weir of hermiston-第5章
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than usually anxious; for that journey always remained in Archie's
memory as a thing apart; his father having related to him from beginning
to end; and with much detail; three authentic murder cases。 Archie went
the usual round of other Edinburgh boys; the high school and the
college; and Hermiston looked on; or rather looked away; with scarce an
affectation of interest in his progress。 Daily; indeed; upon a signal
after dinner; he was brought in; given nuts and a glass of port;
regarded sardonically; sarcastically questioned。 〃Well; sir; and what
have you donn with your book to…day?〃 my lord might begin; and set him
posers in law Latin。 To a child just stumbling into Corderius; Papinian
and Paul proved quite invincible。 But papa had memory of no other。 He
was not harsh to the little scholar; having a vast fund of patience
learned upon the bench; and was at no pains whether to conceal or to
express his disappointment。 〃Well; ye have a long jaunt before ye yet!〃
he might observe; yawning; and fall back on his own thoughts (as like as
not) until the time came for separation; and my lord would take the
decanter and the glass; and be off to the back chamber looking on the
Meadows; where he toiled on his cases till the hours were small。 There
was no 〃fuller man〃 on the bench; his memory was marvellous; though
wholly legal; if he had to 〃advise〃 extempore; none did it better; yet
there was none who more earnestly prepared。 As he thus watched in the
night; or sat at table and forgot the presence of his son; no doubt but
he tasted deeply of recondite pleasures。 To be wholly devoted to some
intellectual exercise is to have succeeded in life; and perhaps only in
law and the higher mathematics may this devotion be maintained; suffice
to itself without reaction; and find continual rewards without
excitement。 This atmosphere of his father's sterling industry was the
best of Archie's education。 Assuredly it did not attract him; assuredly
it rather rebutted and depressed。 Yet it was still present; unobserved
like the ticking of a clock; an arid ideal; a tasteless stimulant in the
boy's life。
But Hermiston was not all of one piece。 He was; besides; a mighty
toper; he could sit at wine until the day dawned; and pass directly from
the table to the bench with a steady hand and a clear head。 Beyond the
third bottle; he showed the plebeian in a larger print; the low; gross
accent; the low; foul mirth; grew broader and commoner; he became less
formidable; and infinitely more disgusting。 Now; the boy had inherited
from Jean Rutherford a shivering delicacy; unequally mated with
potential violence。 In the playing…fields; and amongst his own
companions; he repaid a coarse expression with a blow; at his father's
table (when the time came for him to join these revels) he turned pale
and sickened in silence。 Of all the guests whom he there encountered; he
had toleration for only one: David Keith Carnegie; Lord Glenalmond。
Lord Glenalmond was tall and emaciated; with long features and long
delicate hands。 He was often compared with the statue of Forbes of
Culloden in the Parliament House; and his blue eye; at more than sixty;
preserved some of the fire of youth。 His exquisite disparity with any
of his fellow…guests; his appearance as of an artist and an aristocrat
stranded in rude company; riveted the boy's attention; and as curiosity
and interest are the things in the world that are the most immediately
and certainly rewarded; Lord Glenalmond was attracted by the boy。
〃And so this is your son; Hermiston?〃 he asked; laying his hand on
Archie's shoulder。 〃He's getting a big lad。〃
〃Hout!〃 said the gracious father; 〃just his mother over again … daurna
say boo to a goose!〃
But the stranger retained the boy; talked to him; drew him out; found in
him a taste for letters; and a fine; ardent; modest; youthful soul; and
encouraged him to be a visitor on Sunday evenings in his bare; cold;
lonely dining…room; where he sat and read in the isolation of a bachelor
grown old in refinement。 The beautiful gentleness and grace of the old
judge; and the delicacy of his person; thoughts; and language; spoke to
Archie's heart in its own tongue。 He conceived the ambition to be such
another; and; when the day came for him to choose a profession; it was
in emulation of Lord Glenalmond; not of Lord Hermiston; that he chose
the Bar。 Hermiston looked on at this friendship with some secret pride;
but openly with the intolerance of scorn。 He scarce lost an opportunity
to put them down with a rough jape; and; to say truth; it was not
difficult; for they were neither of them quick。 He had a word of
contempt for the whole crowd of poets; painters; fiddlers; and their
admirers; the bastard race of amateurs; which was continually on his
lips。 〃Signor Feedle…eerie!〃 he would say。 〃O; for Goad's sake; no
more of the Signor!〃
〃You and my father are great friends; are you not?〃 asked Archie once。
〃There is no man that I more respect; Archie;〃 replied Lord Glenalmond。
〃He is two things of price。 He is a great lawyer; and he is upright as
the day。〃
〃You and he are so different;〃 said the boy; his eyes dwelling on those
of his old friend; like a lover's on his mistress's。
〃Indeed so;〃 replied the judge; 〃very different。 And so I fear are you
and he。 Yet I would like it very ill if my young friend were to
misjudge his father。 He has all the Roman virtues: Cato and Brutus were
such; I think a son's heart might well be proud of such an ancestry of
one。〃
〃And I would sooner he were a plaided herd;〃 cried Archie; with sudden
bitterness。
〃And that is neither very wise; nor I believe entirely true;〃 returned
Glenalmond。 〃Before you are done you will find some of these
expressions rise on you like a remorse。 They are merely literary and
decorative; they do not aptly express your thought; nor is your thought
clearly apprehended; and no doubt your father (if he were here) would
say; 〃Signor Feedle…eerie!〃
With the infinitely delicate sense of youth; Archie avoided the subject
from that hour。 It was perhaps a pity。 Had he but talked … talked
freely … let himself gush out in words (the way youth loves to do and
should); there might have been no tale to write upon the Weirs of
Hermiston。 But the shadow of a threat of ridicule sufficed; in the
slight tartness of these words he read a prohibition; and it is likely
that Glenalmond meant it so。
Besides the veteran; the boy was without confidant or friend。 Serious
and eager; he came through school and college; and moved among a crowd
of the indifferent; in the seclusion of his shyness。 He grew up
handsome; with an open; speaking countenance; with graceful; youthful
ways; he was clever; he took prizes; he shone in the Speculative
Society。 It should seem he must become the centre of a crowd of
friends; but something that was in part the delicacy of his mother; in
part the austerity of his father; held him aloof from all。 It is a
fact; and a strange one; that among his contemporaries Hermiston's son
was thought to be a chip of the old block。 〃You're a friend of Archie
Weir's?〃 said one to Frank Innes; and Innes replied; with his usual
flippancy and more than his usual insight: 〃I know Weir。 but I never met
Archie。〃 No one had met Archie; a malady most incident to only sons。
He flew his private signal; and none heeded it; it seemed he was abroad
in a world from which the very hope of intimacy was banished; and he
looked round about him on the concourse of his fellow…students; and
forward to the trivial days and acquaintances that were to come; without
hope or interest。
As time went on; the tough and rough old sinner felt himself drawn to
the son of his loins and sole continuator of his new family; with
softnesses of sentiment th