In the “club-room” of the school-house Mrs. Mince6, in a magenta7 blouse and a dark-blue skirt, was flicking8 the dust from the library shelves with a red-and-white duster. Around her shone scriptural oleographs, texts, and a goodly horde9 of irreproachable10 books. Over the fireplace hung a scroll11 depicting12 Faith, Hope, and Charity footing it cheerily over emerald grass. Some sylvan13 humorist had dowered Charity with a pair of spectacles and a very obvious mustache.
Mrs. Mince was in the act of returning Hints on Heaven to its niche14 upon a shelf when the eldest15 Miss Snodley appeared before her, a celestial16 vision, bearing work-bag and Bible. Miss Zinia Snodley was an excessively thin little lady with prominent teeth, pince-nez, and a high forehead. Her hair was dragged back tyrannically and fastened in a diminutive17 and irritable18 bob at the back of her head. She had a habit of tilting19 her sparrow’s beak20 of a nose in the air and of chirping21 volubly with a species of declamatory splutter.
She thrust out a thin hand, its fingers primly22 extended and pressed into line, and beamed excitably in the vicaress’s big and pallid23 face.
“Such news, my dear! I am quite out of breath hurrying here to tell you all about it before the others came. Such news!”
Mrs. Mince sat down with some deliberation; she knew the length of Miss Snodley’s despatches.
“Quite romantic,” spluttered Miss Zinia. “He proposed to her in the Gabingly rose-garden, you know. I heard all about it—”
“About what?” interjected the vicaress.
“Young Strong’s engagement, my dear.”
Mrs. Mince held up her duster.
“Not to that woman!”
“There, I knew you would be amazed. They tell me Ophelia fainted; frightful24 affectation in a great, strapping25 girl like that; but then, my dear, those big creatures are always so emotional. I told my cousin Herbert years ago that I would never marry, and the poor fellow got engaged to a dissenter26 two months afterwards out of pique27. Men are so inferior in these days. And those Gusset girls are shocking; they remind me of the pictures of that awful man Rossetti. You should have known my grandfather; he was such a gentleman, and could quote Latin like a native.”
Mrs. Mince adjusted the patent ventilator in the roof and remarked that the room seemed “stuffy.”
“Of course I had foreseen the thing for weeks,” she said, with emphasis, not desirous of appearing too markedly impressed. “I expected the affair every day. Mr. Mince is very intimate with dear Lord Gerald.”
Mrs. Marjoy’s spectacles glittered in the doorway28. The pair pounced29 upon her, both speaking at once, as though eager to claim precedence in the sensation. At the conclusion thereof Mrs. Marjoy displayed the deficiencies in her dental array.
“A mere30 matter of decency,” she observed, with superlative sagacity. “The Gusset girl had to avoid a scandal. These society women are impossible. Ask my husband; he’s a man of the world.”
It was the evening of “The Guild31” meeting, and the room was soon surcharged with the matrons of Saltire. Their work-bags, pamphlets, and gloves littered the deal table with its green baize cover. Unfortunately these ladies were not unique, in that they were moved to be charitable to other women’s reputations only by active moral endeavor. Spontaneously invidious, they only transcended32 their natural impulse towards mendacity by the power of spiritual pride. Venus ruled the room that evening. Many minutes passed before Mrs. Mince could reclaim33 her sisters from worldly discussion and direct their energies to the prescribed philanthropies of the hour.
After the concluding prayer the members of the Saltire Christian34 Guild again reverted35 with ardor36 to matrimonial topics. Mrs. Jumble37, Saltire’s intellectual luminary38, discussed the problem with certain of her more youthful disciples39. Mrs. Jumble possessed40 a liking41 for epigrams; she revered42 the Johnsonian spirit, and had embraced the dignity of a judge summing up evidence. Moreover, her Roman nose lent color to the latter illusion.
“Marriage, Miss Ginge,” she said, addressing that simpering young lady—“marriage is a most serious and imposing43 circumstance, the mingling44 of two individualities in the alembic of love. To be frank, I consider Paul something of a pedant45. He was a fanatic46 who did not comprehend the full significance of woman in religious evolution. Now, dear John would have made an admirable husband, so cultured, so reposeful47, so Victorian. Never marry a fanatic, my dear, even though he be insane on the subject of potato-growing. Fanatics48 are unpleasant persons to live with. As for the present example, after a thorough sifting49 of individual eccentricities50 I should expect this alliance to lead to prodigious51 domestic problems. The begetting52 of an unwieldy family is the fundamental error of matrimony. Mr. Strong is a poet, I believe. Tin trumpets53 and sonneteering do not harmonize kindly54. Poets and artists are generally undisciplined beings. I could quote you a certain remark of Giotto’s; but you are over young, Miss Ginge, to listen to realisms. Candidly55, I foresee a fiasco in the approaching marriage.”
There was one woman in Saltire who aspired56 to a higher philosophy than that of a monthly nurse. To Judith Strong nothing was more repugnant than the subjection of a brother’s character to the tyranny of trivial tongues. For the prevalent physical estimate of marriage she had a superlative loathing57, nor did she love the rustic58 oracles59 and their lore60.
