CHAPTER XVIII BURTON THINKS HE IS MENDING MATTERS

"My adored Rachel," wrote Burton that night. "I am having a very curious experience. I have dropped into a regular melodrama¹. I suppose there is a plot to it, but so far I have chiefly been kept guessing. You will be interested in it, though I know melodrama is not your favorite style of literature, because it nearly involves the Underwood family. In fact, they are supposed to be the whole head and front of the offending.

"I told you that there was some vague accusation² of Dr. Underwood in the town, which I felt under obligations, as your ambassador, to investigate, in carrying out the mission with which I was charged. That matter has almost been lost sight of, in the popular excitement over subsequent events. A house burned down the next night, and the police said the fire was of incendiary origin. Thereupon the public jumped to the conclusion that it was set either by Dr. Underwood or his son Henry, though as to the doctor I can personally testify that he was laid up with a sprained³ ankle that night, and could hardly hobble about his room. But a trifle like that would cut no figure with an excited public, eager only to hear some new thing that would make its hair stand on end. Then the following night a man was assaulted in his own house,--tied to his bed, and warned not to talk about people as recklessly as he had been doing. This time suspicion was directed to Henry Underwood, and he has been arrested. The young man refuses bail⁴, on the ground that he wants to be locked up so as to leave no room for charging him with the next eccentric thing that may happen in High Ridge⁵. I hope you agree with me that this shows a good deal of spirit and pluck, especially as the town jail is a place that no one who was looking for downy beds of ease would choose for a summer resort. I must tell you that this young man interests me extremely. There is no vanity in this, for I cannot say that the interest is reciprocated⁶. He treats me with a haughty⁷ tolerance⁸ that would wound my self-esteem, if I did not see that it is merely his manner to everybody. He seems to go on the theory that all men are in a conspiracy¹⁰ against him, and he will neither ask nor give quarter. You will gather from this that I do not believe he assaulted the old gentleman in his bed. I don't. Use your judgment¹¹ as to how much of all this you should tell Philip. And speaking of that, I am not sure that I fully¹² expressed, in my last letter, my great enthusiasm for Philip's sagacity. My admiration¹³ for the young lady in question has grown with my more extended acquaintance. She is not only beautiful,--as I told you in my first report,--but she has a lot of personality. That is an attribute which it is hard to more specifically designate, but you know what I mean. She has character, so that you feel you could rely upon her absolutely in need, and fascination¹⁴, so that you would never be dull in her company, and simplicity¹⁵, so that you would never weary of her. I think it is the artificial element in people that tires us, just as it is the artificial in life. The large, simple things are always restful. The longer we live with them,--as shown in the sea and the mountain and the desert,--the more we come to depend upon them and love them. Some people are like that,--large-natured and simple and so true that you never have any disturbing perplexity as to what they may stand for. She is like that, I think. And I feel that Philip has chosen a really wonderful woman for his wife,--a woman who will be the making of him.

"You may not hear from me again very soon, for I am going out of town on a mission,--a secret mission which may be big with importance if I do not miss my guess. Does that make you curious? In short, I, even I, am going to try my hand at some detective work on my own account. I shall not tell you the details in advance, because if I fail utterly¹⁶, it will be less humiliating to reflect that I have not confessed my wild-goose chasing. But if your wishes have any influence with the powers that be, do wish me success. I want terribly to pull this thing off. Just think what it will mean to that poor, brave girl! Oh, Rachel, you will be so proud and fond of her! To have helped in any degree to have brought you so rare a daughter is a matter to cheer the solitary¹⁷ moments of

"Your Blighted¹⁸ Being."

"My Adored Rachel: This is not a postscript¹⁹, nor yet is it a mere⁹ subterfuge²⁰ to give me a chance to call you 'adored' again. It is another letter under the same cover, because I just happened to think of something else I wanted to say. Miss Underwood is very proud, very sensitive, and, I suspect, more than a little in awe²¹ of the paragon²² of perfection who will receive this epistle. I think it would be a very 'nice' thing, as you would say, for you to write her a little letter, telling her how you will love her and all that. Who knows better how beautifully you can write when you want to than your own

"Blighted Being."

