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首页 » 英文短篇小说 » The New Magdalen » Chapter xxii. The Man in the Dining-Room
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Chapter xxii. The Man in the Dining-Room
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IN the great emergencies of life we feel, or we act, as our dispositions1 incline us. But we never think. Mercy’s mind was a blank as she descended2 the stairs. On her way down she was conscious of nothing but the one headlong impulse to get to the library in the shortest possible space of time. Arrived at the door, the impulse capriciously left her. She stopped on the mat, wondering why she had hurried herself, with time to spare. Her heart sank; the fever of her excitement changed suddenly to a chill as she faced the closed door, and asked herself the question, Dare I go in?

Her own hand answered her. She lifted it to turn the handle of the lock. It dropped again helplessly at her side.

The sense of her own irresolution3 wrung4 from her a low exclamation5 of despair. Faint as it was, it had apparently6 not passed unheard. The door was opened from within — and Horace stood before her.

He drew aside to let her pass into the room. But he never followed her in. He stood in the doorway7, and spoke8 to her, keeping the door open with his hand.

“Do you mind waiting here for me?” he asked.

She looked at him, in vacant surprise, doubting whether she had heard him aright.

“It will not be for long,” he went on. “I am far too anxious to hear what you have to tell me to submit to any needless delays. The truth is, I have had a message from Lady Janet.”

(From Lady Janet! What could Lady Janet want with him, at a time when she was bent9 on composing herself in the retirement10 of her own room?)

“I ought to have said two messages,” Horace proceeded. “The first was given to me on my way downstairs. Lady Janet wished to see me immediately. I sent an excuse. A second message followed. Lady Janet would accept no excuse. If I refused to go to her I should be merely obliging her to come to me. It is impossible to risk being interrupted in that way; my only alternative is to get the thing over as soon as possible. Do you mind waiting?”

“Certainly not. Have you any idea of what Lady Janet wants with you?”

“No. Whatever it is, she shall not keep me long away from you. You will be quite alone here; I have warned the servants not to show any one in.” With those words he left her.

Mercy’s first sensation was a sensation of relief — soon lost in a feeling of shame at the weakness which could welcome any temporary relief in such a position as hers. The emotion thus roused merged12, in its turn, into a sense of impatient regret. “But for Lady Janet’s message,” she thought to herself, “I might have known my fate by this time!”

The slow minutes followed each other drearily13. She paced to and fro in the library, faster and faster, under the intolerable irritation14, the maddening uncertainty15, of her own suspense16. Ere long, even the spacious17 room seemed to be too small for her. The sober monotony of the long book-lined shelves oppressed and offended her. She threw open the door which led into the dining-room, and dashed in, eager for a change of objects, athirst for more space and more air.

At the first step she checked herself; rooted to the spot, under a sudden revulsion of feeling which quieted her in an instant.

The room was only illuminated18 by the waning19 fire-light. A man was obscurely visible, seated on the sofa, with his elbows on his knees and his head resting on his hands. He looked up as the open door let in the light from the library lamps. The mellow20 glow reached his face and revealed Julian Gray.

Mercy was standing21 with her back to the light; her face being necessarily hidden in deep shadow. He recognized her by her figure, and by the attitude into which it unconsciously fell. That unsought grace, that lithe22 long beauty of line, belonged to but one woman in the house. He rose, and approached her.

“I have been wishing to see you,” he said, “and hoping that accident might bring about some such meeting as this.”

He offered her a chair. Mercy hesitated before she took her seat. This was their first meeting alone since Lady Janet had interrupted her at the moment when she was about to confide23 to Julian the melancholy24 story of the past. Was he anxious to seize the opportunity of returning to her confession25? The terms in which he had addressed her seemed to imply it. She put the question to him in plain words,

“I feel the deepest interest in hearing all that you have still to confide to me,” he answered. “But anxious as I may be, I will not hurry you. I will wait, if you wish it.”

“I am afraid I must own that I do wish it,” Mercy rejoined. “Not on my account — but because my time is at the disposal of Horace Holmcroft. I expect to see him in a few minutes.”

“Could you give me those few minutes?” Julian asked. “I have something on my side to say to you which I think you ought to know before you see any one — Horace himself included.”

He spoke with a certain depression of tone which was not associated with her previous experience of him. His face looked prematurely26 old and careworn27 in the red light of the fire. Something had plainly happened to sadden and to disappoint him since they had last met.

“I willingly offer you all the time that I have at my own command,” Mercy replied. “Does what you have to tell me relate to Lady Janet?”

