Lady Roehampton, in her stately mansion1 in St. James’ Square, found life very different from what she had experienced in her Andalusian dream. For three months she had been the constant companion of one of the most fascinating of men, whose only object had been to charm and delight her. And in this he had entirely2 succeeded. From the moment they arrived in London, however, they seemed to be separated, and although when they met, there was ever a sweet smile and a kind and playful word for her, his brow, if not oppressed with care, was always weighty with thought. Lord Roehampton was little at his office; he worked in a spacious3 chamber4 on the ground floor of his private residence, and which was called the Library, though its literature consisted only of Hansard, volumes of state papers, shelves of treatises5, and interminable folios of parliamentary reports. He had not been at home a week before the floor of the apartment was literally6 covered with red boxes, all containing documents requiring attention, and which messengers were perpetually bringing or carrying away. Then there were long meetings of the Cabinet almost daily, and daily visits from ambassadors and foreign ministers, which prevented the transaction of the current business, and rendered it necessary that Lord Roehampton should sit up late in his cabinet, and work sometimes nearly till the hours of dawn. There had been of course too some arrears7 of business, for secretaries of state cannot indulge with impunity8 in Andalusian dreams, but Lord Roehampton was well served. His under-secretaries of state were capable and experienced men, and their chief had not been altogether idle in his wanderings. He had visited Paris, and the capital of France in those days was the capital of diplomacy9. The visit of Lord Roehampton had settled some questions which might have lingered for years, and had given him that opportunity of personal survey which to a statesman is invaluable10.
Although it was not the season, the great desert had, comparatively speaking, again become peopled. There were many persons in town, and they all called immediately on Lady Roehampton. The ministerial families and the diplomatic corps11 alone form a circle, but there is also a certain number of charming people who love London in November, and lead there a wondrous12 pleasant life of real amusement, until their feudal13 traditions and their domestic duties summon them back to their Christmas homes.
Lord and Lady Roehampton gave constant dinners, and after they had tried two or three, he expressed his wish to his wife that she should hold a small reception after these dinners. He was a man of great tact14, and he wished to launch his wife quietly and safely on the social ocean. “There is nothing like practising before Christmas, my love,” he would say; “you will get your hand in, and be able to hold regular receptions in the spring.” And he was quite right. The dinners became the mode, and the assemblies were eagerly appreciated. The Secretary of the Treasury15 whispered to an Under–Secretary of State,—“This marriage was a coup16. We have got another house.”
Myra had been a little anxious about the relations between Lord Roehampton and her brother. She felt, with a woman’s instinct, that her husband might not be overpleased by her devotion to Endymion, and she could not resist the conviction that the disparity of age which is easily forgotten in a wife, and especially in a wife who adores you, assumes a different, and somewhat distasteful character, when a great statesman is obliged to recognise it in the shape of a boyish brother-in-law. But all went right, for the sweetness of Lord Roehampton’s temper was inexhaustible. Endymion had paid several visits to St. James’ square before Myra could seize the opportunity, for which she was ever watching, to make her husband and her brother acquainted.
“And so you are one of us,” said Lord Roehampton, with his sweetest smile and in his most musical tone, “and in office. We must try to give you a lift.” And then he asked Endymion who was his chief, and how he liked him, and then he said, “A good deal depends on a man’s chief. I was under your grandfather when I first entered parliament, and I never knew a pleasanter man to do business with. He never made difficulties; he always encouraged one. A younker likes that.”
Lady Roehampton was desirous of paying some attention to all those who had been kind to her brother; particularly Mr. Waldershare and Lord Beaumaris—and she wished to invite them to her house. “I am sure Waldershare would like to come,” said Endymion, “but Lord Beaumaris, I know, never goes anywhere, and I have myself heard him say he never would.”
“Yes, my lord was telling me Lord Beaumaris was quite farouche, and it is feared that we may lose him. That would be sad,” said Myra, “for he is powerful.”
“I should like very much if you could give me a card for Mr. Trenchard,” said Endymion; “he is not in society, but he is quite a gentleman.”
