And yet, the life of Christina is in itself a romance. At six years old she was Queen of Sweden, with the famous Oxenstiern for guardian6. This great and good man governed the kingdom in her name until she had lived through her minority. Four years after her coronation she, of her own accord, abdicated7 her rights in favour of her cousin, Charles Gustavus. Young and beautiful, the most learned and most accomplished8 woman of her time, she resolutely10 turned her back on the throne of her inheritance, and set forth11 to wander through civilised Europe in the character of an independent traveller who was resolved to see all varieties of men and manners, to collect all the knowledge which the widest experience could give her, and to measure her mind boldly against the greatest minds of the age.
So far, the interest excited by her character and her adventures is of the most picturesquely-attractive kind. There is something strikingly new in the spectacle of a young queen who prefers the pursuit of knowledge to the possession of a throne, and who barters12 a royal birthright for the privilege of being free. Unhappily, the portrait of Christina cannot be 50 painted throughout in bright colours only. It must be recorded to her disgrace that, when her travels brought her to Rome, she abandoned the religion for which her father fought and died. And it must be admitted in the interests of truth, that she freed herself from other restraints besides the restraint of royalty13. Mentally distinguished14 by her capacities, she was morally degraded by her vices15 and her crimes.
The events in the strange life of Christina—especially those connected with her actions in the character of a Queen-Errant—present ample materials for a biography, which might be regarded in England as a new contribution to our historical literature. One among the many extraordinary adventures which marked the Queen's wandering career, may be related in these pages as an episode in the history of her life which is complete in itself. The events of which the narrative is composed, throw light, in many ways, on the manners, habits, and opinions of a past age; and they can, moreover, be presented in the remarkable16 words of an eye-witness who beheld17 them two centuries ago.
The scene is the Palace of Fontainebleau, the time is the close of the year sixteen hundred and fifty-seven, the persons are the wandering Queen Christina; her grand equerry, the Marquis Monaldeschi; 51 and Father Le Bel of the Convent of Fontainebleau, the witness whose testimony18 we are shortly about to cite.
Monaldeschi, as his name implies, was an Italian by birth. He was a handsome, accomplished man, refined in his manners, supple19 in his disposition20, and possessed21 of the art of making himself eminently22 agreeable in the society of women. With these personal recommendations, he soon won his way to the favour of Queen Christina. Out of the long list of her lovers, not one of the many whom she encouraged caught so long and firm a hold of her capricious fancy as Monaldeschi. The intimacy23 between them probably took its rise, on her side at least, in as deep a sincerity24 of affection as it was in Christina's nature to feel. On the side of the Italian, the connection was prompted solely25 by ambition. As soon as he had reaped all the advantages of the position of chief favourite in the queen's court, he wearied of his royal mistress, and addressed his attentions secretly to a young Roman lady, whose youth and beauty powerfully attracted him, and whose fatal influence over his actions ultimately led to his ruin and his death.
After endeavouring to ingratiate himself with the Roman lady, in various ways, Monaldeschi found that the surest means of winning her favour lay in satisfying her malicious26 curiosity on the subject of the 52 secret frailties27 of Queen Christina. He was not a man to be troubled by any scrupulous28 feelings of honour when the interests of his own intrigues29 happened to be concerned; and he shamelessly took advantage of the position that he held towards Christina, to commit breaches30 of confidence of the most meanly infamous31 kind. Not contented32 with placing in the possession of the Roman lady the series of the queen's letters to himself, containing secrets that she had revealed to him in the fullest confidence of his worthiness33 to be trusted, he wrote letters of his own to the new object of his addresses, in which he ridiculed34 Christina's fondness for him, and sarcastically36 described her smallest personal defects with a heartless effrontery37 which the most patient of women would have found it impossible to forgive. While he was thus privately38 betraying the confidence that had been reposed40 in him, he was publicly affecting the most unalterable attachment41 and the most sincere respect for the queen.
For some time this disgraceful deception42 proceeded successfully. But the hour of discovery was at hand, and the instrument of effecting it was a certain cardinal43 who was desirous of supplanting44 Monaldeschi in the queen's favour. The priest contrived45 to get possession of the whole correspondence which had been privately confided46 to the Roman lady, including, besides Christina's letters, the letters 53 which Monaldeschi had written in ridicule35 of his royal mistress. The whole collection of documents was enclosed by the cardinal in one packet, and was presented by him, at a private audience, to the queen.
