In the following spring a vexatious incident occurred in Warwick Street. The highly-considered county member, who was the yearly tenant1 of Mr. Rodney’s first floor, and had been always a valuable patron, suddenly died. An adjourned2 debate, a tough beefsteak, a select committee still harder, and an influenza3 caught at three o’clock in the morning in an imprudent but irresistible4 walk home with a confidential5 Lord of the Treasury6, had combined very sensibly to affect the income of Mr. Rodney. At first he was sanguine7 that such a desirable dwelling8 would soon find a suitable inhabitant, especially as Mr. Waldershare assured him that he would mention the matter to all his friends. But time rolled on, and the rooms were still vacant; and the fastidious Rodneys, who at first would only listen to a yearly tenant, began to reduce their expectations. Matters had arrived at such a pass in May, that, for the first time in their experience, they actually condescended9 to hoist10 an announcement of furnished apartments.
In this state of affairs a cab rattled11 up to the house one morning, out of which a young gentleman jumped briskly, and, knocking at the door, asked, of the servant who opened it, whether he might see the apartments. He was a young man, apparently12 not more than one or two and twenty, of a graceful13 figure, somewhat above the middle height, fair, with a countenance14 not absolutely regular, but calm and high-bred. His dress was in the best taste, but to a practised eye had something of a foreign cut, and he wore a slight moustache.
“The rooms will suit me,” he said, “and I have no doubt the price you ask for them is a just one;” and he bowed with high-bred courtesy to Sylvia, who was now in attendance on him, and who stood with her pretty hands in the pretty pockets of her pretty apron15.
“I am glad to hear that,” said Sylvia. “We have never let them before, except to a yearly tenant.”
“And if we suit each other,” said the gentleman, “I should have no great objection to becoming such.”
“In these matters,” said Sylvia, after a little hesitation16, “we give and receive references. Mr. Rodney is well known in this neighbourhood and in Westminster generally; but I dare say,” she adroitly17 added, “he has many acquaintances known to you, sir.”
“Not very likely,” replied the young gentleman; “for I am a foreigner, and only arrived in England this morning;” though he spoke19 English without the slightest accent.
Sylvia looked a little perplexed20; but he continued: “It is quite just that you should be assured to whom you are letting your lodgings21. The only reference I can give you is to my banker, but he is almost too great a man for such matters. Perhaps,” he added, pulling out a case from his breast pocket, and taking out of it a note, which he handed to Sylvia, “this may assure you that your rent will be paid.”
Sylvia took a rapid glance at the hundred-pound-note, and twisting it into her little pocket with apparent sangfroid22, though she held it with a tight grasp, murmured that it was quite unnecessary, and then offered to give her new lodger23 an acknowledgment of it.
“That is really unnecessary,” he replied. “Your appearance commands from me that entire confidence which on your part you very properly refuse to a stranger and a foreigner like myself.”
“What a charming young man!” thought Sylvia, pressing with emotion her hundred-pound-note.
“Now,” continued the young gentleman, “I will return to the station to release my servant, who is a prisoner there with my luggage. Be pleased to make him at home. I shall myself not return probably till the evening; and in the meantime,” he added, giving Sylvia his card, “you will admit anything that arrives here addressed to Colonel Albert.”
The settlement of Colonel Albert in Warwick Street was an event of no slight importance. It superseded24 for a time all other topics of conversation, and was discussed at length in the evenings, especially with Mr. Vigo. Who was he? And in what service was he colonel? Mr. Rodney, like a man of the world, assumed that all necessary information would in time be obtained from the colonel’s servant; but even men of the world sometimes miscalculate. The servant, who was a Belgian, had only been engaged by the colonel at Brussels a few days before his departure for England, and absolutely knew nothing of his master, except that he was a gentleman with plenty of money and sufficient luggage. Sylvia, who was the only person who had seen the colonel, was strongly in his favour. Mr. Rodney looked doubtful, and avoided any definite opinion until he had had the advantage of an interview with his new lodger. But this was not easy to obtain. Colonel Albert had no wish to see the master of the house, and, if he ever had that desire, his servant would accordingly communicate it in the proper quarter. At present he was satisfied with all the arrangements, and wished neither to make nor to receive remarks. The habits of the new lodger were somewhat of a recluse25. He was generally engaged in his rooms the whole day, and seldom left them till the evening, and nobody, as yet, had called upon him. Under these circumstances, Imogene was instructed to open the matter to Mr. Waldershare when she presided over his breakfast-table; and that gentleman said he would make inquiries26 about the colonel at the Travellers’ Club, where Waldershare passed a great deal of his time. “If he be anybody,” said Mr. Waldershare, “he is sure in time to be known there, for he will be introduced as a visitor.” At present, however, it turned out that the “Travellers’” knew nothing of Colonel Albert; and time went on, and Colonel Albert was not introduced as a visitor there.
After a little while there was a change in the habits of the colonel. One morning, about noon, a groom27, extremely well appointed, and having under his charge a couple of steeds of breed and beauty, called at Warwick Street, and the colonel rode out, and was long absent, and after that, every day, and generally at the same hour, mounted his horse. Mr. Rodney was never wearied of catching28 a glimpse of his distinguished29 lodger over the blinds of the ground-floor room, and of admiring the colonel’s commanding presence in his saddle, distinguished as his seat was alike by its grace and vigour30.
In the course of a little time, another incident connected with the colonel occurred which attracted notice and excited interest. Towards the evening a brougham, marked, but quietly, with a foreign coronet, stopped frequently at Mr. Rodney’s house, and a visitor to the colonel appeared in the form of a middle-aged31 gentleman who never gave his name, and evaded32, it seemed with practised dexterity33, every effort, however adroit18, to obtain it. The valet was tried on this head also, and replied with simplicity34 that he did not know the gentleman’s name, but he was always called the Baron35.
In the middle of June a packet arrived one day by the coach, from the rector of Hurstley, addressed to Endymion, announcing his father’s dangerous illness, and requesting him instantly to repair home. Myra was too much occupied to write even a line.
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tenant
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| n.承租人；房客；佃户；v.租借，租用 | |
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adjourned
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| （使）休会， （使）休庭( adjourn的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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influenza
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| n.流行性感冒，流感 | |
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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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confidential
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| adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的 | |
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treasury
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| n.宝库；国库，金库；文库 | |
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7
sanguine
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| adj.充满希望的，乐观的，血红色的 | |
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dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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condescended
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| 屈尊，俯就( condescend的过去式和过去分词 )； 故意表示和蔼可亲 | |
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hoist
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| n.升高，起重机，推动；v.升起，升高，举起 | |
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rattled
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| 慌乱的，恼火的 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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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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apron
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| n.围裙；工作裙 | |
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hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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17
adroitly
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| adv.熟练地，敏捷地 | |
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adroit
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| adj.熟练的，灵巧的 | |
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19
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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perplexed
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| adj.不知所措的 | |
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lodgings
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| n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍 | |
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sangfroid
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| n.沉着冷静 | |
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lodger
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| n.寄宿人，房客 | |
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superseded
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| [医]被代替的，废弃的 | |
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recluse
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| n.隐居者 | |
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inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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groom
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| vt.给（马、狗等）梳毛，照料，使...整洁 | |
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catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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30
vigour
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| （=vigor）n.智力，体力，精力 | |
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31
middle-aged
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| adj.中年的 | |
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32
evaded
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| 逃避( evade的过去式和过去分词 )； 避开； 回避； 想不出 | |
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33
dexterity
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| n.(手的)灵巧，灵活 | |
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34
simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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35
baron
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| n.男爵；(商业界等)巨头，大王 | |
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