He gave her no direct reply. “What I have to tell you of Lady Janet,” he said, gravely, “is soon told. So far as she is concerned you have nothing more to dread28. Lady Janet knows all.”

Even the heavy weight of oppression caused by the impending29 interview with Horace failed to hold its place in Mercy’s mind when Julian answered her in those words.

“Come into the lighted room,” she said, faintly. “It is too terrible to hear you say that in the dark.”

Julian followed her into the library. Her limbs trembled under her. She dropped into a chair, and shrank under his great bright eyes, as he stood by her side looking sadly down on her.

“Lady Janet knows all!” she repeated, with her head on her breast, and the tears falling slowly over her cheeks. “Have you told her?”

“I have said nothing to Lady Janet or to any one. Your confidence is a sacred confidence to me, until you have spoken first.”

“Has Lady Janet said anything to you?”

“Not a word. She has looked at you with the vigilant30 eyes of love; she has listened to you with the quick hearing of love — and she has found her own way to the truth. She will not speak of it to me — she will not speak of it to any living creature. I only know now how dearly she loved you. In spite of herself she clings to you still. Her life, poor soul, has been a barren one; unworthy, miserably31 unworthy, of such a nature as hers. Her marriage was loveless and childless. She has had admirers, but never, in the higher sense of the word, a friend. All the best years of her life have been wasted in the unsatisfied longing32 for something to love. At the end of her life You have filled the void. Her heart has found its youth again, through You. At her age — at any age — is such a tie as this to be rudely broken at the mere11 bidding of circumstances? No! She will suffer anything, risk anything, forgive anything, rather than own, even to herself, that she has been deceived in you. There is more than her happiness at stake; there is pride, a noble pride, in such love as hers, which will ignore the plainest discovery and deny the most unanswerable truth. I am firmly convinced — from my own knowledge of her character, and from what I have observed in her to-day — that she will find some excuse for refusing to hear your confession. And more than that, I believe (if the exertion33 of her influence can do it) that she will leave no means untried of preventing you from acknowledging your true position here to any living creature. I take a serious responsibility on myself in telling you this — and I don’t shrink from it. You ought to know, and you shall know, what trials and what temptations may yet lie before you.”

He paused — leaving Mercy time to compose herself, if she wished to speak to him.

She felt that there was a necessity for her speaking to him. He was plainly not aware that Lady Janet had already written to her to defer34 her promised explanation. This circumstance was in itself a confirmation35 of the opinion which he had expressed. She ought to mention it to him; she tried to mention it to him. But she was not equal to the effort. The few simple words in which he had touched on the tie that bound Lady Janet to her had wrung her heart. Her tears choked her. She could only sign to him to go on.

“You may wonder at my speaking so positively,” he continued, “with nothing better than my own conviction to justify36 me. I can only say that I have watched Lady Janet too closely to feel any doubt. I saw the moment in which the truth flashed on her, as plainly as I now see you. It did not disclose itself gradually — it burst on her, as it burst on me. She suspected nothing — she was frankly37 indignant at your sudden interference and your strange language — until the time came in which you pledged yourself to produce Mercy Merrick. Then (and then only) the truth broke on her mind, trebly revealed to her in your words, your voice, and your look. Then (and then only) I saw a marked change come over her, and remain in her while she remained in the room. I dread to think of what she may do in the first reckless despair of the discovery that she has made. I distrust — though God knows I am not naturally a suspicious man — the most apparently trifling39 events that are now taking place about us. You have held nobly to your resolution to own the truth. Prepare yourself, before the evening is over, to be tried and tempted40 again.”

Mercy lifted her head. Fear took the place of grief in her eyes, as they rested in startled inquiry41 on Julian’s face.

“How is it possible that temptation can come to me now?” she asked.

“I will leave it to events to answer that question,” he said. “You will not have long to wait. In the meantime I have put you on your guard.” He stooped, and spoke his next words earnestly, close at her ear. “Hold fast by the admirable courage which you have shown thus far,” he went on. “Suffer anything rather than suffer the degradation42 of yourself. Be the woman whom I once spoke of — the woman I still have in my mind — who can nobly reveal the noble nature that is in her. And never forget this — my faith in you is as firm as ever!”

She looked at him proudly and gratefully.

“I am pledged to justify your faith in me,” she said. “I have put it out of my own power to yield. Horace has my promise that I will explain everything to him, in this room.”

Julian started.

“Has Horace himself asked it of you?” he inquired. “He, at least, has no suspicion of the truth.”

“Horace has appealed to my duty to him as his betrothed43 wife,” she answered. “He has the first claim to my confidence — he resents my silence, and he has a right to resent it. Terrible as it will be to open his eyes to the truth, I must do it if he asks me.”

