"Good God, sir!" he cried. "You don't know—"
"I can surmise3," interrupted the elder man shrewdly.
"You turned up in the nick of time, for all the world like—"
"Harlequin popping through a stage trap?"
"No!—an incarnation of the Providence4 that watches over children and fools."
Brentwick dropped a calming hand upon his shoulder. "Your simile5 seems singularly happy, Philip. Permit me to suggest that you join the child in my study." He laughed quietly, with a slight nod toward an open door at the end of the hallway. "For myself, I'll be with you in one moment."
A faint, indulgent smile lurking6 in the shadow of his white mustache, he watched the young man wheel and dart7 through the doorway8. "Young hearts!" he commented inaudibly—and a trace sadly. "Youth!..."
Beyond the threshold of the study, Kirkwood paused, eager eyes searching its somber9 shadows for a sign of Dorothy.
A long room and deep, it was lighted only by the circumscribed10 disk of illumination thrown on the central desk by a shaded reading-lamp, and the flickering11 glow of a grate-fire set beneath the mantel of a side-wall. At the back, heavy velvet12 portières cloaked the recesses13 of two long windows, closed jealously even against the twilight14. Aside from the windows, doors and chimney-piece, every foot of wall space was occupied by towering bookcases or by shelves crowded to the limit of their capacity with an amazing miscellany of objects of art, the fruit of years of patient and discriminating15 collecting. An exotic and heady atmosphere, compounded of the faint and intangible exhalations of these insentient things, fragrance16 of sandalwood, myrrh and musk17, reminiscent whiffs of half-forgotten incense18, seemed to intensify19 the impression of gloomy richness and repose20...
By the fireplace, a little to one side, stood Dorothy, one small foot resting on the brass21 fender, her figure merging22 into the dusky background, her delicate beauty gaining an effect of elusive23 and ethereal mystery in the waning24 and waxing ruddy glow upflung from the bedded coals.
"Oh, Philip!" She turned swiftly to Kirkwood with extended hands and a low, broken cry. "I'm so glad...."
A trace of hysteria in her manner warned him, and he checked himself upon the verge25 of a too dangerous tenderness. "There!" he said soothingly26, letting her hands rest gently in his palms while he led her to a chair. "We can make ourselves easy now." She sat down and he released her hands with a reluctance27 less evident than actual. "If ever I say another word against my luck—"
"Who," inquired the girl, lowering her voice, "who is the gentleman in the flowered dressing-gown?"
"Brentwick—George Silvester Brentwick: an old friend. I've known him for years,—ever since I came abroad. Curiously28 enough, however, this is the first time I've ever been here. I called once, but he wasn't in,—a few days ago,—the day we met. I thought the place looked familiar. Stupid of me!"
"Philip," said the girl with a grave face but a shaking voice, "it was." She laughed provokingly.... "It was so funny, Philip. I don't know why I ran, when you told me to, but I did; and while I ran, I was conscious of the front door, here, opening, and this tall man in the flowered dressing-gown coming down to the gate as if it were the most ordinary thing in the world for him to stroll out, dressed that way, in the evening. And he opened the gate, and bowed, and said, ever so pleasantly, 'Won't you come in, Miss Calendar?'—"
"He did!" exclaimed Kirkwood. "But how—?"
"How can I say?" she expostulated. "At all events, he seemed to know me; and when he added something about calling you in, too—he said 'Mr. Kirkwood '—I didn't hesitate."
"It's strange enough, surely—and fortunate. Bless his heart!" said Kirkwood.
And, "Hum!" said Mr. Brentwick considerately, entering the study. He had discarded the dressing-gown and was now in evening dress.
The girl rose. Kirkwood turned. "Mr. Brentwick—" he began.
But Brentwick begged his patience with an eloquent29 gesture. "Sir," he said, somewhat austerely30, "permit me to put a single question: Have you by any chance paid your cabby?"
"Why—" faltered31 the younger man, with a flaming face. "I—why, no—that is—"
The other quietly put his hand upon a bell-pull. A faint jingling32 sound was at once audible, emanating33 from the basement.
