning, he would slip in a telling blow. Though defeated, he would hardly be disgraced; and one might easily believe that their very victories would be so expensive to his assailants, that, in the end, they would actually conduce to his own triumph.
‘Hang me!’ I told myself, ‘if, after all, I am surprised if Marjorie does see something in him.’ For I perceived how a clever and imaginative young woman, seeing him at his best, holding his own, like a gallant11 knight12, against overwhelming odds13, in the lists in which he was so much at home, might come to think of him as if he were always and only there, ignoring altogether the kind of man he was when the joust14 was finished.
It did me good to hear him, I do know that,—and I could easily imagine the effect he had on one particular auditor15 who was in the Ladies’ Cage. It was very far from being an ‘oration’ in the American sense; it had little or nothing of the fire and fury of the French Tribune; it was marked neither by the ponderosity16 nor the sentiment of the eloquent17 German; yet it was as satisfying as are the efforts of either of the three, producing, without doubt, precisely18 the effect which the speaker intended. His voice was clear and calm, not exactly musical, yet distinctly pleasant, and it was so managed that each word he uttered was as audible to every person present as if it had been addressed particularly to him. His sentences were short and crisp; the words which he used were not big ones, but they came from him with an agreeable ease; and he spoke19 just fast enough to keep one’s interest alert without invoking20 a strain on the attention.
He commenced by making, in the quietest and most courteous21 manner, sarcastic22 comments on the speeches and methods of Trumperton and his friends which tickled23 the House amazingly. But he did not make the mistake of pushing his personalities24 too far. To a speaker of a certain sort nothing is easier than to sting to madness. If he likes, his every word is barbed. Wounds so given fester; they are not easily forgiven;—it is essential to a politician that he should have his firmest friends among the fools; or his climbing days will soon be over. Soon his sarcasms26 were at an end. He began to exchange them for sweet-sounding phrases. He actually began to say pleasant things to his opponents; apparently27 to mean them. To put them in a good conceit28 with themselves. He pointed29 out how much truth there was in what they said; and then, as if by accident, with what ease and at how little cost, amendments30 might be made. He found their arguments, and took them for his own, and flattered them, whether they would or would not, by showing how firmly they were founded upon fact; and grafted31 other arguments upon them, which seemed their natural sequelae; and transformed them, and drove them hither and thither32; and brought them—their own arguments!—to a round, irrefragable conclusion, which was diametrically the reverse of that to which they themselves had brought them. And he did it all with an aptness, a readiness, a grace, which was incontestable. So that, when he sat down, he had performed that most difficult of all feats33, he had delivered what, in a House of Commons’ sense, was a practical, statesmanlike speech, and yet one which left his hearers in an excellent humour.
It was a great success,—an immense success. A parliamentary triumph of almost the highest order. Paul Lessingham had been coming on by leaps and bounds. When he resumed his seat, amidst applause which, this time, really was applause, there were, probably, few who doubted that he was destined34 to go still farther. How much farther it is true that time alone could tell; but, so far as appearances went, all the prizes, which are as the crown and climax35 of a statesman’s career, were well within his reach.
For my part, I was delighted. I had enjoyed an intellectual exercise,—a species of enjoyment36 not so common as it might be. The Apostle had almost persuaded me that the political game was one worth playing, and that its triumphs were things to be desired. It is something, after all, to be able to appeal successfully to the passions and aspirations37 of your peers; to gain their plaudits; to prove your skill at the game you yourself have chosen; to be looked up to and admired. And when a woman’s eyes look down on you, and her ears drink in your every word, and her heart beats time with yours,—each man to his own temperament38, but when that woman is the woman whom you love, to know that your triumph means her glory, and her gladness, to me that would be the best part of it all.
In that hour,—the Apostle’s hour!—I almost wished that I were a politician too!
The division was over. The business of the night was practically done. I was back again in the lobby! The theme of conversation was the Apostle’s speech,—on every side they talked of it.
Suddenly Marjorie was at my side. Her face was glowing. I never saw her look more beautiful,—or happier. She seemed to be alone.
‘So you have come, after all!—Wasn’t it splendid?—wasn’t it magnificent? Isn’t it grand to have such great gifts, and to use them to such good purpose?—Speak, Sydney! Don’t feign39 a coolness which is foreign to your nature!’
