He had begun so well. At first Lady Harman had occupied his mind in the properest way. She was another man's wife and sacred—according to all honourable5 standards, and what he wanted was merely to see more of her, talk to her, interest her in himself, share whatever was available outside her connubial6 obligations,—and think as little of Sir Isaac as possible.
How quickly the imaginative temperament7 of Mr. Brumley enlarged that to include a critical hostility8 to Sir Isaac, we have already recorded. Lady Harman was no longer simply a charming, suppressed young wife, crying out for attentive9 development; she became an ill-treated beautiful woman—misunderstood. Still scrupulously10 respecting his own standards, Mr. Brumley embarked11 upon the dangerous business of inventing just how Sir Isaac might be outraging12 them, and once his imagination had started to hunt in that field, it speedily brought in enough matter for a fine state of moral indignation, a white heat of not altogether justifiable13 chivalry14. Assisted by Lady Beach-Mandarin Mr. Brumley had soon converted the little millionaire into a matrimonial ogre to keep an anxious lover very painfully awake at nights. Because by that time and quite insensibly he had become an anxious lover—with all the gaps in the thread of realities that would have made him that, quite generously filled up from the world of reverie.
Moral indignation is jealousy15 with a halo. It is the peculiar16 snare17 of the perplexed orthodox, and soon Mr. Brumley was in a state of nearly unendurable moral indignation with Sir Isaac for a hundred exaggerations of what he was and of what conceivably he might have done to his silent yet manifestly unsuitably mated wife. And now that romantic streak18 which is as I have said the first certain symptom of decay in a system of moral assumptions began to show itself in Mr. Brumley's thoughts and conversation. "A marriage like that," said Mr. Brumley to Lady Beach-Mandarin, "isn't a marriage. It flouts19 the True Ideal of Marriage. It's slavery—following a kidnapping...."
But this is a wide step from the happy optimism of the Cambridge days. What becomes of the sanctity of marriage and the institution of the family when respectable gentlemen talk of something called "True Marriage," as non-existent in relation to a lady who is already the mother of four children? I record this lapsing20 of Mr. Brumley into romanticism without either sympathy or mitigation. The children, it presently became apparent, were not "true" children. "Forced upon her," said Mr. Brumley. "It makes one ill to think of it!" It certainly very nearly made him ill. And as if these exercises in distinction had inflamed21 his conscience Mr. Brumley wrote two articles in the Hebdomadal denouncing impure22 literature, decadence23, immorality24, various recent scandalous instances, and the suffragettes, declaring that woman's place was the home and that "in a pure and exalted25 monogamy lies the sole unitary basis for a civilized26 state." The most remarkable27 thing about this article is an omission28. That Sir Isaac's monogamy with any other instances that might be akin29 to it was not pure and exalted, and that it needed—shall we call it readjustment? is a view that in this article Mr. Brumley conspicuously30 doesn't display. It's as if for a moment, pen in hand, he had eddied31 back to his old absolute positions....
In a very little while Mr. Brumley and Lady Beach-Mandarin had almost persuaded each other that Sir Isaac was applying physical torture to his proudly silent wife, and Mr. Brumley was no longer dreaming and glancing at but steadily32 facing the possibility of a pure-minded and handsomely done elopement to "free" Lady Harman, that would be followed in due course by a marriage, a "true marriage" on a level of understanding far above any ordinary respectable wedding, amidst universal sympathy and admiration33 and the presence of all the very best people. In these anticipations34 he did rather remarkably35 overlook the absence of any sign of participation36 on the part of Lady Harman in his own impassioned personal feelings, and he overlooked still more remarkably as possible objections to his line of conduct, Millicent, Florence, Annette and Baby. These omissions37 no doubt simplified but also greatly falsified his outlook.
This proposal that all the best people shall applaud the higher rightness that was to be revealed in his projected elopement, is in the very essence of the romantic attitude. All other people are still to remain under the law. There is to be nothing revolutionary. But with exceptional persons under exceptional conditions——
Mr. Brumley stated his case over and over again to his utmost satisfaction, and always at great moral altitudes and with a kind of transcendent orthodoxy. The more difficult any aspect of the affair appeared from the orthodox standpoint the more valiantly38 Mr. Brumley soared; if it came to his living with Lady Harman for a time before they could be properly married amidst picturesque39 foreign scenery in a little casa by the side of a stream, then the water in that stream was to be quite the purest water conceivable and the scenery and associations as morally faultless as a view that had passed the exacting40 requirements of Mr. John Ruskin. And Mr. Brumley was very clear in his mind that what he proposed to do was entirely41 different in quality even if it was similar in form from anything that anyone else had ever done who had ever before made a scandal or appeared in the divorce court. This is always the way in such cases—always. The scandal was to be a noble scandal, a proud scandal, one of those instances of heroical love that turn aside misdemeanours—admittedly misdemeanours—into edifying42 marvels43.
