"No doubt I will. I am quite with you there," the son said to the father, who had desired him to explain to the young man the impossibility of such a marriage. "I think it would be a misfortune to them both, which should be avoided,—if they can get over their present feelings."
"Feelings!"
"I suppose there are such feelings, sir?"
"Of course he is looking for position—and money."
"Not in the least. That might probably be the idea with some young nobleman who would wish to marry into his own class, and to improve his fortune at the same time. With such a one that would be fair enough. He would give and take. With George that would not be honest;—nor would such accusation1 be true. The position, as you call it, he would feel to be burdensome. As to money, he does not know whether Frances has a shilling or not."
"Not a shilling,—unless I give it to her."
"He would not think of such a matter."
"Then he must be a very imprudent young man, and unfit to have a wife at all."
"I cannot admit that,—but suppose he is?"
"And yet you think—?"
"I think, sir, that it is unfortunate. I have said so ever since I first heard it. I shall tell him exactly what I think. You will have Frances with you, and will of course express your own opinion."
The Marquis was far from satisfied with his son, but did not dare to go on further with the argument. In all such discussions he was wont2 to feel that his son was "talking the hind3 legs off a dog." His own ideas on concrete points were clear enough to him,—as this present idea that his daughter, Lady Frances Trafford, would outrage4 all propriety5, all fitness, all decency6, if she were to give herself in marriage to George Roden, the Post Office clerk. But words were not plenty with him,—or, when plenty, not efficacious,—and he was prone7 to feel, when beaten in argument, that his opponent was taking an unfair advantage. Thus it was that he often thought, and sometimes said, that those who oppressed him with words would "talk the hind legs off a dog."
The Marchioness also expressed her opinion to Hampstead. She was a lady stronger than her husband;—stronger in this, that she never allowed herself to be worsted in any encounter. If words would not serve her occasion at the moment, her countenance8 would do so,—and if not that, her absence. She could be very eloquent9 with silence, and strike an adversary10 dumb by the way in which she would leave a room. She was a tall, handsome woman, with a sublime11 gait.—"Vera incessu patuit Dea." She had heard, if not the words, then some translation of the words, and had taken them to heart, and borne them with her as her secret motto. To be every inch an aristocrat12, in look as in thought, was the object of her life. That such was her highest duty was quite fixed13 in her mind. It had pleased God to make her a Marchioness,—and should she derogate14 from God's wish? It had been her one misfortune that God should not also have made her the mother of a future Marquis. Her face, though handsome, was quite impassive, showing nothing of her sorrows or her joys; and her voice was equally under control. No one had ever imagined, not even her husband, that she felt acutely that one blow of fortune. Though Hampstead's politics had been to her abominable15, treasonable, blasphemous16, she treated him with an extreme courtesy. If there were anything that he wished about the house she would have it done for him. She would endeavour to interest herself about his hunting. And she would pay him a great respect,—to him most onerous,—as being second in all things to the Marquis. Though a Republican blasphemous rebel,—so she thought of him,—he was second to the Marquis. She would fain have taught her little boys to respect him,—as the future head of the family,—had he not been so accustomed to romp17 with them, to pull them out of their little beds, and toss them about in their night-shirts, that they loved him much too well for respect. It was in vain that their mother strove to teach them to call him Hampstead.
Lady Frances had never been specially18 in her way, but to Lady Frances the stepmother had been perhaps harder than to the stepson, of whose presence as an absolute block to her ambition she was well aware. Lady Frances had no claim to a respect higher than that which was due to her own children. Primogeniture had done nothing for her. She was a Marquis's daughter, but her mother had been only the offspring of a commoner. There was perhaps something of conscience in her feelings towards the two. As Lord Hampstead was undoubtedly19 in her way, it occurred to her to think that she should not on that account be inimical to him. Lady Frances was not in her way,—and therefore was open to depreciation20 and dislike without wounds to her conscience; and then, though Hampstead was abominable because of his Republicanism, his implied treason, and blasphemy21, yet he was entitled to some excuse as being a man. These things were abominable no doubt in him, but more pardonably abominable than they would be in a woman. Lady Frances had never declared herself to be a Republican or a disbeliever, much less a rebel,—as, indeed, had neither Lord Hampstead. In the presence of her stepmother she was generally silent on matters of political or religious interest. But she was supposed to sympathise with her brother, and was known to be far from properly alive to aristocratic interests. There was never quarrelling between the two, but there was a lack of that friendship which may subsist22 between a stepmother of thirty-eight and a stepdaughter of twenty-one. Lady Frances was tall and slender, with quiet speaking features, dark in colour, with blue eyes, and hair nearly black. In appearance she was the very opposite of her stepmother, moving quickly and achieving grace as she did so, without a thought, by the natural beauty of her motions. The dignity was there, but without a thought given to it. Not even did the little lords, her brothers, chuck their books and toys about with less idea of demeanour. But the Marchioness never arranged a scarf or buttoned a glove without feeling that it was her duty to button her glove and arrange her scarf as became the Marchioness of Kingsbury.