Judith Strong was one of those rare women blessed with superb instincts, instincts angel-winged towards heaven. Her spiritual rosary was strung with no sordid61 stones. Her aspirations62 were of the highest, her ideals begotten63 of the blood of Christ. She had that power peculiar64 to women who are great of soul, the power of seeing beyond the curtain of the present and of gazing prophetic into eternal truth. Men might deceive her; women never.
Now Ophelia Gusset was a physical being, a mere houri; a rampant65, worldly, yet lovely egotist. She believed in a life of sensations. While fanatics struggled on cloud-solemn Sinai to take the tablets from the Eternal Hands, this fair and complacent66 pagan garlanded the golden calf67, and stared into the mirror of pleasure to satiate her soul. Nor was it a matter for amazement68 that Judith Strong thought of her future sister with forebodings and repugnance69.
There are men whose destinies are balanced upon a woman’s influence; Gabriel Strong was such a man. His sister knew that he was too sensitive to the sensuous70 waves of life, too easily intoxicated71 by poetic72 exaltation of the senses. Like many imaginative men, his fancies, wine-radiant bacchanals, overleaped his reason. Wisdom walked not at his right hand, but pursued him afar off. A unique woman’s love, or a Jesuitical discipline, were the two powers either of which could have steeled his manhood. He needed some ineffably73 tender and all-wise Beatrice to absorb his soul. As it was, he was to partner a crude Cressida in the perilous74 path of spiritual evolution. When the mob applauded and gabbled of gold and honor, Judith lifted the curtain covering the hot egotism of this woman’s soul, and found no saving balm there, but a scourge75.
As for John Strong, his paternal76 satisfaction had waxed ecstatic over the fulfilment of his prophecies. He beamed on all creation, even as a man who had received a baronetcy, a seat in Parliament, or some Titanic77 legacy78. So beneficent and seraphic was his humor that Mr. Mince seized the auspicious79 season, and ventured to persuade him to reseat Saltire church and to retile the floor of the chancel.
Various preliminaries had been amicably80 settled. Lord Gerald Gusset was a cheery, mellow81, and casual being. He was nothing of a prig with regard to his own nativity, and would welcome any man as a retainer, provided he possessed money, passable manners, and a good tailor. The Saltire alliance was no mere sentimental82 affair. John Strong had disbursed83 generously to his son’s profit; had engaged to buy The Friary, an old manor-house in the neighborhood, and to allow Gabriel five thousand a year. There was to be no legal settlement in the affair. Lord Gerald and John Strong gossiped amicably over their port, and discussed details with a gentlemanly levity84 that suited the consideration of such sordid trifles. John Strong was eager to promise; the lord not unwilling85 to receive. Legalities were shouldered into dusty oblivion. John Strong preferred a free hand, and was not above professing86 extreme generosity87 in order to obtain an unfettered monopoly of his son’s future. Gabriel was still to be his son, paid and pampered88 out of the paternal pocket.
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1 scarlet | |
n.深红色,绯红色,红衣;adj.绯红色的 | |
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2 casements | |
n.窗扉( casement的名词复数 ) | |
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3 shimmering | |
v.闪闪发光,发微光( shimmer的现在分词 ) | |
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4 foliage | |
n.叶子,树叶,簇叶 | |
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5 cogitating | |
v.认真思考,深思熟虑( cogitate的现在分词 ) | |
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6 mince | |
n.切碎物;v.切碎,矫揉做作地说 | |
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7 magenta | |
n..紫红色(的染料);adj.紫红色的 | |
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8 flicking | |
(尤指用手指或手快速地)轻击( flick的现在分词 ); (用…)轻挥; (快速地)按开关; 向…笑了一下(或瞥了一眼等) | |
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9 horde | |
n.群众,一大群 | |
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10 irreproachable | |
adj.不可指责的,无过失的 | |
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11 scroll | |
n.卷轴,纸卷;(石刻上的)漩涡 | |
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12 depicting | |
描绘,描画( depict的现在分词 ); 描述 | |
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13 sylvan | |
adj.森林的 | |
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14 niche | |
n.壁龛;合适的职务(环境、位置等) | |
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15 eldest | |
adj.最年长的,最年老的 | |
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16 celestial | |
adj.天体的;天上的 | |
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17 diminutive | |
adj.小巧可爱的,小的 | |
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18 irritable | |
adj.急躁的;过敏的;易怒的 | |
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19 tilting | |
倾斜,倾卸 | |
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20 beak | |
n.鸟嘴,茶壶嘴,钩形鼻 | |
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21 chirping | |
鸟叫,虫鸣( chirp的现在分词 ) | |
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22 primly | |
adv.循规蹈矩地,整洁地 | |
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23 pallid | |
adj.苍白的,呆板的 | |
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24 frightful | |
adj.可怕的;讨厌的 | |
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25 strapping | |
adj. 魁伟的, 身材高大健壮的 n. 皮绳或皮带的材料, 裹伤胶带, 皮鞭 动词strap的现在分词形式 | |
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26 dissenter | |
n.反对者 | |
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27 pique | |
v.伤害…的自尊心,使生气 n.不满,生气 | |
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28 doorway | |
n.门口,(喻)入门;门路,途径 | |
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29 pounced | |
v.突然袭击( pounce的过去式和过去分词 );猛扑;一眼看出;抓住机会(进行抨击) | |