I saw that she was hungry for me to praise the man whom she delighted to honour. But, somehow, her enthusiasm cooled mine.
‘It was not a bad speech, of a kind.’
‘Of a kind!’ How her eyes flashed fire! With what disdain40 she treated me! ‘What do you mean by “of a kind?” My dear Sydney, are you not aware that it is an attribute of small minds to attempt to belittle41 those which are greater? Even if you are conscious of inferiority, it’s unwise to show it. Mr Lessingham’s was a great speech, of any kind; your incapacity to recognise the fact simply reveals your lack of the critical faculty42.’
‘It is fortunate for Mr Lessingham that there is at least one person in whom the critical faculty is so bountifully developed. Apparently, in your judgment43, he who discriminates44 is lost.’
I thought she was going to burst into passion. But, instead, laughing, she placed her hand upon my shoulder.
‘Poor Sydney!—I understand!—It is so sad!—Do you know you are like a little boy who, when he is beaten, declares that the victor has cheated him. Never mind! as you grow older, you will learn better.’
She stung me almost beyond bearing,—I cared not what I said.
‘You, unless I am mistaken, will learn better before you are older.’
‘What do you mean?’
Before I could have told her—if I had meant to tell; which I did not—Lessingham came up.
‘I hope I have not kept you waiting; I have been delayed longer than I expected.’
This with a mischievous47 glance towards me,—a glance which compelled Lessingham to notice me.
‘You do not often favour us.’
‘I don’t. I find better employment for my time.’
‘You are wrong. It’s the cant48 of the day to underrate the House of Commons, and the work which it performs; don’t you suffer yourself to join in the chorus of the simpletons. Your time cannot be better employed than in endeavouring to improve the body politic25.’
‘I am obliged to you.—I hope you are feeling better than when I saw you last.’
A gleam came into his eyes, fading as quickly as it came. He showed no other sign of comprehension, surprise, or resentment49.
‘Thank you.—I am very well.’
Marjorie perceived that I meant more than met the eye, and that what I meant was meant unpleasantly.
‘Come,—let us be off. It is Mr Atherton to-night who is not well.’
She had just slipped her arm through Lessingham’s when her father approached. Old Lindon stared at her on the Apostle’s arm, as if he could hardly believe that it was she.
‘I thought that you were at the Duchess’?’
‘So I have been, papa; and now I’m here.’
‘Here!’ Old Lindon began to stutter and stammer50, and to grow red in the face, as is his wont51 when at all excited. ‘W—what do you mean by here?—wh—where’s the carriage?’
‘Where should it be, except waiting for me outside,—unless the horses have run away.’
‘I—I—I’ll take you down to it. I—I don’t approve of y—your w—w—waiting in a place like this.’
‘Thank you, papa, but Mr Lessingham is going to take me down.—I shall see you afterwards.—Good bye.’
Anything cooler than the way in which she walked off I do not think I ever saw. This is the age of feminine advancement52. Young women think nothing of twisting their mothers round their fingers, let alone their fathers; but the fashion in which that young woman walked off, on the Apostle’s arm, and left her father standing there, was, in its way, a study.
Lindon seemed scarcely able to realise that the pair of them had gone. Even after they had disappeared in the crowd he stood staring after them, growing redder and redder, till the veins53 stood out upon his face, and I thought that an apoplectic54 seizure55 threatened. Then, with a gasp56, he turned to me.
‘Damned scoundrel!’ I took it for granted that he alluded57 to the gentleman,—even though his following words hardly suggested it. ‘Only this morning I forbade her to have anything to do with him, and n—now he’s w—walked off with her! C—confounded adventurer! That’s what he is, an adventurer, and before many hours have passed I’ll take the liberty to tell him so!’
Jamming his fists into his pockets, and puffing58 like a grampus in distress59, he took himself away,—and it was time he did, for his words were as audible as they were pointed, and already people were wondering what the matter was. Woodville came up as Lindon was going,—just as sorely distressed60 as ever.
‘She went away with Lessingham,—did you see her?’
‘Of course I saw her. When a man makes a speech like Lessingham’s any girl would go away with him,—and be proud to. When you are endowed with such great powers as he is, and use them for such lofty purposes, she’ll walk away with you,—but, till then, never.’
