Plans were scattered2 on the desk at which he sat; some intricate calculations lay immediately before him. He regarded neither. His eyes were looking straight out at the opposite wall, a big chart of some district being there, but he saw it not; nothing but vacancy3. Very unusual indeed was it for Robert Hunter the practical to allow his thoughts to stray away in the midst of his work, as they had done now.
During the past few months a change had come over his heart. It was of a different nature from that which, some two or three years before, after the death of his wife, had changed himself--changed, as it seemed, his whole nature, and made a man of him. Even now he could not bear to look back upon the idle, simple folly4 in which his days had been passed; the circumstances that had brought this folly home to his mind, opened his eyes to it, as it were, had no doubt caused him to acquire a very exaggerated view of it; but this did no harm to others, and worked good for himself.
With the death of his wife, Robert Hunter had, so to say, put aside the pleasant phase, the ideal view of life, and entered on the hard, the stern, the practical--as he thought for ever. He had not calculated well in this. He forgot that he was still a young and attractive man (though his being attractive or the contrary was not at all to the purpose); he forgot that neither the feelings nor the heart can grow old at will. It might have been very different had his heart received its death-blow; but it was nothing but his conscience; for he had not loved his wife. But of that he was unconscious until lately.
Love--real love--the sweet heart's dream that can never but once visit either man or woman, had come stealing over Robert Hunter. Never but once. What says a modern poet?
"Few hearts have never loved; but fewer still
Have felt a second passion. None a third.
The first was living fire; the next, a thrill;
The weary heart can never more be stirred:
Rely on it, the song has left the bird."
Truer words were rarely said or sung. The one only glimpse of Paradise vouchsafed5 to us on earth--a transitory glimpse at the best--cannot be repeated a second time. When it flies away it flies for ever.
Ah, how different it was, this love, that was making a heaven of Robert Hunter's life, from that which had been given to his poor dead wife--the child-wife, who had been so passionately6 attached to him! He understood her agony now--when she had believed him false to her; when he, her heart's idol7, had apparently8 gone over to another's worship--he did not understand it then. When inclined to be very self-condemnatory, to bring his sins and mistakes palpably before him, he would ask himself, looking back, what satisfaction he had derived9 from my Lady Ellis's society, taking it at its best. A few soft glances; a daily repetition of some sweet words; a dozen kisses--they had not been more--snatched from her face; and some hand pressing when they met or parted. Literally10 this was all: there had been nothing, nothing more; and Mr. Hunter had not even the poor consolation11 of knowing now that any love whatever on his side, or hers, had entered into the matter from the beginning to the ending. It was for this his wife had died; it was for this he had laden12 his conscience with a weight that could never wholly leave it. He was not a heathen; and when, close upon the death, remorse13 had pressed sorely upon him, an intolerable burthen of sin grievous to be borne, he had, in very pity for his own miserable14 state, carried it where he had never before carried anything. Consolation came in time, a sense of mercy, of help, of pardon; but the recollection could never be blotted15 out, or the sense of too late repentance16 quit him.
He remembered still; he repented17 yet. Whenever the past occurred to him, it brought with it that terrible conviction--a debt of atonement owing to the dead, which can never be rendered--and Robert Hunter would feel the most humble18 man on the face of the earth. This sense of humiliation19 was no doubt good for him; it came upon him at odd times and seasons, even in the midst of the new passion that filled his heart.
"Shall I ever win her?" he was thinking to himself, seated at his for once neglected desk. "Nay20, must I ever dare to tell her of my love? A flourishing engineer, with his name up in the world, and half a score important undertakings21 in progress, might be deemed a fitting match for her by her people at the Red Court; but what would they say to me? I am not to be called flourishing yet; my great works I must be content to wait for; they will come; I can foresee it; but before then some man with settlements and a rent-roll may have stepped in."
It was not a strictly22 comforting prospect certainly, put in this light; and Mr. Hunter gave an impatient twist to some papers. But he could not this morning settle down to work, and the meditations23 began again.
"I know she loves me; I can see it in every turn of her beautiful face, hear it in every tone of her voice. This evening I shall see her; this evening I shall see her! Oh, the----"
"Mr. Barty is here, sir."
