To be broken in upon by the irruption of numerous visitors, evidently astonished him not a little. The attendants on Mr. Thornycroft had gathered on the way from the Half-moon beach, just as some balls gather in rolling, and six or seven friends followed in on the tail of the master of the Red Court Farm. Isaac, on the contrary, seemed to have fallen away from it, for he did not enter with the rest. Richard rose to welcome them, with scant2 courtesy.
"Where's Cyril?" began the justice. "Is he down yet?"
"I don't know," answered Richard, taking out his watch and glancing at it. "I have not seen him. It is early yet."
"And Cyril never is very early," added the justice, quickly assuming that his youngest son was in his bed still. "Have you heard the news, Richard?"
"Yes," was Richard's laconic3 answer.
"What do you think of it? How do you suppose it could have happened?"
"I don't think about it," returned Richard. "I conclude that if he did not shoot himself, he must have got into some quarrelling fray4. He drank enough wine last evening to heat his brain, and we had proof that he was fond of meddling5 in what did not concern him. The extraordinary part of the business is, what brought him back on the plateau, after he had once started on his journey."
"I'll go up and arouse Cyril, and know where he left Hunter. Gentlemen, if you will sit down and take some breakfast, we shall be glad of your company. There's a capital round of beef. Hallo you girls!" called out the justice, striding away in the direction of the kitchen, "some of you come in here and attend. Sinnett, let some more ham and eggs be sent in."
Nothing loath7, the gentlemen responded at once to the invitation: most of them had not breakfasted. The Rev8. Mr. Southall made one. The round of beef was capital, as its master said; the game pies looked tempting9, the cold ham, the hot rolls, the fresh eggs, the toasted bacon, all were excellent. Apparently10, the Red Court Farm kept itself prepared for an impromptu11 public breakfast, just as well as it did for an impromptu dinner.
Mr. Thornycroft ascended12 the stairs, and presently his voice was heard on the landing, calling to Cyril. But it died away in the echoes of the large house, and there was no answer; unless the opening of the door of his wife's room by her maid could be called such.
"Did you want anything, sir?" she asked, looking out.
"Nothing particular. How is your lady this morning?"
"Much the same, sir, thank you."
The maid shut the door again, and Mr. Thornycroft went on to Cyril's chamber14. He found it empty. It was so unusual for Cyril to be up and out early, that he felt a sort of surprise. That he had not gone far, however, was evident, as his watch and purse lay on the chest of drawers. The justice crossed the corridor and knocked at his daughter's room.
"Are you up, Mary Anne?"
"Yes," responded a faint and hurried voice within. "What do you want, papa?"
"I want you. Open the door."
But Miss Thornycroft did not obey. The justice, never remarkable15 for patience, when his behests were disregarded, laid hold of the handle and shook it with his strong hand.
"Open the door, I say, Mary Anne. What, girl! are you afraid of me?"
Miss Thornycroft slowly opened the door, and presented herself. She was in a handsome grey silk dress, but it looked tumbled, as if she had lain down in it, and her hair was rough and disarranged. It was the gown she had worn the previous evening, and it would almost seem as if she had done nothing to herself since going upstairs to bed. The signs caught her father's eye, and he spoke16 in astonishment17.
"Why--what in the world, girl? You have never undressed yourself! Surely, you did not pay too much respect to the wine, as some of the men did!"
"You know better than that, sir. I was very tired, and threw myself on the bed when I came up: I suppose sleep overtook me. Do not allude18 to it, papa, downstairs. I will soon change my dress."
"Sleeping in your clothes does not seem to agree with you, Mary Anne: you look as white as if you had swallowed a doctor's shop. Do you know anything of Cyril?--that's what I wanted to ask you."
"No," she replied, "I have neither seen nor heard him."
Mr. Thornycroft came to the conclusion that Cyril had heard of the calamity19, and gone out to see about it in his curiosity. He returned to the breakfast-room and said this. Sinnett, who was there, turned round and spoke.
"Mr. Cyril did not sleep at home last night, sir."
"Nonsense," responded the justice.
"He did not, sir," persisted Sinnett, in as positive a tone as she dared to use.
"Not sleep at home!" cried Mr. Thornycroft, ironically. "You must be mistaken, Sinnett. Cyril is not a night-bird," he continued, turning his fine and rather free blue eyes on the company: "he leaves late hours to his brothers."