“You shall have it, my dear. I have always liked Mr. Trenchard, and I dare say, some day or other, he may be of use to you.”
The Neuchatels were not in town, but Myra saw them frequently, and Mr. Neuchatel often dined in St. James’ Square—but the ladies always declined every invitation of the kind. They came up from Hainault to see Myra, but looked as if nothing but their great affection would prompt such a sacrifice, and seemed always pining for Arcadia. Endymion, however, not unfrequently continued his Sunday visits to Hainault, to which Mr. Neuchatel had given him a general welcome. This young gentleman, indeed, soon experienced a considerable change in his social position. Invitations flocked to him, and often from persons whom he did not know, and who did not even know him. He went by the name of Lady Roehampton’s brother, and that was a sufficient passport.
“We are trying to get up a carpet dance to-night,” said Belinda to a fair friend. “What men are in town?”
“Well, there is Mr. Waldershare, who has just left me.”
“I have asked him.
“Then there is Lord Willesden and Henry Grantley—I know they are passing through town—and there is the new man, Lady Roehampton’s brother.”
“I will send to Lord Willesden and Henry Grantley immediately, and perhaps you will send a card, which I will write here, for me to the new man.”
And in this way Mr. Ferrars soon found that he was what is called “everywhere.”
One of the most interesting acquaintances that Lady Roehampton made was a colleague of her husband, and that was Mr. Sidney Wilton, once the intimate friend of her father. He had known herself and her brother when they were children, indeed from the cradle. Mr. Sidney Wilton was in the perfection of middle life, and looked young for his years. He was tall and pensive17, and naturally sentimental18, though a long political career, for he had entered the House of Commons for the family borough19 the instant he was of age, had brought to this susceptibility a salutary hardness. Although somewhat alienated20 from the friend of his youth by the course of affairs, for Mr. Sidney Wilton had followed Lord Roehampton, while Mr. Ferrars had adhered to the Duke of Wellington, he had not neglected Ferrars in his fall, but his offers of assistance, frankly21 and generously made, had been coldly though courteously22 rejected, and no encouragement had been given to the maintenance of their once intimate acquaintance.
Mr. Sidney Wilton was much struck by the appearance of Lady Roehampton. He tried to compare the fulfilment of her promise with the beautiful and haughty23 child whom he used to wonder her parents so extravagantly24 spoiled. Her stature25 was above the average height of women and finely developed and proportioned. But it was in the countenance26—in the pellucid27 and commanding brow, the deep splendour of her dark blue eyes softened28 by long lashes29, her short upper lip, and the rich profusion30 of her dark chestnut31 hair—that his roused memory recalled the past; and he fell into a mood of agitated32 contemplation.
The opportunities which he enjoyed of cultivating her society were numerous, and Mr. Wilton missed none. He was frequently her guest, and being himself the master of a splendid establishment, he could offer her a hospitality which every one appreciated. Lord Roehampton was peculiarly his political chief, and they had always been socially intimate. As the trusted colleague of her husband—as one who had known her in her childhood, and as himself a man singularly qualified33, by his agreeable conversation and tender and deferential34 manner, to make his way with women—Mr. Sidney Wilton had no great difficulty, particularly in that happy demi-season which precedes Christmas, in establishing relations of confidence and intimacy35 with Lady Roehampton.
The cabinets were over: the government had decided36 on their measures, and put them in a state of preparation, and they were about to disperse37 for a month. The seat of Lord Roehampton was in the extreme north of England, and a visit to it was inconvenient38 at this moment, and especially at this season. The department of Lord Roehampton was very active at this time, and he was unwilling39 that the first impression by his wife of her future home should be experienced at a season little favourable40 to the charms of a northern seat. Mr. Sidney Wilton was the proprietor41 of the most beautiful and the most celebrated42 villa43 in England; only twenty miles from town, seated on a wooded crest44 of the swan-crowned Thames, with gardens of delight, and woods full of pheasants, and a terrace that would have become a court, glancing over a wide expanse of bower45 and glade46, studded with bright halls and delicate steeples, and the smoke of rural homes.