She was looking at Julian while she spoke. The old longing to associate with the hard trial of the confession the one man who had felt for her, and believed in her, revived under another form. If she could only know, while she was saying the fatal words to Horace, that Julian was listening too, she would be encouraged to meet the worst that could happen! As the idea crossed her mind, she observed that Julian was looking toward the door through which they had lately passed. In an instant she saw the means to her end. Hardly waiting to hear the few kind expressions of sympathy and approval which he addressed to her, she hinted timidly at the proposal which she had now to make to him.

“Are you going back into the next room?” she asked.

“Not if you object to it,” he replied.

“I don’t object. I want you to be there.”

“After Horace has joined you?”

“Yes. After Horace has joined me.”

“Do you wish to see me when it is over?”

She summoned her resolution, and told him frankly what she had in her mind.

“I want you to be near me while I am speaking to Horace,” she said. “It will give me courage if I can feel that I am speaking to you as well as to him. I can count on your sympathy — and sympathy is so precious to me now! Am I asking too much, if I ask you to leave the door unclosed when you go back to the dining-room? Think of the dreadful trial — to him as well as to me! I am only a woman; I am afraid I may sink under it, if I have no friend near me. And I have no friend but you.”

In those simple words she tried her powers of persuasion44 on him for the first time.

Between perplexity and distress45 Julian was, for the moment, at a loss how to answer her. The love for Mercy which he dared not acknowledge was as vital a feeling in him as the faith in her which he had been free to avow46. To refuse anything that she asked of him in her sore need — and, more even than that, to refuse to hear the confession which it had been her first impulse to make to him— these were cruel sacrifices to his sense of what was due to Horace and of what was due to himself. But shrink as he might, even from the appearance of deserting her, it was impossible for him (except under a reserve which was almost equivalent to a denial) to grant her request.

“All that I can do I will do,” he said. “The doors shall be left unclosed, and I will remain in the next room, on this condition, that Horace knows of it as well as you. I should be unworthy of your confidence in me if I consented to be a listener on any other terms. You understand that, I am sure, as well as I do.”

She had never thought of her proposal to him in this light. Woman-like, she had thought of nothing but the comfort of having him near her. She understood him now. A faint flush of shame rose on her pale cheeks as she thanked him. He delicately relieved her from her embarrassment47 by putting a question which naturally occurred under the circumstances.

“Where is Horace all this time?” he asked. “Why is he not here?”

“He has been called away,” she answered, “by a message from Lady Janet.”

The reply more than astonished Julian; it seemed almost to alarm him. He returned to Mercy’s chair; he said to her, eagerly, “Are you sure?”

“Horace himself told me that Lady Janet had insisted on seeing him.”

“When?”

“Not long ago. He asked me to wait for him here while he went upstairs.”

Julian’s face darkened ominously48.

“This confirms my worst fears,” he said. “Have you had any communication with Lady Janet?”

Mercy replied by showing him his aunt’s note. He read it carefully through.

“Did I not tell you,” he said, “that she would find some excuse for refusing to hear your confession? She begins by delaying it, simply to gain time for something else which she has it in her mind to do. When did you receive this note? Soon after you went upstairs?”

“About a quarter of an hour after, as well as I can guess.”

“Do you know what happened down here after you left us?”

“Horace told me that Lady Janet had offered Miss Roseberry the use of her boudoir.”

“Any more?”

“He said that you had shown her the way to the room.”

“Did he tell you what happened after that?”

“No.”

“Then I must tell you. If I can do nothing more in this serious state of things, I can at least prevent your being taken by surprise. In the first place, it is right you should know that I had a motive49 for accompanying Miss Roseberry to the boudoir. I was anxious (for your sake) to make some appeal to her better self — if she had any better self to address. I own I had doubts of my success — judging by what I had already seen of her. My doubts were confirmed. In the ordinary intercourse50 of life I should merely have thought her a commonplace, uninteresting woman. Seeing her as I saw her while we were alone — in other words, penetrating51 below the surface — I have never, in all my sad experience, met with such a hopelessly narrow, mean, and low nature as hers. Understanding, as she could not fail to do, what the sudden change in Lady Janet’s behavior toward her really meant, her one idea was to take the cruelest possible advantage of it. So far from feeling any consideration for you, she was only additionally imbittered toward you. She protested against your being permitted to claim the merit of placing her in her right position here by your own voluntary avowal52 of the truth. She insisted on publicly denouncing you, and on forcing Lady Janet to dismiss you, unheard, before the whole household! ‘Now I can have my revenge! At last Lady Janet is afraid of me!’ Those were her own words — I am almost ashamed to repeat them — those, on my honor, were her own words! Every possible humiliation53 to be heaped on you; no consideration to be shown for Lady Janet’s age and Lady Janet’s position; nothing, absolutely nothing, to be allowed to interfere38 with Miss Roseberry’s vengeance54 and Miss Roseberry’s triumph! There is this woman’s shameless view of what is due to her, as stated by herself in the plainest terms. I kept my temper; I did all I could to bring her to a better frame of mind. I might as well have pleaded — I won’t say with a savage55; savages56 are sometimes accessible to remonstrance57, if you know how to reach them — I might as well have pleaded with a hungry animal to abstain58 from eating while food was within its reach. I had just given up the hopeless effort in disgust, when Lady Janet’s maid appeared with a message for Miss Roseberry from her mistress: ‘My lady’s compliments, ma’am, and she will be glad to see you at your earliest convenience, in her room.’”