"When Martha took up his hot water just now, and knocked, there was no reply," returned Sinnett, quietly. "So she went in, fearing he might be ill, and found the bed had not been slept in."
For Cyril, who had never willingly been guilty of loose conduct in his whole life, to sleep out from home secretly, was as remarkable a fact as the going regularly to bed at ten o'clock would have been for his brothers. Mr. Thornycroft not only felt amazement20, but showed it.
"I cannot understand this at all. Richard, do you know where he can be?"
"Not in the least. I was waiting for him to come down that I might question him where he parted with Hunter."
"When did you see him last?"
"When he was going off last night with Hunter. I have not seen him since. He will turn up by-and-by," continued Richard, carelessly. "If a fellow never has stopped out to make a night of it, that's no reason why he never may. Perhaps he came to an anchor at the Mermaid21."
Clearly there was reason in this. Cyril Thornycroft might have remained out from some cause or other, though he never had before, and the gentlemen fell to their breakfast again. But for the strange and unhappy fact of Hunter's having come back to Coastdown, Mr. Thornycroft had concluded that Cyril must have walked with him to Jutpoint, and taken a bed there.
"Go up to Miss Thornycroft, Sinnett," said the justice. "She does not seem well. Perhaps she would like some tea."
Giving a look round the table first to see that nothing more was wanted (for the housekeeper22 liked to execute orders at her own time and will), she proceeded to Miss Thornycroft's room. The young lady then had her hair down and her dress off, apparently in the legitimate23 process of dressing24.
"My goodness me, Miss Mary Anne, how white you look!" was the involuntary exclamation25 of the servant. "It is a dreadful thing, miss, but you must not take it too much to heart. It is worse for poor Mr. Hunter himself than it is for you."
Mary Anne Thornycroft, who had made a vain effort to hide her emotion and her ghastly face from the servant, opened her lips to speak, and closed them again, unable to utter a syllable27.
"What a gaby the justice must have been to make such haste to tell her!" thought the woman. For it never occurred to Sinnett that Miss Thornycroft could have gained the information from any other source; or, rather, it may be more correct to say that she knew it could not have been gained from any other. Sinnett, standing28 in the hall underneath29 at the moment, had heard her master's knock for admission at his daughter's door, and the colloquy30 that ensued--not the words, only the sound of the voices.
"The whole village is up in arms," continued Sinnett. "It is an awful murder. Hyde--"
"Don't talk of it," came the interrupting wail31; "I cannot bear it yet. Is he found?"
"Poor wretch32, yes! with no look of a human face about him, they say," was Sinnett's answer.
"Shot down on to the Half-moon?" shuddered33 Miss Thornycroft, evidently speaking more to herself than to Sinnett.
"In the fur corner of it. I'll go and bring you a cup of tea, miss. You are shaking all over."
Mary Anne put out her hand to arrest her, but she was weak, feeble, suffering, and Sinnett went on, totally regardless. In the woman's opinion there was no panacea34 for ills, whether mental or bodily, like a cup of strong tea, and she hastened to bring one for her young lady. The shortest way of doing this was to get it from the breakfast-room, and in went Sinnett. She was not disposed to stand on too much ceremony at the best of times, especially when put out. Occupying her position for many years as mistress of the internal economy of the Red Court Farm, she felt her sway in it, and she was warmly condemning35 her master for having spoken. For Sinnett was one who liked on occasion to set those about her to rights. The large silver teapot was before the justice. Sinnett, a breakfast cup in her hand, went up and asked him to fill it.
"What a pity it is, sir, that you told Miss Thornycroft so soon; before she was well out of her bed!" began Sinnett in an undertone, as she stood waiting. "Time enough for her to have heard such a horrid36 thing, sir, when she had taken a bit of breakfast. There she is, shaking like a child, not able to dress herself."
"I did not tell her," returned. Mr. Thornycroft aloud. "What are you talking of?"
"Yes, you did, sir."
"I did not, I tell you."
"You must have told her, sir," persisted Sinnett. "The first thing she asked me was, whether the body was found on the Half-moon, and said it was shot down on to it. Nobody else has been to the room but yourself."
"Take up the tea to your mistress, and don't stand cavilling37 here," interposed Richard, in a tone of stern command.
Justice Thornycroft brooked38 not contradiction from a servant. Moreover, he began to think that his daughter must have got her information from Cyril. He rose from table and strode upstairs after Sinnett, following her into his daughter's room.
"Mary Anne"--in a sharp tone--"did you tell that woman I disclosed to you what had happened to Hunter?"