It was arranged that Lord and Lady Roehampton should pass their Christmas at Gaydene with Mr. Sidney Wilton, stay as long as they liked, go where they chose, but make it their headquarters. It was a most successful visit; for a great deal of business was done, as well as pleasure enjoyed. The ambassadors, who were always a little uneasy at Christmas when everybody is away, and themselves without country homes, were all invited down for that week. Lord Roehampton used to give them audiences after the shooting parties. He thought it was a specific against their being too long. He used to say, “The first dinner-bell often brings things to a point.” After Christmas there was an ever-varying stream of company, chiefly official and parliamentary. The banquet and the battue did not always settle the business, the clause, or the schedule, which the guests often came down to Gaydene ostensibly to accomplish, but they sent men back to town with increased energy and good humour, and kept the party in heart. Towards the end of the month the premier47 came down, and for him the Blue Ribbon Covert48 had been reserved, though he really cared little for sport. It was an eighteenth century tradition that knights49 of the garter only had been permitted to shoot this choice preserve, but Mr. Sidney Wilton, in this advanced age, did not of course revive such an ultra-exclusive practice, and he was particular in arranging the party to include Mr. Jorrocks. This was a Radical50 member to whom considerable office had been given at the reconstruction51 of 1835, when it was necessary that the Whigs should conciliate the Mountain. He was a pretentious52, underbred, half-educated man, fluent with all the commonplaces of middle-class ambition, which are humorously called democratic opinions, but at heart a sycophant53 of the aristocracy. He represented, however, a large and important constituency, and his promotion54 was at first looked upon as a masterpiece of management. The Mountain, who knew Jorrocks by heart, and felt that they had in their ranks men in every sense his superior, and that he could be no representative of their intelligence and opinions, and so by degrees prepare for their gradual admission to the sacred land, at first sulked over the promotion of their late companion, and only did not publicly deride55 it from the feeling that by so doing they might be playing the game of the ministry56. At the time of which we are writing, having become extremely discontented and wishing to annoy the government, they even affected57 dissatisfaction at the subordinate position which Jorrocks occupied in the administration, and it was generally said—had become indeed the slang of the party—that the test of the sincerity58 of the ministry to Liberal principles was to put Jorrocks in the cabinet. The countenance of the premier when this choice programme was first communicated to him was what might have been expected had he learnt of the sudden descent upon this isle59 of an invading force, and the Secretary of the Treasury whispered in confidence to one or two leaders of the Mountain, “that if they did not take care they would upset the government.”
“That is exactly what we want to do,” was the reply.
So it will be seen that the position of the ministry, previous to the meeting of parliament in 1839, was somewhat critical. In the meantime, its various members, who knew their man, lavished60 every practicable social attention on Jorrocks. The dinners they gave him were doubled; they got their women to call on his women; and Sidney Wilton, a member of an illustrious garter family, capped the climax61 by appointing him one of the party to shoot the Blue Ribbon Covert.
Mr. Wilton had invited Endymion to Gaydene, and, as his stay there could only be brief, had even invited him to repeat the visit. He was, indeed, unaffectedly kind to one whom he remembered so young, and was evidently pleased with him.
One evening, a day or two before the break-up of the party, while some charming Misses Playfellow, with an impudent62 brother, who all lived in the neighbourhood, were acting63 charades64, Mr. Wilton said to Lady Roehampton, by whose side he was sitting in the circle—
“I have had a very busy morning about my office. There is to be a complete revolution in it. The whole system is to be reconstructed; half the present people are to be pensioned off, and new blood is to be introduced. It struck me that this might be an opening for your brother. He is in the public service—that is something; and as there are to be so many new men, there will be no jealousy65 as to his promotion. If you will speak to him about it, and he likes it, I will appoint him one of the new clerks; and then, if he also likes it, he shall be my private secretary. That will give him position, and be no mean addition to his income, you know, if we last—but that depends, I suppose, on Mr. Jorrocks.”