The stepmother wished no evil to Lady Frances,—only that she should be married properly and taken out of the way. Any stupid Earl or mercurial23 Viscount would have done, so long as the blood and the money had been there. Lady Frances had been felt to be dangerous, and the hope was that the danger might be got rid of by a proper marriage. But not by such a marriage as this!
When that accidental calling of the name was first heard and the following avowal24 made, the Marchioness declared her immediate25 feelings by a look. It was so that Arthur may have looked when he first heard that his Queen was sinful,—so that C?sar must have felt when even Brutus struck him. For though Lady Frances had been known to be blind to her own greatness, still this,—this at any rate was not suspected. "You cannot mean it!" the Marchioness had at last said.
"I certainly mean it, mamma." Then the Marchioness, with one hand guarding her raiment, and with the other raised high above her shoulder, in an agony of supplication26 to those deities27 who arrange the fates of ducal houses, passed slowly out of the room. It was necessary that she should bethink herself before another word was spoken.
For some time after that very few words passed between her and the sinner. A dead silence best befitted the occasion;—as, when a child soils her best frock, we put her in the corner with a scolding; but when she tells a fib we quell29 her little soul within her by a terrible quiescence30. To be eloquently31 indignant without a word is within the compass of the thoughtfully stolid32. It was thus that Lady Frances was at first treated by her stepmother. She was, however, at once taken up to London, subjected to the louder anger of her father, and made to prepare for the Saxon Alps. At first, indeed, her immediate destiny was not communicated to her. She was to be taken abroad;—and, in so taking her, it was felt to be well to treat her as the policeman does his prisoner, whom he thinks to be the last person who need be informed as to the whereabouts of the prison. It did leak out quickly, because the Marquis had a castle or chateau33 of his own in Saxony;—but that was only an accident.
The Marchioness still said little on the matter,—unless in what she might say to her husband in the secret recesses34 of marital35 discussion; but before she departed she found it expedient36 to express herself on one occasion to Lord Hampstead. "Hampstead," she said, "this is a terrible blow that has fallen upon us."
"I was surprised myself. I do not know that I should call it exactly a blow."
"Not a blow! But of course you mean that it will come to nothing."
"What I meant was, that though I regard the proposition as inexpedient—"
"Inexpedient!"
"Yes;—I think it inexpedient certainly; but there is nothing in it that shocks me."
"Nothing that shocks you!"
"Marriage in itself is a good thing."
"Hampstead, do not talk to me in that way."
"But I think it is. If it be good for a young man to marry it must be good for a young woman also. The one makes the other necessary."
"But not for such as your sister,—and him—together. You are speaking in that way simply to torment37 me."
"I can only speak as I think. I do agree that it would be inexpedient. She would to a certain extent lose the countenance of her friends—"
"Altogether!"
"Not altogether,—but to some extent. A certain class of people,—not the best worth knowing,—might be inclined to drop her. However foolish her own friends may be we owe something—even to their folly38."
"Her friends are not foolish,—her proper friends."
"I quite agree with that; but then so many of them are improper39."
"Hampstead!"
"I am afraid that I don't make myself quite clear. But never mind. It would be inexpedient. It would go against the grain with my father, who ought to be consulted."
"I should think so."
"I quite agree with you. A father ought to be consulted, even though a daughter be of age, so as to be enabled by law to do as she likes with herself. And then there would be money discomforts40."
"She would not have a shilling."
"Not but what I should think it my duty to put that right if there were any real distress41." Here spoke28 the heir, who was already in possession of much, and upon whom the whole property of the family was entailed42. "Nevertheless if I can prevent it,—without quarrelling either with one or the other, without saying a hard word,—I shall do so."
"It will be your bounden duty."
"It is always a man's bounden duty to do what is right. The difficulty is in seeing the way." After this the Marchioness was silent. What she had gained by speaking was very little,—little or nothing. The nature of the opposition43 he proposed was almost as bad as a sanction, and the reasons he gave for agreeing with her were as hurtful to her feelings as though they had been advanced on the other side. Even the Marquis was not sufficiently44 struck with horror at the idea that a daughter of his should have condescended45 to listen to love from a Post Office clerk!
On the day before they started Hampstead was enabled to be alone with his sister for a few minutes. "What an absurdity46 it is," she said, laughing,—"this running away."
"It is what you must have expected."
"But not the less absurd. Of course I shall go. Just at the moment I have no alternative; as I should have none if they threatened to lock me up, till I got somebody to take my case in hand. But I am as free to do what I please with myself as is papa."