"No," was the reply.
"Did I tell you that anything had happened to him?"
"No, papa, you did not."
"Do you hear what Miss Thornycroft says?" continued the magistrate39, turning to the servant. "I advise you not to presume to contradict me again. If the house were in less excitement, you should come in before them all, and beg my pardon."
A ghastly look of fear had started to the features of Miss Thornycroft. "I--I heard them talking of it outside," she murmured, looking at Sinnett.
"Outside!" exclaimed Sinnett.
"Underneath, in the herb-garden," faintly added Miss Thornycroft, whose very lips were white as ashes.
"Then you did not hear of it from Cyril, Mary Anne?"
"No, papa, I have not seen Cyril at all."
Justice Thornycroft strode downstairs again. Sinnett, who did not like to be rebuked--and, in truth, rarely gave occasion for it--looked rather sullen40 as she put down the cup and saucer.
"Nobody has been in the side garden since I got up," cried Sinnett.
"Oh, it was before that," too hastily affirmed Miss Thornycroft. "They were strange voices," she hurriedly added, as if afraid of more questions.
Sinnett shut the door on Miss Thornycroft, and went away ruminating41. Something like fear had arisen to the woman's own face.
"What does it all mean?" she asked herself, unconsciously resting the small silver waiter on the window-seat, as she stood looking out. "She could not have heard anything outside in the herb-garden, for nobody has had the key of it this morning; and as to people having been up here talking of it before I was up, the poor man had not then been found."
That some dreadful mystery existed, something that would not bear the light of day, and in which Miss Thornycroft was in some way mixed up, Sinnett felt certain. And, woman-like, she spoke out her thoughts too freely: not in ill-nature; not to do harm to Miss Thornycroft or anyone else; but in the love of talking, in the wish to get her own curiosity satisfied. How had she learnt the news? Sinnett wondered again and again. What was it that had put her into this unnatural42 state of alarm and fear? Regret she might feel for Robert Hunter; horror at his dreadful fate--but whence arose the fear? Shrewd Sinnett finally descended43, her brain in full work.
When the party in the breakfast-room had concluded their meal, which they did not spare, in spite of the sight their eyes had that morning looked on, they departed in a body, each one privately44 hoping he should be the first to alight on Mr. Cyril. In the present stage of the affair, Cyril Thornycroft was regarded as the one only person who could throw light upon it. It did not clearly appear where he could be. Richard's suggestion of the Mermaid was an exceedingly improbable one. He was not there; he seemed not to be anywhere else; nobody appeared to have seen him since the previous night, when he was starting to walk a little way with Robert Hunter.
Mr. Thornycroft sat down in the justice room to write to the coroner, and was interrupted by his eldest45 son. He looked up in expectation.
"Has Cyril turned up, Richard?"
"No, sir. Cyril's not gone far. His porte-monnaie and watch are in his room."
"Yes, I caught a sight of them myself. It is strange where he can be. I am rather uneasy."
"There's no occasion for that," returned Richard. "He must have gone on to Jutpoint. There's not a doubt of it."
"Well, I suppose it is so. The curious part is, what brought Hunter back again when he was once fairly on the road? They have been suggesting at the breakfast-table that he might have forgotten something; and I suppose it was so. But what took him to the plateau?"
Richard had his theory on that point. "Curiosity, unjustifiable curiosity; possibly a wicked, dishonourable resolution to betray us, after all," were the words rising so persistently46 in his mind that he had some difficulty not to speak them. He did not, however; he wished to spare unpleasantness to his father so far as might be. The only one to whom he gave the history of what took place on the previous night before parting with Hunter, was Isaac; and Isaac, as we know, had repeated just a word to his father. Mr. Thornycroft recurred47 to it now.
"What was it Isaac said about you and Hunter, Richard? I almost forget. That Hunter went on the plateau and saw the signal-light?"
"Hunter saw it. When he first quitted the house some devil's instinct took him to the plateau. I met him as he was running down, made him promise to hold his tongue, and sent him off with Cyril. I could have staked my life--yes, my life," added Richard, firmly--"that he would not have come back again."
"Was that all that passed?"
"Oh yes, that was all," carelessly returned Richard, who thought it well not to give the details of the unpleasant interview. "He and Cyril walked away together, and I fully48 assumed we had seen the colour of his ugly face for the last time."