The interruption came from a clerk; it served to recal his master to what he so rarely forgot, the business of every-day life. Mr. Barty was an eminent24 contractor25, and Robert Hunter's hopes went up to fever-heat as he welcomed him. One great work entrusted26 to him from this great man, and the future might be all plain sailing.
He was not wholly disappointed. Mr. Barty had come to offer him business; or rather, to pave the way for it; for the offer was not positively27 entered on then, only the proposed work--a new line of rail--discussed. There was one drawback--it was a line abroad--and Robert Hunter did not much like this.
Mary Anne Thornycroft had not many friends in London; nearly all her holidays during the half-year had been passed at Mrs. Macpherson's. Susan Hunter invariably accompanied her; and what more natural than that Robert should (invited, or uninvited, as it might happen) drop in to meet his sister? There had lain the whole thing--the intercourse28 afforded by these rather frequent meetings--and nothing more need be said; they had fallen in love with one another.
Yes. The singular attraction each had seemed to possess for the other the first time they met, but increased with every subsequent interview. It had not needed many. Mary Anne Thornycroft, who had scarcely ever so much as read of the name of love, had lost her heart to this young man, the widower29 Robert Hunter, entirely30 and hopelessly. That he was--at any rate at present--no suitable match for her, she never so much as glanced twice at: the Thornycrofts were not wont31 to regard expediency32 when it interfered33 with inclination34. Not a word had been spoken; not a hint given; but there is a language of the heart, and they had become versed36 in it. Clever Mrs. Macpherson, so keen-sighted generally in the affairs of men and women, never so much as gave a thought to what was passing under her very eyes; Miss Hunter, who had discernment too, was totally blind here. As to the professor, with his spectacled eyes up aloft in the sky or buried in the earth, it would have been far too much to suspect him of seeing it. A very delightful37 state of things for the lovers.
When Robert Hunter reached Mrs. Macpherson's that dark December evening, he saw nobody in the drawing-room. He had been invited to dinner; five o'clock sharp, Mrs. Macpherson told him; for the professor had an engagement at six which would keep him out, and she did not intend that he should depart dinnerless.
This was Miss Thornycroft's farewell visit; in two days she was going home for Christmas, not again to return to school. She had invited Susan Hunter (who would remain at school until March), to come down during the holidays and spend a week at the Red Court Farm; and her brother was to accompany her.
It wanted a quarter to five when Mr. Hunter entered. The drawing-room was not lighted, and at first he thought no one was in it. The large fire had burnt down to red embers; as he stood before it, his head and shoulders reflected in the pier-glass, he (perhaps unconsciously) ran his hand through his hair--hair that was darker than it used to be; the once deep auburn had become a reddish-brown, and--and--some grey threads mingled38 with it.
"How vain you are!"
He started round at the sound--it was the voice he loved so well. Half buried in a lounging chair in the darkest corner was she. She came forward, laughing.
"I did not see you," he said, taking her hand "You are here alone!"
A conscious blush tinged40 her cheeks; she knew that she had stayed in the room to wait for him.
"They have gone somewhere, Susan and Mrs. Macpherson--to see a new cat of the professor's, I think. I have seen so many of those stuffed animals."
"When do you go down home?"
"The day after to-morrow. Susan has fixed41 the second week in January for her visit. Will that time suit you?"
"The time might suit," he replied, with a slight stress on the word "time," as if there were something else that might not. "Unless, indeed--"
"Unless what?"
"Unless I should have left England, I was going to say. An offer has been made me to-day--or rather, to speak more correctly, an intimation that an offer is about to be made me--of some work abroad. If I accept it, it will take me away for a couple of years."
She glanced up, and their eyes met. A yearning42 look of love, of dire43 tribulation44 at the news, shone momentarily in hers. Then they were bent45 on the carpet, and Mr. Hunter looked at the fire--the safest place just then.
"Are you obliged to accept it?" she inquired.
"Of course not. But it would be very much to my advantage. It would pave the way for--for----" He hesitated.
"For what?"
"Wealth and honours. I mean such honours (all might not call them so), as are open to one of my profession."