Another surprise! Grace Roseberry invited to an interview with Lady Janet! It would have been impossible to believe it, if Julian had not heard the invitation given with his own ears.

“She instantly rose,” Julian proceeded. “‘I won’t keep her ladyship waiting a moment,’ she said; ‘show me the way.’ She signed to the maid to go out of the room first, and then turned round and spoke to me from the door. I despair of describing the insolent59 exultation60 of her manner. I can only repeat her words: ‘This is exactly what I wanted! I had intended to insist on seeing Lady Janet: she saves me the trouble. I am infinitely61 obliged to her.’ With that she nodded to me, and closed the door. I have not seen her, I have not heard of her, since. For all I know, she may be still with my aunt, and Horace may have found her there when he entered the room.”

“What can Lady Janet have to say to her?” Mercy asked, eagerly.

“It is impossible even to guess. When you found me in the dining-room I was considering that very question. I cannot imagine that any neutral ground can exist on which it is possible for Lady Janet and this woman to meet. In her present frame of mind she will in all probability insult Lady Janet before she has been five minutes in the room. I own I am completely puzzled. The one conclusion I can arrive at is that the note which my aunt sent to you, the private interview with Miss Roseberry which has followed, and the summons to Horace which has succeeded in its turn, are all links in the same chain of events, and are all tending to that renewed temptation against which I have already warned you.”

Mercy held up her hand for silence. She looked toward the door that opened on the hall; had she heard a footstep outside? No. All was still. Not a sign yet of Horace’s return.

“Oh!” she exclaimed, “what would I not give to know what is going on upstairs!”

“You will soon know it now,” said Julian. “It is impossible that our present uncertainty can last much longer.”

He turned away, intending to go back to the room in which she had found him. Looking at her situation from a man’s point of view, he naturally assumed that the best service he could now render to Mercy would be to leave her to prepare herself for the interview with Horace. Before he had taken three steps away from her she showed him the difference between the woman’s point of view and the man’s. The idea of considering beforehand what she should say never entered her mind. In her horror of being left by herself at that critical moment, she forgot every other consideration. Even the warning remembrance of Horace’s jealous distrust of Julian passed away from her, for the moment, as completely as if it never had a place in her memory. “Don’t leave me!” she cried. “I can’t wait here alone. Come back — come back!”

She rose impulsively62 while she spoke, as if to follow him into the dining-room, if he persisted in leaving her.

A momentary63 expression of doubt crossed Julian’s face as he retraced64 his steps and signed to her to be seated a gain. Could she be depended on (he asked himself) to sustain the coming test of her resolution, when she had not courage enough to wait for events in a room by herself? Julian had yet to learn that a woman’s courage rises with the greatness of the emergency. Ask her to accompany you through a field in which some harmless cattle happen to be grazing, and it is doubtful, in nine cases out of ten, if she will do it. Ask her, as one of the passengers in a ship on fire, to help in setting an example of composure to the rest, and it is certain, in nine cases out of ten, that she will do it. As soon as Julian had taken a chair near her, Mercy was calm again.

“Are you sure of your resolution?” he asked.

“I am certain of it,” she answered, “as long as you don’t leave me by myself.”

The talk between them dropped there. They sat together in silence, with their eyes fixed65 on the door, waiting for Horace to come in.

After the lapse66 of a few minutes their attention was attracted by a sound outside in the grounds. A carriage of some sort was plainly audible approaching the house.

The carriage stopped; the bell rang; the front door was opened. Had a visitor arrived? No voice could be heard making inquiries67. No footsteps but the servant’s footsteps crossed the hall. Along pause followed, the carriage remaining at the door. Instead of bringing some one to the house, it had apparently arrived to take some one away.

