CHAPTER XVIII THE DUEL

 

“DENIS,” said Lord Clancarty laughing, “in five minutes they will be here and in ten I may be dead.”

 

“Divil a bit, my lord,” said Denis hopefully, “unless you are kilt intirely.”

 

But there was a strange look in the faithful Irishman’s eyes, a look of mute suffering. Lord Clancarty slipped a ring off his finger and gave it to him.

 

“Denis,” he said, in an even voice, quiet and cheerful, “if I fall, take that to Lady Clancarty and tell her that she is free.”

 

“Yes, my lord,” replied Denis, in a dull tone, not looking up.

 

“Even if I do not fall, you will take it to her with that message,” continued the earl, looking across the meadow at the approaching figures of his opponent and their seconds and, perhaps, his thoughts dwelt on that morning when Lady Betty put the swords aside. “We[Pg 166] will leave here to-morrow, Denis, or—” he shrugged¹ his shoulders, “there is little money left.”

 

“Faix, we’ll have to see th’ Jews again, me lord,” said the man dolefully; “they’re afther bein’ me most familiar friends, the jewels!”

 

Clancarty laughed.

 

A moment later he was bowing with ceremonious courtesy to Lord Savile and Mr. Benham. Young Mackie came up, too, bringing a fourth person.

 

“I brought a surgeon, gentlemen,” he said half apologetically; “Dr. Radcliffe, my Lord Savile and—Mr. Trevor.”

 

Dr. Radcliffe, a large man wearing a rich but old-fashioned dress and a huge periwig, bowed gravely. He had a large practice and was famous for a freedom of speech that had once gone so far as to offend King William.

 

“I have to thank you, gentlemen, for furnishing me with patients,” he remarked dryly; “let me beg you not to be too thorough.”

 

“’Tis to be to the finish, doctor,” said Clancarty coolly, that dangerous smile on his lips.

 

“A devilish poor plan,” said the doctor, with a shrug²; “it will take more than my skill to resuscitate³ a corpse⁴.”

 

[Pg 167]“We shall not expect a miracle—even from the great Dr. Radcliffe,” replied Clancarty.

 

Mr. Benham and young Mackie were measuring the ground. Denis, in the meantime, turned his face away and looked toward the setting sun; it may be that he was wishing for the shoes he wore at Boyne, but it is not recorded. The clouds overhead were red and the level meadows bathed in the slanting⁵ rays of light; long shadows fell across the scene; a bird sang in the grove⁶ of limes.

 

The two men stepped into the open, stripped of coats and waistcoats, their white shirts showing vividly⁷ against the green background. Lord Savile was flushed, but Clancarty’s face was singularly serene⁸. The signal was given; their weapons flashed, and there was the sudden ring of steel on steel.

 

Ah, ’twas a wonderful duel⁹; afterwards, men spoke¹⁰ of it as a kind of triumph in the art of duelling, and Dr. Radcliffe described it to the Princess Anne and the Duke of Marlborough. Clancarty was an Irishman and therefore a born fighter, though the Englishmen of that day thought all Irishmen cowards because the poor, barefoot peasants ran before the trained battalions¹¹ of the English and Dutch. Moreover, the young earl had served[Pg 168] a long apprenticeship¹² on the Continent; and in France duelling was the breath of men’s nostrils¹³. Clancarty fought that day recklessly and beautifully; he was lithe¹⁴ and graceful¹⁵ as a panther, with a wrist like steel and an eye that never faltered¹⁶, and he had met no mean antagonist¹⁷; my Lord Savile was counted one of the best swordsmen in the Guards, and hating his opponent he fought with fury.

 

Steel ground on steel and the sparks flew, thrust and parry, point and blade, stroke on stroke. The others watched in breathless admiration¹⁸; they even forgot their individual interest in the struggle and stood gaping¹⁹ like schoolboys. Both men were tired, yet both played on, evenly matched, relentless²⁰ and reckless. There was a sudden thrust over Savile’s guard and then, in an instant, Lord Clancarty’s sword snapped at the hilt, just as Savile’s crossed it and passed into his breast. It was over in a moment, and he lay full length on the turf and the blood was flowing from a cut in his antagonist’s neck.

 

“Oh, my lord, my own dear lord!” wailed²¹ Denis, falling on his knees, and even Lord Savile’s face was white as chalk.

 

In the dimly lighted hall of the inn that[Pg 169] night, Denis, with a lined, drawn²² face, white as a dead man’s, laid something in Lady Betty’s hand.

 

“Me lord’s greetings to me lady,” he said in a strained voice; “I was to give ye that an’ say, ‘Ye are quite free’!”

 

Lady Betty stared at him wildly. She read a message of calamity²³ in his face.

 

“What is it? What has happened?” she cried.

 

But the Irishman only gave her one look of deep reproach and plunged²⁴ down the stairs into the hubbub²⁵ of the court.

 

Clancarty’s ring and “you are free”!

 

She swayed so that Alice Lynn, who came running toward her, caught her in her arms and almost carried her to her room.