"How much should you say you owe him?"
"I—I haven't a penny in the world!"
The shrewd eyes flashed their amusement into Kirkwood's. "Tut, tut!" Brentwick chuckled34. "Between gentlemen, my dear boy! Dear me! you are slow to learn."
"I'll never be contented35 to sponge on my friends," explained Kirkwood in deepest misery36. "I can't tell when—"
"Tut, tut! How much did you say?"
"Ten shillings—or say twelve, would be about right," stammered37 the American, swayed by conflicting emotions of gratitude38 and profound embarrassment39.
A soft-footed butler, impassive as Fate, materialized mysteriously in the doorway.
"You rang, sir?" he interrupted frigidly40.
"I rang, Wotton." His master selected a sovereign from his purse and handed it to the servant. "For the cabby, Wotton."
"Yes sir." The butler swung automatically, on one heel.
"And Wotton!"
"Sir?"
"If any one should ask for me, I'm not at home."
"Very good, sir."
"And if you should see a pair of disreputable scoundrels skulking41, in the neighborhood, one short and stout42, the other tall and evidently a seafaring man, let me know."
"Thank you, sir." A moment later the front door was heard to close.
Brentwick turned with a little bow to the girl. "My dear Miss Calendar," he said, rubbing his thin, fine hands,—"I am old enough, I trust, to call you such without offense,—please be seated."
Complying, the girl rewarded him with a radiant smile. Whereupon, striding to the fireplace, their host turned his back to it, clasped his hands behind him, and glowered43 benignly44 upon the two. "Ah!" he observed in accents of extreme personal satisfaction. "Romance! Romance!"
"Would you mind telling us how you knew—" began Kirkwood anxiously.
"Not in the least, my dear Philip. It is simple enough: I possess an imagination. From my bedroom window, on the floor above, I happen to behold45 two cabs racing46 down the street, the one doggedly47 pursuing the other. The foremost stops, perforce of a fagged horse. There alights a young gentleman looking, if you'll pardon me, uncommonly48 seedy; he is followed by a young lady, if she will pardon me," with another little bow, "uncommonly pretty. With these two old eyes I observe that the gentleman does not pay his cabby. Ergo—I intelligently deduce—he is short of money. Eh?"
"You were right," affirmed Kirkwood, with a rueful and crooked49 smile. "But—"
"So! so!" pursued Brentwick, rising on his toes and dropping back again; "so this world of ours wags on to the old, old tune50!... And I, who in my younger days pursued adventure without success, in dotage51 find myself dragged into a romance by my two ears, whether I will or no! Eh? And now you are going to tell me all about it, Philip. There is a chair.... Well, Wotton?"
The butler had again appeared noiselessly in the doorway.
"Beg pardon, sir; they're waiting, sir."
"The caitiffs, Wotton?"
"Yessir."
"Where waiting?"
"One at each end of the street, sir."
"Thank you. You may bring us sherry and biscuit, Wotton."
"Thank you, sir."
The servant vanished.
Brentwick removed his glasses, rubbed them, and blinked thoughtfully at the girl. "My dear," he said suddenly, with a peculiar52 tremor53 in his voice, "you resemble your mother remarkably54. Tut—I should know! Time was when I was one of her most ardent55 admirers."
"You—y-you knew my mother?" cried Dorothy, profoundly moved.
"Did I not know you at sight? My dear, you are your mother reincarnate56, for the good of an unworthy world. She was a very beautiful woman, my dear."
Wotton entered with a silver serving tray, offering it in turn to Dorothy, Kirkwood and his employer. While he was present the three held silent—the girl trembling slightly, but with her face aglow57; Kirkwood half stupefied between his ease from care and his growing astonishment58, as Brentwick continued to reveal unexpected phases of his personality; Brentwick himself outwardly imperturbable59 and complacent60, for all that his hand shook as he lifted his wine glass.
"You may go, Wotton—or, wait. Don't you feel the need of a breath of fresh air, Wotton?"
"Yessir, thank you, sir."