"And East saw them down at the Hollow, so they must have gone that far. Well, it's very odd; but I suppose Cyril will clear it up."
Mr. Thornycroft drew down his spectacles before his eyes--they had been lifted while he talked--and went on with his note to the coroner. Again Richard broke in, speaking abruptly49.
"Sir, this affair of Hunter's must be kept dark."
"Kept dark!" echoed the justice. "When a man's found murdered, one can't keep it dark. What do you mean, Dick?"
"I mean, kept as dark as the legal proceedings50 will allow. Don't make more stir in it, sir, than is absolutely necessary. It would have been well to keep secret his having gone on the plateau at all; but it's known already, and can't be helped now. Hush51 it up as much as you can."
"But why?"
"Hush it up," impressively repeated Richard, his dark face working with some inward agitation52. "I shall know what to say in regard to his having gone on the plateau before departure; you and Isaac had better be silent. Hush it up--hush it up! You will be at the coroner's right hand, and can sway him imperceptibly. It is essential advice, father."
"What the deuce!" burst forth53 the magistrate, staring at his son; "you do not fear Cyril was the murderer of Hunter?"
"No, thank God!" fervently54 answered Richard. "Cyril would be the last in the world to speak an unkind word, let alone shoot a man. But, don't you see, sir--too minute enquiries may set them on the track of something else that was done on the Half-moon last night, and it would not do. That confounded Kyne has got his eyes and ears open enough, as it is."
"By George! there's something in that," deliberated the justice. "My sympathy for Hunter put that out of my mind. All right, Dicky, now I have the cue."
Mr. Thornycroft sealed his note to the coroner, despatched it, and went upstairs to Lady Ellis's room. She was up, and sitting on the sofa. He shook hands and enquired55 how she had rested. For a long while, in fact since the beginning of her illness, their relations with each other had been but those of common acquaintance. He was wondering whether it would be well to tell her of the catastrophe56; but she had already heard of it, and sat, paler than usual, gazing at the idlers who were crowding the edge of the plateau, leaning over it in their curiosity. That unusual sight would alone have told her something was the matter.
"Is it possible that this can be true?" she asked, in a low tone of distress57. "Is Robert Hunter really murdered?"
"It is too true, unfortunately," he answered; "at least, that he is dead. Whether murdered--as everybody has been in haste to say and assume or whether accidentally shot, remains58 to be proved."
"And what are the particulars? What is known?"
But here Mr. Thornycroft would not satisfy her, or could not stay to do it. His carriage was at the door to take him to Jutpoint, where he had magisterial59 business that could not be postponed60. Mentioning just a fact or two, he quitted the room, and found Isaac talking rather sharply to Sinnett in the hall below.
Sinnett had not allowed her doubts or her tongue to slumber61. First of all she had talked to Hyde--of Miss Thornycroft's curious demeanour, of her incautious avowal62, of her remarkable state of alarm and of fear; and Hyde replied by telling her to "hold her peace if she couldn't talk sense." She next, as it chanced, mentioned it to Tomlett, and he retorted that Sinnett was a fool. Sinnett felt wrathful; and in some way or other the matter penetrated63 to the ears of Isaac. He did not believe it; he felt sure that his sister knew nothing, and was taking Sinnett to task when Mr. Thornycroft descended.
A few hasty words from the three, and Mr. Thornycroft opened the door of his daughter's parlour, where he understood she now was. Rather to his surprise, Richard was shut in with her. It was an unusual thing for him to be indoors in the day-time. She wore a morning dress now, and looked much as usual, except that her face was pale and her hands trembled. Richard went out as they entered.
"Now, then," said the justice, "we will have this cleared up. Where and from whom did you hear of this matter, Mary Anne?"
She answered briefly64, leaning her forehead on her hand, that she had heard people talking of it early in the morning below her window. Sinnett, anxious to justify65 herself, and very vexed66 that this should have come to the ears of her masters, said this could not be; the key of the herb-garden was in her pocket, and nobody could have got into it.
The plot of ground on the side of the house, under Miss Thornycroft's window, where the herbs were grown, was enclosed. A small glass shed (it was not half large enough to be called a green-house) was at one corner of it, in which Sinnett had some plants. Three or four of these had been stolen one night, and since then Sinnett had kept the gate locked.