Lady Roehampton communicated all this to her brother on her return to London. “It is exactly what I wished,” she said. “I wanted you to be private secretary to a cabinet minister, and if I were to choose any one, except, of course, my lord, it would be Mr. Wilton. He is a perfect gentleman, and was dear papa’s friend. I understand you will have three hundred a year to begin with, and the same amount as his secretary. You ought to be able to live with ease and propriety66 on six hundred a year—and this reminds me of what I have been thinking of before we went to Gaydene. I think now you ought to have a more becoming residence. The Rodneys are good people, I do not doubt, and I dare say we shall have an opportunity of proving our sense of their services; but they are not exactly the people that I care for you to live with, and, at any rate, you cannot reside any longer in a garret. I have taken some chambers67 in the Albany, therefore, for you, and they shall be my contribution to your housekeeping. They are not badly furnished, but they belonged to an old general officer, and are not very new-fashioned; but we will go together and see them tomorrow, and I dare say I shall soon be able to make them comme il faut.”
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mansion
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| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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spacious
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| adj.广阔的，宽敞的 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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treatises
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| n.专题著作，专题论文，专著( treatise的名词复数 ) | |
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literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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arrears
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| n.到期未付之债，拖欠的款项；待做的工作 | |
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impunity
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| n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除 | |
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diplomacy
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| n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕 | |
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invaluable
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| adj.无价的，非常宝贵的，极为贵重的 | |
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corps
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| n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组 | |
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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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13
feudal
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| adj.封建的，封地的，领地的 | |
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14
tact
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| n.机敏，圆滑，得体 | |
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treasury
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| n.宝库；国库，金库；文库 | |
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16
coup
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| n.政变；突然而成功的行动 | |
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pensive
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| a.沉思的,哀思的,忧沉的 | |
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sentimental
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| adj.多愁善感的，感伤的 | |
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borough
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| n.享有自治权的市镇；(英)自治市镇 | |
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alienated
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| adj.感到孤独的，不合群的v.使疏远( alienate的过去式和过去分词 )；使不友好；转让；让渡（财产等） | |
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21
frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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22
courteously
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| adv.有礼貌地，亲切地 | |
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23
haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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24
extravagantly
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| adv.挥霍无度地 | |
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25
stature
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| n.（高度）水平，（高度）境界，身高，身材 | |
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26
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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pellucid
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| adj.透明的，简单的 | |
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28
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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29
lashes
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| n.鞭挞( lash的名词复数 )；鞭子；突然猛烈的一击；急速挥动v.鞭打( lash的第三人称单数 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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30
profusion
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| n.挥霍；丰富 | |
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31
chestnut
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| n.栗树，栗子 | |
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agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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qualified
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| adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的 | |
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34
deferential
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| adj. 敬意的，恭敬的 | |
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35
intimacy
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| n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行 | |
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36
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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disperse
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| vi.使分散；使消失；vt.分散；驱散 | |
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inconvenient
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| adj.不方便的，令人感到麻烦的 | |
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unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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favourable
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| adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的 | |
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proprietor
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| n.所有人；业主；经营者 | |
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celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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villa
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| n.别墅，城郊小屋 | |
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crest
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| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
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bower
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| n.凉亭，树荫下凉快之处；闺房；v.荫蔽 | |
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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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premier
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| adj.首要的；n.总理，首相 | |
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covert
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| adj.隐藏的；暗地里的 | |
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knights
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| 骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马 | |
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radical
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| n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的 | |
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reconstruction
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| n.重建，再现，复原 | |
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pretentious
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| adj.自命不凡的，自负的，炫耀的 | |
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sycophant
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| n.马屁精 | |
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promotion
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| n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传 | |
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deride
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| v.嘲弄，愚弄 | |
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ministry
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| n.(政府的)部；牧师 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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sincerity
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| n.真诚，诚意；真实 | |
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isle
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| n.小岛，岛 | |
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lavished
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| v.过分给予，滥施( lavish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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climax
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| n.顶点；高潮；v.(使)达到顶点 | |
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impudent
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| adj.鲁莽的，卑鄙的，厚颜无耻的 | |
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acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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charades
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| n.伪装( charade的名词复数 )；猜字游戏 | |
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jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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propriety
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| n.正当行为；正当；适当 | |
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chambers
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| n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅 | |
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