Small House at Allington (eBook)

Anthony Trollope (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2018
1021 Seiten
Seltzer Books (Verlag)
978-1-4553-9024-3 (ISBN)

Infos

The others in the series are: The Warden, Barchester Towers, Dr. Thorne, Framley Parsonage, and Last Chronicle of Barset. According to Wikipedia: 'Anthony Trollope ( 1815 - 1882 ) became one of the most successful, prolific and respected English novelists of the Victorian era. Some of Trollope's best-loved works, known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, revolve around the imaginary county of Barsetshire; he also wrote penetrating novels on political, social, and gender issues and conflicts of his day. Trollope has always been a popular novelist. Noted fans have included Sir Alec Guinness (who never travelled without a Trollope novel), former British Prime Ministers Harold Macmillan and Sir John Major, economist John Kenneth Galbraith, American novelists Sue Grafton and Dominick Dunne and soap opera writer Harding Lemay. Trollope's literary reputation dipped somewhat during the last years of his life, but he regained the esteem of critics by the mid-twentieth century. 'Of all novelists in any country, Trollope best understands the role of money. Compared with him even Balzac is a romantic.' - W. H. Auden'

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The others in the series are: The Warden, Barchester Towers, Dr. Thorne, Framley Parsonage, and Last Chronicle of Barset. According to Wikipedia: "e;Anthony Trollope ( 1815 - 1882 ) became one of the most successful, prolific and respected English novelists of the Victorian era. Some of Trollope's best-loved works, known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, revolve around the imaginary county of Barsetshire; he also wrote penetrating novels on political, social, and gender issues and conflicts of his day. Trollope has always been a popular novelist. Noted fans have included Sir Alec Guinness (who never travelled without a Trollope novel), former British Prime Ministers Harold Macmillan and Sir John Major, economist John Kenneth Galbraith, American novelists Sue Grafton and Dominick Dunne and soap opera writer Harding Lemay. Trollope's literary reputation dipped somewhat during the last years of his life, but he regained the esteem of critics by the mid-twentieth century. "e;Of all novelists in any country, Trollope best understands the role of money. Compared with him even Balzac is a romantic."e; - W. H. Auden"e;

Textauszug

CHAPTER IX  MRS DALE'S LITTLE PARTY

 

 The next day was the day of the party. Not a word more was said on that  evening between Bell and her cousin, at least, nut a word more of any  peculiar note; and when Crosbie suggested to his friend on the  following morning that they should both step down and see how the  preparations were getting on at the Small House, Bernard declined.

 

"You forget, my dear fellow, that I'm not in love as you are," said he.

 

"But I thought you were," said Crosbie.

 

"No; not at all as you are. You are an accepted lover, and will be  allowed to do anything-whip the creams, and tune the piano, if you know  how. I'm only a half sort of lover, meditating a mariage de convenance  to oblige an uncle, and by no means required by the terms of my  agreement to undergo a very rigid amount of drill. Your position is  just the reverse." In saying all which Captain Dale was no doubt very  false; but if falseness can be forgiven to a man in any position, it  may be forgiven in that which he then filled. So Crosbie went down to  the Small House alone.

 

"Dale wouldn't come," said he, speaking to the three ladies together,  "I suppose he's keeping himself up for the dance on the lawn."

 

"I hope he will be here in the evening," said Mrs Dale. But Bell said  never a word. She had determined, that under the existing  circumstances, it would be only fair to her cousin that his offer and  her answer to it should be kept secret. She knew why Bernard did not  come across from the Great House with his friend, but she said nothing  of her knowledge. Lily looked at her, but looked without speaking; and  as for Mrs Dale, she took no notice of the circumstance. Thus they  passed the afternoon together without further mention of Bernard Dale;  and it may be said, at any rate of Lily and Crosbie, that his presence  was not missed.

 

Mrs Eames, with her son and daughter, were the first to come." It is so  nice of you to come early," said Lily, trying on the spur of the moment  to say something which should sound pleasant and happy, but in truth  using that form of welcome which to my ears sounds always the most  ungracious.

 

"Ten minutes before the time named; and, of course, you must have  understood that I meant thirty minutes after it!" That is my  interpretation of the words-when I am thanked for coming early. But Mrs  Eames was a kind, patient, unexacting woman, who took all civil words  as meaning civility. And, indeed, Lily had meant nothing else.

 

"Yes; we did come early," said Mrs Eames, "because Mary thought she  would like to go up into the girls' room and just settle her, hair, you  know."

 

"So she shall," said Lily, who had taken Mary by the hand.

 

"And we knew we shouldn't be in the way. Johnny can go out into the  garden if there's anything left to be done." "He shan't be banished unless he likes it," said Mrs Dale.

 

"If he finds us women too much for his unaided strength-"

 

John Eames muttered something about being very well as he was, and then  got himself into an arm-chair. He had shaken hands with Lily, trying as  he did so to pronounce articulately a little speech which he had  prepared for the occasion.