"Then change your coat, Wotton, light your pipe, and stroll out for half an hour. You need not leave the street, but if either the tall thin blackguard with the seafaring habit, or the short stout rascal61 with the air of mystery should accost62 you, treat them with all courtesy, Wotton. You will be careful not to tell either of them anything in particular, although I don't mind your telling them that Mr. Brentwick lives here, if they ask. I am mostly concerned to discover if they purpose becoming fixtures63 on the street-corners, Wotton."
"Quite so, sir."
"Now you may go.... Wotton," continued his employer as the butler took himself off as softly as a cat, "grows daily a more valuable mechanism64. He is by no means human in any respect, but I find him extremely handy to have round the house.... And now, my dear," turning to Dorothy, "with your permission I desire to drink to the memory of your beautiful mother and to the happiness of her beautiful daughter."
"But you will tell me—"
"A number of interesting things, Miss Calendar, if you'll be good enough to let me choose the time. I beg you to be patient with the idiosyncrasies of an old man, who means no harm, who has a reputation as an eccentric to sustain before his servants.... And now," said Brentwick, setting aside his glass, "now, my dear boy, for the adventure."
Kirkwood chuckled, infected by his host's genial65 humor. "How do you know—"
"How can it be otherwise?" countered Brentwick with a trace of asperity66. "Am I to be denied my adventure? Sir, I refuse without equivocation67. Your very bearing breathes of Romance. There must be an adventure forthcoming, Philip; otherwise my disappointment will be so acute that I shall be regretfully obliged seriously to consider my right, as a householder, to show you the door."
"But Mr. Brentwick—!"
"Sit down, sir!" commanded Brentwick with such a peremptory68 note that the young man, who had risen, obeyed out of sheer surprise. Upon which his host advanced, indicting69 him with a long white forefinger70. "Would you, sir," he demanded, "again expose this little lady to the machinations of that corpulent scoundrel, whom I have just had the pleasure of shooing off my premises71, because you choose to resent an old man's raillery?"
"I apologize," Kirkwood humored him.
"I accept the apology in the spirit in which it is offered.... I repeat, now for the adventure, Philip. If the story's long, epitomize. We can consider details more at our leisure."
Kirkwood's eyes consulted the girl's face; almost imperceptibly she nodded him permission to proceed.
"Briefly72, then," he began haltingly, "the man who followed us to the door here, is Miss Calendar's father."
"Oh? His name, please?"
"George Burgoyne Calendar."
"Ah! An American; I remember, now. Continue, please."
"He is hounding us, sir, with the intention of stealing some property, which he caused to be stolen, which we—to put it bluntly—stole from him, to which he has no shadow of a title, and which, finally, we're endeavoring to return to its owners."
"My dear!" interpolated Brentwick gently, looking down at the girl's flushed face and drooping73 head.
"He ran us to the last ditch," Kirkwood continued; "I've spent my last farthing trying to lose him."
"But why have you not caused his arrest?" Brentwick inquired.
Kirkwood nodded meaningly toward the girl. Brentwick made a sound indicating comprehension, a click of the tongue behind closed teeth.
"We came to your door by the merest accident—it might as well have been another. I understood you were in Munich, and it never entered my head that we'd find you home."
"A communication from my solicitors74 detained me," explained Brentwick. "And now, what do you intend to do?"
"Trespass75 as far on your kindness as you'll permit. In the first place, I—I want the use of a few pounds with which to cable some friends in New York, for money; on receipt of which I can repay you."
"Philip," observed Brentwood, "you are a most irritating child. But I forgive you the faults of youth. You may proceed, bearing in mind, if you please, that I am your friend equally with any you may own in America."
"You're one of the best men in the world," said Kirkwood.
"Tut, tut! Will you get on?"
"Secondly76, I want you to help us to escape Calendar to-night. It is necessary that Miss Calendar should go to Chiltern this evening, where she has friends who will receive and protect her."
