Nigel took a high degree and obtained first-class honours. He was ordained1 by the bishop2 of the diocese as soon after as possible. His companions, who looked up to him with every expectation of his eminence3 and influence, were disappointed, however, in the course of life on which he decided4. It was different from that which he had led them to suppose it would be. They had counted on his becoming a resident light of the University, filling its highest offices, and ultimately reaching the loftiest stations in the Church. Instead of that he announced that he had resolved to become a curate to his father, and that he was about to bury himself in the solitude5 of Hurstley.
It was in the early summer following the death of Mrs. Ferrars that he settled there. He was frequently at the hall, and became intimate with Mr. Ferrars. Notwithstanding the difference of age, there was between them a sympathy of knowledge and thought. In spite of his decided mind, Nigel listened to Mr. Ferrars with deference6, soliciting7 his judgment8, and hanging, as it were, on his accents of wise experience and refined taste. So Nigel became a favourite with Mr. Ferrars; for there are few things more flattering than the graceful9 submission10 of an accomplished11 intellect, and, when accompanied by youth, the spell is sometimes fascinating.
The death of his wife seemed to have been a great blow to Mr. Ferrars. The expression of his careworn12, yet still handsome, countenance13 became, if possible, more saddened. It was with difficulty that his daughter could induce him to take exercise, and he had lost altogether that seeming interest in their outer world which once at least he affected14 to feel. Myra, though ever content to be alone, had given up herself much to her father since his great sorrow; but she felt that her efforts to distract him from his broodings were not eminently15 successful, and she hailed with a feeling of relief the establishment of Nigel in the parish, and the consequent intimacy16 that arose between him and her father.
Nigel and Myra were necessarily under these circumstances thrown much together. As time advanced he passed his evenings generally at the hall, for he was a proficient17 in the only game which interested Mr. Ferrars, and that was chess. Reading and writing all day, Mr. Ferrars required some remission of attention, and his relaxation18 was chess. Before the games, and between the games, and during delightful19 tea-time, and for the happy quarter of an hour which ensued when the chief employment of the evening ceased, Nigel appealed much to Myra, and endeavoured to draw out her mind and feelings. He lent her books, and books that favoured, indirectly20 at least, his own peculiar21 views—volumes of divine poesy that had none of the twang of psalmody, tales of tender and sometimes wild and brilliant fancy, but ever full of symbolic22 truth.
Chess-playing requires complete abstraction, and Nigel, though he was a double first, occasionally lost a game from a lapse23 in that condensed attention that secures triumph. The fact is, he was too frequently thinking of something else besides the moves on the board, and his ear was engaged while his eye wandered, if Myra chanced to rise from her seat or make the slightest observation.
The woods were beginning to assume the first fair livery of autumn, when it is beautiful without decay. The lime and the larch24 had not yet dropped a golden leaf, and the burnished25 beeches26 flamed in the sun. Every now and then an occasional oak or elm rose, still as full of deep green foliage27 as if it were midsummer; while the dark verdure of the pines sprang up with effective contrast amid the gleaming and resplendent chestnuts28.
There was a glade29 at Hurstley, bounded on each side with masses of yew30, their dark green forms now studded with crimson31 berries. Myra was walking one morning in this glade when she met Nigel, who was on one of his daily pilgrimages, and he turned round and walked by her side.
“I am sure I cannot give you news of your brother,” he said, “but I have had a letter this morning from Endymion. He seems to take great interest in his debating club.”
“I am so glad he has become a member of it,” said Myra. “That kind Mr. Trenchard, whom I shall never see to thank him for all his goodness to Endymion, proposed him. It occupies his evenings twice a week, and then it gives him subjects to think of and read up in the interval32.”
“Yes; it is a good thing,” said Nigel moodily33; “and if he is destined34 for public life, which perhaps he may be, no contemptible35 discipline.”
“Dear boy!” said Myra, with a sigh. “I do not see what public life he is destined to, except slaving at a desk. But sometimes one has dreams.”
“Yes; we all have dreams,” said Nigel, with an air of abstraction.
“It is impossible to resist the fascination36 of a fine autumnal morn,” said Myra; “but give me the long days of summer and its rich leafy joys. I like to wander about, and dine at nine o’clock.”
“Delightful, doubtless, with a sympathising companion.”
“Endymion was such a charming companion,” said Myra.
