第66章

OnthewallsofhisbedroomwereaseriesofFrenchRevolutionprintsrepresentingeventsinthelifeofLycurgus。Therewas“Grandeurd’amedeLycurgue。”and“Lycurgueconsultel’oracle。”andthentherewas“CalciopealaCour。”UnderthiswaswritteninFrenchandSpanish：“Modeledegraceetdebeaute，lajeuneCalciopenonmoinssagequebelleavaitmeritel’estimeetl’attachementduvertueuxLycurgue。Vivementeprisdetantdecharmes，l’illustrephilosophelaconduisaitdansletempledeJunon，ouilss’unirentparunsermentsacre。Aprescetteaugusteceremonie，Lycurgues’empressadeconduiresajeuneepouseaupalaisdesonfrerePolydecte，RoideLacedemon。Seigneur，luidit-il，lavertueuseCalciopevientderecevoirmesvoeuxauxpiedsdesautels，j’osevousprierd’approuvercetteunion。LeRoitemoignad’abordquelquesurprise，maisl’estimequ’ilavaitpoursonfrereluiinspiraunereponsepleinedebeinveillance。Ils’approchaaussitotdeCalciopequ’ilembrassatendrement，comblaensuiteLycurguedeprevenancesetparuttressatisfait。”

HecalledmyattentiontothisandthensaidsomewhattimidlythathewouldratherhavemarriedEllenthanCalciope。Isawhewashardeningandmadenohesitationaboutproposingthatinanotherdayortwoweshouldproceeduponourjourney。

Iwillnotwearythereaderbytakinghimwithusoverbeatenground。WestoppedatSiena，Cortona，Orvieto，Perugiaandmanyothercities，andthenafterafortnightpassedbetweenRomeandNapleswenttotheVenetianprovincesandvisitedallthosewondroustownsthatliebetweenthesouthernslopesoftheAlpsandthenorthernonesoftheApennines，comingbackatlastbytheS。

Gothard。IdoubtwhetherhehadenjoyedthetripmorethanIdidmyself，butitwasnottillwewereonthepointofreturningthatErnesthadrecoveredstrengthenoughtobecalledfairlywell，anditwasnotformanymonthsthathesocompletelylostallsenseofthewoundswhichthelastfouryearshadinflictedonhimastofeelasthoughtherewereascarandascaronlyremaining。

Theysaythatwhenpeoplehavelostanarmorafoottheyfeelpainsinitnowandagainforalongwhileaftertheyhavelostit。OnepainwhichhehadalmostforgottencameuponhimonhisreturntoEngland，Imeanthestingofhishavingbeenimprisoned。Aslongashewasonlyasmallshop-keeperhisimprisonmentmatterednothing；

nobodyknewofit，andiftheyhadknowntheywouldnothavecared；

now，however，thoughhewasreturningtohisoldpositionhewasreturningtoitdisgraced，andthepainfromwhichhehadbeensavedinthefirstinstancebysurroundingssonewthathehadhardlyrecognisedhisownidentityinthemiddleofthem，cameonhimasfromawoundinflictedyesterday。

Hethoughtofthehighresolveswhichhehadmadeinprisonaboutusinghisdisgraceasavantagegroundofstrengthratherthantryingtomakepeopleforgetit。“Thatwasallverywellthen。”hethoughttohimself，“whenthegrapeswerebeyondmyreach，butnowitisdifferent。”Besides，whobutaprigwouldsethimselfhighaims，ormakehighresolvesatall？

Someofhisoldfriends，onlearningthathehadgotridofhissupposedwifeandwasnowcomfortablyoffagain，wantedtorenewtheiracquaintance；hewasgratefultothemandsometimestriedtomeettheiradvanceshalfway，butitdidnotdo，anderelongheshrankbackintohimself，pretendingnottoknowthem。Aninfernaldemonofhonestyhauntedhimwhichmadehimsaytohimself：“Thesemenknowagreatdeal，butdonotknowall——iftheydidth