The end of the season is a pang1 to society. More hopes have been baffled than realised. There is something melancholy2 in the last ball, though the music ever seems louder, and the lights more glaring than usual. Or it may be, the last entertainment is that hecatomb they call a wedding breakfast, which celebrates the triumph of a rival. That is pleasant. Society, to do it justice, struggles hard to revive in other scenes the excitement that has expired. It sails to Cowes, it scuds3 to bubbling waters in the pine forests of the continent, it stalks even into Scotland; but it is difficult to restore the romance that has been rudely disturbed, and to gather again together the threads of the intrigue4 that have been lost in the wild flight of society from that metropolis5, which is now described as “a perfect desert”—that is to say, a park or so, two or three squares, and a dozen streets where society lives; where it dines, and dances, and blackballs, and bets, and spouts6.
But to the world in general, the mighty7 million, to the professional classes, to all men of business whatever, the end of the season is the beginning of carnival8. It is the fulfilment of the dream over which they have been brooding for ten months, which has sustained them in toil9, lightened anxiety, and softened10 even loss. It is air, it is health, it is movement, it is liberty, it is nature—earth, sea, lake, moor11, forest, mountain, and river. From the heights of the Engadine to Margate Pier12, there is equal rapture13, for there is an equal cessation of routine.
Few enjoy a holiday more than a young clerk in a public office, who has been bred in a gentle home, and enjoyed in his boyhood all the pastimes of gentlemen. Now he is ever toiling14, with an uncertain prospect15 of annual relaxation16, and living hardly. Once on a time, at the paternal17 hall, he could shoot, or fish, or ride, every day of his life, as a matter of course; and now, what would he not give for a good day’s sport? Such thoughts had frequently crossed the mind of Endymion when drudging in London during the autumn, and when all his few acquaintances were away. It was, therefore, with no ordinary zest18 that he looked forward to the unexpected enjoyment19 of an unstinted share of some of the best shooting in the United Kingdom. And the relaxation and the pastime came just at the right moment, when the reaction, from all the excitement attendant on the marvellous change in his sister’s position, would have made him, deprived of her consoling society, doubly sensible of his isolated20 position.
It so happened that the moors21 of Lord Beaumaris were contiguous to the celebrated22 shootings of Dinniewhiskie, which were rented by Prince Florestan, and the opportunity now offered which Waldershare desired of making the acquaintance of the prince in an easy manner. Endymion managed this cleverly. Waldershare took a great fancy to the prince. He sympathised with him, and imparted to Endymion his belief that they could not do a better thing than devote their energies to a restoration of his rights. Lord Beaumaris, who hated foreigners, but who was always influenced by Waldershare, also liked the prince, and was glad to be reminded by his mentor23 that Florestan was half an Englishman, not to say a whole one, for he was an Eton boy. What was equally influential24 with Lord Beaumaris was, that the prince was a fine shot, and indeed a consummate25 sportsman, and had in his manners that calm which is rather unusual with foreigners, and which is always pleasing to an English aristocrat26. So in time they became intimate, sported much together, and visited each other at their respective quarters. The prince was never alone. What the county paper described as distinguished27 foreigners were perpetually paying him visits, long or short, and it did not generally appear that these visits were influenced by a love of sport. One individual, who arrived shortly after the prince, remained, and, as was soon known, was to remain permanently28. This was a young gentleman, short and swarthy, with flashing eyes and a black moustache, known by the name of the Duke of St. Angelo, but who was really only a cadet of that illustrious house. The Duke of St. Angelo took the management of the household of the prince—was evidently the controller; servants trembled at his nod, and he rode any horse he liked; he invited guests, and arranged the etiquette29 of the interior. He said one day very coolly to Waldershare: “I observe that Lord Beaumaris and his friends never rise when the prince moves.”
“Why should we?”
“His rank is recognised and guaranteed by the Treaty of Vienna,” said the Duke of St. Angelo, with an arrogant30 air.
“His princely rank,” replied Waldershare, “but not his royalty31.”
