Returning up the town on one of these occasions, the romantic pelisse flapping behind each horseman’s shoulder in the soft south-west wind, Captain Maumbry glanced up at the oriel. A mutual1 nod was exchanged between him and the person who sat there reading. The reader and a friend in the room with him followed the troop with their eyes all the way up the street, till, when the soldiers were opposite the house in which Laura lived, that young lady became discernible in the balcony.
‘They are engaged to be married, I hear,’ said the friend.
‘Who—Maumbry and Laura? Never—so soon?’
‘Yes.’
‘He’ll never marry. Several girls have been mentioned in connection with his name. I am sorry for Laura.’
‘Oh, but you needn’t be. They are excellently matched.’
‘She’s only one more.’
‘She’s one more, and more still. She has regularly caught him. She is a born player of the game of hearts, and she knew how to beat him in his own practices. If there is one woman in the town who has any chance of holding her own and marrying him, she is that woman.’
This was true, as it turned out. By natural proclivity2 Laura had from the first entered heart and soul into military romance as exhibited in the plots and characters of those living exponents3 of it who came under her notice. From her earliest young womanhood civilians4, however promising5, had no chance of winning her interest if the meanest warrior6 were within the horizon. It may be that the position of her uncle’s house (which was her home) at the corner of West Street nearest the barracks, the daily passing of the troops, the constant blowing of trumpet-calls a furlong from her windows, coupled with the fact that she knew nothing of the inner realities of military life, and hence idealized it, had also helped her mind’s original bias7 for thinking men-at-arms the only ones worthy8 of a woman’s heart.
Captain Maumbry was a typical prize; one whom all surrounding maidens9 had coveted10, ached for, angled for, wept for, had by her judicious11 management become subdued12 to her purpose; and in addition to the pleasure of marrying the man she loved, Laura had the joy of feeling herself hated by the mothers of all the marriageable girls of the neighbourhood.
The man in the oriel went to the wedding; not as a guest, for at this time he was but slightly acquainted with the parties; but mainly because the church was close to his house; partly, too, for a reason which moved many others to be spectators of the ceremony; a subconsciousness13 that, though the couple might be happy in their experiences, there was sufficient possibility of their being otherwise to colour the musings of an onlooker14 with a pleasing pathos15 of conjecture16. He could on occasion do a pretty stroke of rhyming in those days, and he beguiled17 the time of waiting by pencilling on a blank page of his prayer-book a few lines which, though kept private then, may be given here:-
AT A HASTY WEDDING
(Triolet)
If hours be years the twain are blest,
If hours be years. The twain are blest
Do eastern suns slope never west,
If hours be years the twain are blest
For now they solace swift desire.
As if, however, to falsify all prophecies, the couple seemed to find in marriage the secret of perpetuating21 the intoxication22 of a courtship which, on Maumbry’s side at least, had opened without serious intent. During the winter following they were the most popular pair in and about Casterbridge—nay in South Wessex itself. No smart dinner in the country houses of the younger and gayer families within driving distance of the borough23 was complete without their lively presence; Mrs. Maumbry was the blithest of the whirling figures at the county ball; and when followed that inevitable24 incident of garrison-town life, an amateur dramatic entertainment, it was just the same. The acting25 was for the benefit of such and such an excellent charity—nobody cared what, provided the play were played—and both Captain Maumbry and his wife were in the piece, having been in fact, by mutual consent, the originators of the performance. And so with laughter, and thoughtlessness, and movement, all went merrily. There was a little backwardness in the bill-paying of the couple; but in justice to them it must be added that sooner or later all owings were paid.
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1
mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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2
proclivity
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| n.倾向，癖性 | |
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3
exponents
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| n.倡导者( exponent的名词复数 )；说明者；指数；能手 | |
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4
civilians
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| 平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓 | |
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5
promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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6
warrior
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| n.勇士，武士，斗士 | |
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7
bias
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| n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见 | |
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8
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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9
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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10
coveted
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| adj.令人垂涎的；垂涎的，梦寐以求的v.贪求，觊觎(covet的过去分词)；垂涎；贪图 | |
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11
judicious
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| adj.明智的，明断的，能作出明智决定的 | |
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12
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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13
subconsciousness
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| 潜意识；下意识 | |
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14
onlooker
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| n.旁观者，观众 | |
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15
pathos
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| n.哀婉，悲怆 | |
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16
conjecture
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| n./v.推测，猜测 | |
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17
beguiled
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| v.欺骗( beguile的过去式和过去分词 )；使陶醉；使高兴；消磨（时间等） | |
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18
solace
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| n.安慰；v.使快乐；vt.安慰(物)，缓和 | |
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19
zest
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| n.乐趣；滋味，风味；兴趣 | |
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pallid
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| adj.苍白的，呆板的 | |
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21
perpetuating
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| perpetuate的现在进行式 | |
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22
intoxication
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| n.wild excitement;drunkenness；poisoning | |
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23
borough
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| n.享有自治权的市镇；(英)自治市镇 | |
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24
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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25
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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