1 shrugged   

vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。
• She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 shrug   

v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等)

参考例句：

• With a shrug,he went out of the room.他耸一下肩，走出了房间。
• I admire the way she is able to shrug off unfair criticism.我很佩服她能对错误的批评意见不予理会。

3 resuscitate   

v.使复活，使苏醒

参考例句：

• A policeman and then a paramedic tried to resuscitate her.一名警察和一位护理人员先后试图救活她。
• As instructed by Rinpoche,we got the doctors to resuscitate him.遵照仁波切的指示，我们找来医生帮他进行急救。

4 corpse   

n.尸体，死尸

参考例句：

• What she saw was just an unfeeling corpse.她见到的只是一具全无感觉的尸体。
• The corpse was preserved from decay by embalming.尸体用香料涂抹以防腐烂。

5 slanting   

倾斜的，歪斜的

参考例句：

• The rain is driving [slanting] in from the south. 南边潲雨。
• The line is slanting to the left. 这根线向左斜了。

6 grove   

n.林子，小树林，园林

参考例句：

• On top of the hill was a grove of tall trees.山顶上一片高大的树林。
• The scent of lemons filled the grove.柠檬香味充满了小树林。

7 vividly   

adv.清楚地，鲜明地，生动地

参考例句：

• The speaker pictured the suffering of the poor vividly.演讲者很生动地描述了穷人的生活。
• The characters in the book are vividly presented.这本书里的人物写得栩栩如生。

8 serene   

adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的

参考例句：

• He has entered the serene autumn of his life.他已进入了美好的中年时期。
• He didn't speak much,he just smiled with that serene smile of his.他话不多，只是脸上露出他招牌式的淡定的微笑。

9 duel   

n./v.决斗；(双方的)斗争

参考例句：

• The two teams are locked in a duel for first place.两个队为争夺第一名打得难解难分。
• Duroy was forced to challenge his disparager to duel.杜洛瓦不得不向诋毁他的人提出决斗。

10 spoke   

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

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

11 battalions   

n.（陆军的）一营（大约有一千兵士）( battalion的名词复数 )；协同作战的部队；军队；（组织在一起工作的）队伍

参考例句：

• God is always on the side of the strongest battalions. 上帝总是帮助强者。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Two battalions were disposed for an attack on the air base. 配置两个营的兵力进攻空军基地。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 apprenticeship   

n.学徒身份；学徒期

参考例句：

• She was in the second year of her apprenticeship as a carpenter. 她当木工学徒已是第二年了。
• He served his apprenticeship with Bob. 他跟鲍勃当学徒。

13 nostrils   

鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Her nostrils flared with anger. 她气得两个鼻孔都鼓了起来。
• The horse dilated its nostrils. 马张大鼻孔。

14 lithe   

adj.(指人、身体)柔软的，易弯的

参考例句：

• His lithe athlete's body had been his pride through most of the fifty - six years.他那轻巧自如的运动员体格，五十六年来几乎一直使他感到自豪。
• His walk was lithe and graceful.他走路轻盈而优雅。

15 graceful   

adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的

参考例句：

• His movements on the parallel bars were very graceful.他的双杠动作可帅了!
• The ballet dancer is so graceful.芭蕾舞演员的姿态是如此的优美。

16 faltered   

（嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃

参考例句：

• He faltered out a few words. 他支吾地说出了几句。
• "Er - but he has such a longhead!" the man faltered. 他不好意思似的嚅嗫着：“这孩子脑袋真长。”

17 antagonist   

n.敌人，对抗者，对手

参考例句：

• His antagonist in the debate was quicker than he.在辩论中他的对手比他反应快。
• The thing is to know the nature of your antagonist.要紧的是要了解你的对手的特性。

18 admiration   

n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕

参考例句：

• He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
• We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。

19 gaping   

adj.口的；张口的；敞口的；多洞穴的v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的现在分词 )；张开，张大

参考例句：

• Ahead of them was a gaping abyss. 他们前面是一个巨大的深渊。
• The antelope could not escape the crocodile's gaping jaws. 那只羚羊无法从鱷鱼张开的大口中逃脱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 relentless   

adj.残酷的，不留情的，无怜悯心的

参考例句：

• The traffic noise is relentless.交通车辆的噪音一刻也不停止。
• Their training has to be relentless.他们的训练必须是无情的。

21 wailed   

v.哭叫，哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She wailed over her father's remains. 她对着父亲的遗体嚎啕大哭。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The women of the town wailed over the war victims. 城里的妇女为战争的死难者们痛哭。 来自辞典例句

22 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

23 calamity   

n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件

参考例句：

• Even a greater natural calamity cannot daunt us. 再大的自然灾害也压不垮我们。
• The attack on Pearl Harbor was a crushing calamity.偷袭珍珠港(对美军来说)是一场毁灭性的灾难。

24 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

25 hubbub   

n.嘈杂；骚乱

参考例句：

• The hubbub of voices drowned out the host's voice.嘈杂的声音淹没了主人的声音。
• He concentrated on the work in hand,and the hubbub outside the room simply flowed over him.他埋头于手头的工作，室外的吵闹声他简直象没有听见一般。