"Mm-mm," grumbled77 their host, meditative78. "My faith!" he commented, with brightening eyes. "It sounds almost too good to be true! And I've been growing afraid that the world was getting to be a most humdrum79 and uninteresting planet!... Miss Calendar, I am a widower80 of so many years standing81 that I had almost forgotten I had ever been anything but a bachelor. I fear my house contains little that will be of service to a young lady. Yet a room is at your disposal; the parlor-maid shall show you the way. And Philip, between you and me, I venture to remark that hot water and cold steel would add to the attractiveness of your personal appearance; my valet will attend you in my room. Dinner," concluded Brentwick with anticipative relish82, "will be served in precisely83 thirty minutes. I shall expect you to entertain me with a full and itemized account of every phase of your astonishing adventure. Later, we will find a way to Chiltern."
Again he put a hand upon the bell-pull. Simultaneously84 Dorothy and Kirkwood rose.
"Mr. Brentwick," said the girl, her eyes starred with tears of gratitude, "I don't, I really don't know how—"
"My dear," said the old gentleman, "you will thank me most appropriately by continuing, to the best of your ability, to resemble your mother more remarkably every minute."
"But I," began Kirkwood——.
"You, my dear Philip, can thank me best by permitting me to enjoy myself; which I am doing thoroughly85 at the present moment. My pleasure in being invited to interfere86 in your young affairs is more keen than you can well surmise. Moreover," said Mr. Brentwick, "so long have I been an amateur adventurer that I esteem87 it the rarest privilege to find myself thus on the point of graduating into professional ranks." He rubbed his hands, beaming upon them. "And," he added, as a maid appeared at the door, "I have already schemed me a scheme for the discomfiture88 of our friends the enemy: a scheme which we will discuss with our dinner, while the heathen rage and imagine a vain thing, in the outer darkness."
Kirkwood would have lingered, but of such inflexible89 temper was his host that he bowed him into the hands of a man servant without permitting him another word.
"Not a syllable," he insisted. "I protest I am devoured90 with curiosity, my dear boy, but I have also bowels91 of compassion92. When we are well on with our meal, when you are strengthened with food and drink, then you may begin. But now—Dickie," to the valet, "do your duty!"
Kirkwood, laughing with exasperation93, retired94 at discretion95, leaving Brentwick the master of the situation: a charming gentleman with a will of his own and a way that went with it.
He heard the young man's footsteps diminish on the stairway; and again he smiled the indulgent, melancholy96 smile of mellow97 years. "Youth!" he whispered softly. "Romance!... And now," with a brisk change of tone as he closed the study door, "now we are ready for this interesting Mr. Calendar."
Sitting down at his desk, he found and consulted a telephone directory; but its leaves, at first rustling98 briskly at the touch of the slender and delicate fingers, were presently permitted to lie unturned,—the book resting open on his knees the while he stared wistfully into the fire.
A suspicion of moisture glimmered99 in his eyes. "Dorothy!" he whispered huskily. And a little later, rising, he proceeded to the telephone....
An hour and a half later Kirkwood, his self-respect something restored by a bath, a shave, and a resumption of clothes which had been hastily but thoroughly cleansed100 and pressed by Brentwick's valet; his confidence and courage mounting high under the combined influence of generous wine, substantial food, the presence of his heart's mistress and the admiration—which was unconcealed—of his friend, concluded at the dinner-table, his narration101.
"And that," he said, looking up from his savory102, "is about all."
"Bravo!" applauded Brentwick; eyes shining with delight.
"All," interposed Dorothy in warm reproach, "but what he hasn't told—"
"Which, my dear, is to be accounted for wholly by a very creditable modesty103, rarely encountered in the young men of the present day. It was, of course, altogether different with those of my younger years. Yes, Wotton?"
Brentwick sat back in his chair, inclining an attentive104 ear to a communication murmured by the butler.
Kirkwood's gaze met Dorothy's across the expanse of shining cloth; he deprecated her interruption with a whimsical twist of his eyebrows106. "Really, you shouldn't," he assured her in an undertone. "I've done nothing to deserve..." But under the spell of her serious sweet eyes, he fell silent, and presently looked down, strangely abashed107; and contemplated108 the vast enormity of his unworthiness.