The next event was the return of the servant to the front door. They listened again. Again no second footstep was audible. The door was closed; the servant recrossed the hall; the carriage was driven away. Judging by sounds alone, no one had arrived at the house, and no one had left the house.

Julian looked at Mercy. “Do you understand this?” he asked.

She silently shook her head.

“If any person has gone away in the carriage,” Julian went on, “that person can hardly have been a man, or we must have heard him in the hall.”

The conclusion which her companion had just drawn68 from the noiseless departure of the supposed visitor raised a sudden doubt in Mercy’s mind.

“Go and inquire!” she said, eagerly.

Julian left the room, and returned again, after a brief absence, with signs of grave anxiety in his face and manner.

“I told you I dreaded69 the most trifling events that were passing about us,” he said. “An event, which is far from being trifling, has just happened. The carriage which we heard approaching along the drive turns out to have been a cab sent for from the house. The person who has gone away in it —”

“Is a woman, as you supposed?”

“Yes.”

Mercy rose excitedly from her chair.

“It can’t be Grace Roseberry?” she exclaimed.

“It is Grace Roseberry.”

“Has she gone away alone?”

“Alone — after an interview with Lady Janet.”

“Did she go willingly?”

“She herself sent the servant for the cab.”

“What does it mean?”

“It is useless to inquire. We shall soon know.”