A whole array of sentences crowded into her mind--begging him not to go; what would the days be without the sunshine of his presence? They should be far enough apart as things were; he in London, she at home; but the other separation hinted at would be like all that was good in life dying out. This and a great deal more, lay in her thoughts; what she said, however, was cold and quiet enough.
"In the event of your remaining at home, then, the second week in January would suit you? It is Susan who has fixed it."
Not immediately did he reply. Since the first intimation of this visit to Coastdown, a feeling of repugnance46 to it had lain within him; an instinct, whenever he thought of it, warning him against accepting it. Ah! believe me, these instinctive47 warnings come to us. They occur oftener than we, in our carelessness, think for. Perhaps not one in ten of them is ever noticed, still less heeded48; we go blindly on in disregard; and, when ill follows, scarcely ever remember that the warning voice, if attended to, would have saved us.
Just as Robert Hunter disregarded this. But for his visit, destined49 to take place at the time proposed, the great tragedy connected with the Red Court Farm had never taken place.
Stronger than ever was the deterring50 warning on him this evening. He said to himself that his repugnance lay in the dislike to be a guest in any house that Lady Ellis was connected with; never so much as thinking of any other cause. He fully51 assumed there would be no chance of meeting herself: he knew she lived in Cheltenham. Miss Thornycroft had once or twice casually52 mentioned her stepmother's name in his presence, but he had not pursued the topic; and the young lady did not know that they had ever met.
"You do not reply to me, Mr. Hunter. Would the time be inconvenient53 for you?"
"It is not that," he answered, speaking rather dreamily. "But--I am a stranger to your father: would he like me to intrude54, uninvited by himself?"
"It would be a strange thing if I could not invite a dear school friend, as Susan is, down for a week, and you to accompany her," returned Miss Thornycroft, rather hotly. "You need not fear; papa is the most hospitable55 man living. They keep almost open house at home."
"You have brothers," returned Mr. Hunter, seeking for some further confronting argument. At which suggestion a ray of anger came into Miss Thornycroft's haughty56 blue eyes.
"As if my brothers would concern themselves with me or my visitors! They go their way, and I intend to go mine."
"Your stepmother--"
"She is nobody," quickly interposed Miss Thornycroft, mistaking what he was about to say. "Lady Ellis lives in Cheltenham. She is ill, and Coastdown does not suit her."
"Why does she still call herself Lady Ellis?" he asked, the question having before occurred to him.
"It is her whim57. What does it signify? She is one of the most pretentious58 women you can imagine, Mr. Hunter--quite a parvenu59, as I have always felt--and 'my lady' is sweeter to her ears than 'madam.'"
"What is it that is the matter with her?"
"It is some inward complaint; I don't quite understand what. The last time I saw my brother Cyril, he told me she was growing worse; that there was not the least hope of her cure."
"She does not come to the Red Court?"
"No, thank fortune! She has not been there at all during this past year. I believe she is now too ill to come."
Mr. Hunter glanced at the speaker with a smile. "You do not seem to like her."
"Like her! Like Lady Ellis! I do not think I could pretend to like her if she were dead. You do not know her."
A flush of remembrance darkened the brow of Robert Hunter. Time had been when he knew enough of her.
"She is a crafty60, wily, utterly61 selfish woman," pursued Miss Thornycroft, who very much enjoyed a fling at her stepmother. "How ever papa came to be taken in by her--but I don't care to talk of that."
She seized the poker62 and began to crack the fire into a blaze. Mr. Hunter took it from her, and he adroitly63 kept her hand in his.
"Had she been a different woman, good and kind, she might have won me over to love her. The Red Court wanted a mistress at that time, as papa thought; and, to confess it, so did I. A little self-willed, perverse64 girl I was, rebellious65 to my French governess, perpetually getting into scrapes, running wild indoors and out."
Entirely unconscious was Miss Thornycroft how mistaken was one of her assumptions--"papa thought the Red Court wanted a mistress." Mr. Thornycroft had been rather too conscious that it did not want one, looking at it from his point of view; though his daughter did.
"Ah, well; let bygones be bygones. You will promise to come, Mr. Hunter?"
"Yes," he answered, in teeth of the voice that seemed to haunt him. "If I have not gone away from England on this expedition, I will come."
