IN their way home, Edgar apologised to Camilla for again foregoing the promised pleasure of dancing with her, by explaining the situation of the Ensign.
Camilla, internally persuaded that any reason would suffice for such an arrangement, where Indiana was its object, scarce listened to an excuse which she considered as unnecessary.
Indiana was eager to view in the glass how her dress and ornaments1 had borne the shaking of the dance, and curiously2 impatient to look anew at a face and a figure of which no self-vanity, nor even the adulation of Miss Margland, had taught her a consciousness, such as she had acquired from the adventures of this night. She hastened, therefore, to her apartment as soon as she arrived at Cleves, and there indulged in an examination which forbade all surprise, and commanded equal justice for the admirers and the admired.
Miss Margland, anxious to make her own report to Sir Hugh, accompanied Camilla and Eugenia to his room, where he was still sitting up for them.
She expatiated3 upon the behaviour of young Mandlebert, in terms that filled the baronet with satisfaction, She exulted4 in the success of her own measures; and, sinking the circumstance of the intended impartiality5 of Edgar, enlarged upon his dancing, out of his turn, with Indiana, as at an event which manifested his serious designs beyond all possibility of mistake.
Sir Hugh, in the fulness of his content, promised that when the wedding day arrived, they should all have as fine new gowns as the bride herself.
The next morning, not considering that every one else would require unusual repose6, he got up before his customary hour, from an involuntary hope of accelerating his favourite project; but he had long the breakfast parlour to himself, and became so fatigued7 and discomfited8 by fasting and waiting, that when Indiana, who appeared last, but for whom he insisted upon staying, entered the room, he said: ‘My dear, I could really find a pleasure in giving you a little scold, if it were not for setting a bad example, which God forbid! And, indeed, it’s not so much your fault as the ball’s , to which I can never be a sincere friend, unless it be just to answer some particular purpose.’
Miss Margland defended her pupil, and called upon Mandlebert for assistance, which he readily gave. Sir Hugh then was not merely appeased9 but gratified, and declared, the next moment, with a marked smile at Indiana, that his breakfast had not relished10 so well for a twelvemonth, owing to the advantage of not beginning till he had got an appetite.
Soon after, Lionel, galloping11 across the park, hastily dismounted, and scampered12 into the parlour.
The zealot for every species of sport, the candidate for every order of whim13, was the light-hearted mirthful Lionel. A stranger to reflection, and incapable14 of care, laughter seemed not merely the bent15 of his humour, but the necessity of his existence: he pursued it at all seasons, he indulged it upon all occasions. With excellent natural parts, he trifled away all improvement; without any ill temper, he spared no one’s feelings. Yet, though not radically16 vicious, nor deliberately17 malevolent18, the egotism which urged him to make his own amusement his first pursuit, sacrificed his best friends and first duties, if they stood in its way.
‘Come, my little girls, come!’ cried he, as he entered the room; ‘get your hats and cloaks as fast as possible; there is a public breakfast at Northwick, and you are all expected without delay.’
This sudden invitation occasioned a general commotion19. Indiana gave an involuntary jump; Camilla and Eugenia looked delighted; and Miss Margland seemed ready to second the proposition; but Sir Hugh, with some surprise, exclaimed: ‘A public breakfast, my dear boy! why where’s the need of that, when we have got so good a private one?’
‘O, let us go! let us go, uncle!’ cried Indiana. ‘Miss Margland, do pray speak to my uncle to let us go!’
‘Indeed, sir,’ said Miss Margland, ‘it is time now, in all conscience, for the young ladies to see a little more of the world, and that it should be known who they are. I am sure they have been immured20 long enough, and I only wish you had been at the ball last night, sir, yourself!’
‘Me, Mrs. Margland! Lord help me! what should I do at such a thing as that, with all this gout in my hip21?’
‘You would have seen, sir, the fine effects of keeping the young ladies out of society in this manner. Miss Camilla, if I had not prevented it, would have danced with I don’t know who; and as to Miss Eugenia, she was as near as possible to not dancing at all, owing to nobody’s knowing who she was.’
Sir Hugh had no time to reply to this attack, from the urgency of Indiana, and the impetuosity of Lionel, who, applying to Camilla, said: ‘Come, child, ask my uncle yourself, and then we shall go at once.’
Camilla readily made it her own request.
‘My dear,’ answered Sir Hugh, ‘I can’t be so unnatural22 to deny you a little pleasure, knowing you to be such a merry little whirligig; not but what you’d enjoy yourself just as much at home, if they’d let you alone. However, as Indiana’s head is so much turned upon it, for which I beg you won’t think the worse of her, Mr. Mandlebert, it being no more than the common fault of a young person no older than her; why, you must all go, I think, provided you are not satisfied already, which, by the breakfast you have made, I should think likely enough to be the case.’
They then eagerly arose, and the females hastened to make some change in their dress. Sir Hugh, calling Eugenia back, said: ‘As to you, my little classic, I make but small doubt you will be half ready to break your heart at missing your lesson, knowing hic, haec, hoc, to be dearer to you, and for good reasons enough, too, in the end, than all the hopping23 and skipping in the world; so if you had rather stay away, don’t mind all those dunces; for so I must needs call them, in comparison to you and Dr. Orkborne, though without the least meaning to undervalue them.’