It is at this critical point of the story that the testimony of the eye-witness whom we propose to quote, begins. Father Le Bel was present at the terrible execution of the queen's vengeance47 on Monaldeschi, and was furnished with copies of the whole correspondence which had been abstracted from the possession of the Roman lady. Having been trusted with the secret, he is wisely and honourably48 silent throughout his narrative on the subject of Monaldeschi's offence. Such particulars of the Italian's baseness and ingratitude49 as have been presented here, have been gathered from the contradictory50 reports which were current at the time, and which have been preserved by the old French collectors of historical anecdotes51. The details of the extraordinary punishment of Monaldeschi's offence which are now to follow, may be given in the words of Father Le Bel himself. The reader will understand that his narrative begins immediately after Christina's discovery of the perfidy52 of her favourite.
The sixth of November, sixteen hundred and fifty-seven (writes Father Le Bel), at a quarter past nine 54 in the morning, Queen Christina of Sweden, being at that time lodged53 in the Royal Palace of Fontainebleau, sent one of her men servants to my convent, to obtain an interview with me. The messenger, on being admitted to my presence, inquired if I was the superior of the convent, and when I replied in the affirmative, informed me that I was expected to present myself immediately before the Queen of Sweden.
Fearful of keeping her Majesty54 waiting, I followed the man at once to the palace, without waiting to take any of my brethren from the convent with me.
After a little delay in the antechamber, I was shown into the Queen's room. She was alone; and I saw, by the expression of her face, as I respectfully begged to be favoured with her commands, that something was wrong. She hesitated for a moment; then told me, rather sharply, to follow her to a place where she might speak with the certainty of not being overheard. She led me into the Galerie des Cerfs, and, turning round on me suddenly, asked if we had ever met before. I informed her Majesty that I had once had the honour of presenting my respects to her; that she had received me graciously, and that there the interview had ended. She nodded her head and looked about her a little; then said, very abruptly55, that I wore a dress (referring to 55 my convent costume) which encouraged her to put perfect faith in my honour; and she desired me to promise beforehand that I would keep the secret with which she was about to entrust56 me as strictly57 as if I had heard it in the confessional. I answered respectfully that it was part of my sacred profession to be trusted with secrets; that I had never betrayed the private affairs of any one; and that I could answer for myself as worthy59 to be honoured by the confidence of a queen.
Upon this, her Majesty handed me a packet of papers sealed in three places, but having no superscription of any sort. She ordered me to keep it under lock and key, and to be prepared to give it her back again before any person in whose presence she might see fit to ask me for it. She further charged me to remember the day, the hour, and the place in which she had given me the packet; and with that last piece of advice she dismissed me. I left her alone in the gallery, walking slowly away from me, with her head drooping60 on her bosom61, and her mind, as well as I could presume to judge, perturbed62 by anxious thoughts.[1]
On Saturday, the tenth of November, at one o'clock in the afternoon, I was sent for to the Palace 56 again. I took the packet out of my private cabinet, feeling that I might be asked for it; and then followed the messenger as before. This time he led me at once to the Galerie des Cerfs. The moment I entered it, he shut the door behind me with such extraordinary haste and violence, that I felt a little startled. As soon as I recovered myself, I saw her Majesty standing63 in the middle of the gallery, talking to one of the gentlemen of her Court, who was generally known by the name of The Marquis, and whom I soon ascertained65 to be the Marquis Monaldeschi, Grand Equerry of the Queen of Sweden. I approached her Majesty and made my bow—then stood before her, waiting until she should think proper to address me.
With a stern look on her face, and with a loud, clear, steady voice, she asked me, before the Marquis and before three other men who were also in the gallery, for the packet which she had confided to my care.
As she made that demand, two of the three men moved back a few paces, while the third, the captain of her guard, advanced rather nearer to her. I handed her back the packet. She looked at it thoughtfully for a little while; then opened it, and took out the letters and written papers which it contained, handed them to the Marquis Monaldeschi, and insisted on his reading them. When he had 57 obeyed, she asked him, with the same stern look and the same steady voice, whether he had any knowledge of the documents which he had just been reading. The Marquis turned deadly pale, and answered that he had now read the papers referred to for the first time.
"Do you deny all knowledge of them?" said the Queen. "Answer me plainly, sir. Yes or no?"
The Marquis turned paler still. "I deny all knowledge of them," he said, in faint tones, with his eyes on the ground.
