Even as he strode back through the woods to the camp-meeting, it was the kiss that kept his feet in motion, and guided their automatic course. All along the watches of the restless night, it was the kiss that bore him sweet company, and wandered with him from one broken dream of bliss2 to another. Next day, it was the kiss that made of life for him a sort of sunlit wonderland. He preached his sermon in the morning, and took his appointed part in the other services of afternoon and evening, apparently3 to everybody's satisfaction: to him it was all a vision.
When the beautiful full moon rose, this Sunday evening, and glorified4 the clearing and the forest with its mellow5 harvest radiance, he could have groaned6 with the burden of his joy. He went out alone into the light, and bared his head to it, and stood motionless for a long time. In all his life, he had never been impelled7 as powerfully toward earnest and soulful thanksgiving. The impulse to kneel, there in the pure, tender moonlight, and lift up offerings of praise to God, kept uppermost in his mind. Some formless resignation restrained him from the act itself, but the spirit of it hallowed his mood. He gazed up at the broad luminous8 face of the satellite. “You are our God,” he murmured. “Hers and mine! You are the most beautiful of heavenly creatures, as she is of the angels on earth. I am speechless with reverence10 for you both.”
It was not until the camp-meeting broke up, four days later, and Theron with the rest returned to town, that the material aspects of what had happened, and might be expected to happen, forced themselves upon his mind. The kiss was a child of the forest. So long as Theron remained in the camp, the image of the kiss, which was enshrined in his heart and ministered to by all his thoughts, continued enveloped11 in a haze12 of sylvan13 mystery, like a dryad. Suggestions of its beauty and holiness came to him in the odors of the woodland, at the sight of wild flowers and water-lilies. When he walked alone in unfamiliar14 parts of the forest, he carried about with him the half-conscious idea of somewhere coming upon a strange, hidden pool which mortal eye had not seen before—a deep, sequestered15 mere16 of spring-fed waters, walled in by rich, tangled17 growths of verdure, and bearing upon its virgin18 bosom19 only the shadows of the primeval wilderness20, and the light of the eternal skies. His fancy dwelt upon some such nook as the enchanted21 home of the fairy that possessed22 his soul. The place, though he never found it, became real to him. As he pictured it, there rose sometimes from among the lily-pads, stirring the translucent23 depths and fluttering over the water's surface drops like gems24, the wonderful form of a woman, with pale leaves wreathed in her luxuriant red hair, and a skin which gave forth25 light.
With the homecoming to Octavius, his dreams began to take more account of realities. In a day or two he was wide awake, and thinking hard. The kiss was as much as ever the ceaseless companion of his hours, but it no longer insisted upon shrouding26 itself in vines and woodland creepers, or outlining itself in phosphorescent vagueness against mystic backgrounds of nymph-haunted glades27. It advanced out into the noonday, and assumed tangible28 dimensions and substance. He saw that it was related to the facts of his daily life, and had, in turn, altered his own relations to all these facts.
What ought he to do? What COULD he do? Apparently, nothing but wait. He waited for a week—then for another week. The conclusion that the initiative had been left to him began to take shape in his mind. From this it seemed but a step to the passionate29 resolve to act at once.
Turning the situation over and over in his anxious thoughts, two things stood out in special prominence30. One was that Celia loved him. The other was that the boy in Gorringe's law office, and possibly Gorringe, and heaven only knew how many others besides, had reasons for suspecting this to be true.
And what about Celia? Side by side with the moving rapture31 of thinking about her as a woman, there rose the substantial satisfaction of contemplating32 her as Miss Madden. She had kissed him, and she was very rich. The things gradually linked themselves before his eyes. He tried a thousand varying guesses at what she proposed to do, and each time reined33 up his imagination by the reminder34 that she was confessedly a creature of whims35, who proposed to do nothing, but was capable of all things.
And as to the boy. If he had blabbed what he saw, it was incredible that somebody should not take the subject up, and impart a scandalous twist to it, and send it rolling like a snowball to gather up exaggeration and foul36 innuendo37 till it was big enough to overwhelm him. What would happen to him if a formal charge were preferred against him? He looked it up in the Discipline. Of course, if his accusers magnified their mean suspicions and calumnious38 imaginings to the point of formulating39 a charge, it would be one of immorality40. They could prove nothing; there was nothing to prove. At the worst, it was an indiscretion, which would involve his being admonished41 by his Presiding Elder. Or if these narrow bigots confused slanders42 with proofs, and showed that they intended to convict him, then it would be open to him to withdraw from the ministry43, in advance of his condemnation44. His relation to the church would be the same as if he had been expelled, but to the outer world it would be different. And supposing he did withdraw from the ministry?