 

"I have to congratulate you, Lily, and I hope with all my heart that  you will be happy." The words were simple enough, and were not  ill-chosen, but the poor young man never got them spoken. The word  "congratulate" did reach Lily's ears, and she understood it all-both  the kindness of the intended speech and the reason why it could not be  spoken.

 

"Thank you, John," she said; "I hope I shall see so much of you in  London. It will be so nice to have an old Guestwick friend near me."  She had her own voice, and the pulses of her heart better under command  than had he; but she also felt that the occasion was trying to her. The  man had loved her honestly and truly-still did love her, paying her the  great homage of bitter grief in that he had lost her. Where is the girl  who will not sympathise with such love and such grief, if it be shown  only because it cannot be concealed, and be declared against the will  of him who declares it?

 

Then came in old Mrs Hearn, whose cottage was not distant two minutes'  walk from the Small House. She always called Mrs Dale "my dear," and  petted the girls as though they had been children. When told of Lily's  marriage, she had thrown up her hands with surprise, for she had still  left in some corner of her drawers remnants of sugar-plums which she  had bought for Lily. "A London man, is he? Well, well. I wish he lived  in the country. Eight hundred a year, my dear?" she had said to Mrs  Dale. "That sounds nice down here, because we are all so poor. But I  suppose eight hundred a year isn't very much up in London?"

 

"The squire's coming, I suppose, isn't he?" said Mrs Hearn, as she  seated herself on the sofa close to Mrs Dale.

 

"Yes, he'll be here by-and-by; unless he changes his mind, you know. He  doesn't stand on ceremony with me."

 

"He change his mind! When did you ever know Christopher Dale change his  mind?"

 

"He is pretty constant, Mrs Hearn."

 

"If he promised to give a man a penny, he'd give it. But if he promised  to take away a pound, he'd take it, though it cost him years to get it.  He's going to turn me out of my cottage, he says."

 

"Nonsense, Mrs Hearn!"

 

"Jolliffe came and told me"-Jolliffe, I should explain, was the  bailiff-"that if I didn't like it as it was, I might leave it, and that  the squire could get double the rent for it. Now all I asked was that  he should do a little painting in the kitchen; and the wood is all as  black as his hat."

 

"I thought it was understood you were to paint inside."

 

"How can I do it, my dear, with a hundred and forty pounds for  everything? I must live, you know! And he that has workmen about him  every day of the year! And was that a message to send to me, who have  lived in the parish for fifty years? Here he is." And Mrs Hearn  majestically raised herself from her seat as the squire entered the  room.

 

With him entered Mr and Mrs Boyce, from the parsonage, with Dick Boyce,  the ungrown gentleman, and two girl Boyces, who were fourteen and  fifteen years of age. Mrs Dale, with the amount of good-nature usual on  such occasions, asked reproachfully why Jane, and Charles, and  Florence, and Bessy, did not come-Boyce being a man who had his quiver  full of them-and Mrs Boyce, giving the usual answer, declared that she  already felt that they had come as an avalanche.

 

"But where are the-the-the young men?" asked Lily, assuming a look of  mock astonishment.

 

"They'll be across in two or three hours' time," said the squire.

 

"They both dressed for dinner, and, as I thought, made themselves very  smart; but for such a grand occasion as this they thought a second  dressing necessary. How do you do, Mrs Hearn? I hope you are quite  well. No rheumatism left, eh?" This the squire said very loud into Mrs  Hearn's ear. Mrs Hearn was perhaps a little hard of hearing; but it was  very little, and she hated to be thought deaf. She did not, moreover,  like to be thought rheumatic. This the squire knew, and therefore his  mode of address was not good-natured.

 

"You needn't make me jump so, Mr Dale. I'm pretty well now, thank ye. I  did have a twinge in the spring-that cottage is so badly built for  draughts! I wonder you can live in it,' my sister said to me the last  time she was over. I suppose I should be better off over with her at  Hamersham, only one doesn't like to move, you know, after living fifty  years in one parish."

 

"You mustn't think of going away from us," Mrs Boyce said, speaking by  no means loud, but slowly and plainly, hoping thereby to flatter the  old woman. But the old woman understood it all. "She's a sly creature,  is Mrs Boyce," Mrs Hearn said to Mrs Dale, before the evening was out.  There are some old people whom it is very hard to flatter, and with  whom it is, nevertheless, almost impossible to live unless you do  flatter them.

 

At last the two heroes came in across the lawn at the drawing-room  window; and Lily, as they entered, dropped a low curtsy before them,  gently swelling down upon the ground with her light muslin dress, till  she looked like some wondrous flower that had bloomed upon the carpet,  and putting her two hands, with the backs of her fingers pressed  together, on the buckle of her girdle, she said, "We are waiting upon  your honours' kind grace, and...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 1.3.2018
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Anthologien
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Klassiker / Moderne Klassiker
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Romane / Erzählungen
• ISBN-10: 1-4553-9024-0 / 1455390240
• ISBN-13: 978-1-4553-9024-3 / 9781455390243