"Do you deny all knowledge of these too?" said the Queen, suddenly producing a second packet of manuscript from under her dress, and thrusting it in the Marquis's face.
He started, drew back a little, and answered not a word. The packet which the Queen had given to me contained copies only. The original papers were those which she had just thrust in the Marquis's face.
"Do you deny your own seal and your own handwriting?" she asked.
He murmured a few words, acknowledging both the seal and the handwriting to be his own, and added some phrases of excuse, in which he endeavoured to cast the blame that attached to the writing of the letters on the shoulders of other persons. While he was speaking, the three men in attendance on the Queen silently closed round him. 58
Her Majesty heard him to the end. "You are a traitor66," she said, and turned her back on him.
The three men, as she spoke67 those words, drew their swords.
The Marquis heard the clash of the blades against the scabbards, and, looking quickly round, saw the drawn68 swords behind him. He caught the Queen by the arm immediately, and drew her away with him, first into one corner of the gallery, then into another, entreating69 her in the most moving terms to listen to him, and to believe in the sincerity of his repentance70. The Queen let him go on talking without showing the least sign of anger or impatience71. Her colour never changed; the stern look never left her countenance72. There was something awful in the clear, cold, deadly resolution which her eyes expressed while they rested on the Marquis's face.
At last she shook herself free from his grasp, still without betraying the slightest irritation73. The three men with the drawn swords, who had followed the Marquis silently as he led the Queen from corner to corner of the gallery, now closed round him again, as soon as he was left standing alone. There was perfect silence for a minute or more. Then the Queen addressed herself to me.
"Father Le Bel," she said, "I charge you to bear witness that I treat this man with the strictest impartiality74." She pointed75, while she spoke, to the 59 Marquis Monaldeschi with a little ebony riding-whip that she carried in her hand. "I offer that worthless traitor all the time he requires—more time than he has any right to ask for—to justify76 himself if he can."
The Marquis hearing these words, took some letters from a place of concealment77 in his dress, and gave them to the Queen, along with a small bunch of keys. He snatched these last from his pocket so quickly, that he drew out with them a few small silver coins which fell to the floor. As he addressed himself to the Queen again, she made a sign with her ebony riding-whip to the men with the drawn swords; and they retired78 towards one of the windows of the gallery. I, on my side, withdrew out of hearing. The conference which ensued between the Queen and the Marquis lasted nearly an hour. When it was over, her Majesty beckoned79 the men back again with the whip, and then approached the place where I was standing.
"Father Le Bel," she said, in her clear, ringing, resolute9 tones, "there is no need for me to remain here any longer. I leave that man," she pointed to the Marquis again, "to your care. Do all that you can for the good of his soul. He has failed to justify himself, and I doom80 him to die."
If I had heard sentence pronounced against myself, I could hardly have been more terrified than I was 60 when the Queen uttered those last words. The Marquis heard them where he was standing, and flung himself at her feet. I dropped on my knees by his side, and entreated81 her to pardon him, or at least to visit his offence with some milder punishment than the punishment of death.
"I have said the words," she answered, addressing herself only to me; "and no power under Heaven shall make me unsay them. Many a man has been broken alive on the wheel for offences which were innocence82 itself, compared with the offence which this perjured83 traitor has committed against me. I have trusted him as I might have trusted a brother; he has infamously84 betrayed that trust; and I exercise my royal rights over the life of a traitor. Say no more to me. I tell you again, he is doomed85 to die."
With those words the Queen quitted the gallery, and left me alone with Monaldeschi and the three executioners who were waiting to kill him.
The unhappy man dropped on his knees at my feet, imploring86 me to follow the Queen, and make one more effort to obtain his pardon. Before I could answer a word, the three men surrounded him, held the points of their swords to his sides—without, however, actually touching87 him—and angrily recommended him to make his confession58 to me, without wasting any more time. I entreated them, with the tears in 61 my eyes, to wait as long as they could, so as to give the Queen time to reflect, and, perhaps, to falter88 in her deadly intentions towards the Marquis. I succeeded in producing such an impression on the chief of the three men, that he left us, to obtain an interview with the Queen, and to ascertain64 if there was any change in her purpose. After a very short absence he came back, shaking his head.
"There is no hope for you," he said, addressing Monaldeschi. "Make your peace with Heaven. Prepare yourself to die!"
