The announcement of the marriage in the newspapers was the first intimation of it Lord Mount Severn received. He was little less thunderstruck than Miss Corny, and came steaming to England the same day, thereby1 missing his wife’s letter, which gave her version of the affair. He met Mr. Carlyle and Lady Isabel in London, where they were staying at one of the west-end hotels—only for a day or two, however, for they were going further. Isabel was alone when the earl was announced.
“What is the meaning of this, Isabel?” began he, without the circumlocution2 of greeting. “You are married?”
“Yes,” she answered, with her pretty, innocent blush. “Some time ago.”
“And to Carlyle, the lawyer! How did it come about?”
Isabel began to think how it did come about, sufficiently3 to give a clear answer. “He asked me,” she said, “and I accepted him. He came to Castle Marling at Easter, and asked me then. I was very much surprised.”
The earl looked at her attentively4. “Why was I kept in ignorance of this, Isabel?”
“I did not know you were kept in ignorance of it. Mr. Carlyle wrote to you, as did Lady Mount Severn.”
Lord Mount Severn was a man in the dark, and looked like it. “I suppose this comes,” soliloquized he, aloud, “of your father’s having allowed the gentleman to dance daily attendance at East Lynne. And so you fell in love with him.”
“Indeed, no!” answered she, in an amused tone. “I never thought of such a thing as falling in love with Mr. Carlyle.”
“Then don’t you love him?” abruptly7 asked the earl.
“No!” she whispered, timidly; “but I like him much—oh, very much! And he is so good to me!”
The earl stroked his chin and mused5. Isabel had destroyed the only reasonable conclusion he had been able to come to as to the motives8 for the hasty marriage. “If you do not love Mr. Carlyle, how comes it that you are so wise in the distinction between ‘liking’ and ‘love?’ It cannot be that you love anybody else?”
The question turned home, and Isabel turned crimson9. “I shall love my husband in time,” was all she answered, as she bent10 her head, and played nervously11 with her watch chain.
“My poor child!” involuntarily exclaimed the earl. But he was one who liked to fathom12 the depth of everything. “Who has been staying at Castle Marling since I left?” he asked sharply.
“Mrs. Levison came down.”
“I alluded13 to gentlemen—young men.”
“Only Francis Levison,” she replied.
“Francis Levison! You have never been so foolish as to fall in love with him?”
The question was so pointed14, so abrupt6, and Isabel’s self-consciousness, moreover, so great, that she betrayed lamentable15 confusion, and the earl had no further need to ask. Pity stole into his hard eyes as they fixed16 themselves on her downcast, glowing face.
“Isabel,” he gravely began, “Captain Levison is not a good man; if ever you were inclined to think him one, dispossess your mind of the idea, and hold him at arm’s distance. Drop his acquaintance—encourage no intimacy17 with him.”
“I have already dropped it,” said Isabel, “and I shall not take it up again. But Lady Mount Severn must think well of him, or she would not have him there.”
“She thinks none too well of him; none can of Francis Levison,” returned the earl significantly.
Before Isabel could reply, Mr. Carlyle entered. He held out his hand to the earl; the earl did not appear to see it.
“Isabel,” said he, “I am sorry to turn you out, but I suppose you have but this one sitting-room18. I wish to say a few words to Mr. Carlyle.”
She quitted them, and the earl wheeled round and faced Mr. Carlyle, speaking in a stern, haughty19 tone.
“How came this marriage about, sir? Do you possess so little honor, that, taking advantage of my absence, you must intrude20 yourself into my family, and clandestinely21 espouse23 Lady Isabel Vane?”
Mr. Carlyle stood confounded, and confused. He drew himself up to his full height, looking every whit24 as fearless and far more noble than the peer. “My lord, I do not understand you.”
“Yet I speak plainly. What is it but a clandestine22 procedure to take advantage of a guardian’s absence and beguile25 a young girl into a marriage beneath her?”
“There has been nothing clandestine in my conduct toward Lady Isabel Vane; there shall be nothing but honor in my conduct toward Lady Isabel Carlyle. Your lordship has been misinformed.”
