The Three Clerks II

ANTHONY

TROLLOPE

THE THREE

CLERKS

VOLUMEII II

Москва T8 RUGRAM

2020

УДК 82 ББК 84(0)

Anthony Trollope

The Three Clerks · II / A. Trollope. — М.: Т8 Издательские технологии / RUGRAM, 2020. — 384 с. — (Original).

ISBN 978-5-521-08373-2

Anthony Trollope (1815–1882) was an English novelist of the Victorian era. Among his best-known works is a series of novels collectively known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, which revolves around the imaginary county of Barsetshire. “The Three Clerks” is a novel that draws on Trollope's own experiences as a junior clerk in the General Post Office, and has been called the most autobiographical of Trollope's novels. The novel exposes and probes the relationships between three clerks and the three sisters who became their wives.

УДК 82 ББК 84(0) BIC FC

BISAC FIC004000

CONTENTS

CHAPTER XXIV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 CHAPTER XXV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 CHAPTER XXVI. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 CHAPTER XXVII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 CHAPTER XXVIII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 CHAPTER XXIX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 CHAPTER XXX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 CHAPTER XXXI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 CHAPTER XXXII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 CHAPTER XXXIII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 CHAPTER XXXIV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 CHAPTER XXXV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198 CHAPTER XXXVI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210 CHAPTER XXXVII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227 CHAPTER XXXVIII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241 CHAPTER XXXIX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254 CHAPTER XL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261 CHAPTER XLI. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275 CHAPTER XLII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299 CHAPTER XLIII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313

ANTHONY TROLLOPE

ard for the district in question. We have no doubt but that the deed of appointment set forth that her Majesty had been moved to this step by the firm trust she had in the skill and fidelity of the said Mr. M’Buffer; but if so her Majesty’s trust would seem to have been somewhat misplaced, as Mr. M’Buffer, having been a managing director of a bankrupt swindle, from which he had contrived to pillage some thirty or forty thousand pounds, was now unable to show his face at Tillietudlem, or in the House of Commons; and in thus retreating from his membership had no object but to save himself from the expulsion which he feared. It was, however, a consolation for him to think that in what he had done the bulwarks of the British constitution had been preserved.

It was an anxious moment for Undy. The existing Parliament had still a year and a half, or possibly two years and a half, to run. He had already been withdrawn from the public eye longer than he thought was suitable to the success of his career. He particularly disliked obscurity for he had found that in his case obscurity had meant comparative poverty. An obscure man, as he observed early in life, had nothing to sell. Now, Undy had once had something to sell, and a very good market he had made of it. He was of course anxious that those halcyon days should return. Fond of him as the electors of Tillietudlem no doubt were, devoted as they might be in a general way to his interests still, still it was possible that they might forget him, if he remained too long away from their embraces. ‘Out of sight out of mind’ is a proverb which opens to us the worst side of human nature. But even at Tillietudlem nature’s worst side might sometimes show itself.

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THE THREE CLERKS

Actuated by such feelings as these, Undy heard with joy the tidings of M’Buffer’s stewardship, and determined to rush to the battle at once. Battle he knew there must be. To be brought in for the district of Tillietudlem was a prize which had never yet fallen to any man’s lot without a contest. Tillietudlem was no poor pocket borough to be disposed of, this way or that way, according to the caprice or venal call of some aristocrat. The men of Tillietudlem knew the value of their votes, and would only give them according to their consciences. The way to win these consciences, to overcome the sensitive doubts of a free and independent Tillietudlem elector, Undy knew to his cost.

It was almost a question, as he once told Alaric, whether all that he could sell was worth all that he was compelled to buy. But having put his neck to the collar in this line of life, he was not now going to withdraw. Tillietudlem was once more vacant, and Undy determined to try it again, undaunted by former outlays. To make an outlay, however, at any rate, in electioneering matters, it is necessary that a man should have in hand some ready cash; at the present moment Undy had very little, and therefore the news of Mr. M’Buffer’s retirement to the German baths for his health was not heard with unalloyed delight.

He first went into the city, as men always do when they want money; though in what portion of the city they find it, has never come to the author’s knowledge. Charley Tudor, to be sure, did get £5 by going to the ‘Banks of Jordan;’ but the supply likely to be derived from such a fountain as that would hardly be sufficient for Undy’s wants. Having done what he could in

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ANTHONY TROLLOPE

the city, he came to Alaric, and prayed for the assistance of all his friend’s energies in the matter. Alaric would not have been, and was not unwilling to assist him to the extent of his own immediate means; but his own immediate means were limited, and Undy’s desire for ready cash was almost unlimited.