"Go to the Queen!" cried the Marquis, kneeling before me with clasped hands. "Go to the Queen yourself; make one more effort to save me! O, Father Le Bel, run one more risk—venture one last entreaty—before you leave me to die!"
"Will you wait till I come back?" I said to the three men.
"We will wait," they answered, and lowered their sword-points to the ground.
I found the Queen alone in her room, without the slightest appearance of agitation89 in her face or her manner. Nothing that I could say had the slightest effect on her. I adjured90 her by all that religion holds most sacred, to remember that the noblest privilege of any sovereign is the privilege of granting mercy; that the first of Christian91 duties is the duty of forgiving. She heard me unmoved. Seeing that 62 entreaties92 were thrown away, I ventured, at my own proper hazard, on reminding her that she was not living now in her own kingdom of Sweden, but that she was the guest of the King of France, and lodged in one of his own palaces; and I boldly asked her if she had calculated the possible consequences of authorising the killing93 of one of her attendants inside the walls of Fontainebleau, without any preliminary form of trial, or any official notification of the offence that he had committed. She answered me coldly, that it was enough that she knew the unpardonable nature of the offence of which Monaldeschi had been guilty; that she stood in a perfectly94 independent position towards the King of France; that she was absolute mistress of her own actions, at all times and in all places; and that she was accountable to nobody under Heaven for her conduct towards her subjects and servants, over whose lives and liberties she possessed sovereign rights, which no consideration whatever should induce her to resign.
Fearful as I was of irritating her, I still ventured on reiterating95 my remonstrances96. She cut them short by hastily signing to me to leave her.
As she dismissed me, I thought I saw a slight change pass over her face; and it occurred to me that she might not have been indisposed at that moment to grant some respite97, if she could have done so without appearing to falter in her resolution, 63 and without running the risk of letting Monaldeschi escape her. Before I passed the door, I attempted to take advantage of the disposition to relent which I fancied I had perceived in her; but she angrily reiterated98 the gesture of dismissal before I had spoken half-a-dozen words. With a heavy heart, I yielded to necessity, and left her.
On returning to the gallery, I found the three men standing round the Marquis, with their sword-points on the floor, exactly as I had left them.
"Is he to live or to die?" they asked when I came in.
There was no need for me to reply in words; my face answered the question. The Marquis groaned99 heavily, but said nothing. I sat myself down on a stool, and beckoned to him to come to me, and begged him, as well as my terror and wretchedness would let me, to think of repentance, and to prepare for another world. He began his confession kneeling at my feet, with his head on my knees. After continuing it for some time, he suddenly started to his feet with a scream of terror. I contrived to quiet him, and to fix his thoughts again on heavenly things. He completed his confession, speaking sometimes in Latin, sometimes in French, sometimes in Italian, according as he could best explain himself in the agitation which now possessed him.
Just as he had concluded, the Queen's chaplain 64 entered the gallery. Without waiting to receive absolution, the unhappy Marquis rushed away from me to the chaplain, and, still clinging desperately100 to the hope of life, besought101 him to intercede102 with the Queen. The two talked together in low tones, holding each other by the hand. When their conference was over, the chaplain left the gallery again, taking with him the chief of the three executioners who were appointed to carry out the Queen's deadly purpose. After a short absence, this man returned without the chaplain. "Get your absolution," he said briefly103 to the Marquis, "and make up your mind to die."
Saying these words, he seized Monaldeschi; pressed him back against the wall at the end of the gallery, just under the picture of Saint Germain; and, before I could interfere104, or even turn aside from the sight, struck at the Marquis's right side with his sword. Monaldeschi caught the blade with his hand, cutting three of his fingers in the act. At the same moment the point touched his side and glanced off. Upon this, the man who had struck at him exclaimed, "He has armour105 under his clothes," and, at the same moment, stabbed Monaldeschi in the face. As he received the wound, he turned round towards me, and cried out loudly, "Father Le Bel! Father Le Bel!"
I advanced towards him immediately. As I did so, the man who had wounded him retired a little, 65 and signed to his two companions to withdraw also. The Marquis, with one knee on the ground, asked pardon of God, and said certain last words in my ear. I immediately gave him absolution, telling him that he must atone106 for his sins by suffering death, and that he must pardon those who were about to kill him. Having heard my words, he flung himself forward on the floor. While he was falling, one of the three executioners who had not assailed107 him as yet, struck at his head, and wounded him on the surface of the skull108.