Miss Thornycroft, her hand held up still as if to hide her face, persisted. She had heard voices underneath in the early morning, strange voices; it was so unusual that she quietly opened her window to listen. They spoke of Mr. Hunter, and she caught distinctly the words "murder," and "shot down from the heights to the Half-moon." "It was as if one man was telling another," faintly concluded Miss Thornycroft. "I could only hope it was not true; it frightened me terribly. As to how they could have been in the herb-garden, I suppose they must have got over the palisades."
"Nothing more likely, that they might talk at leisure without interruption," cried the justice, turning angrily on his housekeeper. "Let the subject be dropped: do you hear, Sinnett? How dare you attempt to raise a cabal67! What's the matter with you to-day? One would think you shot him down."
Striding across the hall, the justice went out to his restive68 horses, prancing69 and pawing the ground in their impatience70. Isaac followed him.
"If you will allow me, sir, I should like to accompany you."
"All right, Isaac; get up."
The justice drove away, his son by his side his groom71 sitting behind, as he had once, years ago, driven away from the gate of Mrs. Chester; but his daughter was with him then. Isaac's errand to Jutpoint, unavowed, was to look after Cyril. Why it should have been so he could not have told, then or later, but an uneasy prevision lay on his mind that something or other was wrong, more than met the eye.
Sinnett, nettled72 beyond everything at her master's concluding reproach, spoken though it was in irony73, and at the turn of affairs altogether, flounced off to her kitchen, leaving Miss Thornycroft alone. She--Mary Anne Thornycroft--had made her explanation almost glibly74, after the manner of one who has learnt a part by heart, and recites it. That some most awful dread26 was upon her--apart from the natural grief and horror arising from the murder, if it was murder--was indisputable, and Sinnett felt sure of it still.
Her face buried in her hands; her body swaying backwards75 and forwards in her chair; her whole aspect evincing dire6 agony now she was alone, sat Mary Anne Thornycroft. In that one past night she seemed to have aged76 years. The knock of a visitor aroused her; some curious gossip come to inquire and chatter77 and comment; and she escaped upstairs, crossing Hyde in the hall.
"I cannot see anyone, Hyde; my head aches too much."
The door of her step-mother's room was open, and Lady Ellis called to her. One single moment of rebellion, of wish to escape, and then she remembered that she had not been in at all that morning, and also that it was well to avoid observation just now. Lady Ellis sat as Mr. Thornycroft had left her; her dark hair drawn78 simply from her wasted face, her purple morning-gown tied at the waist with a cord and tassel79, its lace ruffles80 falling over her thin white hand.
"I was just going to ring and ask you to come up, Mary Anne. I must hear the particulars of this dreadful mystery; I cannot rest until they are told. Look at them!"
She pointed81 to the heights. Dotting the plateau, peeping in at the round tower, holding hands and waists for security as they bent82 forward over the edge to look at the scene of the tragedy below, were the idlers. Mary Anne sat down near the table, her elbow on it, her head leaning on her hand, her eyes bent on the carpet, and told the particulars that the world knew. Lady Ellis heard them to the end without comment.
"But why should he have gone on the plateau at all?" she questioned.
"I don't know. He did go. As I stood at the door watching him off, he turned from the road to the plateau. I saw him. I saw him cross the railings."
"And your brother Richard saw him?"
"Yes, as he was coming off. They stood talking for a minute or two, Richard says. Cyril came up then, and he started to walk a little way with Robert Hunter."
"But what does Cyril say? Where is he?"
"He has not been home since. They suppose he went on to Jutpoint and slept there. Nothing more except this is known."
"But Mr. Hunter must have come back again?"
"Of course he must. It is his coining back that is so unaccountable."
"And why--why should Cyril walk to Jutpoint, unless he walked with Mr. Hunter?" resumed Lady Ellis after a pause.
Miss Thornycroft shook her head. It was in truth so much involved in doubt and mystery from beginning to end, that she felt unable to cope with it, even by conjecture83, she said faintly. "The terrible point in it all seems to be in his having come back again."
"Nay84, the terrible point is the attack upon him," dissented85 her step-mother. "It might have been an accidental shot, after all. At what hour was it supposed to take place?"
Miss Thornycroft could not say. "Of course--yes--it might have been only accidental," she assented86 with whitening lips.
"Mary Ann, how ill you look!"
"Do I? It frightened me, you see. And I have a dreadful headache," she added, rising to escape those eyes bent on her with so much curiosity. "I must go and lie down on the bed, if you will spare me."
"Lie on my sofa," said Lady Ellis.
"No, thank you. Shut in by myself, I may get to sleep."