He was at his old trick of polishing his eyeglass.
‘It’s bitter hard. When I knew that she was there, I’d half a mind to make a speech myself, upon my word I had, only I didn’t know what to speak about, and I can’t speak anyhow,—how can a fellow speak when he’s shoved into the gallery?’
‘As you say, how can he?—he can’t stand on the railing and shout,—even with a friend holding him behind.’
‘I know I shall speak one day,—bound to; and then she won’t be there.’
‘It’ll be better for you if she isn’t.’
‘Think so?—Perhaps you’re right. I’d be safe to make a mess of it, and then, if she were to see me at it, it’d be the devil! ’Pon my word, I’ve been wishing, lately, I was clever.’
He rubbed his nose with the rim45 of his eyeglass, looking the most comically disconsolate61 figure.
‘Put black care behind you, Percy!—buck up, my boy! The division’s over—you are free—now we’ll go “on the fly.”’
And we did ‘go on the fly.’
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1
murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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expressive
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| adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的 | |
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3
opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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5
specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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6
wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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7
grovelling
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| adj.卑下的，奴颜婢膝的v.卑躬屈节，奴颜婢膝( grovel的现在分词 )；趴 | |
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verge
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| n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临 | |
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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10
faculties
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| n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院 | |
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11
gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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12
knight
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| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
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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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14
joust
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| v.马上长枪比武，竞争 | |
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15
auditor
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| n.审计员，旁听着 | |
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16
ponderosity
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| n.沉重，笨重；有质性；可称性 | |
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17
eloquent
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| adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的 | |
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precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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19
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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20
invoking
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| v.援引( invoke的现在分词 )；行使（权利等）；祈求救助；恳求 | |
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21
courteous
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| adj.彬彬有礼的，客气的 | |
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22
sarcastic
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| adj.讥讽的，讽刺的，嘲弄的 | |
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23
tickled
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| （使）发痒( tickle的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）愉快，逗乐 | |
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24
personalities
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| n. 诽谤，（对某人容貌、性格等所进行的）人身攻击； 人身攻击；人格, 个性, 名人( personality的名词复数 ) | |
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25
politic
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| adj.有智虑的；精明的；v.从政 | |
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26
sarcasms
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| n.讥讽，讽刺，挖苦( sarcasm的名词复数 ) | |
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27
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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conceit
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| n.自负，自高自大 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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30
amendments
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| （法律、文件的）改动( amendment的名词复数 )； 修正案； 修改； （美国宪法的）修正案 | |
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31
grafted
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| 移植( graft的过去式和过去分词 )； 嫁接； 使（思想、制度等）成为（…的一部份）； 植根 | |
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32
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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33
feats
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| 功绩，伟业，技艺( feat的名词复数 ) | |
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34
destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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35
climax
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| n.顶点；高潮；v.(使)达到顶点 | |
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36
enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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37
aspirations
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| 强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音 | |
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38
temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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39
feign
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| vt.假装，佯作 | |
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40
disdain
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| n.鄙视，轻视；v.轻视，鄙视，不屑 | |
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41
belittle
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| v.轻视，小看，贬低 | |
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42
faculty
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| n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
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43
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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44
discriminates
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| 分别，辨别，区分( discriminate的第三人称单数 )； 歧视，有差别地对待 | |
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45
rim
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| n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界 | |
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46
tiresome
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| adj.令人疲劳的，令人厌倦的 | |
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47
mischievous
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| adj.调皮的，恶作剧的，有害的，伤人的 | |
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48
cant
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| n.斜穿，黑话，猛扔 | |
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49
resentment
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| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
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50
stammer
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| n.结巴，口吃；v.结结巴巴地说 | |
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51
wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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52
advancement
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| n.前进，促进，提升 | |
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53
veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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54
apoplectic
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| adj.中风的；愤怒的；n.中风患者 | |
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55
seizure
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| n.没收；占有；抵押 | |
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56
gasp
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| n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说 | |
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57
alluded
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| 提及，暗指( allude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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58
puffing
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| v.使喷出( puff的现在分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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59
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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60
distressed
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| 痛苦的 | |
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61
disconsolate
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| adj.忧郁的，不快的 | |
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