The Marquis sank on his face; then raised himself a little, and signed to the men to kill him outright109, by striking him on the neck. The same man who had last wounded him, obeyed by cutting two or three times at his neck, without, however, doing him any great injury. For it was indeed true that he wore armour under his clothes, which armour consisted of a shirt of mail weighing nine or ten pounds, and rising so high round his neck, inside his collar, as to defend it successfully from any chance blow with a sword.
Seeing this, I came forward to exhort110 the Marquis to bear his sufferings with patience, for the remission of his sins. While I was speaking, the chief of the three executioners advanced, and asked me if I did not think it was time to give Monaldeschi the finishing stroke. I pushed the man violently away from 66 me, saying that I had no advice to offer on the matter, and telling him that if I had any orders to give, they would be for the sparing of the Marquis's life, and not for the hastening of his death. Hearing me speak in those terms, the man asked my pardon, and confessed that he had done wrong in addressing me on the subject at all.
He had hardly finished making his excuses to me, when the door of the gallery opened. The unhappy Marquis hearing the sound, raised himself from the floor, and, seeing that the person who entered was the Queen's chaplain, dragged himself along the gallery, holding on by the tapestry111 that hung from the walls, until he reached the feet of the holy man. There, he whispered a few words (as if he was confessing) to the chaplain, who, after first asking my permission, gave him absolution, and then returned to the Queen.
As the chaplain closed the door, the man who had struck the Marquis on the neck, stabbed him adroitly112 with a long narrow sword in the throat, just above the edge of the shirt of mail. Monaldeschi sank on his right side, and spoke no more. For a quarter of an hour longer he still breathed, during which time I prayed by him, and exhorted113 him as I best could. When the bleeding from this last wound ceased, his life ceased with it. It was then a quarter to four o'clock. The death agony of the miserable114 man had 67 lasted, from the time of the Queen's first pronouncing sentence on him, for nearly three hours.
I said the De Profundis over his body. While I was praying, the three executioners sheathed115 their swords, and the chief of them rifled the Marquis's pockets. Finding nothing on him but a prayer-book and a small knife, the chief beckoned to his companions, and they all three marched to the door in silence, went out, and left me alone with the corpse116.
A few minutes afterwards I followed them, to go and report what had happened to the Queen.
I thought her colour changed a little when I told her that Monaldeschi was dead; but those cold clear eyes of hers never softened117, and her voice was still as steady and firm as when I first heard its tones on entering the gallery that day. She spoke very little, only saying to herself, "He is dead, and he deserved to die!" Then, turning to me, she added, "Father, I leave the care of burying him to you; and, for my own part, I will charge myself with the expense of having masses enough said for the repose39 of his soul." I ordered the body to be placed in a coffin118, which I instructed the bearers to remove to the churchyard on a tumbril, in consequence of the great weight of the corpse, of the misty119 rain that was falling, and of the bad state of the roads. On Monday, the twelfth of November, at a quarter to six in the evening, the Marquis was buried in the parish church of Avon, 68 near the font of holy water. The next day the Queen sent one hundred livres, by two of her servants, for masses for the repose of his soul.
Thus ends the extraordinary narrative of Father Le Bel. It is satisfactory to record, as some evidence of the progress of humanity, that this barbarous murder, which would have passed unnoticed in the feudal120 times, as an ordinary and legitimate121 exercise of a sovereign's authority over a vassal122, excited, in the middle of the seventeenth century, the utmost disgust and horror throughout Paris. The prime minister at that period, Cardinal Mazarin (by no means an over-scrupulous man, as all readers of French history know), wrote officially to Christina, informing her that "a crime so atrocious as that which had just been committed under her sanction, in the Palace of Fontainebleau, must be considered as a sufficient cause for banishing123 the Queen of Sweden from the court and dominions124 of his sovereign, who, in common with every honest man in the kingdom, felt horrified125 at the lawless outrage126 which had just been committed on the soil of France."
To this letter Queen Christina sent the following answer, which, as a specimen127 of spiteful effrontery, has probably never been matched:
"Monsieur Mazarin,—Those who have communicated to you the details of the death of my equerry, 69 Monaldeschi, knew nothing at all about it. I think it highly absurd that you should have compromised so many people for the sake of informing yourself about one simple fact. Such a proceeding128 on your part, ridiculous as it is, does not, however, much astonish me. What I am amazed at, is, that you and the king your master should have dared to express disapproval129 of what I have done.