"He has got money."
"But he is not, therefore, to be a tyrant47."
"Yes he is;—over an unmarried daughter who has got none. We cannot but obey those on whom we are dependent."
"What I mean is, that carrying me away can do no good. You don't suppose, John, that I shall give him up after having once brought myself to say the word! It was very difficult to say;—but ten times harder to be unsaid. I am quite determined48,—and quite satisfied."
"But they are not."
"As regards my father, I am very sorry. As to mamma, she and I are so different in all our thinking that I know beforehand that whatever I might do would displease49 her. It cannot be helped. Whether it be good or bad I cannot be made such as she is. She came too late. You will not turn against me, John?"
"I rather think I shall."
"John!"
"I may rather say that I have. I do not think your engagement to be wise."
"But it has been made," said she.
"And may be unmade."
"No;—unless by him."
"I shall tell him that it ought to be unmade,—for the happiness of both of you."
"He will not believe you."
Then Lord Hampstead shrugged50 his shoulders, and thus the conversation was finished.
It was now about the end of June, and the Marquis felt it to be a grievance51 that he should be carried away from the charm of political life in London. In the horror of the first revelation he had yielded, but had since begun to feel that too much was being done in withdrawing him from Parliament. The Conservatives were now in; but during the last Liberal Government he had consented so far to trammel himself with the bonds of office as to become Privy52 Seal for the concluding six months of its existence, and therefore felt his own importance in a party point of view. But having acceded53 to his wife he could not now go back, and was sulky. On the evening before their departure he was going to dine out with some of the party. His wife's heart was too deep in the great family question for any gaiety, and she intended to remain at home,—and to look after the final packings-up for the little lords.
"I really do not see why you should not have gone without me," the Marquis said, poking54 his head out of his dressing55-room.
"Impossible," said the Marchioness.
"I don't see it at all."
"If he should appear on the scene ready to carry her off, what should I have done?"
Then the Marquis drew his head in again, and went on with his dressing. What, indeed, could he do himself if the man were to appear on the scene, and if his daughter should declare herself willing to go off with him?
When the Marquis went to his dinner party the Marchioness dined with Lady Frances. There was no one else present but the two servants who waited on them, and hardly a word was spoken. The Marchioness felt that an awful silence was becoming in the situation. Lady Frances merely determined more strongly than ever that the situation should not last very long. She would go abroad now, but would let her father understand that the kind of life planned out for her was one that she could not endure. If she was supposed to have disgraced her position, let her be sent away.
As soon as the melancholy56 meal was over the two ladies separated, the Marchioness going up-stairs among her own children. A more careful, more affectionate, perhaps, I may say, a more idolatrous mother never lived. Every little want belonging to them,—for even little lords have wants,—was a care to her. To see them washed and put in and out of their duds was perhaps the greatest pleasure of her life. To her eyes they were pearls of aristocratic loveliness; and, indeed, they were fine healthy bairns, clean-limbed, bright-eyed, with grand appetites, and never cross as long as they were allowed either to romp and make a noise, or else to sleep. Lord Frederic, the eldest57, was already in words of two syllables58, and sometimes had a bad time with them. Lord Augustus was the owner of great ivory letters of which he contrived59 to make playthings. Lord Gregory had not as yet been introduced to any of the torments60 of education. There was an old English clergyman attached to the family who was supposed to be their tutor, but whose chief duty consisted in finding conversation for the Marquis when there was no one else to talk to him. There was also a French governess and a Swiss maid. But as they both learned English quicker than the children learned French, they were not serviceable for the purpose at first intended. The Marchioness had resolved that her children should talk three or four languages as fluently as their own, and that they should learn them without any of the agonies generally incident to tuition. In that she had not as yet succeeded.
She seated herself for a few minutes among the boxes and portmanteaus in the midst of which the children were disporting61 themselves prior to their final withdrawal62 to bed. No mother was ever so blessed,—if only, if only! "Mamma," said Lord Frederic, "where's Jack63?" "Jack" absolutely was intended to signify Lord Hampstead.
"Fred, did not I say that you should not call him Jack?"
"He say he is Jack," declared Lord Augustus, rolling up in between his mother's knees with an impetus64 which would have upset her had she not been a strong woman and accustomed to these attacks.
"That is only because he is good-natured, and likes to play with you. You should call him Hampstead."
"Mamma, wasn't he christianed?" asked the eldest.
