Disappointment and distress1, it might be said despair, seemed fast settling again over the devoted2 roof of Hurstley, after a three years’ truce3 of tranquillity4. Even the crushing termination of her worldly hopes was forgotten for the moment by Mrs. Ferrars in her anguish5 at the prospect6 of separation from Endymion. Such a catastrophe7 she had never for a moment contemplated8. True it was she had been delighted with the scheme of his entering the Foreign Office, but that was on the assumption that she was to enter office herself, and that, whatever might be the scene of the daily labours of her darling child, her roof should be his home, and her indulgent care always at his command. But that she was absolutely to part with Endymion, and that, at his tender age, he was to be launched alone into the wide world, was an idea that she could not entertain, or even comprehend. Who was to clothe him, and feed him, and tend him, and save him from being run over, and guide and guard him in all the difficulties and dangers of this mundane9 existence? It was madness, it was impossible. But Mr. Ferrars, though gentle, was firm. No doubt it was to be wished that the event could have been postponed10 for a year; but its occurrence, unless all prospect of establishment in life were surrendered, was inevitable11, and a slight delay would hardly render the conditions under which it happened less trying. Though Endymion was only sixteen, he was tall and manly12 beyond his age, and during the latter years of his life, his naturally sweet temper and genial13 disposition14 had been schooled in self-discipline and self-sacrifice. He was not to be wholly left to strangers; Mr. Ferrars had spoken to Rodney about receiving him, at least for the present, and steps would be taken that those who presided over his office would be influenced in his favour. The appointment was certainly not equal to what had been originally anticipated; but still the department, though not distinguished16, was highly respectable, and there was no reason on earth, if the opportunity offered, that Endymion should not be removed from his present post to one in the higher departments of the state. But if this opening were rejected, what was to be the future of their son? They could not afford to send him to the University, nor did Mr. Ferrars wish him to take refuge in the bosom17 of the Church. As for the army, they had now no interest to acquire commissions, and if they could succeed so far, they could not make him an allowance, which would permit him to maintain himself as became his rank. The civil service remained, in which his grandfather had been eminent18, and in which his own parent, at any rate, though the victim of a revolution, had not disgraced himself. It seemed, under the circumstances, the natural avenue for their child. At least, he thought it ought to be tried. He wished nothing to be settled without the full concurrence19 of Endymion himself. The matter should be put fairly and clearly before him, “and for this purpose,” concluded Mr. Ferrars, “I have just sent for him to my room;” and he retired20.
The interview between the father and the son was long. When Endymion left the room his countenance21 was pale, but its expression was firm and determined22. He went forth23 into the garden, and there he saw Myra. “How long you have been!” she said; “I have been watching for you. What is settled?”
He took her arm, and in silence led her away into one of the glades24 Then he said: “I have settled to go, and I am resolved, so long as I live, that I will never cost dear papa another shilling. Things here are very bad, quite as bad as you have sometimes fancied. But do not say anything to poor mamma about them.”
Mr. Ferrars resolved that Endymion should go to London immediately, and the preparations for his departure were urgent. Myra did everything. If she had been the head of a family she could not have been more thoughtful or apparently25 more experienced. If she had a doubt, she stepped over to Mrs. Penruddock and consulted her. As for Mrs. Ferrars, she had become very unwell, and unable to attend to anything. Her occasional interference, fitful and feverish26, and without adequate regard to circumstances, only embarrassed them. But, generally speaking, she kept to her own room, and was always weeping.
The last day came. No one pretended not to be serious and grave. Mrs. Ferrars did not appear, but saw Endymion alone. She did not speak, but locked him in her arms for many minutes, and then kissed him on the forehead, and, by a gentle motion, intimating that he should retire, she fell back on her sofa with closed eyes. He was alone for a short time with his father after dinner. Mr. Ferrars said to him: “I have treated you in this matter as a man, and I have entire confidence in you. Your business in life is to build up again a family which was once honoured.”
Myra was still copying inventories27 when he returned to the drawing-room. “These are for myself,” she said, “so I shall always know what you ought to have. Though you go so early, I shall make your breakfast tomorrow,” and, leaning back on the sofa, she took his hand. “Things are dark, and I fancy they will be darker; but brightness will come, somehow or other, to you, darling, for you are born for brightness. You will find friends in life, and they will be women.”
It was nearly three years since Endymion had travelled down to Hurstley by the same coach that was now carrying him to London. Though apparently so uneventful, the period had not been unimportant in the formation, doubtless yet partial, of his character. And all its influences had been beneficial to him. The crust of pride and selfishness with which large prosperity and illimitable indulgence had encased a kind, and far from presumptuous28, disposition had been removed; the domestic sentiments in their sweetness and purity had been developed; he had acquired some skills in scholarship and no inconsiderable fund of sound information; and the routine of religious thought had been superseded29 in his instance by an amount of knowledge and feeling on matters theological, unusual at his time of life. Though apparently not gifted with any dangerous vivacity30, or fatal facility of acquisition, his mind seemed clear and painstaking31, and distinguished by common sense. He was brave and accurate.