"Understand, all of you—servants and masters, little people and great—that it was my sovereign pleasure to act as I did. I neither owe, nor render, an account of my actions to any one,—least of all, to a bully130 like you.
"It may be well for you to know, and to report to any one whom you can get to listen to you, that Christina cares little for your court, and less still for you. When I want to revenge myself, I have no need of your formidable power to help me. My honour obliged me to act as I did; my will is my law, and you ought to know how to respect it.... Understand, if you please, that wherever I choose to live, there I am Queen; and that the men about me, rascals131 as they may be, are better than you and the ragamuffins whom you keep in your service.
"Take my advice, Mazarin, and behave yourself for the future so as to merit my favour; you cannot, 70 for your own sake, be too anxious to deserve it Heaven preserve you from venturing on any more disparaging132 remarks about my conduct! I shall hear of them, if I am at the other end of the world, for I have friends and followers133 in my service who are as unscrupulous and as vigilant134 as any in yours, though it is probable enough that they are not quite so heavily bribed135."
After replying to the prime minister of France in those terms, Christina was wise enough to leave the kingdom immediately.
For three years more, she pursued her travels. At the expiration136 of that time, her cousin, the king of Sweden, in whose favour she had abdicated, died. She returned at once to her own country, with the object of possessing herself once more of the royal power. Here, the punishment of the merciless crime that she had sanctioned overtook her at last. The brave and honest people of Sweden refused to be governed by the woman who had ordered the murder of Monaldeschi, and who had forsaken137 the national religion for which her father died. Threatened with the loss of her revenues as well as the loss of her sovereignty, if she remained in Sweden, the proud and merciless Christina yielded for the first time in her life. She resigned once more all right and title to the royal dignity, and left her native country for the last time. The final place of her retirement138 was 71 Rome. She died there in the year sixteen hundred and eighty-nine. Even in the epitaph which she ordered to be placed on her tomb, the strange and daring character of the woman breaks out. The whole record of that wild and wicked existence, was summed up with stern brevity in this one line:
Christina lived Seventy-two Years.
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warrior
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monarch
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narrative
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entirely
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guardian
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abdicated
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accomplished
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resolute
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resolutely
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forth
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barters
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royalty
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distinguished
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vices
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remarkable
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beheld
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testimony
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supple
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disposition
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possessed
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eminently
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intimacy
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| n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行 | |
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sincerity
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| n.真诚，诚意；真实 | |
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solely
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| adv.仅仅，唯一地 | |
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malicious
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| adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的 | |
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frailties
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| n.脆弱( frailty的名词复数 )；虚弱；（性格或行为上的）弱点；缺点 | |
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scrupulous
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| adj.审慎的，小心翼翼的，完全的，纯粹的 | |
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intrigues
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| n.密谋策划( intrigue的名词复数 )；神秘气氛；引人入胜的复杂情节v.搞阴谋诡计( intrigue的第三人称单数 )；激起…的好奇心 | |
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breaches
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| 破坏( breach的名词复数 )； 破裂； 缺口； 违背 | |
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infamous
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| adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的 | |
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contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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worthiness
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| 价值，值得 | |
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ridiculed
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| v.嘲笑，嘲弄，奚落( ridicule的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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ridicule
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| v.讥讽，挖苦；n.嘲弄 | |
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36
sarcastically
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| adv.挖苦地，讽刺地 | |
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37
effrontery
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| n.厚颜无耻 | |
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38
privately
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| adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地 | |
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repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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reposed
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| v.将（手臂等）靠在某人（某物）上( repose的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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41
attachment
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| n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附 | |
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42
deception
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| n.欺骗，欺诈；骗局，诡计 | |
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43
cardinal
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| n.(天主教的)红衣主教；adj.首要的，基本的 | |
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supplanting
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| 把…排挤掉，取代( supplant的现在分词 ) | |
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contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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confided
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| v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的过去式和过去分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等） | |
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47
vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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48
honourably
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| adv.可尊敬地，光荣地，体面地 | |
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49
ingratitude
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| n.忘恩负义 | |
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50
contradictory
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| adj.反驳的，反对的，抗辩的；n.正反对，矛盾对立 | |
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anecdotes
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| n.掌故，趣闻，轶事( anecdote的名词复数 ) | |
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52
perfidy
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| n.背信弃义，不忠贞 | |
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53
lodged
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| v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属 | |
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majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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56
entrust
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| v.信赖，信托，交托 | |
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57
strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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58
confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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59
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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60
drooping
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| adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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61
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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perturbed
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| adj.烦燥不安的v.使（某人）烦恼，不安( perturb的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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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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64
ascertain
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| vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清 | |
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65
ascertained
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| v.弄清，确定，查明( ascertain的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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traitor
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| n.叛徒，卖国贼 | |