Coffee was set before them by Wotton, the impassive, Brentwick refusing it with a little sigh. "It is one of the things, as Philip knows," he explained to the girl, "denied me by the physician who makes his life happy by making mine a waste. I am allowed but three luxuries; cigars, travel in moderation, and the privilege of imposing109 on my friends. The first I propose presently, to enjoy, by your indulgence; and the second I shall this evening undertake by virtue110 of the third, of which I have just availed myself."
Smiling at the involution, he rested his head against the back of the chair, eyes roving from the girl's face to Kirkwood's. "Inspiration to do which," he proceeded gravely, "came to me from the seafaring picaroon (Stryker did you name him?) via the excellent Wotton. While you were preparing for dinner, Wotton returned from his constitutional with the news that, leaving the corpulent person on watch at the corner, Captain Stryker had temporarily, made himself scarce. However, we need feel no anxiety concerning his whereabouts, for he reappeared in good time and a motor-car. From which it becomes evident that you have not overrated their pertinacity111; the fiasco of the cab-chase is not to be re?nacted."
Resolutely112 the girl repressed a gasp113 of dismay. Kirkwood stared moodily114 into his cup.
"These men bore me fearfully," he commented at last.
"And so," continued Brentwick, "I bethought me of a counter-stroke. It is my good fortune to have a friend whose whim105 it is to support a touring-car, chiefly in innocuous idleness. Accordingly I have telephoned him and commandeered the use of this machine—mechanician, too.... Though not a betting man, I am willing to risk recklessly a few pence in support of my contention115, that of the two, Captain Stryker's car and ours, the latter will prove considerably116 the most speedy....
"In short, I suggest," he concluded, thoughtfully lacing his long white fingers, "that, avoiding the hazards of cab and railway carriage, we motor to Chiltern: the night being fine and the road, I am told, exceptionally good. Miss Dorothy, what do you think?"
Instinctively117 the girl looked to Kirkwood; then shifted her glance to their host. "I think you are wonderfully thoughtful and kind," she said simply.
"And you, Philip?"
"It's an inspiration," the younger man declared. "I can't think of anything better calculated to throw them off, than to distance them by motor-car. It would be always possible to trace our journey by rail."
"Then," announced Brentwick, making as if to rise, "we had best go. If neither my hearing nor Captain Stryker's car deceives me, our fiery118 chariot is panting at the door."
A little sobered from the confident spirit of quiet gaiety in which they had dined, they left the table. Not that, in their hearts, either greatly questioned their ultimate triumph; but they were allowing for the element of error so apt to set at naught119 human calculations. Calendar himself had already been proved fallible. Within the bounds of possibility, their turn to stumble might now be imminent120.
When he let himself dwell upon it, their utter helplessness to give Calendar pause by commonplace methods, maddened Kirkwood. With another scoundrel it had been so simple a matter to put a period to his activities by a word to the police. But he was her father; for that reason he must continually be spared ... Even though, in desperate extremity121, she should give consent to the arrest of the adventurers, retaliation122 would follow, swift and sure. For they might not overlook nor gloze the fact that hers had been the hands responsible for the theft of the jewels; innocent though she had been in committing that larceny123, a cat's-paw guided by an intelligence unscrupulous and malign124, the law would not hold her guiltless were she once brought within its cognizance. Nor, possibly, would the Hallams, mother and son.
Upon their knowledge and their fear of this, undoubtedly125 Calendar was reckoning: witness the barefaced126 effrontery127 with which he operated against them. His fear of the police might be genuine enough, but he was never for an instant disturbed by any doubt lest his daughter should turn against him. She would never dare that.
Before they left the house, while Dorothy was above stairs resuming her hat and coat, Kirkwood and Brentwick reconnoitered from the drawing-room windows, themselves screened from observation by the absence of light in the room behind.
Before the door a motor-car waited, engines humming impatiently, mechanician ready in his seat, an uncouth128 shape in goggles129 and leather garments that shone like oilskins under the street lights.
At one corner another and a smaller car stood in waiting, its lamps like baleful eyes glaring through the night.
