CHAPTER XIX.

“I mourn’d the huntress of Cromla, the sunbeam
Of beauty; who must no more on our hills appear,
But rise on the waves of the north, to light
The stranger’s hall.”

“Have you any commands to Mrs. Montgomery, my Lord?” inquired Edmund, who was writing at a small table, while most of our party were engaged at a larger one with breakfast.

“Oh yes!” said Lord Arandale. “Pray tell her that I shall send Lauson over to the Craigs: indeed that I shall go there myself, after the races.”

[233]

Julia and Frances now entered.

Shortly after, rising and going towards Edmund, he bent¹ over the table and said, in an under tone, “I wish you would just tell my sister (it will save me a letter, and I am much hurried) that the Marquis of H? has declared his intention of making proposals for Julia, (in due time,) and that, I think she had better write to Lord L?. I wish he could be at home. Yet, the connexion is so very eligible² that all unnecessary delays should be avoided. Julia’s own pretensions³, in fact, rank so high, that the peerage affords few that can be termed equal matches for her. Her affections cannot be pre-engaged?” he added, in a sort of consulting whisper. “Henry behaves very foolishly; but, I should hope, there was no attachment⁴ on her side. The thing, however, must be put an end to!”

[234]

Lord Arandale returned to the breakfast table, and left our hero, as he supposed, writing. Julia was the only person who observed that he remained in the very same attitude, and without the slightest motion, till the carriages drove up. She contrived⁵ in the general move, to pass near the table at which he sat, where, pausing a moment, she said, “Are you writing to grandmamma, Edmund?”

He had been quite pale when she first approached, and evidently had not observed her. He started at the sound of her voice, and looked at her without appearing to comprehend the purport⁶ of her enquiry, but made no reply. “Are you writing to grandmamma?” she repeated, “because, I wish——” He examined his paper two or three times from top to bottom, and then replied, “I—was—”

Henry came up at the moment, and, offering[235] to Julia his arm, which she now dare not refuse, hurried her to the carriage. She perceived, with much vexation, that he wore, drawn⁷ across his breast, the scarf he had snatched from her. He continued, in defiance⁸ of a whispered remonstrance⁹ on her part, to sport it for some hours. He knew that Edmund was well aware to whom the scarf belonged. At length, Lord Arandale perceiving what was going on, insisted on the scarf being resigned. The Earl restored it himself to Julia, with a reproachful glance; to which she replied, that the scarf had been both taken and worn without her permission.

“Men seldom take liberties they do not expect will, at least, be pardoned,” replied his lordship, with some severity of countenance¹⁰.

Why Henry should be thus anxious to have it supposed that he was acceptable to Julia,[236] while he took so little pains to become really so, is a mystery which time only can solve.

Our hero did not appear on the stand that day; although he was seen riding at a distance on the course. At the ordinary he went in to dinner without taking charge of any lady. At the ball, indeed, he was again to be found near Julia. After a few languid attempts at conversation, however, he seated himself beside her in perfect silence, till the Marquis of H? coming towards them with a gay and delighted air, claimed her hand for the first set. She stood up to dance, and Edmund almost immediately left the room.

When Edmund retired¹¹ that night to his own apartment he took himself severely¹² to task: he could assuredly acquit¹³ himself of deliberate efforts, intentions, or even wishes to gain Julia’s affections beyond the limit of friendship; yet[237] he had in every moment of temptation yielded to intoxicating¹⁴ hopes; and to attempt to distinguish between such hopes and wilful¹⁵ wishes he found was mere¹⁶ sophistry¹⁷: he determined¹⁸ therefore to fly without again beholding¹⁹ Julia. As yet, her innocent heart believed all its feelings friendship. She would think him unkind, ungrateful, and forget him, without suffering any of those terrible contentions²⁰ of spirit which he endured. He dare not sleep, lest he should awake under the dominion²¹ of a less virtuous²² impulse.

Without therefore retiring to bed, even for an hour, he commenced instantly and hastily his preparations for departure, confusedly ruminating²³ the while:—What was he about to do? Could he leave Julia thus, to the persecutions of Henry, to the persuasions²⁴ of the Marquis? and he drew his leg out of the boot[238] into which it had been half way introduced.—But he was confident, he told himself once more, for the hundredth time, that she had already rejected Henry, and that she would reject the Marquis of H?. His foot again entered the boot top, and, now, completed its descent.