“But he has left us,” said Nigel; “and you are alone.”
“I am alone,” said Myra; “but I am used to solitude, and I can think of him.”
“Would I were Endymion,” said Nigel, “to be thought of by you!”
Myra looked at him with something of a stare; but he continued—
“All seasons would be to me fascination, were I only by your side. Yes; I can no longer repress the irresistible37 confusion of my love. I am here, and I am here only, because I love you. I quitted Oxford38 and all its pride that I might have the occasional delight of being your companion. I was not presumptuous39 in my thoughts, and believed that would content me; but I can no longer resist the consummate40 spell, and I offer you my heart and my life.”
“I am amazed; I am a little overwhelmed,” said Myra. “Pardon me, dear Mr. Penruddock—dear Nigel—you speak of things of which I have not thought.”
“Think of them! I implore41 you to think of them, and now!”
“We are a fallen family,” said Myra, “perhaps a doomed42 one. We are not people to connect yourself with. You have witnessed some of our sorrows, and soothed43 them. I shall be ever grateful to you for the past. But I sometimes feel our cup is not yet full, and I have long resolved to bear my cross alone. But, irrespective of all other considerations, I can never leave my father.”
“I have spoken to your father,” said Nigel, “and he approved my suit.”
“While my father lives I shall not quit him,” said Myra; “but, let me not mislead you, I do not live for my father—I live for another.”
“For another?” inquired Nigel, with anxiety.
“For one you know. My life is devoted45 to Endymion. There is a mystic bond between us, originating, perhaps, in the circumstance of our birth; for we are twins. I never mean to embarrass him with a sister’s love, and perhaps hereafter may see less of him even than I see now; but I shall be in the world, whatever be my lot, high or low—the active, stirring world—working for him, thinking only of him. Yes; moulding events and circumstances in his favour;” and she spoke44 with fiery46 animation47. “I have brought myself, by long meditation48, to the conviction that a human being with a settled purpose must accomplish it, and that nothing can resist a will that will stake even existence for its fulfilment.”
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ordained
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| v.任命（某人）为牧师( ordain的过去式和过去分词 )；授予（某人）圣职；（上帝、法律等）命令；判定 | |
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bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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eminence
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| n.卓越，显赫；高地，高处；名家 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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deference
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| n.尊重，顺从；敬意 | |
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soliciting
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| v.恳求( solicit的现在分词 )；（指娼妇）拉客；索求；征求 | |
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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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submission
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| n.服从，投降；温顺，谦虚；提出 | |
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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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careworn
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| adj.疲倦的，饱经忧患的 | |
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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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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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eminently
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| adv.突出地；显著地；不寻常地 | |
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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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proficient
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| adj.熟练的，精通的；n.能手，专家 | |
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relaxation
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| n.松弛，放松；休息；消遣；娱乐 | |
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delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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indirectly
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| adv.间接地，不直接了当地 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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symbolic
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| adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的 | |
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lapse
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| n.过失，流逝，失效，抛弃信仰，间隔；vi.堕落，停止，失效，流逝；vt.使失效 | |
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larch
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| n.落叶松 | |
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burnished
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| adj.抛光的，光亮的v.擦亮（金属等），磨光( burnish的过去式和过去分词 )；被擦亮，磨光 | |
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beeches
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| n.山毛榉( beech的名词复数 )；山毛榉木材 | |
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foliage
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| n.叶子，树叶，簇叶 | |
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chestnuts
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| n.栗子( chestnut的名词复数 )；栗色；栗树；栗色马 | |
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glade
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| n.林间空地，一片表面有草的沼泽低地 | |
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yew
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| n.紫杉属树木 | |
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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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interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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moodily
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| adv.喜怒无常地；情绪多变地；心情不稳地；易生气地 | |
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destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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contemptible
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| adj.可鄙的，可轻视的，卑劣的 | |
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fascination
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| n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋 | |
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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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Oxford
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| n.牛津（英国城市） | |
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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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consummate
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| adj.完美的；v.成婚；使完美 [反]baffle | |
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implore
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| vt.乞求，恳求，哀求 | |
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42
doomed
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| 命定的 | |
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soothed
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| v.安慰( soothe的过去式和过去分词 )；抚慰；使舒服；减轻痛苦 | |
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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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45
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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animation
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| n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作 | |
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meditation
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| n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录 | |
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