"Thank you," she said, with a soft flush.
He turned and looked fully at her. Her hand was in his, for he had not relinquished66 it. Only about half a minute had he held it; it takes longer to tell these things than to act them. The poker was in his other hand, and he put it down with a clatter67, which prevented their hearing the footsteps of Mrs. Macpherson on the soft carpet outside. That discreet68 matron, glancing through the partially69 open door, took the view of what she saw with her keen brain, and stood transfixed.
"My heart alive, is there anything between them?" ran her surprised thoughts. "Well, that would be a go! Robert Hunter ain't no match for her father's child. Hand in hand, be they! and his eyes dropped on her face as if he was a-hungering to eat it. Not in this house, my good gentleman."
With a cough and a shuffling70, as if the carpet had got entangled71 with her feet, Mrs. Macpherson made her advent72 known. When she advanced into the room the position of the parties had changed: he was at one corner of the fire-place, she at the other, silent, demure73, innocent-looking both of them as two doves.
Not a word said Mrs. Macpherson. Miss Hunter came in, the professor followed, the announcement of dinner followed him. And somehow there arose no further opportunity for as much as a hand-shake between the suspected pair. But on the next day Mrs. Macpherson drove round to Miss Jupp's, and made to that lady a communication.
"I don't say as it is so, Miss Jupp; mind that; their fingers might have got together accidental. I am bound to say that I never noticed nothing between 'em before. But I'm a straightforward74 body, liking75 to go to the root o' things at first with folks, and do as I'd be done by. And goodness only knows what might have become of us if I'd not been, with the professor's brain a-lodging up in the skies! I'll go to Miss Jupp, says I to myself last night; and here I am."
"I think--I hope that it is quite unlikely," said Miss Jupp; beginning, however, to feel uncomfortable.
"So do I. I've told you so. But it was my place to come and put you on your guard. I declare to goodness that never a thought of such a thing struck me, or you may be sure I'd not have had Robert Hunter to my house when she was there. 'When the steed's stole, one locks the stable door."
"Miss Hunter tells me that she and her brother are going to spend a week at Coastdown."
"And so much the better," said Mrs. Macpherson, emphatically. "If there is anything between 'em, her folks won't fail to see it, and they can act accordingly. And now that I've done my duty, and had my say, I'll be going."
"Thank you," said Miss Jupp. "Is the professor well?"
"As well as getting up at three o'clock on a winter's morning and starting off in the dark and cold'll let him be," was the response. "I told him last night he shouldn't go; there's no sense in such practices; but he wouldn't listen. It's astronomicals this time."
Watching her departure, remaining for a few minutes in undecisive thought, Miss Jupp at length made up her mind to speak, and sent for Mary Anne Thornycroft. No prevision was on the young lady's mind of the lecture in store; upright, elegant, beautiful, in she swept and stood calmly before her governess. Miss Jupp spoke35 considerately, making light of the matter, merely saying that Mrs. Macpherson thought she and Mr. Hunter were rather fond of "talking" together. "I thought it as well just to mention it to you, my dear; school-girls--and you are but one as yet, you know--should always be reticent76."
Mary Anne Thornycroft's haughty blue eyes, raised in general so fearlessly, drooped77 before Miss Jupp's gaze, and her face turned to a glowing crimson78. Only for a moment: the next she was looking up again, meeting the gaze and answering with straightforward candour.
"Nothing has ever passed between me and Mr. Hunter that Mrs. Macpherson might not have heard and seen. I like Mr. Hunter very much. I have frequently met him there; but why should Mrs. Macpherson seek to make mischief79 out of that?"
"My dear girl, she neither seeks to make mischief nor has she made any. All I would say to you--leaving the past--is a word of caution. At your age, with your good sense, you cannot fail to be aware that it is advisable young ladies should be circumspect80 in their choice of acquaintances. A mutual81 inclination is sometimes formed, which can never lead to fruition, only to unhappiness."
Mary Anne did not answer, and the eyes dropped again.