Burton mailed the letter without reading it over. It is possible that if he had applied²³ his mind to the matter, he might have realized that it was not exactly the sort of an introduction that would make Miss Underwood persona grata to her future mother-in-law, for he had intervals²⁴ of common sense; but his mind was otherwise engaged. So he sent the letter on its way with innocent cheerfulness.

1 melodrama   

n.音乐剧；情节剧

参考例句：

• We really don't need all this ridiculous melodrama!别跟我们来这套荒唐的情节剧表演！
• White Haired Woman was a melodrama,but in certain spots it was deliberately funny.《白毛女》是一出悲剧性的歌剧，但也有不少插科打诨。

2 accusation   

n.控告，指责，谴责

参考例句：

• I was furious at his making such an accusation.我对他的这种责备非常气愤。
• She knew that no one would believe her accusation.她知道没人会相信她的指控。

3 sprained   

v.&n. 扭伤

参考例句：

• I stumbled and sprained my ankle. 我摔了一跤，把脚脖子扭了。
• When Mary sprained her ankles, John carried her piggyback to the doctors. 玛丽扭伤了足踝，约翰驮她去看医生。

4 bail   

v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人

参考例句：

• One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。
• She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。

5 ridge   

n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭

参考例句：

• We clambered up the hillside to the ridge above.我们沿着山坡费力地爬上了山脊。
• The infantry were advancing to attack the ridge.步兵部队正在向前挺进攻打山脊。

6 reciprocated   

v.报答，酬答( reciprocate的过去式和过去分词 )；（机器的部件）直线往复运动

参考例句：

• Her passion for him was not reciprocated. 她对他的热情没有得到回应。
• Their attraction to each other as friends is reciprocated. 作为朋友，他们相互吸引着对方。 来自辞典例句

7 haughty   

adj.傲慢的，高傲的

参考例句：

• He gave me a haughty look and walked away.他向我摆出傲慢的表情后走开。
• They were displeased with her haughty airs.他们讨厌她高傲的派头。

8 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

9 mere   

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。

10 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

11 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

12 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

13 admiration   

n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕

参考例句：

• He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
• We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。

14 fascination   

n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋

参考例句：

• He had a deep fascination with all forms of transport.他对所有的运输工具都很着迷。
• His letters have been a source of fascination to a wide audience.广大观众一直迷恋于他的来信。

15 simplicity   

n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯

参考例句：

• She dressed with elegant simplicity.她穿着朴素高雅。
• The beauty of this plan is its simplicity.简明扼要是这个计划的一大特点。

16 utterly   

adv.完全地，绝对地

参考例句：

• Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民，把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
• I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。

17 solitary   

adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士

参考例句：

• I am rather fond of a solitary stroll in the country.我颇喜欢在乡间独自徜徉。
• The castle rises in solitary splendour on the fringe of the desert.这座城堡巍然耸立在沙漠的边际，显得十分壮美。

18 blighted   

adj.枯萎的，摧毁的

参考例句：

• Blighted stems often canker.有病的茎往往溃烂。
• She threw away a blighted rose.她把枯萎的玫瑰花扔掉了。

19 postscript   

n.附言，又及；(正文后的)补充说明

参考例句：

• There was the usual romantic postscript at the end of his letter.他的信末又是一贯的浪漫附言。
• She mentioned in a postscript to her letter that the parcel had arrived.她在信末附笔中说包裹已寄到。

20 subterfuge   

n.诡计；藉口

参考例句：

• European carping over the phraseology represented a mixture of hypocrisy and subterfuge.欧洲在措词上找岔子的做法既虚伪又狡诈。
• The Independents tried hard to swallow the wretched subterfuge.独立党的党员们硬着头皮想把这一拙劣的托词信以为真。

21 awe   

n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧

参考例句：

• The sight filled us with awe.这景色使我们大为惊叹。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

22 paragon   

n.模范，典型

参考例句：

• He was considered to be a paragon of virtue.他被认为是品德尽善尽美的典范。
• Man is the paragon of animals.人是万物之灵。

23 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

24 intervals   

n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息

参考例句：

• The forecast said there would be sunny intervals and showers. 预报间晴，有阵雨。
• Meetings take place at fortnightly intervals. 每两周开一次会。