There was a certain railway or proposed railway in Ireland, in which Undy had ventured very deeply, more so indeed than he had deemed it quite prudent to divulge to his friend; and in order to gain certain ends he had induced Alaric to become a director of this line. The line in question was the Great West Cork, which was to run from Skibbereen to Bantry, and the momentous question now hotly debated before the Railway Board was on the moot point of a branch to Ballydehob. If Undy could carry the West Cork and Ballydehob branch entire, he would make a pretty thing of it; but if, as there was too much reason to fear, his Irish foes should prevail, and leave — as Undy had once said in an eloquent speech at a very influential meeting of shareholders — and leave the unfortunate agricultural and commercial interest of Ballydehob steeped in Cimmerian darkness, the chances were that poor Undy would be well nigh ruined.

Such being the case, he had striven, not unsuccessfully, to draw Alaric into the concern. Alaric had bought very cheaply a good many shares, which many people said were worth nothing, and had, by dint of Undy’s machinations, been chosen a director on the board. Undy himself meanwhile lay by, hoping that fortune might restore him to Parliament, and haply put him on that committee which must finally adjudicate as to the great question of the Ballydehob branch.

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THE THREE CLERKS

Such were the circumstances under which he came to Alaric with the view of raising such a sum of money as might enable him to overcome the scruples of the Tillietudlem electors, and place himself in the shoes lately vacated by Mr. M’Buffer.

They were sitting together after dinner when he commenced the subject. He and Mrs. Val and Clementina had done the Tudors the honour of dining with them; and the ladies had now gone up into the drawing-room, and were busy talking over the Chiswick affair, which was to come off in the next week, and after which Mrs. Val intended to give a small evening party to the most élite of her acquaintance.

‘We won’t have all the world, my dear,’ she had said to Gertrude, ‘but just a few of our own set that are really nice. Clementina is dying to try that new back step with M. Jaquêtanàpe, so we won’t crowd the room.’ Such were the immediate arrangements of the Tudor and Scott party.

‘So M’Buffer is off at last,’ said Scott, as he seated himself and filled his glass, after closing the dining-room door. ‘He brought his pigs to a bad market after all.’

‘He was an infernal rogue,’ said Alaric.

‘Well, I suppose he was,’ said Undy; ‘and a fool into the bargain to be found out.’

‘He was a downright swindler,’ said Alaric.

‘After all,’ said the other, not paying much attention to Alaric’s indignation, ‘he did not do so very badly. Why, M’Buffer has been at it now for thirteen years. He began with nothing; he had neither blood nor money; and God knows he had no social merits to recommend him. He is as vulgar as a hog, as awkward as an elephant, and as ugly as an ape. I believe he never

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ANTHONY TROLLOPE

had a friend, and was known at his club to be the greatest bore that ever came out of Scotland; and yet for thirteen years he has lived on the fat of the land; for five years he has been in Parliament, his wife has gone about in her carriage, and every man in the city has been willing to shake hands with him.’

‘Andwhathasitallcometo?’saidAlaric,whomthequestionof M’Buffer’s temporary prosperity made rather thoughtful.

‘Well, not so bad either; he has had his fling for thirteen years, and that’s something. Thirteen good years out of a man’s life is more than falls to the lot of every one. And then, I suppose, he has saved something.’

‘And he is spoken of everywhere as a monster for whom hanging is too good.’

‘Pshaw! that won’t hang him. Yesterday he was a god; today he is a devil; to-morrow he’ll be a man again; that’s all.’

‘But you don’t mean to tell me, Undy, that the consciousness of such crimes as those which M’Buffer has committed must not make a man wretched in this world, and probably in the next also?’

‘Judge not, and ye shall not be judged,’ said Undy, quoting Scripture as the devil did before him; ‘and as for consciousness of crime, I suppose M’Buffer has none at all. I have no doubt he thinks himself quite as honest as the rest of the world. He firmly believes that all of us are playing the same game, and using the same means, and has no idea whatever that dishonesty is objectionable.’

‘And you, what do you think about it yourself?’

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