Yes; this was the important point. What if he did abandon this mistaken profession of his? On its mental side the relief would be prodigious45, unthinkable. But on the practical side, the bread-and-butter side? For some days Theron paused with a shudder46 when he reached this question. The thought of the plunge47 into unknown material responsibilities gave him a sinking heart. He tried to imagine himself lecturing, canvassing48 for books or insurance policies, writing for newspapers—and remained frightened. But suddenly one day it occurred to him that these qualms49 and forebodings were sheer folly50. Was not Celia rich? Would she not with lightning swiftness draw forth that check-book, like the flashing sword of a champion from its scabbard, and run to his relief? Why, of course. It was absurd not to have thought of that before.
He recalled her momentary51 anger with him, that afternoon in the woods, when he had cried out that discovery would mean ruin to him. He saw clearly enough now that she had been grieved at his want of faith in her protection. In his flurry of fright, he had lost sight of the fact that, if exposure and trouble came to him, she would naturally feel that she had been the cause of his martyrdom. It was plain enough now. If he got into hot water, it would be solely52 on account of his having been seen with her. He had walked into the woods with her—“the further the better” had been her own words—out of pure kindliness53, and the desire to lead her away from the scene of her brother's and her own humiliation54. But why amplify55 arguments? Her own warm heart would tell her, on the instant, how he had been sacrificed for her sake, and would bring her, eager and devoted56, to his succor57.
That was all right, then. Slowly, from this point, suggestions expanded themselves. The future could be, if he willed it, one long serene58 triumph of love, and lofty intellectual companionship, and existence softened59 and enriched at every point by all that wealth could command, and the most exquisite60 tastes suggest. Should he will it! Ah! the question answered itself. But he could not enter upon this beckoning61 heaven of a future until he had freed himself. When Celia said to him, “Come!” he must not be in the position to reply, “I should like to, but unfortunately I am tied by the leg.” He should have to leave Octavius, leave the ministry, leave everything. He could not begin too soon to face these contingencies62.
Very likely Celia had not thought it out as far as this. With her, it was a mere vague “sometime I may.” But the harder masculine sense, Theron felt, existed for the very purpose of correcting and giving point to these loose feminine notions of time and space. It was for him to clear away the obstacles, and map the plans out with definite decision.
One warm afternoon, as he lolled in his easy-chair under the open window of his study, musing63 upon the ever-shifting phases of this vast, complicated, urgent problem, some chance words from the sidewalk in front came to his ears, and, coming, remained to clarify his thoughts.
Two ladies whose voices were strange to him had stopped—as so many people almost daily stopped—to admire the garden of the parsonage. One of them expressed her pleasure in general terms. Said the other—
“My husband declares those dahlias alone couldn't be matched for thirty dollars, and that some of those gladiolus must have cost three or four dollars apiece. I know we've spent simply oceans of money on our garden, and it doesn't begin to compare with this.”
“It seems like a sinful waste to me,” said her companion.
“No-o,” the other hesitated. “No, I don't think quite that—if you can afford it just as well as not. But it does seem to me that I'd rather live in a little better house, and not spend it ALL on flowers. Just LOOK at that cactus64!”
The voices died away. Theron sat up, with a look of arrested thought upon his face, then sprang to his feet and moved hurriedly through the parlor65 to an open front window. Peering out with caution he saw that the two women receding66 from view were fashionably dressed and evidently came from homes of means. He stared after them in a blank way until they turned a corner.
He went into the hall then, put on his frock-coat and hat, and stepped out into the garden. He was conscious of having rather avoided it heretofore—not altogether without reasons of his own, lying unexamined somewhere in the recesses67 of his mind. Now he walked slowly about, and examined the flowers with great attentiveness68. The season was advancing, and he saw that many plants had gone out of bloom. But what a magnificent plenitude of blossoms still remained!
