THE two sisters were silent from the hotel to the house of Mrs. Berlinton.... From the height of happiest expectation, raised by the quick return of Edgar, Camilla was sunk into the lowest despondence, by the abortive1 conclusion of the meeting: while Eugenia was absorbed in mute joy, and wrapt expectation. But Mrs. Mittin, undisturbed by the pangs2 of uncertainty3, and unoccupied by any romantic persuasion4 of bliss5, spoke6 amply, with respect to quantity, for all three.
Mrs. Berlinton, though somewhat struck at first sight of Eugenia, with her strange contrast to Camilla, received her with all the distinguishing kindness due to the sister of her friend.
She had the poems of Collins in her hand; and, at their joint7 desire, instead of putting the book aside, read aloud, and with tenderest accent, one of his most plaintive8 odes.
Eugenia was enraptured9. Ah! thought she, this is indeed the true sister of the accomplished10 Melmond!... She shall share with him my adoration11. My heart shall be devoted12... after my own dear family... to the homage13 of their perfections!
The ode, to her great delight, lasted till the dinner was announced, when Melmond appeared: but her prepossession could alone give any charm to his sight: he could barely recollect14 that he had seen her, or even Camilla before; he had conversed15 with neither; his eyes had been devoted to Indiana, and the despondence which had become his portion since the news of the marriage of his aunt, seemed but rendered the more peculiarly bitter, by this intimate connection with the family of an object so adored.
Yet, though nothing could be more spiritless than the hour of dinner, Eugenia discovered in it no deficiency; she had previously16 settled, that the presence of Melmond could only breathe sweets and perfection, and the magic of prejudice works every event into its own circle of expectation.
Melmond did not even accompany them back to the drawing-room. Eugenia sighed; but nobody heard her. Mrs. Mittin said, she had something of great consequence to do in her own room, and Mrs. Berlinton, to divert the languor17 she found creeping upon them all, had recourse to Hammond’s elegies18.
These were still reading, when a servant brought in the name of Lord Valhurst. ‘O, deny me to him! deny me to him!’ cried Mrs. Berlinton; “tis a relation of Mr. Berlinton’s , and I hate him.’
The order was given, however, too late; he entered the room.
The name, as Camilla knew it not, she had heard unmoved; but the sight of a person who had so largely contributed to shock and terrify her in the bathing-house, struck her with horror. Brought up with the respect of other times, she had risen at his entrance; but she turned suddenly round upon recollecting20 him, and instead of the courtsie she intended making, involuntarily moved away her chair from the part of the room to which he was advancing.
This was unnoticed by Mrs. Berlinton, whose chagrin21 at his intrusion made her wish to walk away also; while with Lord Valhurst it only passed, joined to her rising, for a mark of her being but little accustomed to company. That Eugenia rose too was not perceived, as she rather lost than gained in height by standing22.
Most obsequiously23, but most unsuccessfully, the peer made his court to Mrs. Berlinton; inquiring after her health, with fulsome24 tenderness, and extolling25 her good looks with nearly gross admiration26. Mrs. Berlinton listened, for she was incapable27 of incivility; though, weary and disgusted, she seldom made the smallest answer.
The two sisters might, with ease, equally have escaped notice, since, though Mrs. Berlinton occasionally addressed them the peer never turned from herself, had not Mrs, Mittin, abruptly28 entering in search of a pair of scissors, perceived him, and hastily called out, ‘O lauk, sir, if it is not you! I know you again well enough! But I hope, now you see us in such good company as this good lady’s , you’ll believe me another time, when I tell you we’re not the sort of persons you took us for! Miss Tyrold, my dear, I hope you’ve spoke to the gentleman?’
Lord Valhurst with difficulty recollected29 Mrs. Mittin, from the very cursory30 view his otherwise occupied eyes had taken of her; but when the concluding words made him look at Camilla, whose youth and beauty were not so liable to be forgotten, he knew at once her associate, and was aware of the meaning of her harangue31.
Sorry to appear before his fair kinswoman to any disadvantage, though by no means displeased32 at an opportunity of again seeing a young creature he had thought so charming, he began an apology to Mrs. Mittin, while his eyes were fixed33 upon Camilla, vindicating34 himself from every intention that was not respectful, and hoping she did not so much injure as to mistake him.