In the shadows across the way, a lengthy130 shadow lurked131: Stryker, beyond reasonable question. Otherwise the street was deserted132. Not even that adventitous bobby of the early evening was now in evidence.
Dorothy presently joining them, Brentwick led the way to the door.
Wotton, apparently133 nerveless beneath his absolute immobility, let them out—and slammed the door behind them with such promptitude as to give cause for the suspicion that he was a fraud, a sham134, beneath his icy exterior135 desperately136 afraid lest the house be stormed by the adventurers.
Kirkwood to the right, Brentwick to the left of Dorothy, the former carrying the treasure bag, they hastened down the walk and through the gate to the car.
The watcher across the way was moved to whistle shrilly137; the other car lunged forward nervously138.
Brentwick taking the front seat, beside the mechanician, left the tonneau to Kirkwood and Dorothy. As the American slammed the door, the car swept smoothly139 out into the middle of the way, while the pursuing car swerved140 in to the other curb141, slowing down to let Stryker jump aboard.
Kirkwood put himself in the seat by the girl's side and for a few moments was occupied with the arrangement of the robes. Then, sitting back, he found her eyes fixed142 upon him, pools of inscrutable night in the shadow of her hat.
"You aren't afraid, Dorothy?"
She answered quietly: "I am with you, Philip."
Beneath the robe their hands met...
Exalted143, excited, he turned and looked back. A hundred yards to the rear four unwinking eyes trailed them, like some modern Nemesis144 in monstrous145 guise146.
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impulsively
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| adv.冲动地 | |
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uneven
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surmise
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| v./n.猜想，推测 | |
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providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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simile
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lurking
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dart
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doorway
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somber
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circumscribed
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flickering
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velvet
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recesses
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| n.壁凹( recess的名词复数 )；（工作或业务活动的）中止或暂停期间；学校的课间休息；某物内部的凹形空间v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的第三人称单数 )；将（墙）做成凹形，在（墙）上做壁龛；休息，休会，休庭 | |
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twilight
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discriminating
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fragrance
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musk
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incense
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intensify
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repose
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brass
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merging
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elusive
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waning
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verge
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soothingly
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reluctance
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curiously
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eloquent
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austerely
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faltered
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32
jingling
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| 叮当声 | |
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33
emanating
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| v.从…处传出，传出( emanate的现在分词 )；产生，表现，显示 | |
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34
chuckled
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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35
contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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36
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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37
stammered
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| v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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38
gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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39
embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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40
frigidly
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| adv.寒冷地；冷漠地；冷淡地；呆板地 | |
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41
skulking
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| v.潜伏，偷偷摸摸地走动，鬼鬼祟祟地活动( skulk的现在分词 ) | |
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43
glowered
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| v.怒视( glower的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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44
benignly
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| adv.仁慈地，亲切地 | |
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45
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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46
racing
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| n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的 | |
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47
doggedly
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| adv.顽强地，固执地 | |
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48
uncommonly
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| adv. 稀罕(极，非常) | |
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49
crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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50
tune
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| n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整 | |
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51
dotage
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| n.年老体衰；年老昏聩 | |
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52
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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53
tremor
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| n.震动，颤动，战栗，兴奋，地震 | |
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54
remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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55
ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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56
reincarnate
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| v.使化身，转生；adj.转世化身的 | |
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57
aglow
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| adj.发亮的；发红的；adv.发亮地 | |
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58
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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59
imperturbable
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| adj.镇静的 | |
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60
complacent
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| adj.自满的；自鸣得意的 | |
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61
rascal
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| n.流氓；不诚实的人 | |
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62
accost
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| v.向人搭话，打招呼 | |
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63
fixtures
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| （房屋等的）固定装置( fixture的名词复数 )； 如（浴盆、抽水马桶）； 固定在某位置的人或物； （定期定点举行的）体育活动 | |
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64
mechanism
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| n.机械装置；机构，结构 | |
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65
genial
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| adj.亲切的，和蔼的，愉快的，脾气好的 | |
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66
asperity
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| n.粗鲁，艰苦 | |
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67
equivocation
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| n.模棱两可的话，含糊话 | |
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68
peremptory
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| adj.紧急的，专横的，断然的 | |
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69
indicting
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| 控告，起诉( indict的现在分词 ) | |
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70
forefinger
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| n.食指 | |
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71
premises
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| n.建筑物，房屋 | |
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72
briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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73
drooping
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| adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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74
solicitors
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| 初级律师( solicitor的名词复数 ) | |
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75
trespass
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| n./v.侵犯，闯入私人领地 | |
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76
secondly
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| adv.第二，其次 | |
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77
grumbled
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| 抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声 | |