Thirty dollars' worth of dahlias—that was what the stranger had said. Theron hardly brought himself to credit the statement; but all the same it was apparent to even his uninformed eye that these huge, imbricated, flowering masses, with their extraordinary half-colors, must be unusual. He remembered that the boy in Gorringe's office had spoken of just one lot of plants costing thirty-one dollars and sixty cents, and there had been two other lots as well. The figures remained surprisingly distinct in his memory. It was no good deceiving himself any longer: of course these were the plants that Gorringe had spent his money upon, here all about him.
As he surveyed them with a sour regard, a cool breeze stirred across the garden. The tall, over-laden flower-spikes of gladioli bent70 and nodded at him; the hollyhocks and flaming alvias, the clustered blossoms on the standard roses, the delicately painted lilies on their stilt-like stems, fluttered in the wind, and seemed all bowing satirically to him. “Yes, Levi Gorringe paid for us!” He almost heard their mocking declaration.
Out in the back-yard, where a longer day of sunshine dwelt, there were many other flowers, and notably72 a bed of geraniums which literally73 made the eye ache. Standing74 at this rear corner of the house, he caught the droning sound of Alice's voice, humming a hymn75 to herself as she went about her kitchen work. He saw her through the open window. She was sweeping76, and had a sort of cap on her head which did not add to the graces of her appearance. He looked at her with a hard glance, recalling as a fresh grievance77 the ten days of intolerable boredom78 he had spent cooped up in a ridiculous little tent with her, at the camp-meeting. She must have realized at the time how odious79 the enforced companionship was to him. Yes, beyond doubt she did. It came back to him now that they had spoken but rarely to each other. She had not even praised his sermon upon the Sabbath-question, which every one else had been in raptures80 over. For that matter she no longer praised anything he did, and took obvious pains to preserve toward him a distant demeanor81. So much the better, he felt himself thinking. If she chose to behave in that offish and unwifely fashion, she could blame no one but herself for its results.
She had seen him, and came now to the window, watering-pot and broom in hand. She put her head out, to breathe a breath of dustless air, and began as if she would smile on him. Then her face chilled and stiffened82, as she caught his look.
“Shall you be home for supper?” she asked, in her iciest tone.
He had not thought of going out before. The question, and the manner of it, gave immediate83 urgency to the idea of going somewhere. “I may or I may not,” he replied. “It is quite impossible for me to say.” He turned on his heel with this, and walked briskly out of the yard and down the street.
It was the most natural thing that presently he should be strolling past the Madden house, and letting a covert84 glance stray over its front and the grounds about it, as he loitered along. Every day since his return from the woods he had given the fates this chance of bringing Celia to meet him, without avail. He had hung about in the vicinity of the Catholic church on several evenings as well, but to no purpose. The organ inside was dumb, and he could detect no signs of Celia's presence on the curtains of the pastorate next door. This day, too, there was no one visible at the home of the Maddens, and he walked on, a little sadly. It was weary work waiting for the signal that never came.
But there were compensations. His mind reverted86 doggedly87 to the flowers in his garden, and to Alice's behavior toward him. They insisted upon connecting themselves in his thoughts. Why should Levi Gorringe, a money-lender, and therefore the last man in the world to incur88 reckless expenditure89, go and buy perhaps a hundred dollars, worth of flowers for his wife's garden? It was time—high time—to face this question. And his experiencing religion afterward90, just when Alice did, and marching down to the rail to kneel beside her—that was a thing to be thought of, too.
Meditation91, it is true, hardly threw fresh light upon the matter. It was incredible, of course, that there should be anything wrong. To even shape a thought of Alice in connection with gallantry would be wholly impossible. Nor could it be said that Gorringe, in his new capacity as a professing92 church-member, had disclosed any sign of ulterior motives93, or of insincerity. Yet there the facts were. While Theron pondered them, their mystery, if they involved a mystery, baffled him altogether. But when he had finished, he found himself all the same convinced that neither Alice nor Gorringe would be free to blame him for anything he might do. He had grounds for complaint against them. If he did not himself know just what these grounds were, it was certain enough that THEY knew. Very well, then, let them take the responsibility for what happened.
It was indeed awkward that at the moment, as Theron chanced to emerge temporarily from his brown-study, his eyes fell full upon the spare, well-knit form of Levi Gorringe himself, standing only a few feet away, in the staircase entrance to his law office. His lean face, browned by the summer's exposure, had a more Arabian aspect than ever. His hands were in his pockets, and he held an unlighted cigar between his teeth. He looked the Rev9. Mr. Ware94 over calmly, and nodded recognition.