Mrs. Mittin was just beginning to answer that she knew better, when the words, ‘Why, my Lord, how have you offended Mrs. Mittin?’ dropping from Mrs. Berlinton, instantly new strung all her notions. To find him a nobleman was to find him innocent; for, though she did not quite suppose that a peer was not a mortal, she had never spoken to one before; and the power of title upon the ear, like that of beauty upon the eye, is, in its first novelty, all-commanding; manifold as are the drawbacks to the influence of either, when awe35 is lost by familiarity, and habitual36 reflection takes place of casual and momentary37 admiration. Title then, as well as beauty, demands mental auxiliaries38; and those who possess either, more watched than the common race, seem of higher responsibility; but proportioned to the censure39 they draw where they err19, is the veneration40 they inspire where their eminence41 is complete. Nor is this the tribute of prejudice, as those who look up to all superiority with envy love to aver42; the impartial43 and candid44 reflectors upon human frailty45, who, in viewing it, see with its elevation46 its surrounding temptations, will call it but the tribute of justice.
To Mrs. Mittin, however, the mere47 sound of a title was enough; she felt its ascendance without examining its claims, and, dropping the lowest courtsie her knees could support, confusedly said, she hoped his lordship would excuse her speaking so quick and improperly48, which she only did from not knowing who he was; for, if she had known him better, she should have been sure he was too much the gentleman to do anything with an ill design.
His lordship courteously49 accepted the apology; and advanced to Camilla, to express his hopes she had not participated in such injurious suspicions.
She made no answer, and Mrs. Berlinton inquired what all this meant.
‘I protest, my dear madam,’ said the peer, ‘I do not well comprehend myself. I only see there has been some misunderstanding; but I hope this young lady will believe me, when I declare, upon my honour, that I had no view but to offer my protection, at the time I saw her under alarm.’
This was a declaration Camilla could not dispute, and even felt inclined to credit, from the solemnity with which it was uttered; but to discuss it was every way impossible, and therefore, coldly bowing her head, she seemed acquiescent50.
Lord Valhurst now pretty equally divided his attention between these two beautiful young women; looking at and complimenting them alternately, till a servant came in and said, ‘The two Mr. Westwyns desire to see Miss Tyrold.’
Camilla did not wish to avoid persons to whom she was so much obliged, but begged she might receive them in the next apartment, that Mrs. Berlinton might not be disturbed.
The eager old gentleman stood with the door in one hand, and his son in the other, awaiting her. ‘My dear young lady,’ he cried, ‘I have been hunting you out for hours. Your good governess had not a mind to give me your direction, thinking me, I suppose, but a troublesome old fellow; and I did not know which way to turn, till Hal found it out. Hal’s pretty quick. So now, my dear young lady, let me tell you my errand; which I won’t be tedious in, for fear, another time, you may rather not see me. And the more I see you, the less I like to think such a thing. However, with all my good will to make haste, I must premise51 one thing, as it is but fair. Hal was quite against my coming upon this business. But I don’t think it the less right for that; and so I come. I never yet saw any good of a man’s being ruled by his children. It only serves to make them think their old fathers superannuated52. And if once I find Hal taking such a thing as that into his head, I’ll cut him off with a shilling, well as I love him.’
‘Your menace, sir,’ said Henry, colouring, though smiling, ‘gives me no alarm, for I see no danger. But... shall we not detain Miss Tyrold too long from her friends?’
‘Ay now, there comes in what I take notice to be the taste of the present day! a lad can hardly enter his teens, before he thinks himself wiser than his father, and gives him his counsel, and tells him what he thinks best. And, if a man i’n’t upon his guard, he may be run down for an old dotard, before he knows where he is, and see his son setting up for a member of parliament, making laws for him. Now this is what I don’t like; so I keep a tight hand upon Hal, that he mayn’t do it. For Hal’s but a boy, ma’am, though he’s so clever. Not that I pretend I’d change him neither, for e’er an old fellow in the three kingdoms. Well, but, now I’ll tell you what I come for. You know how angry I was about Hal’s turning that man out of the room? well, I took all the pains I could to come at the bottom of the fray53, intending, all the time, to make Hal ask the man’s pardon; and now what do you think is the end? Why, I’ve found out Hal to be in the right! The man proves to be a worthless fellow, that has defamed the niece of my dear Sir Hugh Tyrold; and if Hal had lashed54 him with a cat-o’nine-tails, I should have been glad of it. I can’t say I should have found fault. So you see, my dear young lady, I was but a cross old fellow, to be so out of sorts with poor Hal.’