"I have a great mind to tell you a little episode of my life," resumed poor Miss Jupp, her cheeks faintly flushing. "Such an inclination as I speak of arose between me and one with whom, many years ago when out on a visit, I was brought into daily contact. We learnt to care for each other as much as it is possible for people to care in this world. So much so, that when it was all past and done with, and I received an excellent proposal of marriage, I could not accept it. That early attachment82 was the blight83 of my life, Mary Anne. Instead of being a poor school-mistress, worried with many anxieties--a despised old maid--I should now have been a good man's wife, the mistress of a prosperous home."
Miss Jupp kept her rising tears down; but Mary Anne Thornycroft's eyes were glistening84.
"And that first one, dear Miss Jupp: could you not have married him?"
"No, my dear. Truth to tell, he never asked me. He dared not ask me; it would have been quite unsuitable. Believe me, many an unmarried woman could give you the same history nearly word for word. Hence you see how necessary it is to guard against an intimacy85 with unsuitable acquaintances."
"And you put Mr. Hunter into the catalogue?" returned Miss Thornycroft, affecting to speak lightly.
"Most emphatically--as considered in relation to you," was Miss Jupp's answer. "Your family will expect you to marry well, and you owe it to them to do so. Mr. Hunter is in every respect unsuitable. Until recently he was only a clerk; he has his own way to carve yet in the world; he is much older than you; and--he has been already married."
"Of course I know all that," said Miss Thornycroft, with the deepest colour that had yet come over her. "But don't you think, ma'am, it would have been quite time to remind me of this when circumstances called for it?"
"Perhaps not. At any rate, my dear, the warning can do you no harm. If unrequired in regard to Mr. Hunter--as indeed I believe it to be--it may serve you in the future."
Miss Jupp said no more. "I have put it strong," she thought to herself, as the young lady curtsied and left the room. "It was well to do so."
"Engineers rise to honours, as he said, and I know he is going on for them," quoth Mary Anne Thornycroft, with characteristic obstinacy86, slowly walking along the passage. "I should never care for anyone else in the world. As to money, I daresay I shall have plenty of that; so will he when he has become famous."
They travelled to Coastdown together--Isaac Thornycroft and his sister, Mrs. Copp and Anna Chester, as we must continue to call her--by a pleasant coincidence, as it was deemed by Miss Thornycroft. Mrs. Copp, living upon thorns--but that is a very faint figure of speech to express that timid lady's state of mind was ready some days before, but had to await the arrival of Anna. Isaac kept her out longer than the week, getting back just in time to take charge of his sister.
As they sat in the carriage together, what a momentous87 secret it was that three of them held, and had to conceal88 from the fourth! If Anna's eyes were bright with happiness, her cheeks looked pale with apprehension89; and Mrs. Copp might well shiver, and lay it upon the frost. Not so Isaac. Easy, careless, gay, was he--"every inch a bridegroom." After all, there was not so very much for him to dread90. It was expedient91 to keep his marriage secret, if it could be kept so; if' not, why he must face the explosion at home as he best could: the precautions he had taken would ward39 off reproach from his wife.
"Here's Jutpoint!" exclaimed Mary Anne Thornycroft. "How glad I am to come back!"
"How glad I should be if I were going away from it!" thought poor Mrs. Copp.
As they were getting out of the carriage, Isaac contrived92 to put his arm before Anna, an intimation that he wanted to detain her. The others were suffered to go on.
"What makes you look so pale?"
"Oh, Isaac! can you ask? Your father--my uncle--may be here waiting for us. I feel sick and faint at the thought of meeting them."
"But there's no reason in the world why you should. One minute after seeing them the feeling will wear off. Ce n'est quo le premier93 pas qui coute."
"If they should suspect!--if they should have heard! It seems to me people need only look in my face to learn all. I have never once met your sister's eyes freely in coming down."
He laughed lightly. "Reassure94 yourself, my darling. There's no fear that it will be known one hour before we choose it should be."
"I am remembering always that stories may get abroad about me."
"What you have to remember is that you are my honest wife," gravely returned Isaac. "I told Mrs. Copp--I have told you--that on the faintest breath of a whisper, I should avow95 the truth. You cannot doubt it, Anna; nothing in the world can be so precious to me as my wife's fair fame. They are looking back for us. God bless you, my darling, and farewell. For the present, you know--and that's the worst of the whole matter--you are not my wife, but Miss Chester."