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30 mere | |
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
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31 guild | |
n.行会,同业公会,协会 | |
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32 transcended | |
超出或超越(经验、信念、描写能力等)的范围( transcend的过去式和过去分词 ); 优于或胜过… | |
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33 reclaim | |
v.要求归还,收回;开垦 | |
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34 Christian | |
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒 | |
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35 reverted | |
恢复( revert的过去式和过去分词 ); 重提; 回到…上; 归还 | |
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36 ardor | |
n.热情,狂热 | |
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37 jumble | |
vt.使混乱,混杂;n.混乱;杂乱的一堆 | |
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38 luminary | |
n.名人,天体 | |
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39 disciples | |
n.信徒( disciple的名词复数 );门徒;耶稣的信徒;(尤指)耶稣十二门徒之一 | |
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40 possessed | |
adj.疯狂的;拥有的,占有的 | |
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41 liking | |
n.爱好;嗜好;喜欢 | |
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42 revered | |
v.崇敬,尊崇,敬畏( revere的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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43 imposing | |
adj.使人难忘的,壮丽的,堂皇的,雄伟的 | |
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44 mingling | |
adj.混合的 | |
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45 pedant | |
n.迂儒;卖弄学问的人 | |
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46 fanatic | |
n.狂热者,入迷者;adj.狂热入迷的 | |
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47 reposeful | |
adj.平稳的,沉着的 | |
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48 fanatics | |
狂热者,入迷者( fanatic的名词复数 ) | |
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49 sifting | |
n.筛,过滤v.筛( sift的现在分词 );筛滤;细查;详审 | |
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50 eccentricities | |
n.古怪行为( eccentricity的名词复数 );反常;怪癖 | |
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51 prodigious | |
adj.惊人的,奇妙的;异常的;巨大的;庞大的 | |
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52 begetting | |
v.为…之生父( beget的现在分词 );产生,引起 | |
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53 trumpets | |
喇叭( trumpet的名词复数 ); 小号; 喇叭形物; (尤指)绽开的水仙花 | |
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54 kindly | |
adj.和蔼的,温和的,爽快的;adv.温和地,亲切地 | |
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55 candidly | |
adv.坦率地,直率而诚恳地 | |
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56 aspired | |
v.渴望,追求( aspire的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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57 loathing | |
n.厌恶,憎恨v.憎恨,厌恶( loathe的现在分词);极不喜欢 | |
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58 rustic | |
adj.乡村的,有乡村特色的;n.乡下人,乡巴佬 | |
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59 oracles | |
神示所( oracle的名词复数 ); 神谕; 圣贤; 哲人 | |
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60 lore | |
n.传说;学问,经验,知识 | |
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61 sordid | |
adj.肮脏的,不干净的,卑鄙的,暗淡的 | |
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62 aspirations | |
强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 ); 志向; 发送气音; 发 h 音 | |
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63 begotten | |
v.为…之生父( beget的过去分词 );产生,引起 | |
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64 peculiar | |
adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的 | |
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65 rampant | |
adj.(植物)蔓生的;狂暴的,无约束的 | |
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66 complacent | |
adj.自满的;自鸣得意的 | |
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67 calf | |
n.小牛,犊,幼仔,小牛皮 | |
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68 amazement | |
n.惊奇,惊讶 | |
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69 repugnance | |
n.嫌恶 | |
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70 sensuous | |
adj.激发美感的;感官的,感觉上的 | |
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71 intoxicated | |
喝醉的,极其兴奋的 | |
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72 poetic | |
adj.富有诗意的,有诗人气质的,善于抒情的 | |
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73 ineffably | |
adv.难以言喻地,因神圣而不容称呼地 | |
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74 perilous | |
adj.危险的,冒险的 | |
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75 scourge | |
n.灾难,祸害;v.蹂躏 | |
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76 paternal | |
adj.父亲的,像父亲的,父系的,父方的 | |
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77 titanic | |
adj.巨人的,庞大的,强大的 | |
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78 legacy | |
n.遗产,遗赠;先人(或过去)留下的东西 | |
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79 auspicious | |
adj.吉利的;幸运的,吉兆的 | |
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80 amicably | |
adv.友善地 | |
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81 mellow | |
adj.柔和的;熟透的;v.变柔和;(使)成熟 | |
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82 sentimental | |
adj.多愁善感的,感伤的 | |
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83 disbursed | |
v.支出,付出( disburse的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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84 levity | |
n.轻率,轻浮,不稳定,多变 | |
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85 unwilling | |
adj.不情愿的 | |
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86 professing | |
声称( profess的现在分词 ); 宣称; 公开表明; 信奉 | |
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87 generosity | |
n.大度,慷慨,慷慨的行为 | |
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88 pampered | |
adj.饮食过量的,饮食奢侈的v.纵容,宠,娇养( pamper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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