Camilla, with mingled55 gratitude56 and shame, offered her acknowledgments; though what she heard astonished, if possible, even more than it mortified57 her. How in the world, thought she, can I have provoked this slander58?
She knew not how little provocation59 is necessary for calumny60; nor how regularly the common herd61, where appearances admit two interpretations62, decide for the worst. Girt designed her neither evil nor good; but not knowing who nor what she was, simply filled up the doubts in his own mind, by the bias63 of his own character.
Confused as much as herself, Henry proposed immediately to retire; and, as Camilla did not invite them to stay, Mr. Westwyn, could not refuse his consent: though, sending his son out first, he stopt to say, in a low voice, ‘What do you think of Hal, my dear young lady? I’n’t he a brave rogue64? And did not you tell me I might be proud of my son? And so I am, I promise you! How do you think my old friend will like Hal? I shall take him to Cleves. He’s another sort of lad to Master Clermont! I hope, my dear young lady, you don’t like your cousin? He’s but a sad spark, I give you my word. Not a bit like Hal.’
* * *
When the carriage came for Eugenia, who was self-persuaded this day was the most felicitous65 of her life, she went so reluctantly, that Mrs. Berlinton, caught by her delight in the visit, though unsuspicious of its motive66, invited her to renew it the next morning.
At night, Mrs. Mittin, following Camilla to her chamber67, said, ‘See here, my dear! what do you say to this? Did you ever see a prettier cloak? look at the cut of it, look at the capes68! look at the mode! And as for the lace, I don’t think all Southampton can produce its fellow; what do you say to it, my dear?’
‘What every body must say to it, Mrs. Mittin; that it’s remarkably69 pretty.’
‘Well, now try it on. There’s a set! there’s a fall off the shoulders! do but look at it in the glass. I’d really give something you could but see how it becomes you. Now, do pray, only tell me what you think of it?’
‘Always the same, Mrs. Mittin; that it’s extremely pretty.’
‘Well, my dear, then, now comes out the secret! It’s your own! you may well stare; but it’s true; it’s your own, my dear!’
She demanded an explanation; and Mrs. Mittin said, that, having taken notice that her cloak looked very mean by the side of Mrs. Berlinton’s , when she compared them together, she resolved upon surprising her with a new one as quick as possible. She had, therefore, got the pattern of Mrs. Berlinton’s and cut it out, and then got the mode at an haberdasher’s , and then the lace at a milliner’s, and then set to work so hard, that she had got it done already.
Camilla, seeing the materials were all infinitely70 richer than any she had been accustomed to wear, was extremely chagrined71 by such officiousness, and gravely inquired how much this would add to her debts.
‘I don’t know yet, my dear; but I had all the things as cheap as possible; but as it was not all at one shop, I can’t be clear as to the exact sum.’
Camilla, who had determined72 to avoid even the shadow of a debt, and to forbear every possible expence till she had not one remaining, was now not merely vexed73, but angry. Mrs. Mittin, however, upon whose feelings that most troublesome of all qualities to its possessors, delicacy74, never obtruded75, went on, extolling her own performance, and praising her own good nature, without discovering that either were impertinent; and, so far from conceiving it possible they could be unwelcome, that she attributed the concern of Camilla to modesty76, on account of her trouble; and mistook her displeasure for distress77, what she could do for her in return. And, indeed, when she finished her double panegyric78 upon the cloak and its maker79, with confessing she had sat up the whole night, in order to get it done, Camilla considered herself as too much obliged to her intention to reproach any further its want of judgment80; and concluded by merely entreating81 she would change her note, pay for it immediately, discharge her other accounts with all speed, and make no future purchase for her whatsoever82.