Theron had halted instinctively95. On the instant he would have given a great deal not to have stopped at all. It was stupid of him to have paused, but it would not do now to go on without words of some sort. He moved over to the door-way, and made a half-hearted pretence96 of looking at the photographs in one of the show-cases at its side. As Mr. Gorringe did not take his hands from his pockets, there was no occasion for any formal greeting.
“I had no idea that they took such good pictures in Octavius,” Theron remarked after a minute's silence, still bending in examination of the photographs.
“They ought to; they charge New York prices,” observed the lawyer, sententiously.
Theron found in the words confirmation97 of his feeling that Gorringe was not naturally a lavish98 or extravagant99 man. Rather was he a careful and calculating man, who spent money only for a purpose. Though the minister continued gazing at the stiff presentments of local beauties and swains, his eyes seemed to see salmon-hued hollyhocks and spotted100 lilies instead. Suddenly a resolve came to him. He stood erect101, and faced his trustee.
“Speaking of the price of things,” he said, with an effort of arrogance102 in his measured tone, “I have never had an opportunity before of mentioning the subject of the flowers you have so kindly103 furnished for my—for MY garden.”
“Why mention it now?” queried104 Gorringe, with nonchalance105. He turned his cigar about with a movement of his lips, and worked it into the corner of his mouth. He did not find it necessary to look at Theron at all.
“Because—” began Mr. Ware, and then hesitated—“because—well, it raises a question of my being under obligation, which I—”
“Oh, no, sir,” said the lawyer; “put that out of your mind. You are no more under obligation to me than I am to you. Oh, no, make yourself easy about that. Neither of us owes the other anything.”
“Not even good-will—I take that to be your meaning,” retorted Theron, with some heat.
“The words are yours, sir,” responded Gorringe, coolly. “I do not object to them.”
“As you like,” put in the other. “If it be so, why, then all the more reason why I should, under the circumstances—”
“Under what circumstances?” interposed the lawyer. “Let us be clear about this thing as we go along. To what circumstances do you refer?”
He had turned his eyes now, and looked Theron in the face. A slight protrusion106 of his lower jaw107 had given the cigar an upward tilt71 under the black mustache.
“The circumstances are that you have brought or sent to my garden a great many very expensive flower-plants and bushes and so on.”
“And you object? I had not supposed that clergymen in general—and you in particular—were so sensitive. Have donation parties, then, gone out of date?”
“I understand your sneer108 well enough,” retorted Theron, “but that can pass. The main point is, that you did me the honor to send these plants—or to smuggle109 them in—but never once deigned110 to hint to me that you had done so. No one told me. Except by mere accident, I should not have known to this day where they came from.”
Mr. Gorringe twisted the cigar at another angle, with lines of grim amusement about the corner of his mouth. “I should have thought,” he said with dry deliberation, “that possibly this fact might have raised in your mind the conceivable hypothesis that the plants might not be intended for you at all.”
“That is precisely111 it, sir,” said Theron. There were people passing, and he was forced to keep his voice down. It would have been a relief, he felt, to shout. “That is it—they were not intended for me.”
“Well, then, what are you talking about?” The lawyer's speech had become abrupt112 almost to incivility.
“I think my remarks have been perfectly113 clear,” said the minister, with dignity. It was a new experience to be addressed in that fashion. It occurred to him to add, “Please remember that I am not in the witness-box, to be bullied114 or insulted by a professional.”
Gorringe studied Theron's face attentively115 with a cold, searching scrutiny116. “You may thank your stars you're not!” he said, with significance.
What on earth could he mean? The words and the menacing tone greatly impressed Theron. Indeed, upon reflection, he found that they frightened him. The disposition117 to adopt a high tone with the lawyer was melting away.
“I do not see,” he began, and then deliberately118 allowed his voice to take on an injured and plaintive119 inflection—“I do not see why you should adopt this tone toward me—Brother Gorringe.”
The lawyer scowled120, and bit sharply into the cigar, but said nothing.