Eugenia frankly24 acknowledged she had been much amused the preceding evening, and wished to be again of the party.
‘Why then, if that’s the case,’ said the baronet, ‘the best way will be for Dr. Orkborne to be your squire25; by which means you may have a little study as you go along, to the end that the less time may be thrown away in doing nothing.’
Eugenia, who perceived no objection to this idea, assented26, and went quietly up stairs, to prepare for setting out. Sir Hugh, by no means connecting the laughter of Lionel, nor the smile of Edgar, with his proposal, gravely repeated it to Dr. Orkborne, adding: ‘And if you want a nice pair of gloves, Doctor, not that I make the offer in any detriment27 to your own, but I had six new pair come home just before my gout, which, I can assure you, have never seen the light since, and are as much at your service as if I had bespoke28 them on purpose.’
The mirth of Lionel grew now so outrageous29, that Dr. Orkborne, much offended, walked out of the room without making any answer.
‘There is something,’ cried Sir Hugh, after a pause, ‘in these men of learning, prodigious30 nice to deal with; however, not understanding them, in point of their maxims31, it’s likely enough I may have done something wrong; for he could not have seemed much more affronted32, if I had told him I had six new pair of gloves lying by me, which he should be never the better for.’
When they were all ready, Sir Hugh calling to Edgar, said: ‘Now as I don’t much chuse to have my girls go to these sort of places often, which is a prudence33 that I dare say you approve as much as myself, I would wish to have the most made of them at once; and, therefore, as I’ve no doubt but they’ll strike up a dance, after having eat what they think proper, why I would advise you, Mr. Mandlebert, to let Indiana trip it away till she’s heartily34 tired, for else she’ll never give it up, with a good grace, of her own accord.’
‘Certainly, sir,’ answered Edgar, ‘I shall not hurry the ladies.’
‘O, as to any of the rest,’ interrupted Sir Hugh, ‘they’ll be as soon satisfied as yourself, except,’ lowering his voice, ‘Mrs. Margland, who, between friends, seems to me as glad of one of those freaks, as when she was but sixteen; which how long it is since she was no more I can’t pretend to say, being a point she never mentions.’
Then addressing them in general: ‘I wish you a good breakfast,’ he cried, ‘with all my heart, which I think you pretty well deserve, considering you go so far for it, with one close at your elbow, but just swallowed. And so, my dear Indiana, I hope you won’t tire Mr. Mandlebert more than can’t be avoided.’
‘How came you to engage Indiana again, Mandlebert?’ cried Lionel, in their way to the carriage.
‘Because,’ said Miss Margland, finding he hesitated, ‘there is no other partner so proper for Miss Lynmere.’
‘And pray what’s the matter with me? why am not I as proper as Mandlebert?’
‘Because you are her relation, to be sure!’
‘Well,’ cried he, vaulting35 his horse, ‘if I meet but the widow, I shall care for none of you.’
收听单词发音 |
1
ornaments
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| n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 )；点缀；装饰品；首饰v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的第三人称单数 ) | |
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2
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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3
expatiated
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| v.详述，细说( expatiate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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exulted
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| 狂喜，欢跃( exult的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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impartiality
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| n. 公平, 无私, 不偏 | |
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repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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7
fatigued
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| adj. 疲乏的 | |
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discomfited
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| v.使为难( discomfit的过去式和过去分词)；使狼狈；使挫折；挫败 | |
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appeased
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| 安抚，抚慰( appease的过去式和过去分词 )； 绥靖（满足另一国的要求以避免战争） | |
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relished
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| v.欣赏( relish的过去式和过去分词 )；从…获得乐趣；渴望 | |
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11
galloping
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| adj. 飞驰的, 急性的 动词gallop的现在分词形式 | |
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12
scampered
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| v.蹦蹦跳跳地跑，惊惶奔跑( scamper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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13
whim
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| n.一时的兴致，突然的念头；奇想，幻想 | |
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14
incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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15
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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16
radically
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| ad.根本地，本质地 | |
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17
deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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malevolent
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| adj.有恶意的，恶毒的 | |
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commotion
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| n.骚动，动乱 | |
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20
immured
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| v.禁闭，监禁( immure的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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hip
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| n.臀部，髋；屋脊 | |
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22
unnatural
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| adj.不自然的；反常的 | |
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23
hopping
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| n. 跳跃 动词hop的现在分词形式 | |
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24
frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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squire
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| n.护卫, 侍从, 乡绅 | |
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26
assented
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| 同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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detriment
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| n.损害；损害物，造成损害的根源 | |
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28
bespoke
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| adj.（产品）订做的；专做订货的v.预定( bespeak的过去式 )；订（货）；证明；预先请求 | |
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29
outrageous
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| adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的 | |
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30
prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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31
maxims
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| n.格言，座右铭( maxim的名词复数 ) | |
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32
affronted
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| adj.被侮辱的，被冒犯的v.勇敢地面对( affront的过去式和过去分词 )；相遇 | |
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33
prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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34
heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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35
vaulting
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| n.（天花板或屋顶的）拱形结构 | |
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