收听单词发音 |
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abortive
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| adj.不成功的，发育不全的 | |
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pangs
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| 突然的剧痛( pang的名词复数 )； 悲痛 | |
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uncertainty
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| n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物 | |
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persuasion
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| n.劝说；说服；持有某种信仰的宗派 | |
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bliss
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| n.狂喜，福佑，天赐的福 | |
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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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joint
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| adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合 | |
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plaintive
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| adj.可怜的，伤心的 | |
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enraptured
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| v.使狂喜( enrapture的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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adoration
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| n.爱慕，崇拜 | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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homage
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| n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬 | |
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recollect
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| v.回忆，想起，记起，忆起，记得 | |
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conversed
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| v.交谈，谈话( converse的过去式 ) | |
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previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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languor
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| n.无精力，倦怠 | |
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elegies
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| n.哀歌，挽歌( elegy的名词复数 ) | |
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err
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| vi.犯错误，出差错 | |
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recollecting
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| v.记起，想起( recollect的现在分词 ) | |
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chagrin
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| n.懊恼；气愤；委屈 | |
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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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obsequiously
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fulsome
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| adj.可恶的，虚伪的，过分恭维的 | |
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extolling
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| v.赞美( extoll的现在分词 )；赞颂，赞扬，赞美( extol的现在分词 ) | |
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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recollected
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| adj.冷静的；镇定的；被回忆起的；沉思默想的v.记起，想起( recollect的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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cursory
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| adj.粗略的；草率的；匆促的 | |
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harangue
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| n.慷慨冗长的训话，言辞激烈的讲话 | |
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displeased
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| a.不快的 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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vindicating
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| v.澄清（某人/某事物）受到的责难或嫌疑( vindicate的现在分词 )；表明或证明（所争辩的事物）属实、正当、有效等；维护 | |
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awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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habitual
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| adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的 | |
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momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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auxiliaries
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| n.助动词 ( auxiliary的名词复数 )；辅助工，辅助人员 | |
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censure
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| v./n.责备；非难；责难 | |
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veneration
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| n.尊敬，崇拜 | |
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eminence
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| n.卓越，显赫；高地，高处；名家 | |
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aver
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| v.极力声明；断言；确证 | |
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impartial
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| adj.(in,to)公正的，无偏见的 | |
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candid
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| adj.公正的，正直的；坦率的 | |
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frailty
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| n.脆弱；意志薄弱 | |
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elevation
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| n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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improperly
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| 不正确地，不适当地 | |
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courteously
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| adv.有礼貌地，亲切地 | |
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acquiescent
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| adj.默许的，默认的 | |
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premise
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| n.前提；v.提论，预述 | |
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superannuated
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| adj.老朽的，退休的；v.因落后于时代而废除，勒令退学 | |
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fray
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| v.争吵；打斗；磨损，磨破；n.吵架；打斗 | |
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lashed
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| adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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mortified
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| v.使受辱( mortify的过去式和过去分词 )；伤害（人的感情）；克制；抑制（肉体、情感等） | |
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slander
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| n./v.诽谤，污蔑 | |
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provocation
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| n.激怒，刺激，挑拨，挑衅的事物，激怒的原因 | |
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calumny
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| n.诽谤，污蔑，中伤 | |
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herd
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| n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起 | |
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interpretations
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| n.解释( interpretation的名词复数 )；表演；演绎；理解 | |
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bias
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| n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见 | |
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rogue
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| n.流氓；v.游手好闲 | |
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felicitous
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| adj.恰当的，巧妙的；n.恰当，贴切 | |
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motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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capes
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| 碎谷； 斗篷( cape的名词复数 )； 披肩； 海角； 岬 | |
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remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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chagrined
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| adj.懊恼的，苦恼的v.使懊恼，使懊丧，使悔恨( chagrin的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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vexed
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| adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论 | |
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delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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75
obtruded
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| v.强行向前，强行，强迫( obtrude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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76
modesty
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| n.谦逊，虚心，端庄，稳重，羞怯，朴素 | |
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77
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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78
panegyric
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| n.颂词，颂扬 | |
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79
maker
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| n.制造者，制造商 | |
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80
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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81
entreating
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| 恳求，乞求( entreat的现在分词 ) | |
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whatsoever
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| adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么 | |
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