"Tell me one thing," and Lady Ellis laid her hand on her step-daughter's arm. "Is any one suspected?"
"No; oh no."
"I suppose, Mary Ann, it is quite sure that he is dead?"
A faint cry at the mockery of the almost suggested hope escaped Mary Anne's lips. When the surgeon saw him at eight o'clock that morning, he thought he must have been dead about ten hours.
Lady Ellis leaned back in her chair when she was left alone, her eyes closed, her wan13 hands clasped meekly87 on her bosom88.
"Ah! was he fit to go? was he fit to go?" she murmured, the thought having lain on her as a great dream of agony. "Had it been Cyril Thornycroft, there could be no doubt. But he--? Perhaps he was changed, as I am," she resumed after a long pause. "Oh! yes, yes, it might have been so; Robert Hunter might have been READY. Thank God that he gave me his forgiveness last night!"
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1
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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scant
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| adj.不充分的，不足的；v.减缩，限制，忽略 | |
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laconic
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| adj.简洁的；精练的 | |
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fray
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| v.争吵；打斗；磨损，磨破；n.吵架；打斗 | |
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meddling
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| v.干涉，干预（他人事务）( meddle的现在分词 ) | |
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6
dire
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| adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的 | |
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7
loath
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| adj.不愿意的；勉强的 | |
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rev
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| v.发动机旋转，加快速度 | |
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tempting
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| a.诱人的, 吸引人的 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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impromptu
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| adj.即席的，即兴的；adv.即兴的(地)，无准备的(地) | |
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ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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wan
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| (wide area network)广域网 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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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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astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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allude
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calamity
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| n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件 | |
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amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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mermaid
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| n.美人鱼 | |
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housekeeper
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| n.管理家务的主妇，女管家 | |
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legitimate
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| adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法 | |
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dressing
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| n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料 | |
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exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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syllable
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| n.音节；vt.分音节 | |
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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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underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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colloquy
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| n.谈话，自由讨论 | |
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wail
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| vt./vi.大声哀号，恸哭；呼啸，尖啸 | |
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wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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shuddered
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| v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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panacea
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| n.万灵药；治百病的灵药 | |
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condemning
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| v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的现在分词 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地 | |
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horrid
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| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
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cavilling
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| n.（矿工的）工作地点抽签法v.挑剔，吹毛求疵( cavil的现在分词 ) | |
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brooked
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| 容忍，忍受（brook的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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magistrate
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| n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官 | |
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sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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ruminating
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| v.沉思( ruminate的现在分词 )；反复考虑；反刍；倒嚼 | |
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unnatural
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| adj.不自然的；反常的 | |
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descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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privately
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| adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地 | |
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eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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persistently
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| ad.坚持地；固执地 | |
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recurred
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| 再发生，复发( recur的过去式和过去分词 )； 治愈 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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hush
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| int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静 | |
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agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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fervently
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| adv.热烈地，热情地，强烈地 | |
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enquired
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| 打听( enquire的过去式和过去分词 )； 询问； 问问题； 查问 | |
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catastrophe
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| n.大灾难，大祸 | |
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distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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magisterial
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| adj.威风的，有权威的；adv.威严地 | |
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postponed
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| vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发） | |
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slumber
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| n.睡眠，沉睡状态 | |
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avowal
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| n.公开宣称，坦白承认 | |
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penetrated
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| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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justify
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| vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护 | |
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vexed
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| adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论 | |
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cabal
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| n.政治阴谋小集团 | |
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restive
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| adj.不安宁的，不安静的 | |
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prancing
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| v.（马）腾跃( prance的现在分词 ) | |
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impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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groom
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| vt.给（马、狗等）梳毛，照料，使...整洁 | |
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nettled
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| v.拿荨麻打，拿荨麻刺（nettle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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irony
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| n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄 | |
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glibly
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| adv.流利地，流畅地；满口 | |
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backwards
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| adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地 | |
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aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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chatter
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| vi.／n.喋喋不休；短促尖叫；(牙齿)打战 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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tassel
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| n.流苏，穗；v.抽穗， （玉米）长穗须 | |
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ruffles
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| 褶裥花边( ruffle的名词复数 ) | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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82
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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conjecture
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| n./v.推测，猜测 | |
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84
nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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85
dissented
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| 不同意，持异议( dissent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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86
assented
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| 同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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87
meekly
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| adv.温顺地，逆来顺受地 | |
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88
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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