This was the state of mind to which Mr. Brumley had attained44 when he made his ineffectual raid upon Black Strand45, and you will remark about it, if you are interested in the changes in people's ideas that are going on to-day, that although he was prepared to make the most extensive glosses46 in this particular instance upon the commonly accepted rules of what is right and proper, he was not for a moment prepared to accord the terrible gift of an independent responsibility to Lady Harman. In that direction lay regions that Mr. Brumley had still to explore. Lady Harman he considered was married wrongly and disastrously47 and this he held to be essentially48 the fault of Sir Isaac—with perhaps some slight blame attaching to Lady Harman's mother. The only path of escape he could conceive as yet for Lady Harman lay through the chivalry of some other man. That a woman could possibly rebel against one man without the sympathy and moral maintenance of another was still outside the range of Mr. Brumley's understanding. It is still outside the range of most men's understandings—and of a great many women's. If he generalized at all from these persuasions49 it was in the direction that in the interest of "true marriage" there should be greater facilities for divorce and also a kind of respectable-ization of divorce. Then these "false marriages" might be rectified50 without suffering. The reasons for divorce he felt should be extended to include things not generally reprehensible51, and chivalrous52 people coming into court should be protected from the indelicate publicity53 of free reporting....
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1
crumble
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| vi.碎裂，崩溃；vt.弄碎，摧毁 | |
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perplexed
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| adj.不知所措的 | |
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insurgence
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| n.起义；造反；暴动；叛乱 | |
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pretences
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| n.假装( pretence的名词复数 )；作假；自命；自称 | |
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honourable
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| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
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connubial
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| adj.婚姻的，夫妇的 | |
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temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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hostility
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| n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争 | |
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attentive
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| adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的 | |
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scrupulously
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| adv.一丝不苟地；小心翼翼地，多顾虑地 | |
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embarked
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| 乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事 | |
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outraging
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| 引起…的义愤，激怒( outrage的现在分词 ) | |
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justifiable
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| adj.有理由的，无可非议的 | |
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chivalry
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| n.骑士气概，侠义；（男人）对女人彬彬有礼，献殷勤 | |
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jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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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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18
streak
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| n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动 | |
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flouts
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| v.藐视，轻视( flout的第三人称单数 ) | |
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lapsing
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| v.退步( lapse的现在分词 )；陷入；倒退；丧失 | |
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21
inflamed
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| adj.发炎的，红肿的v.（使）变红，发怒，过热( inflame的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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impure
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| adj.不纯净的，不洁的；不道德的，下流的 | |
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decadence
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| n.衰落，颓废 | |
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immorality
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| n. 不道德, 无道义 | |
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exalted
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| adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的 | |
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civilized
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| a.有教养的，文雅的 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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omission
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| n.省略，删节；遗漏或省略的事物，冗长 | |
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akin
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| adj.同族的，类似的 | |
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conspicuously
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| ad.明显地，惹人注目地 | |
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eddied
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| 起漩涡，旋转( eddy的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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anticipations
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| 预期( anticipation的名词复数 )； 预测； （信托财产收益的）预支； 预期的事物 | |
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remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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participation
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| n.参与，参加，分享 | |
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omissions
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| n.省略( omission的名词复数 )；删节；遗漏；略去或漏掉的事（或人） | |
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valiantly
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| adv.勇敢地，英勇地；雄赳赳 | |
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picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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exacting
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| adj.苛求的，要求严格的 | |
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41
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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42
edifying
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| adj.有教训意味的，教训性的，有益的v.开导，启发( edify的现在分词 ) | |
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43
marvels
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| n.奇迹( marvel的名词复数 )；令人惊奇的事物（或事例）；不平凡的成果；成就v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的第三人称单数 ) | |
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44
attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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45
strand
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| vt.使（船）搁浅，使（某人）困于（某地） | |
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46
glosses
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| n.（页末或书后的）注释( gloss的名词复数 )；（表面的）光滑；虚假的外表；用以产生光泽的物质v.注解( gloss的第三人称单数 )；掩饰（错误）；粉饰；把…搪塞过去 | |
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47
disastrously
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| ad.灾难性地 | |
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48
essentially
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| adv.本质上，实质上，基本上 | |
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49
persuasions
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| n.劝说，说服（力）( persuasion的名词复数 )；信仰 | |
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50
rectified
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| [医]矫正的，调整的 | |
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51
reprehensible
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| adj.该受责备的 | |
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52
chivalrous
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| adj.武士精神的；对女人彬彬有礼的 | |
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53
publicity
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| n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告 | |
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