They resumed their seats, waiting, as they had waited already, with their eyes on the library door.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 dispositions eee819c0d17bf04feb01fd4dcaa8fe35     
安排( disposition的名词复数 ); 倾向; (财产、金钱的)处置; 气质
参考例句:
  • We got out some information about the enemy's dispositions from the captured enemy officer. 我们从捕获的敌军官那里问出一些有关敌军部署的情况。
  • Elasticity, solubility, inflammability are paradigm cases of dispositions in natural objects. 伸缩性、可缩性、易燃性是天然物体倾向性的范例。
2 descended guQzoy     
a.为...后裔的,出身于...的
参考例句:
  • A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
  • The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。
3 irresolution d3284675d25cf96c3e6d45a69ba619a8     
n.不决断,优柔寡断,犹豫不定
参考例句:
  • A lack of certainty that often leads to irresolution. 疑惑缺少肯定而导致犹豫不决。 来自互联网
  • Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? 我们迟疑不决、无所作为就能积聚力量吗? 来自互联网
4 wrung b11606a7aab3e4f9eebce4222a9397b1     
绞( wring的过去式和过去分词 ); 握紧(尤指别人的手); 把(湿衣服)拧干; 绞掉(水)
参考例句:
  • He has wrung the words from their true meaning. 他曲解这些字的真正意义。
  • He wrung my hand warmly. 他热情地紧握我的手。
5 exclamation onBxZ     
n.感叹号,惊呼,惊叹词
参考例句:
  • He could not restrain an exclamation of approval.他禁不住喝一声采。
  • The author used three exclamation marks at the end of the last sentence to wake up the readers.作者在文章的最后一句连用了三个惊叹号,以引起读者的注意。
6 apparently tMmyQ     
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎
参考例句:
  • An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽,豁然开朗。
  • He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。
7 doorway 2s0xK     
n.门口,(喻)入门;门路,途径
参考例句:
  • They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
  • Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。
8 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
9 bent QQ8yD     
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。
10 retirement TWoxH     
n.退休,退职
参考例句:
  • She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
  • I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。
11 mere rC1xE     
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。
12 merged d33b2d33223e1272c8bbe02180876e6f     
(使)混合( merge的过去式和过去分词 ); 相融; 融入; 渐渐消失在某物中
参考例句:
  • Turf wars are inevitable when two departments are merged. 两个部门合并时总免不了争争权限。
  • The small shops were merged into a large market. 那些小商店合并成为一个大商场。
13 drearily a9ac978ac6fcd40e1eeeffcdb1b717a2     
沉寂地,厌倦地,可怕地
参考例句:
  • "Oh, God," thought Scarlett drearily, "that's just the trouble. "啊,上帝!" 思嘉沮丧地想,"难就难在这里呀。
  • His voice was utterly and drearily expressionless. 他的声调,阴沉沉的,干巴巴的,完全没有感情。
14 irritation la9zf     
n.激怒,恼怒,生气
参考例句:
  • He could not hide his irritation that he had not been invited.他无法掩饰因未被邀请而生的气恼。
  • Barbicane said nothing,but his silence covered serious irritation.巴比康什么也不说,但是他的沉默里潜伏着阴郁的怒火。
15 uncertainty NlFwK     
n.易变,靠不住,不确知,不确定的事物
参考例句:
  • Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
  • After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后,压力开始产生影响了。
16 suspense 9rJw3     
n.(对可能发生的事)紧张感,担心,挂虑
参考例句:
  • The suspense was unbearable.这样提心吊胆的状况实在叫人受不了。
  • The director used ingenious devices to keep the audience in suspense.导演用巧妙手法引起观众的悬念。
17 spacious YwQwW     
adj.广阔的,宽敞的
参考例句:
  • Our yard is spacious enough for a swimming pool.我们的院子很宽敞,足够建一座游泳池。
  • The room is bright and spacious.这房间很豁亮。
18 illuminated 98b351e9bc282af85e83e767e5ec76b8     
adj.被照明的;受启迪的
参考例句:
  • Floodlights illuminated the stadium. 泛光灯照亮了体育场。
  • the illuminated city at night 夜幕中万家灯火的城市
19 waning waning     
adj.(月亮)渐亏的,逐渐减弱或变小的n.月亏v.衰落( wane的现在分词 );(月)亏;变小;变暗淡
参考例句:
  • Her enthusiasm for the whole idea was waning rapidly. 她对整个想法的热情迅速冷淡了下来。
  • The day is waning and the road is ending. 日暮途穷。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
20 mellow F2iyP     
adj.柔和的;熟透的;v.变柔和;(使)成熟
参考例句:
  • These apples are mellow at this time of year.每年这时节,苹果就熟透了。
  • The colours become mellow as the sun went down.当太阳落山时,色彩变得柔和了。
21 standing 2hCzgo     
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
参考例句:
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
22 lithe m0Ix9     
adj.(指人、身体)柔软的,易弯的
参考例句:
  • His lithe athlete's body had been his pride through most of the fifty - six years.他那轻巧自如的运动员体格,五十六年来几乎一直使他感到自豪。
  • His walk was lithe and graceful.他走路轻盈而优雅。
23 confide WYbyd     
v.向某人吐露秘密
参考例句:
  • I would never readily confide in anybody.我从不轻易向人吐露秘密。
  • He is going to confide the secrets of his heart to us.他将向我们吐露他心里的秘密。
24 melancholy t7rz8     
n.忧郁,愁思;adj.令人感伤(沮丧)的,忧郁的
参考例句:
  • All at once he fell into a state of profound melancholy.他立即陷入无尽的忧思之中。
  • He felt melancholy after he failed the exam.这次考试没通过,他感到很郁闷。
25 confession 8Ygye     
n.自白,供认,承认
参考例句:
  • Her confession was simply tantamount to a casual explanation.她的自白简直等于一篇即席说明。
  • The police used torture to extort a confession from him.警察对他用刑逼供。
26 prematurely nlMzW4     
adv.过早地,贸然地
参考例句:
  • She was born prematurely with poorly developed lungs. 她早产,肺部未发育健全。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • His hair was prematurely white, but his busy eyebrows were still jet-black. 他的头发已经白了,不过两道浓眉还是乌黑乌黑的。 来自辞典例句
27 careworn YTUyF     
adj.疲倦的,饱经忧患的
参考例句:
  • It's sad to see the careworn face of the mother of a large poor family.看到那贫穷的一大家子的母亲忧劳憔悴的脸庞心里真是难受。
  • The old woman had a careworn look on her face.老妇脸上露出忧心忡忡的神色。
28 dread Ekpz8     
vt.担忧,忧虑;惧怕,不敢;n.担忧,畏惧
参考例句:
  • We all dread to think what will happen if the company closes.我们都不敢去想一旦公司关门我们该怎么办。
  • Her heart was relieved of its blankest dread.她极度恐惧的心理消除了。
29 impending 3qHzdb     
a.imminent, about to come or happen
参考例句:
  • Against a background of impending famine, heavy fighting took place. 即将发生饥荒之时,严重的战乱爆发了。
  • The king convoke parliament to cope with the impending danger. 国王召开国会以应付迫近眉睫的危险。
30 vigilant ULez2     
adj.警觉的,警戒的,警惕的
参考例句:
  • He has to learn how to remain vigilant through these long nights.他得学会如何在这漫长的黑夜里保持警觉。
  • The dog kept a vigilant guard over the house.这只狗警醒地守护着这所房屋。
31 miserably zDtxL     
adv.痛苦地;悲惨地;糟糕地;极度地
参考例句:
  • The little girl was wailing miserably. 那小女孩难过得号啕大哭。
  • It was drizzling, and miserably cold and damp. 外面下着毛毛细雨,天气又冷又湿,令人难受。 来自《简明英汉词典》
32 longing 98bzd     
n.(for)渴望
参考例句:
  • Hearing the tune again sent waves of longing through her.再次听到那首曲子使她胸中充满了渴望。
  • His heart burned with longing for revenge.他心中燃烧着急欲复仇的怒火。
33 exertion F7Fyi     
n.尽力,努力
参考例句:
  • We were sweating profusely from the exertion of moving the furniture.我们搬动家具大费气力,累得大汗淋漓。
  • She was hot and breathless from the exertion of cycling uphill.由于用力骑车爬坡,她浑身发热。
34 defer KnYzZ     
vt.推迟,拖延;vi.(to)遵从,听从,服从
参考例句:
  • We wish to defer our decision until next week.我们希望推迟到下星期再作出决定。
  • We will defer to whatever the committee decides.我们遵从委员会作出的任何决定。
35 confirmation ZYMya     
n.证实,确认,批准
参考例句:
  • We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
  • We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前,我们需要书面确认。
36 justify j3DxR     
vt.证明…正当(或有理),为…辩护
参考例句:
  • He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
  • Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗?
37 frankly fsXzcf     
adv.坦白地,直率地;坦率地说
参考例句:
  • To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说,我一点也不赞成这个主意。
  • Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说,我不反对改革。
38 interfere b5lx0     
v.(in)干涉,干预;(with)妨碍,打扰
参考例句:
  • If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话,可能弊多利少。
  • When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件,棘手的事情就来了。
39 trifling SJwzX     
adj.微不足道的;没什么价值的
参考例句:
  • They quarreled over a trifling matter.他们为这种微不足道的事情争吵。
  • So far Europe has no doubt, gained a real conveniency,though surely a very trifling one.直到现在为止,欧洲无疑地已经获得了实在的便利,不过那确是一种微不足道的便利。
40 tempted b0182e969d369add1b9ce2353d3c6ad6     
v.怂恿(某人)干不正当的事;冒…的险(tempt的过去分词)
参考例句:
  • I was sorely tempted to complain, but I didn't. 我极想发牢骚,但还是没开口。
  • I was tempted by the dessert menu. 甜食菜单馋得我垂涎欲滴。
41 inquiry nbgzF     
n.打听,询问,调查,查问
参考例句:
  • Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
  • The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。
42 degradation QxKxL     
n.降级;低落;退化;陵削;降解;衰变
参考例句:
  • There are serious problems of land degradation in some arid zones.在一些干旱地带存在严重的土地退化问题。
  • Gambling is always coupled with degradation.赌博总是与堕落相联系。
43 betrothed betrothed     
n. 已订婚者 动词betroth的过去式和过去分词
参考例句:
  • She is betrothed to John. 她同约翰订了婚。
  • His daughter was betrothed to a teacher. 他的女儿同一个教师订了婚。
44 persuasion wMQxR     
n.劝说;说服;持有某种信仰的宗派
参考例句:
  • He decided to leave only after much persuasion.经过多方劝说,他才决定离开。
  • After a lot of persuasion,she agreed to go.经过多次劝说后,她同意去了。
45 distress 3llzX     
n.苦恼,痛苦,不舒适;不幸;vt.使悲痛
参考例句:
  • Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
  • Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。
46 avow auhzg     
v.承认,公开宣称
参考例句:
  • I must avow that I am innocent.我要公开声明我是无罪的。
  • The senator was forced to avow openly that he had received some money from that company.那个参议员被迫承认曾经收过那家公司的一些钱。
47 embarrassment fj9z8     
n.尴尬;使人为难的人(事物);障碍;窘迫
参考例句:
  • She could have died away with embarrassment.她窘迫得要死。
  • Coughing at a concert can be a real embarrassment.在音乐会上咳嗽真会使人难堪。
48 ominously Gm6znd     
adv.恶兆地,不吉利地;预示地
参考例句:
  • The wheels scooped up stones which hammered ominously under the car. 车轮搅起的石块,在车身下发出不吉祥的锤击声。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Mammy shook her head ominously. 嬷嬷不祥地摇着头。 来自飘(部分)
49 motive GFzxz     
n.动机,目的;adv.发动的,运动的
参考例句:
  • The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
  • He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。
50 intercourse NbMzU     
n.性交;交流,交往,交际
参考例句:
  • The magazine becomes a cultural medium of intercourse between the two peoples.该杂志成为两民族间文化交流的媒介。
  • There was close intercourse between them.他们过往很密。
51 penetrating ImTzZS     
adj.(声音)响亮的,尖锐的adj.(气味)刺激的adj.(思想)敏锐的,有洞察力的
参考例句:
  • He had an extraordinarily penetrating gaze. 他的目光有股异乎寻常的洞察力。
  • He examined the man with a penetrating gaze. 他以锐利的目光仔细观察了那个人。
52 avowal Suvzg     
n.公开宣称,坦白承认
参考例句:
  • The press carried his avowal throughout the country.全国的报纸登载了他承认的消息。
  • This was not a mere empty vaunt,but a deliberate avowal of his real sentiments.这倒不是一个空洞的吹牛,而是他真实感情的供状。
53 humiliation Jd3zW     
n.羞辱
参考例句:
  • He suffered the humiliation of being forced to ask for his cards.他蒙受了被迫要求辞职的羞辱。
  • He will wish to revenge his humiliation in last Season's Final.他会为在上个季度的决赛中所受的耻辱而报复的。
54 vengeance wL6zs     
n.报复,报仇,复仇
参考例句:
  • He swore vengeance against the men who murdered his father.他发誓要向那些杀害他父亲的人报仇。
  • For years he brooded vengeance.多年来他一直在盘算报仇。
55 savage ECxzR     
adj.野蛮的;凶恶的,残暴的;n.未开化的人
参考例句:
  • The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
  • He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。
56 savages 2ea43ddb53dad99ea1c80de05d21d1e5     
未开化的人,野蛮人( savage的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • There're some savages living in the forest. 森林里居住着一些野人。
  • That's an island inhabited by savages. 那是一个野蛮人居住的岛屿。
57 remonstrance bVex0     
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。
58 abstain SVUzq     
v.自制,戒绝,弃权,避免
参考例句:
  • His doctor ordered him to abstain from beer and wine.他的医生嘱咐他戒酒。
  • Three Conservative MPs abstained in the vote.三位保守党下院议员投了弃权票。
59 insolent AbGzJ     
adj.傲慢的,无理的
参考例句:
  • His insolent manner really got my blood up.他那傲慢的态度把我的肺都气炸了。
  • It was insolent of them to demand special treatment.他们要求给予特殊待遇,脸皮真厚。
60 exultation wzeyn     
n.狂喜,得意
参考例句:
  • It made him catch his breath, it lit his face with exultation. 听了这个名字,他屏住呼吸,乐得脸上放光。
  • He could get up no exultation that was really worthy the name. 他一点都激动不起来。
61 infinitely 0qhz2I     
adv.无限地,无穷地
参考例句:
  • There is an infinitely bright future ahead of us.我们有无限光明的前途。
  • The universe is infinitely large.宇宙是无限大的。
62 impulsively 0596bdde6dedf8c46a693e7e1da5984c     
adv.冲动地
参考例句:
  • She leant forward and kissed him impulsively. 她倾身向前,感情冲动地吻了他。
  • Every good, true, vigorous feeling I had gathered came impulsively round him. 我的一切良好、真诚而又强烈的感情都紧紧围绕着他涌现出来。
63 momentary hj3ya     
adj.片刻的,瞬息的;短暂的
参考例句:
  • We are in momentary expectation of the arrival of you.我们无时无刻不在盼望你的到来。
  • I caught a momentary glimpse of them.我瞥了他们一眼。
64 retraced 321f3e113f2767b1b567ca8360d9c6b9     
v.折回( retrace的过去式和过去分词 );回忆;回顾;追溯
参考例句:
  • We retraced our steps to where we started. 我们折回我们出发的地方。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • We retraced our route in an attempt to get back on the right path. 我们折返,想回到正确的路上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
65 fixed JsKzzj     
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的
参考例句:
  • Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗?
  • Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定,我们就不应该随意改变。
66 lapse t2lxL     
n.过失,流逝,失效,抛弃信仰,间隔;vi.堕落,停止,失效,流逝;vt.使失效
参考例句:
  • The incident was being seen as a serious security lapse.这一事故被看作是一次严重的安全疏忽。
  • I had a lapse of memory.我记错了。
67 inquiries 86a54c7f2b27c02acf9fcb16a31c4b57     
n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 );疑问;探究;打听
参考例句:
  • He was released on bail pending further inquiries. 他获得保释,等候进一步调查。
  • I have failed to reach them by postal inquiries. 我未能通过邮政查询与他们取得联系。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
68 drawn MuXzIi     
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。
69 dreaded XuNzI3     
adj.令人畏惧的;害怕的v.害怕,恐惧,担心( dread的过去式和过去分词)
参考例句:
  • The dreaded moment had finally arrived. 可怕的时刻终于来到了。
  • He dreaded having to spend Christmas in hospital. 他害怕非得在医院过圣诞节不可。 来自《用法词典》


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