1 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

2 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

3 pretensions   

自称( pretension的名词复数 )； 自命不凡； 要求； 权力

参考例句：

• The play mocks the pretensions of the new middle class. 这出戏讽刺了新中产阶级的装模作样。
• The city has unrealistic pretensions to world-class status. 这个城市不切实际地标榜自己为国际都市。

4 attachment   

n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附

参考例句：

• She has a great attachment to her sister.她十分依恋她的姐姐。
• She's on attachment to the Ministry of Defense.她现在隶属于国防部。

5 contrived   

adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的

参考例句：

• There was nothing contrived or calculated about what he said.他说的话里没有任何蓄意捏造的成分。
• The plot seems contrived.情节看起来不真实。

6 purport   

n.意义，要旨，大要；v.意味著，做为...要旨，要领是...

参考例句：

• Many theories purport to explain growth in terms of a single cause.许多理论都标榜以单一的原因解释生长。
• Her letter may purport her forthcoming arrival.她的来信可能意味着她快要到了。

7 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

8 defiance   

n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗

参考例句：

• He climbed the ladder in defiance of the warning.他无视警告爬上了那架梯子。
• He slammed the door in a spirit of defiance.他以挑衅性的态度把门砰地一下关上。

9 remonstrance   

n抗议，抱怨

参考例句：

• She had abandoned all attempts at remonstrance with Thomas.她已经放弃了一切劝戒托马斯的尝试。
• Mrs. Peniston was at the moment inaccessible to remonstrance.目前彭尼斯顿太太没功夫听她告状。

10 countenance   

n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同

参考例句：

• At the sight of this photograph he changed his countenance.他一看见这张照片脸色就变了。
• I made a fierce countenance as if I would eat him alive.我脸色恶狠狠地，仿佛要把他活生生地吞下去。

11 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

12 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

13 acquit   

vt.宣判无罪；(oneself)使(自己)表现出

参考例句：

• That fact decided the judge to acquit him.那个事实使法官判他无罪。
• They always acquit themselves of their duty very well.他们总是很好地履行自己的职责。

14 intoxicating   

a. 醉人的,使人兴奋的

参考例句：

• Power can be intoxicating. 权力能让人得意忘形。
• On summer evenings the flowers gave forth an almost intoxicating scent. 夏日的傍晚，鲜花散发出醉人的芳香。

15 wilful   

adj.任性的，故意的

参考例句：

• A wilful fault has no excuse and deserves no pardon.不能宽恕故意犯下的错误。
• He later accused reporters of wilful distortion and bias.他后来指责记者有意歪曲事实并带有偏见。

16 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

17 sophistry   

n.诡辩

参考例句：

• Sophistry cannot alter history.诡辩改变不了历史。
• No one can be persuaded by sophistry.强词夺理不能折服人。

18 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

19 beholding   

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

参考例句：

• Beholding, besides love, the end of love,/Hearing oblivion beyond memory! 我看见了爱，还看到了爱的结局，／听到了记忆外层的哪一片寂寥！ 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 文学
• Hence people who began by beholding him ended by perusing him. 所以人们从随便看一看他开始的，都要以仔细捉摸他而终结。 来自辞典例句

20 contentions   

n.竞争( contention的名词复数 )；争夺；争论；论点

参考例句：

• Direct tests on individual particles do not support these contentions. 对单个粒子所作的直接试验并不支持这些论点。 来自辞典例句
• His contentions cannot be laughed out of court. 对他的争辩不能一笑置之。 来自辞典例句

21 dominion   

n.统治，管辖，支配权；领土，版图

参考例句：

• Alexander held dominion over a vast area.亚历山大曾统治过辽阔的地域。
• In the affluent society,the authorities are hardly forced to justify their dominion.在富裕社会里，当局几乎无需证明其统治之合理。

22 virtuous   

adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的

参考例句：

• She was such a virtuous woman that everybody respected her.她是个有道德的女性，人人都尊敬她。
• My uncle is always proud of having a virtuous wife.叔叔一直为娶到一位贤德的妻子而骄傲。

23 ruminating   

v.沉思( ruminate的现在分词 )；反复考虑；反刍；倒嚼

参考例句：

• He sat there ruminating and picking at the tablecloth. 他坐在那儿沉思，轻轻地抚弄着桌布。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He is ruminating on what had happened the day before. 他在沉思前一天发生的事情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

24 persuasions   

n.劝说，说服（力）( persuasion的名词复数 )；信仰

参考例句：

• To obtain more advertisting it needed readers of all political persuasions. 为获得更多的广告，它需要迎合各种政治见解的读者。 来自辞典例句
• She lingered, and resisted my persuasions to departure a tiresome while. 她踌躇不去，我好说歹说地劝她走，她就是不听。 来自辞典例句