Mr. Rodney was in waiting for him at the inn. He seemed a most distinguished gentleman. A hackney coach carried them to Warwick Street, where he was welcomed by Mrs. Rodney, who was exquisitely32 dressed. There was also her sister, a girl not older than Endymion, the very image of Mrs. Rodney, except that she was a brunette—a brilliant brunette. This sister bore the romantic name of Imogene, for which she was indebted to her father performing the part of the husband of the heroine in Maturin’s tragedy of the “Castle of St. Aldobrand,” and which, under the inspiration of Kean, had set the town in a blaze about the time of her birth. Tea was awaiting him, and there was a mixture in their several manners of not ungraceful hospitality and the remembrance of past dependence33, which was genuine and not uninteresting, though Endymion was yet too inexperienced to observe all this.
Mrs. Rodney talked very much of Endymion’s mother; her wondrous34 beauty, her more wondrous dresses; the splendour of her fetes and equipages. As she dilated35 on the past, she seemed to share its lustre36 and its triumphs. “The first of the land were always in attendance on her,” and for Mrs. Rodney’s part, she never saw a real horsewoman since her dear lady. Her sister did not speak, but listened with rapt attention to the gorgeous details, occasionally stealing a glance at Endymion—a glance of deep interest, of admiration37 mingled38 as it were both with reverence39 and pity.
Mr. Rodney took up the conversation if his wife paused. He spoke15 of all the leading statesmen who had been the habitual40 companions of Mr. Ferrars, and threw out several anecdotes41 respecting them from personal experience. “I knew them all,” continued Mr. Rodney, “I might say intimately;” and then he told his great anecdote42, how he had been so fortunate as perhaps even to save the Duke’s life during the Reform Bill riots. “His Grace has never forgotten it, and only the day before yesterday I met him in St. James’ Street walking with Mr. Arbuthnot, and he touched his hat to me.”
All this gossip and good nature, and the kind and lively scene, saved Endymion from the inevitable pang43, or at least greatly softened44 it, which accompanies our first separation from home. In due season, Mrs. Rodney observed that she doubted not Mr. Endymion, for so they ever called him, must be wearied with his journey, and would like to retire to his room; and her husband, immediately lighting45 a candle, prepared to introduce their new lodger46 to his quarters.
It was a tall house, which had recently been renovated47, with a story added to it, and on this story was Endymion’s chamber48; not absolutely a garret, but a modern substitute for that sort of apartment. “It is rather high,” said Mr. Rodney, half apologising for the ascent49, “but Mr. Ferrars himself chose the room. We took the liberty of lighting a fire to-night.”
And the cheerful blaze was welcome. It lit up a room clean and not uncomfortable. Feminine solicitude50 had fashioned a toilette-table for him, and there was a bunch of geraniums in a blue vase on its sparkling dimity garniture. “I suppose you have in your bag all that you want at present?” said Mr. Rodney. “To-morrow we will unpack51 your trunks and arrange your things in their drawers; and after breakfast, if you please, I will show you your way to Somerset House.”
Somerset House! thought Endymion, as he stood before the fire alone. Is it so near as that? To-morrow, and I am to be at Somerset House! And then he thought of what they were doing at Hurstley—of that terrible parting with his mother, which made him choke—and of his father’s last words. And then he thought of Myra, and the tears stole down his cheek. And then he knelt down by his bedside and prayed.
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distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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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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truce
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| n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束 | |
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tranquillity
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| n. 平静, 安静 | |
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anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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catastrophe
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| n.大灾难，大祸 | |
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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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mundane
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| adj.平凡的；尘世的；宇宙的 | |
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postponed
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| vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发） | |
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inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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manly
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| adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地 | |
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genial
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| adj.亲切的，和蔼的，愉快的，脾气好的 | |
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disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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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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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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eminent
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| adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的 | |
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concurrence
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| n.同意；并发 | |
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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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glades
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| n.林中空地( glade的名词复数 ) | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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feverish
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| adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的 | |
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inventories
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| n.总结( inventory的名词复数 )；细账；存货清单（或财产目录）的编制 | |
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presumptuous
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| adj.胆大妄为的，放肆的，冒昧的，冒失的 | |
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superseded
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| [医]被代替的，废弃的 | |
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vivacity
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| n.快活，活泼，精神充沛 | |
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painstaking
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| adj.苦干的；艰苦的，费力的，刻苦的 | |
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exquisitely
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| adv.精致地；强烈地；剧烈地；异常地 | |
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dependence
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| n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属 | |
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wondrous
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| adj.令人惊奇的，奇妙的；adv.惊人地；异乎寻常地；令人惊叹地 | |
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dilated
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| adj.加宽的，扩大的v.（使某物）扩大，膨胀，张大( dilate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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lustre
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| n.光亮，光泽；荣誉 | |
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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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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reverence
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| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
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40
habitual
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| adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的 | |
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anecdotes
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| n.掌故，趣闻，轶事( anecdote的名词复数 ) | |
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anecdote
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| n.轶事，趣闻，短故事 | |
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43
pang
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| n.剧痛，悲痛，苦闷 | |
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44
softened
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| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
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45
lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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lodger
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| n.寄宿人，房客 | |
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renovated
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| 翻新，修复，整修( renovate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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48
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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49
ascent
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| n.(声望或地位)提高；上升，升高；登高 | |
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50
solicitude
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| n.焦虑 | |
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51
unpack
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| vt.打开包裹（或行李），卸货 | |
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