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67
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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68
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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entreating
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| 恳求，乞求( entreat的现在分词 ) | |
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70
repentance
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| n.懊悔 | |
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71
impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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72
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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73
irritation
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| n.激怒，恼怒，生气 | |
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74
impartiality
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| n. 公平, 无私, 不偏 | |
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75
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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76
justify
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| vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护 | |
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77
concealment
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| n.隐藏, 掩盖，隐瞒 | |
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78
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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79
beckoned
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| v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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80
doom
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| n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定 | |
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81
entreated
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| 恳求，乞求( entreat的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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82
innocence
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| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
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83
perjured
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| adj.伪证的，犯伪证罪的v.发假誓，作伪证( perjure的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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84
infamously
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| 不名誉地 | |
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85
doomed
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| 命定的 | |
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86
imploring
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| 恳求的，哀求的 | |
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87
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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88
falter
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| vi.(嗓音)颤抖，结巴地说；犹豫；蹒跚 | |
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89
agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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90
adjured
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| v.（以起誓或诅咒等形式）命令要求( adjure的过去式和过去分词 )；祈求；恳求 | |
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91
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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92
entreaties
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| n.恳求，乞求( entreaty的名词复数 ) | |
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93
killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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95
reiterating
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| 反复地说，重申( reiterate的现在分词 ) | |
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96
remonstrances
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| n.抱怨，抗议( remonstrance的名词复数 ) | |
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97
respite
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| n.休息，中止，暂缓 | |
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98
reiterated
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| 反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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99
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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100
desperately
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| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
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101
besought
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| v.恳求，乞求（某事物）( beseech的过去式和过去分词 )；(beseech的过去式与过去分词) | |
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102
intercede
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| vi.仲裁，说情 | |
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103
briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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104
interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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105
armour
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| （=armor）n.盔甲；装甲部队 | |
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106
atone
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| v.赎罪，补偿 | |
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107
assailed
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| v.攻击( assail的过去式和过去分词 )；困扰；质问；毅然应对 | |
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108
skull
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| n.头骨；颅骨 | |
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109
outright
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| adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的 | |
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110
exhort
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| v.规劝，告诫 | |
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111
tapestry
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| n.挂毯，丰富多采的画面 | |
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112
adroitly
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| adv.熟练地，敏捷地 | |
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113
exhorted
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| v.劝告，劝说( exhort的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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114
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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115
sheathed
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| adj.雕塑像下半身包在鞘中的；覆盖的；铠装的；装鞘了的v.将（刀、剑等）插入鞘( sheathe的过去式和过去分词 )；包，覆盖 | |
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116
corpse
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| n.尸体，死尸 | |
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117
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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118
coffin
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| n.棺材，灵柩 | |
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119
misty
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| adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的 | |
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120
feudal
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| adj.封建的，封地的，领地的 | |
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121
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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122
vassal
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| n.附庸的；属下；adj.奴仆的 | |
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123
banishing
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| v.放逐，驱逐( banish的现在分词 ) | |
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124
dominions
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| 统治权( dominion的名词复数 )； 领土； 疆土； 版图 | |
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125
horrified
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| a.(表现出)恐惧的 | |
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126
outrage
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| n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒 | |
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127
specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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128
proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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129
disapproval
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| n.反对，不赞成 | |
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130
bully
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| n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮 | |
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131
rascals
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| 流氓( rascal的名词复数 )； 无赖； （开玩笑说法）淘气的人（尤指小孩）； 恶作剧的人 | |
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132
disparaging
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| adj.轻蔑的，毁谤的v.轻视( disparage的现在分词 )；贬低；批评；非难 | |
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133
followers
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| 追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件 | |
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134
vigilant
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| adj.警觉的，警戒的，警惕的 | |
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135
bribed
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| v.贿赂( bribe的过去式和过去分词 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂 | |
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136
expiration
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| n.终结，期满，呼气，呼出物 | |
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137
Forsaken
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| adj. 被遗忘的, 被抛弃的 动词forsake的过去分词 | |
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138
retirement
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| n.退休，退职 | |
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