“I have not been informed at all,” retorted the earl. “I was allowed to learn this from the public papers—I, the only relative of Lady Isabel.”
“When I proposed for Lady Isabel—”
“But a month ago,” sarcastically26 interrupted the earl.
“But a month ago,” calmly repeated Mr. Carlyle, “my first action, after Isabel accepted me, was to write to you. But that I imagine you may not have received the letter, by stating you first heard of our marriage through the papers, I should say, the want of courtesy lay on your lordship’s side for having vouchsafed27 me no reply to it.”
“What were the contents of the letter?”
“I stated what had occurred, mentioning what I was able to do in the way of settlements, and also that both Isabel and myself wished the ceremony to take place as soon as might be.”
“And pray where did you address the letter?”
“Lady Mount Severn could not give me the address. She said if I would intrust the letter to her, she would forward it with the rest she wrote, for she expected daily to hear from you. I did give her the letter, and I heard no more of the matter, except that her ladyship sent me a message when Isabel was writing to me, that as you had returned no reply, you of course approved.”
“Is this the fact?” cried the earl.
“My lord,” coldly replied Mr. Carlyle, “whatever may be my defects in your eyes, I am at least a man of truth. Until this moment, the suspicion that you were in ignorance of the contemplated28 marriage never occurred to me.”
“So far, then, I beg your pardon, Mr. Carlyle. But how came the marriage about at all—how came it to be hurried over in this unseemly fashion? You made the offer at Easter, Isabel tells me, and you married her three weeks after it.”
“And I would have married her and brought her away with me the day I did make it, had it been practicable,” returned Mr. Carlyle. “I have acted throughout for her comfort and happiness.”
“Oh, indeed!” exclaimed the earl, returning to his disagreeable tone. “Perhaps you will put me in possession of the facts, and of your motives.”
“I warn you that the facts to you will not bear a pleasant sound, Lord Mount Severn.”
“Allow me to be the judge of that,” said the earl.
“Business took me to Castle Marling on Good Friday. On the following day I called at your house; after your own and Isabel’s invitation, it was natural I should; in fact, it would have been a breach29 of good feeling not to do so, I found Isabel ill-treated and miserable30; far from enjoying a happy home in your house—”
“What, sir?” interrupted the earl. “Ill-treated and miserable?”
“Ill-treated even to blows, my lord.”
The earl stood as one petrified31, staring at Mr. Carlyle.
“I learnt it, I must premise32, through the chattering33 revelations of your little son; Isabel, of course, would not have mentioned it to me; but when the child had spoken, she did not deny it. In short she was too broken-hearted, too completely bowed in spirit to deny it. It aroused all my feelings of indignation—it excited in me an irresistible35 desire to emancipate36 her from this cruel life, and take her where she would find affection, and I hope happiness. There was only one way which I could do this, and I risked it. I asked her to become my wife, and to return to her home at East Lynne.”
The earl was slowly recovering from his petrifaction37. “Then, am I to understand, that when you called that day at my house, you carried no intention with you of proposing to Isabel?”
“Not any. It was an impromptu38 step, the circumstances under which I found her calling it forth39.”
The earl paced the room, perplexed40 still, and evidently disturbed. “May I inquire if you love her?” he abruptly said.
Mr. Carlyle paused ere he spoke34, and a red flush dyed his face. “Those sort of feelings man rarely acknowledges to man, Lord Mount Severn, but I will answer you. I do love her, passionately41 and sincerely; I learnt to love her at East Lynne; but I could have carried my love silently within me to the end of my life and never betrayed it; and probably should have done so, but for the unexpected visit to Castle Marling. If the idea of making her my wife had never previously42 occurred to me as practicable, it was that I deemed her rank incompatible43 with my own.”
“As it was,” said the earl.
“Country solicitors44 have married peers’ daughters before now,” remarked Mr. Carlyle. “I only add another to the list.”
“But you cannot keep her as a peer’s daughter, I presume?”