“If I have unconsciously offended you in any way,” Theron went on, “I beg you to tell me how. I liked you from the beginning of my pastorate here, and the thought that latterly we seemed to be drifting apart has given me much pain. But now it is still more distressing121 to find you actually disposed to quarrel with me. Surely, Brother Gorringe, between a pastor85 and a probationer who—”
“No,” Gorringe broke in; “quarrel isn't the word for it. There isn't any quarrel, Mr. Ware.” He stepped down from the door-stone to the sidewalk as he spoke69, and stood face to face with Theron. Working-men with dinner-pails, and factory girls, were passing close to them, and he lowered his voice to a sharp, incisive122 half-whisper as he added, “It wouldn't be worth any grown man's while to quarrel with so poor a creature as you are.”
Theron stood confounded, with an empty stare of bewilderment on his face. It rose in his mind that the right thing to feel was rage, righteous indignation, fury; but for the life of him, he could not muster123 any manly124 anger. The character of the insult stupefied him.
“I do not know that I have anything to say to you in reply,” he remarked, after what seemed to him a silence of minutes. His lips framed the words automatically, but they expressed well enough the blank vacancy125 of his mind. The suggestion that anybody deemed him a “poor creature” grew more astounding126, incomprehensible, as it swelled127 in his brain.
“No, I suppose not,” snapped Gorringe. “You're not the sort to stand up to men; your form is to go round the corner and take it out of somebody weaker than yourself—a defenceless woman, for instance.”
“Oh—ho!” said Theron. The exclamation128 had uttered itself. The sound of it seemed to clarify his muddled129 thoughts; and as they ranged themselves in order, he began to understand. “Oh—ho!” he said again, and nodded his head in token of comprehension.
The lawyer, chewing his cigar with increased activity, glared at him. “What do you mean?” he demanded peremptorily130.
“Mean?” said the minister. “Oh, nothing that I feel called upon to explain to you.”
It was passing strange, but his self-possession had all at once returned to him. As it became more apparent that the lawyer was losing his temper, Theron found the courage to turn up the corners of his lips in show of a bitter little smile of confidence. He looked into the other's dusky face, and flaunted131 this smile at it in contemptuous defiance132. “It is not a subject that I can discuss with propriety—at this stage,” he added.
“Damn you! Are you talking about those flowers?”
“Oh, I am not talking about anything in particular,” returned Theron, “not even the curious choice of language which my latest probationer seems to prefer.”
“Go and strike my name off the list!” said Gorringe, with rising passion. “I was a fool to ever have it there. To think of being a probationer of yours—my God!”
“That will be a pity—from one point of view,” remarked Theron, still with the ironical133 smile on his lips. “You seemed to enter upon the new life with such deliberation and fixity of purpose, too! I can imagine the regrets your withdrawal134 will cause, in certain quarters. I only hope that it will not discourage those who accompanied you to the altar, and shared your enthusiasm at the time.” He had spoken throughout with studied slowness and an insolent135 nicety of utterance136.
“You had better go away!” broke forth Gorringe. “If you don't, I shall forget myself.”
“For the first time?” asked Theron. Then, warned by the flash in the lawyer's eye, he turned on his heel and sauntered, with a painstaking137 assumption of a mind quite at ease, up the street.
Gorringe's own face twitched138 and his veins139 tingled140 as he looked after him. He spat141 the shapeless cigar out of his mouth into the gutter142, and, drawing forth another from his pocket, clenched143 it between his teeth, his gaze following the tall form of the Methodist minister till it was merged144 in the crowd.
“Well, I'm damned!” he said aloud to himself.
The photographer had come down to take in his showcases for the night. He looked up from his task at the exclamation, and grinned inquiringly.
“I've just been talking to a man,” said the lawyer, “who's so much meaner than any other man I ever heard of that it takes my breath away. He's got a wife that's as pure and good as gold, and he knows it, and she worships the ground he walks on, and he knows that too. And yet the scoundrel is around trying to sniff145 out some shadow of a pretext146 for misusing147 her worse than he's already done. Yes, sir; he'd be actually tickled148 to death if he could nose up some hint of a scandal about her—something that he could pretend to believe, and work for his own advantage to levy149 blackmail150, or get rid of her, or whatever suited his book. I didn't think there was such an out-and-out cur on this whole footstool. I almost wish, by God, I'd thrown him into the canal!”
“Yes, you lawyers must run against some pretty snide specimens,” remarked the photographer, lifting one of the cases from its sockets151.