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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vacancy
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| n.（旅馆的）空位，空房，（职务的）空缺 | |
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folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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vouchsafed
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| v.给予，赐予( vouchsafe的过去式和过去分词 )；允诺 | |
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passionately
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| ad.热烈地，激烈地 | |
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idol
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| n.偶像，红人，宠儿 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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laden
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| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
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remorse
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| n.痛恨，悔恨，自责 | |
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miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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blotted
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| 涂污( blot的过去式和过去分词 )； （用吸墨纸）吸干 | |
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repentance
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repented
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| 对（自己的所为）感到懊悔或忏悔( repent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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humble
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humiliation
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nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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undertakings
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strictly
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meditations
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eminent
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contractor
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entrusted
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positively
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intercourse
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widower
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entirely
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wont
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expediency
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| n.适宜；方便；合算；利己 | |
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interfered
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inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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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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versed
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| adj. 精通，熟练 | |
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delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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38
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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39
ward
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| n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开 | |
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40
tinged
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| v.（使）发丁丁声( ting的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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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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yearning
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| a.渴望的；向往的；怀念的 | |
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dire
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| adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的 | |
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tribulation
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| n.苦难，灾难 | |
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45
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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46
repugnance
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| n.嫌恶 | |
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47
instinctive
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| adj.(出于)本能的；直觉的；(出于)天性的 | |
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heeded
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| v.听某人的劝告，听从( heed的过去式和过去分词 )；变平，使（某物）变平( flatten的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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49
destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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50
deterring
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| v.阻止，制止( deter的现在分词 ) | |
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51
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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casually
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| adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地 | |
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inconvenient
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| adj.不方便的，令人感到麻烦的 | |
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54
intrude
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| vi.闯入；侵入；打扰，侵扰 | |
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hospitable
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| adj.好客的；宽容的；有利的，适宜的 | |
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haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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whim
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| n.一时的兴致，突然的念头；奇想，幻想 | |
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pretentious
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| adj.自命不凡的，自负的，炫耀的 | |
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parvenu
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| n.暴发户，新贵 | |
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crafty
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| adj.狡猾的，诡诈的 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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poker
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| n.扑克；vt.烙制 | |
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adroitly
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| adv.熟练地，敏捷地 | |
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perverse
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| adj.刚愎的；坚持错误的，行为反常的 | |
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rebellious
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| adj.造反的，反抗的，难控制的 | |
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relinquished
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| 交出，让给( relinquish的过去式和过去分词 )； 放弃 | |
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clatter
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| v./n.(使)发出连续而清脆的撞击声 | |
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discreet
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| adj.(言行)谨慎的；慎重的；有判断力的 | |
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partially
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| adv.部分地，从某些方面讲 | |
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shuffling
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| adj. 慢慢移动的, 滑移的 动词shuffle的现在分词形式 | |
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entangled
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| adj.卷入的；陷入的；被缠住的；缠在一起的v.使某人（某物/自己）缠绕，纠缠于（某物中），使某人（自己）陷入（困难或复杂的环境中）( entangle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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advent
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| n.(重要事件等的)到来，来临 | |
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demure
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| adj.严肃的；端庄的 | |
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straightforward
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| adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的 | |
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liking
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| n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢 | |
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reticent
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| adj.沉默寡言的；言不如意的 | |
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drooped
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| 弯曲或下垂，发蔫( droop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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circumspect
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| adj.慎重的，谨慎的 | |
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81
mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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82
attachment
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| n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附 | |
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83
blight
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| n.枯萎病；造成破坏的因素；vt.破坏，摧残 | |
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glistening
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| adj.闪耀的，反光的v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的现在分词 ) | |
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85
intimacy
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| n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行 | |
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86
obstinacy
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| n.顽固；（病痛等）难治 | |
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87
momentous
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| adj.重要的，重大的 | |
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88
conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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89
apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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90
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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91
expedient
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| adj.有用的，有利的；n.紧急的办法，权宜之计 | |
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92
contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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93
premier
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| adj.首要的；n.总理，首相 | |
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94
reassure
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| v.使放心，使消除疑虑 | |
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95
avow
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| v.承认，公开宣称 | |
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