Progress of Affairs at Armine.
LIFE is adventurous1. Events are perpetually occurring, even in the calmness of domestic existence, which change in an instant the whole train and tenor2 of our thoughts and feelings, and often materially influence our fortunes and our character. It is strange, and sometimes as profitable as it is singular, to recall our state on the eve of some acquaintance which transfigures our being; with some man whose philosophy revolutionises our mind; with some woman whose charms metamorphose our career. These retrospective meditations3 are fruitful of self-knowledge.
The visit of Glastonbury was one of those incidents which, from the unexpected results that they occasion, swell4 into events. He had not been long a guest at Armine before Sir Ratcliffe and his lady could not refrain from mutually communicating to each other the gratification they should feel could Glastonbury be induced to cast his lot among them. His benevolent5 and placid6 temper, his many accomplishments7, and the entire affection which he evidently entertained for everybody that bore the name, and for everything that related to the fortunes of Armine, all pointed8 him out as a friend alike to be cherished and to be valued. Under his auspices9 the garden of the fair Constance soon flourished: his taste guided her pencil, and his voice accompanied her lute10. Sir Ratcliffe, too, thoroughly11 enjoyed his society: Glastonbury was with him the only link, in life, between the present and the past. They talked over old times together; and sorrowful recollections lost half their bitterness, from the tenderness of his sympathetic reminiscences. Sir Ratcliffe, too, was conscious of the value of such a companion for his gifted wife. And Glastonbury, moreover, among his many accomplishments, had the excellent quality of never being in the way. He was aware that young people, and especially young lovers, are not averse12 sometimes to being alone; and his friends, in his absence, never felt that he was neglected, because his pursuits were so various and his resources so numerous that they were sure he was employed and amused.
In the pleasaunce of Armine, at the termination of a long turfen avenue of purple beeches13, there was a turreted14 gate, flanked by round towers, intended by Sir Ferdinand for one of the principal entrances of his castle. Over the gate were small but convenient chambers15, to which you ascended16 by a winding17 stair-. case in one of the towers; the other was a mere18 shell. It was sunset; the long vista19 gleamed in the dying rays, that shed also a rich breadth of light over the bold and baronial arch. Our friends had been examining the chambers, and Lady Armine, who was a little wearied by the exertion20, stood opposite the building, leaning on her husband and his friend.
‘A man might go far, and find a worse dwelling21 than that portal,’ said Glastonbury, musingly22. ‘Me-thinks life might glide23 away pleasantly enough in those little rooms, with one’s books and drawings, and this noble avenue for a pensive24 stroll.’
‘I wish to heaven, my dear Glastonbury, you would try the experiment,’ said Sir Ratcliffe.
‘Ah! do, Mr. Glastonbury,’ added Lady Armine, ‘take pity upon us!’
‘At any rate, it is not so dull as a cloister,’ added Sir Ratcliffe; ‘and say what they like, there is nothing like living among friends.’
‘You would find me very troublesome,’ replied Glastonbury, with a smile; and then, turning the conversation, evidently more from embarrassment25 than distaste, he remarked the singularity of the purple beeches.
Their origin was uncertain; but one circumstance is sure: that, before another month had passed, Glastonbury was a tenant26 for life of the portal of Armine Castle, and all his books and collections were safely stowed and arranged in the rooms with which he had been so much pleased.
The course of time for some years flowed on happily at Armine. In the second year of their marriage Lady Armine presented her husband with a son. Their family was never afterwards increased, but the proud father was consoled by the sex of his child for the recollection that the existence of his line depended upon the precious contingency27 of a single life. The boy was christened Ferdinand. With the exception of an annual visit to Lord Grandison, the Armine family never quitted their home. Necessity as well as taste induced this regularity28 of life. The affairs of Sir Ratcliffe did not improve. His mortgagees were more strict in their demands of interest than his tenants29 in payment of their rents. His man of business, who had made his fortune in the service of the family, was not wanting in accommodation to his client; but he was a man of business; he could not sympathise with the peculiar30 feelings and fancies of Sir Ratcliffe, and he persisted in seizing every opportunity of urging on him the advisability of selling his estates. However, by strict economy and temporary assistance from his lawyer, Sir Ratcliffe, during the first ten years of his marriage, managed to carry on affairs; and though occasional embarrassments31 sometimes caused him fits of gloom and despondency, the sanguine32 spirit of his wife, and the confidence in the destiny of their beautiful child which she regularly enforced upon him, maintained on the whole his courage. All their hopes and joys were indeed centred in the education of the little Ferdinand. At ten years of age he was one of those spirited and at the same time docile33 boys, who seem to combine with the wild and careless grace of childhood the thoughtfulness and self-discipline of maturer age. It was the constant and truthful34 boast of his parents, that, in spite of all his liveliness, he had never in the whole course of his life disobeyed them. In the village, where he was idolised, they called him ‘the little prince;’ he was so gentle and so generous, so kind and yet so dignified35 in his demeanour. His education was remarkable36; for though he never quitted home, and lived in such extreme seclusion37, so richly gifted were those few persons with whom he passed his life, that it would have been difficult to have fixed38 upon a youth, however favoured by fortune, who enjoyed greater advantages for the cultivation39 of his mind and manners. From the first dawn of the intellect of the young Armine, Glastonbury had devoted40 himself to its culture; and the kind scholar, who had not shrunk from the painful and patient task of impregnating a young mind with the seeds of knowledge, had bedewed its budding promise with all the fertilising influence of his learning and his taste. As Ferdinand advanced in years, he had participated in the accomplishments of his mother; from her he derived41 not only a taste for the fine arts, but no unskilful practice. She, too, had cultivated the rich voice with which Nature had endowed him, and it was his mother who taught him not only to sing, but to dance. In more manly43 accomplishments, Ferdinand could not have found a more skilful42 instructor44 than his father, a consummate45 sportsman, and who, like all his ancestors, was remarkable for his finished horsemanship and the certainty of his aim. Under a roof, too, whose inmates46 were distinguished47 for their sincere piety48 and unaffected virtue49, the higher duties of existence were not forgotten; and Ferdinand Armine was early and ever taught to be sincere, dutiful, charitable, and just; and to have a deep sense of the great account hereafter to be delivered to his Creator. The very foibles of his parents which he imbibed50 tended to the maintenance of his magnanimity. His illustrious lineage was early impressed upon him, and inasmuch as little now was left to them but their honour, so it was doubly incumbent51 upon him to preserve that chief treasure, of which fortune could not deprive them, unsullied.