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1
abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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bliss
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| n.狂喜，福佑，天赐的福 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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glorified
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| 美其名的，变荣耀的 | |
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mellow
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| adj.柔和的；熟透的；v.变柔和；(使)成熟 | |
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groaned
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| v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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impelled
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| v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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luminous
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| adj.发光的，发亮的；光明的；明白易懂的；有启发的 | |
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rev
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| v.发动机旋转，加快速度 | |
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reverence
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| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
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enveloped
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| v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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haze
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| n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊 | |
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sylvan
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| adj.森林的 | |
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unfamiliar
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| adj.陌生的，不熟悉的 | |
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sequestered
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| adj.扣押的；隐退的；幽静的；偏僻的v.使隔绝，使隔离( sequester的过去式和过去分词 )；扣押 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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tangled
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| adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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enchanted
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| adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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translucent
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| adj.半透明的；透明的 | |
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gems
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| growth； economy； management； and customer satisfaction 增长 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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shrouding
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| n.覆盖v.隐瞒( shroud的现在分词 )；保密 | |
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glades
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| n.林中空地( glade的名词复数 ) | |
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tangible
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| adj.有形的，可触摸的，确凿的，实际的 | |
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passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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prominence
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| n.突出；显著；杰出；重要 | |
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rapture
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| n.狂喜；全神贯注；着迷；v.使狂喜 | |
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contemplating
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| 深思，细想，仔细考虑( contemplate的现在分词 )； 注视，凝视； 考虑接受（发生某事的可能性）； 深思熟虑，沉思，苦思冥想 | |
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33
reined
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| 勒缰绳使（马）停步( rein的过去式和过去分词 )； 驾驭； 严格控制； 加强管理 | |
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34
reminder
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| n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示 | |
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35
WHIMS
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| 虚妄，禅病 | |
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36
foul
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| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
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37
innuendo
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| n.暗指，讽刺 | |
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38
calumnious
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| adj.毁谤的，中伤的 | |
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39
formulating
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| v.构想出( formulate的现在分词 )；规划；确切地阐述；用公式表示 | |
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40
immorality
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| n. 不道德, 无道义 | |
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41
admonished
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| v.劝告( admonish的过去式和过去分词 )；训诫；（温和地）责备；轻责 | |
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42
slanders
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| 诽谤，诋毁( slander的名词复数 ) | |
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43
ministry
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| n.(政府的)部；牧师 | |
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44
condemnation
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| n.谴责; 定罪 | |
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45
prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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46
shudder
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| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
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47
plunge
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| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
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48
canvassing
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| v.（在政治方面）游说( canvass的现在分词 )；调查（如选举前选民的）意见；为讨论而提出（意见等）；详细检查 | |
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49
qualms
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| n.不安；内疚 | |
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50
folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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51
momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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52
solely
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| adv.仅仅，唯一地 | |
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53
kindliness
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| n.厚道，亲切，友好的行为 | |
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54
humiliation
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| n.羞辱 | |
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55
amplify
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| vt.放大，增强；详述，详加解说 | |
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56
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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57
succor
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| n.援助，帮助；v.给予帮助 | |
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58
serene
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| adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的 | |
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59
softened
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| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
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60
exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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61
beckoning
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| adj.引诱人的，令人心动的v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的现在分词 ) | |
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62
contingencies
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| n.偶然发生的事故，意外事故( contingency的名词复数 )；以备万一 | |
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63
musing
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| n. 沉思，冥想 adj. 沉思的, 冥想的 动词muse的现在分词形式 | |
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64
cactus
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| n.仙人掌 | |
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65
parlor
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| n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅 | |
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66
receding
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| v.逐渐远离( recede的现在分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题 | |
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67
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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68
attentiveness
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| [医]注意 | |
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69
spoke
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| 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 | |
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70
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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71
tilt
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| v.(使)倾侧；(使)倾斜；n.倾侧；倾斜 | |
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72
notably
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| adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地 | |
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73
literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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74
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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75
hymn
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| n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌 | |
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76
sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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77
grievance
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| n.怨愤，气恼，委屈 | |
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78
boredom
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| n.厌烦，厌倦，乏味，无聊 | |
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79
odious
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| adj.可憎的，讨厌的 | |