"Yes, of course he was christened, my dear," said the mother, sadly,—thinking how very much of the ceremony had been thrown away upon the unbelieving, godless young man. Then she superintended the putting to bed, thinking what a terrible bar to her happiness had been created by that first unfortunate marriage of her husband's. Oh, that she should be stepmother to a daughter who desired to fling herself into the arms of a clerk in the Post Office! And then that an "unchristianed," that an infidel, republican, un-English, heir should stand in the way of her darling boy! She had told herself a thousand times that the Devil was speaking to her when she had dared to wish that,—that Lord Hampstead was not there! She had put down the wish in her heart very often, telling herself that it came from the Devil. She had made a faint struggle to love the young man,—which had resulted in constrained65 civility. It would have been unnatural66 to her to love any but her own. Now she thought how glorious her Frederic would have been as Lord Hampstead,—and how infinitely67 better it would have been, how infinitely better it would be, for all the Traffords, for all the nobles of England, and for the country at large! But in thinking this she knew that she was a sinner, and she endeavoured to crush the sin. Was it not tantamount to wishing that her husband's son was—dead?
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1
accusation
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| n.控告，指责，谴责 | |
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wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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hind
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| adj.后面的，后部的 | |
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outrage
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| n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒 | |
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propriety
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| n.正当行为；正当；适当 | |
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decency
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| n.体面，得体，合宜，正派，庄重 | |
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7
prone
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| adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的 | |
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8
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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9
eloquent
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| adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的 | |
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adversary
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| adj.敌手，对手 | |
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sublime
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| adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的 | |
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12
aristocrat
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| n.贵族，有贵族气派的人，上层人物 | |
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13
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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14
derogate
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| v.贬低，诽谤 | |
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15
abominable
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| adj.可厌的，令人憎恶的 | |
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16
blasphemous
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| adj.亵渎神明的，不敬神的 | |
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17
romp
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| n.欢闹；v.嬉闹玩笑 | |
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18
specially
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| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
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19
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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depreciation
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| n.价值低落，贬值，蔑视，贬低 | |
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blasphemy
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| n.亵渎，渎神 | |
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subsist
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| vi.生存，存在，供养 | |
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mercurial
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| adj.善变的，活泼的 | |
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avowal
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| n.公开宣称，坦白承认 | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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supplication
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| n.恳求，祈愿，哀求 | |
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deities
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| n.神，女神( deity的名词复数 )；神祗；神灵；神明 | |
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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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29
quell
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| v.压制，平息，减轻 | |
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quiescence
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| n.静止 | |
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eloquently
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| adv. 雄辩地(有口才地, 富于表情地) | |
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stolid
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| adj.无动于衷的，感情麻木的 | |
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chateau
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| n.城堡，别墅 | |
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34
recesses
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| n.壁凹( recess的名词复数 )；（工作或业务活动的）中止或暂停期间；学校的课间休息；某物内部的凹形空间v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的第三人称单数 )；将（墙）做成凹形，在（墙）上做壁龛；休息，休会，休庭 | |
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marital
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| adj.婚姻的，夫妻的 | |
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expedient
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| adj.有用的，有利的；n.紧急的办法，权宜之计 | |
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torment
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| n.折磨；令人痛苦的东西(人)；vt.折磨；纠缠 | |
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folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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improper
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| adj.不适当的，不合适的，不正确的，不合礼仪的 | |
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discomforts
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| n.不舒适( discomfort的名词复数 )；不愉快，苦恼 | |
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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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entailed
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| 使…成为必要( entail的过去式和过去分词 )； 需要； 限定继承； 使必需 | |
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opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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45
condescended
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| 屈尊，俯就( condescend的过去式和过去分词 )； 故意表示和蔼可亲 | |
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46
absurdity
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| n.荒谬，愚蠢；谬论 | |
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tyrant
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| n.暴君，专制的君主，残暴的人 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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49
displease
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| vt.使不高兴，惹怒；n.不悦，不满，生气 | |
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50
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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51
grievance
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| n.怨愤，气恼，委屈 | |
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52
privy
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| adj.私用的；隐密的 | |
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53
acceded
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| v.（正式）加入( accede的过去式和过去分词 )；答应；（通过财产的添附而）增加；开始任职 | |
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54
poking
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| n. 刺，戳，袋 vt. 拨开，刺，戳 vi. 戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢 | |
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55
dressing
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| n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料 | |
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56
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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57
eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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58
syllables
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| n.音节( syllable的名词复数 ) | |
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59
contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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60
torments
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| （肉体或精神上的）折磨，痛苦( torment的名词复数 )； 造成痛苦的事物[人] | |
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61
disporting
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| v.嬉戏，玩乐，自娱( disport的现在分词 ) | |
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62
withdrawal
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| n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销 | |
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63
jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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64
impetus
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| n.推动，促进，刺激；推动力 | |
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65
constrained
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| adj.束缚的,节制的 | |
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66
unnatural
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| adj.不自然的；反常的 | |
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67
infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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