“East Lynne will be her home. Our establishment will be small and quiet, as compared with her father’s. I explained to Isabel how quiet at the first, and she might have retracted45 had she wished. I explained also in full to Lady Mount Severn. East Lynne will descend46 to our eldest47 son, should we have children. My profession is most lucrative48, my income good; were I to die tomorrow, Isabel would enjoy East Lynne and about three thousand pounds per annum. I gave these details in the letter, which appears to have miscarried.”
The earl made no immediate49 reply; he was absorbed in thought.
“Your lordship perceives, I hope, that there has been nothing ‘clandestine’ in my conduct to Lady Isabel.”
Lord Mount Severn held out his hand. “I refused my hand when you came in, Mr. Carlyle, as you may have observed, perhaps you will refuse yours now, though I should be proud to shake it. When I find myself in the wrong, I am not above acknowledging the fact; and I must state my opinion that you have behaved most kindly50 and honorably.”
Mr. Carlyle smiled and put his hand into the earl’s. The latter retained it, while he spoke in a whisper.
“Of course I cannot be ignorant that, in speaking of Isabel’s ill-treatment, you alluded to my wife. Has it transpired51 beyond yourselves?”
“You may be sure that neither Isabel nor myself would mention it; we shall dismiss it from among our reminiscences. Let it be as though you had never heard it; it is past and done with.”
“Isabel,” said the earl, as he was departing that evening, for he remained to spend the day with them, “I came here this morning almost prepared to strike your husband, and I go away honoring him. Be a good and faithful wife to him, for he deserves it.”
“Of course I shall,” she answered, in surprise.
Lord Mount Severn steamed on to Castle Marling, and there he had a stormy interview with his wife—so stormy that the sounds penetrated52 to the ears of the domestics. He left again the same day, in anger, and proceeded to Mount Severn.
“He will have time to cool down, before we meet in London,” was the comment of my lady.
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1
thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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circumlocution
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| n. 绕圈子的话，迂回累赘的陈述 | |
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sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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attentively
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| adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神 | |
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mused
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| v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
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abrupt
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| adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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nervously
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| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
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fathom
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| v.领悟，彻底了解 | |
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alluded
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| 提及，暗指( allude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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lamentable
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| adj.令人惋惜的，悔恨的 | |
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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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intimacy
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| n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行 | |
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sitting-room
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| n.（BrE）客厅，起居室 | |
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haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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intrude
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| vi.闯入；侵入；打扰，侵扰 | |
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clandestinely
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| adv.秘密地，暗中地 | |
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clandestine
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| adj.秘密的，暗中从事的 | |
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espouse
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| v.支持，赞成，嫁娶 | |
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whit
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| n.一点，丝毫 | |
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beguile
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| vt.欺骗，消遣 | |
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sarcastically
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| adv.挖苦地，讽刺地 | |
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vouchsafed
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| v.给予，赐予( vouchsafe的过去式和过去分词 )；允诺 | |
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contemplated
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| adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式 | |
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breach
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| n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破 | |
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miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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petrified
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| adj.惊呆的；目瞪口呆的v.使吓呆，使惊呆；变僵硬；使石化(petrify的过去式和过去分词) | |
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premise
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| n.前提；v.提论，预述 | |
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chattering
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| n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式 | |
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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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irresistible
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| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
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emancipate
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| v.解放，解除 | |
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petrifaction
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| n.石化，化石；吓呆；惊呆 | |
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impromptu
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| adj.即席的，即兴的；adv.即兴的(地)，无准备的(地) | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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perplexed
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| adj.不知所措的 | |
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passionately
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| ad.热烈地，激烈地 | |
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previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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incompatible
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| adj.不相容的，不协调的，不相配的 | |
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44
solicitors
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| 初级律师( solicitor的名词复数 ) | |
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retracted
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| v.撤回或撤消( retract的过去式和过去分词 )；拒绝执行或遵守；缩回；拉回 | |
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46
descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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lucrative
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| adj.赚钱的，可获利的 | |
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49
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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51
transpired
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| （事实，秘密等）被人知道( transpire的过去式和过去分词 )； 泄露； 显露； 发生 | |
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52
penetrated
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| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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