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78
meditative
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| adj.沉思的，冥想的 | |
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79
humdrum
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| adj.单调的，乏味的 | |
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80
widower
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| n.鳏夫 | |
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81
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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82
relish
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| n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味 | |
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83
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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84
simultaneously
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| adv.同时发生地，同时进行地 | |
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85
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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86
interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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87
esteem
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| n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作 | |
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88
discomfiture
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| n.崩溃；大败；挫败；困惑 | |
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89
inflexible
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| adj.不可改变的，不受影响的，不屈服的 | |
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90
devoured
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| 吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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91
bowels
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| n.肠，内脏，内部；肠( bowel的名词复数 )；内部，最深处 | |
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92
compassion
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| n.同情，怜悯 | |
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93
exasperation
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| n.愤慨 | |
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94
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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95
discretion
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| n.谨慎；随意处理 | |
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96
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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97
mellow
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| adj.柔和的；熟透的；v.变柔和；(使)成熟 | |
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98
rustling
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| n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的 | |
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99
glimmered
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| v.发闪光，发微光( glimmer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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100
cleansed
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| 弄干净，清洗( cleanse的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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101
narration
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| n.讲述，叙述；故事；记叙体 | |
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102
savory
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| adj.风味极佳的，可口的，味香的 | |
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103
modesty
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| n.谦逊，虚心，端庄，稳重，羞怯，朴素 | |
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104
attentive
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| adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的 | |
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105
whim
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| n.一时的兴致，突然的念头；奇想，幻想 | |
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106
eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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107
abashed
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| adj.窘迫的，尴尬的v.使羞愧，使局促，使窘迫( abash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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108
contemplated
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| adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式 | |
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109
imposing
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| adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的 | |
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110
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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111
pertinacity
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| n.执拗，顽固 | |
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112
resolutely
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| adj.坚决地，果断地 | |
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113
gasp
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| n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说 | |
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114
moodily
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| adv.喜怒无常地；情绪多变地；心情不稳地；易生气地 | |
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115
contention
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| n.争论，争辩，论战；论点，主张 | |
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116
considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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117
instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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118
fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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119
naught
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| n.无，零 [=nought] | |
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120
imminent
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| adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的 | |
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121
extremity
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| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
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122
retaliation
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| n.报复，反击 | |
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123
larceny
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| n.盗窃（罪） | |
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124
malign
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| adj.有害的；恶性的；恶意的；v.诽谤，诬蔑 | |
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125
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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126
barefaced
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| adj.厚颜无耻的，公然的 | |
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127
effrontery
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| n.厚颜无耻 | |
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128
uncouth
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| adj.无教养的，粗鲁的 | |
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129
goggles
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| n.护目镜 | |
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130
lengthy
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| adj.漫长的，冗长的 | |
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131
lurked
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| vi.潜伏，埋伏（lurk的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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132
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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133
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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134
sham
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| n./adj.假冒(的)，虚伪(的) | |
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135
exterior
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| adj.外部的，外在的；表面的 | |
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136
desperately
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| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
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137
shrilly
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| 尖声的； 光亮的，耀眼的 | |
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138
nervously
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| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
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139
smoothly
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| adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地 | |
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140
swerved
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| v.（使）改变方向，改变目的( swerve的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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141
curb
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| n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制 | |
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142
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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143
exalted
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| adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的 | |
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144
nemesis
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| n.给以报应者，复仇者，难以对付的敌手 | |
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145
monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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146
guise
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| n.外表，伪装的姿态 | |
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