This much of the education of Ferdinand Armine. With great gifts of nature, with lively and highly cultivated talents, and a most affectionate and disciplined temper, he was adored by the friends who nevertheless had too much sense to spoil him. But for his character, what was that? Perhaps, with all their anxiety and all their care, and all their apparent opportunities for observation, the parent and the tutor are rarely skilful in discovering the character of their child or charge. Custom blunts the fineness of psychological study: those with whom we have lived long and early are apt to blend our essential and our accidental qualities in one bewildering association. The consequences of education and of nature are not sufficiently52 discriminated53. Nor is it, indeed, marvellous, that for a long time temperament54 should be disguised and even stifled55 by education; for it is, as it were, a contest between a child and a man.
There were moments when Ferdinand Armine loved to be alone, when he could fly from all the fondness of his friends, and roam in solitude56 amid the wild and desolate57 pleasure-grounds, or wander for hours in the halls and galleries of the castle, gazing on the pictures of his ancestors. He ever experienced a strange satisfaction in beholding59 the portrait of his grandfather. He would sometimes stand abstracted for many minutes before the portrait of Sir Ferdinand in the gallery, painted by Reynolds, before his grandfather left England, and which the child already singularly resembled. But was there any other resemblance between them than form and feature? Did the fiery60 imagination and the terrible passions of that extraordinary man lurk61 in the innocent heart and the placid mien62 of his young descendant? No matter now! Behold58, he is a light-hearted and airy child! Thought passes over his brow like a cloud in a summer sky, or the shadow of a bird over the sunshiny earth; and he skims away from the silent hall and his momentary63 reverie to fly a kite or chase a butterfly!
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1
adventurous
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| adj.爱冒险的；惊心动魄的，惊险的，刺激的 | |
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tenor
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| n.男高音（歌手），次中音（乐器），要旨，大意 | |
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meditations
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| 默想( meditation的名词复数 )； 默念； 沉思； 冥想 | |
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swell
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| vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强 | |
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benevolent
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| adj.仁慈的，乐善好施的 | |
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placid
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| adj.安静的，平和的 | |
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accomplishments
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| n.造诣；完成( accomplishment的名词复数 )；技能；成绩；成就 | |
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8
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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auspices
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| n.资助，赞助 | |
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lute
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| n.琵琶，鲁特琴 | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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12
averse
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| adj.厌恶的；反对的，不乐意的 | |
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13
beeches
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| n.山毛榉( beech的名词复数 )；山毛榉木材 | |
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turreted
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| a.(像炮塔般)旋转式的 | |
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15
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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16
ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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18
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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19
vista
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| n.远景，深景，展望，回想 | |
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20
exertion
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| n.尽力，努力 | |
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21
dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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musingly
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| adv.沉思地，冥想地 | |
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23
glide
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| n./v.溜，滑行；(时间)消逝 | |
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24
pensive
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| a.沉思的,哀思的,忧沉的 | |
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embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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26
tenant
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| n.承租人；房客；佃户；v.租借，租用 | |
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contingency
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| n.意外事件，可能性 | |
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28
regularity
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| n.规律性，规则性；匀称，整齐 | |
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29
tenants
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| n.房客( tenant的名词复数 )；佃户；占用者；占有者 | |
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30
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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embarrassments
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| n.尴尬( embarrassment的名词复数 )；难堪；局促不安；令人难堪或耻辱的事 | |
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32
sanguine
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| adj.充满希望的，乐观的，血红色的 | |
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docile
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| adj.驯服的，易控制的，容易教的 | |
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34
truthful
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| adj.真实的，说实话的，诚实的 | |
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dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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36
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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seclusion
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| n.隐遁，隔离 | |
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38
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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39
cultivation
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| n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成 | |
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40
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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41
derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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42
skilful
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| (=skillful)adj.灵巧的，熟练的 | |
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43
manly
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| adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地 | |
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44
instructor
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| n.指导者，教员，教练 | |
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45
consummate
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| adj.完美的；v.成婚；使完美 [反]baffle | |
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46
inmates
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| n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 ) | |
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47
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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48
piety
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| n.虔诚，虔敬 | |
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49
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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50
imbibed
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| v.吸收( imbibe的过去式和过去分词 )；喝；吸取；吸气 | |
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51
incumbent
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| adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的 | |
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52
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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53
discriminated
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| 分别，辨别，区分( discriminate的过去式和过去分词 )； 歧视，有差别地对待 | |
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54
temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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55
stifled
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| （使）窒息， （使）窒闷( stifle的过去式和过去分词 )； 镇压，遏制； 堵 | |
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56
solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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57
desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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58
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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59
beholding
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| v.看，注视( behold的现在分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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60
fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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61
lurk
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| n.潜伏，潜行；v.潜藏，潜伏，埋伏 | |
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62
mien
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| n.风采；态度 | |
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63
momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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