“That is a mere32 refinement,” said the duke contemptuously.
“On the contrary, a clear distinction, and specifically made in the treaty. I do not think the prince himself would desire such a ceremony, and let me recommend you, duke,” added Waldershare, “not to go out of your way to insist on these points. They will not increase the prince’s popularity.”
“The time will come, and before long, when the Treaty of Vienna, with its clear distinctions, will be at the bottom of the Red Sea,” said the Duke of St. Angelo, “and then no one will sit when His Majesty33 rises.”
“Amen!” said Waldershare. “All diplomacy34 since the Treaty of Utrecht seems to me to be fiddle-faddle, and the country rewarded the great man who made that treaty by an attainder.”
Endymion returned to town towards the end of September, Waldershare went to Paris, and Lord Beaumaris and the prince, who had become intimate, repaired together to Conington, the seat of Lord Beaumaris, to kill pheasants. Even the Rodneys, who had gone to the Rhine this year, had not returned. Endymion had only the society of his fellow clerks. He liked Trenchard, who was acute, full of official information, and of gentle breeding. Still it must be confessed that Endymion felt the change in his society. Seymour Hicks was hardly a fit successor to Waldershare, and Jawett’s rabid abstractions on government were certainly not so interesting as la haute politique of the Duke of St. Angelo. Were it not for the letters which he constantly received from his sister, he would have felt a little despondent35. As it was, he renewed his studies in his pleasant garret, trained himself in French and German, and got up several questions for the Union.
The month seemed very long, but it was not unprofitably spent. The Rodneys were still absent. They had not returned as they had intended direct to England, but had gone to Paris to meet Mr. Waldershare.
At the end of October there was a semi-official paragraph announcing the approaching meeting of the Cabinet, and the movements of its members. Some were in the north, and some were in the south; some were killing36 the last grouse37, and some, placed in green ridings, were blazing in battues. But all were to be at their post in ten days, and there was a special notification that intelligence had been received of the arrival of Lord and Lady Roehampton at Gibraltar.
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1
pang
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| n.剧痛，悲痛，苦闷 | |
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melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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scuds
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| v.（尤指船、舰或云彩）笔直、高速而平稳地移动( scud的第三人称单数 ) | |
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intrigue
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| vt.激起兴趣，迷住；vi.耍阴谋；n.阴谋，密谋 | |
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metropolis
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| n.首府；大城市 | |
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spouts
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| n.管口( spout的名词复数 )；（喷出的）水柱；（容器的）嘴；在困难中v.（指液体）喷出( spout的第三人称单数 )；滔滔不绝地讲；喋喋不休地说；喷水 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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carnival
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| n.嘉年华会，狂欢，狂欢节，巡回表演 | |
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toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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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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moor
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| n.荒野，沼泽；vt.(使)停泊；vi.停泊 | |
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pier
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| n.码头；桥墩，桥柱；[建]窗间壁，支柱 | |
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rapture
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| n.狂喜；全神贯注；着迷；v.使狂喜 | |
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toiling
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| 长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的现在分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉 | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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relaxation
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| n.松弛，放松；休息；消遣；娱乐 | |
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paternal
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| adj.父亲的，像父亲的，父系的，父方的 | |
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zest
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| n.乐趣；滋味，风味；兴趣 | |
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enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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moors
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| v.停泊，系泊（船只）( moor的第三人称单数 ) | |
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celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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mentor
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| n.指导者，良师益友；v.指导 | |
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24
influential
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| adj.有影响的，有权势的 | |
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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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aristocrat
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| n.贵族，有贵族气派的人，上层人物 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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permanently
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| adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地 | |
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etiquette
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| n.礼仪，礼节；规矩 | |
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arrogant
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| adj.傲慢的，自大的 | |
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31
royalty
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| n.皇家，皇族 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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diplomacy
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| n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕 | |
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despondent
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| adj.失望的，沮丧的，泄气的 | |
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killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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grouse
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| n.松鸡；v.牢骚，诉苦 | |
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