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80
raptures
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| 极度欢喜( rapture的名词复数 ) | |
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81
demeanor
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| n.行为；风度 | |
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82
stiffened
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| 加强的 | |
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83
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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84
covert
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| adj.隐藏的；暗地里的 | |
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85
pastor
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| n.牧师，牧人 | |
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86
reverted
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| 恢复( revert的过去式和过去分词 )； 重提； 回到…上； 归还 | |
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87
doggedly
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| adv.顽强地，固执地 | |
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88
incur
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| vt.招致，蒙受，遭遇 | |
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89
expenditure
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| n.(时间、劳力、金钱等)支出；使用，消耗 | |
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90
afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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91
meditation
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| n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录 | |
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92
professing
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| 声称( profess的现在分词 )； 宣称； 公开表明； 信奉 | |
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93
motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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94
ware
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| n.(常用复数)商品，货物 | |
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95
instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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96
pretence
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| n.假装，作假；借口，口实；虚伪；虚饰 | |
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97
confirmation
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| n.证实，确认，批准 | |
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98
lavish
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| adj.无节制的；浪费的；vt.慷慨地给予，挥霍 | |
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99
extravagant
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| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
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100
spotted
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| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
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101
erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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102
arrogance
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| n.傲慢，自大 | |
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103
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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104
queried
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| v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 )；询问 | |
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105
nonchalance
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| n.冷淡，漠不关心 | |
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106
protrusion
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| n.伸出，突出 | |
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107
jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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108
sneer
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| v.轻蔑；嘲笑；n.嘲笑，讥讽的言语 | |
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109
smuggle
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| vt.私运；vi.走私 | |
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110
deigned
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| v.屈尊，俯就( deign的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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111
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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112
abrupt
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| adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的 | |
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113
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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114
bullied
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| adj.被欺负了v.恐吓，威逼( bully的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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115
attentively
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| adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神 | |
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116
scrutiny
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| n.详细检查，仔细观察 | |
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117
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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118
deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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119
plaintive
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| adj.可怜的，伤心的 | |
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120
scowled
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| 怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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121
distressing
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| a.使人痛苦的 | |
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122
incisive
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| adj.敏锐的，机敏的，锋利的，切入的 | |
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123
muster
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| v.集合，收集，鼓起，激起；n.集合，检阅，集合人员，点名册 | |
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124
manly
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| adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地 | |
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125
vacancy
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| n.（旅馆的）空位，空房，（职务的）空缺 | |
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126
astounding
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| adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊，使大吃一惊astound的现在分词) | |
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127
swelled
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| 增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情） | |
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128
exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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129
muddled
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| adj.混乱的；糊涂的；头脑昏昏然的v.弄乱，弄糟( muddle的过去式)；使糊涂；对付，混日子 | |
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130
peremptorily
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| adv.紧急地，不容分说地，专横地 | |
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131
flaunted
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| v.炫耀，夸耀( flaunt的过去式和过去分词 )；有什么能耐就施展出来 | |
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132
defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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133
ironical
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| adj.讽刺的，冷嘲的 | |
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134
withdrawal
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| n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销 | |
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135
insolent
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| adj.傲慢的，无理的 | |
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136
utterance
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| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
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137
painstaking
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| adj.苦干的；艰苦的，费力的，刻苦的 | |
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138
twitched
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| vt.& vi.（使）抽动，（使）颤动（twitch的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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139
veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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140
tingled
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| v.有刺痛感( tingle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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141
spat
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| n.口角，掌击；v.发出呼噜呼噜声 | |
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142
gutter
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| n.沟，街沟，水槽，檐槽，贫民窟 | |
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143
clenched
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| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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144
merged
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| （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 | |
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145
sniff
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| vi.嗅…味道；抽鼻涕；对嗤之以鼻，蔑视 | |
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146
pretext
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| n.借口，托词 | |
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147
misusing
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| v.使用…不当( misuse的现在分词 )；把…派作不正当的用途；虐待；滥用 | |
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148
tickled
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| （使）发痒( tickle的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）愉快，逗乐 | |
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149
levy
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| n.征收税或其他款项，征收额 | |
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150
blackmail
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| n.讹诈，敲诈，勒索，胁迫，恫吓 | |
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151
sockets
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| n.套接字，使应用程序能够读写与收发通讯协定(protocol)与资料的程序( Socket的名词复数 )；孔( socket的名词复数 )；（电器上的）插口；托座；凹穴 | |
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