So the old gentleman came down to Middlemeads, and took up his quarters in one of the best spare-rooms, and strove to make himself agreeable to other people and to enjoy himself simultaneously8. This was not very difficult, for he had a grand capacity for living; and his small-talk and geniality9, and stories of grand people, made quite an impression amongst the neighbouring families, who thought Mrs. Streightley rather conceited10, and Mr. Streightley very dull. Mr. Guyon in a very short time had made himself thoroughly11 at home, and had taken upon himself--not without Katharine's tacit consent; indeed the whole affair rather amused her than otherwise--the direction of affairs at Middlemeads, and the regulation of the manner in which the day should be spent. He it was who organised the tableaux12 to which the whole county was invited, which were such a grand success, and which were commemorated13 in the Morning Post. He it was who arranged for the first meet of the season of the stag-hounds on the Middlemeads lawn, and for the hunt-breakfast at his son-in-law's expense. Robert Streightley was unfortunately compelled to be away in London on business on that interesting occasion; but in his absence Mr. Guyon took the chair, in which he comported14 himself with the greatest dignity and hospitality; and when the deer was uncarted, waved his hat to the ladies, and rode away after it on one of his son-in-law's horses, to his own intense satisfaction.
Robert Streightley was very frequently compelled to be away in London on business just at that time; and when he was at home, he seemed to have left his mind behind him among the ledgers15 and the invoices16 and the share-lists, and to have left his spirits--God knows where! He was thoroughly preoccupied17 and gloomy, never speaking except when spoken to, and then replying with an obvious effort at the collection of his wandering thoughts. Mr. Guyon noticed this immediately after his arrival, and tried to rally his son-in-law, commencing with much pleasant badinage18 about the accumulation of wealth by the sale of oneself to the Evil One; an oft-used joke, which he had never known to miss fire hitherto, but which on this occasion was received with perfect silence. Over the quiet dinner, which, as it once or twice happened, Mr. Guyon ate with Katharine and her husband, or in the midst of a large party, it was all the same,--Robert never entered into any thing that was going on, but always remained in the same gloomy, silent, preoccupied state.
Mr. Guyon could never, even in his most amiable19 moods, have been called a patient man, long-suffering was not one of his virtues20; and under his son-in-law's long face and absent manner he suffered acutely. His little mots passed unsmiled at, his anecdotes21 of the aristocracy evidently had not been listened to; he felt that he was throwing the pearls of his West-end refinement22 before City swine; and he was highly indignant. But not with Streightley--or at least he dared not openly declare his indignation to his son-in-law--it was on Katharine that he turned the heavy-guns of his wrath23, and rebuked24 his daughter with an acrimony which might have had serious effect on a less self-possessed26 young lady.
"I come here," said Mr. Guyon one morning in the library, where he had gone to write a letter, and where he found Katharine similarly employed,--"I come here to your house, and I find your husband an altered man. He has lost that cheerfulness, that energy, that buoyancy which distinguished27 him, and, in fact, he's become a doosid unpleasant dreary28 bird. How's this? Cheerful before marriage, and miserable29 after; looks as if marriage was the cause, doesn't it, Kate? And to think that my daughter has not--not striven to--to what d'ye call--bless the lot of the man who--doubles his joys and halves his sorrows, and all that kind of thing? Am I to think that you--but no, that could not be! I must remember----"
"You must remember, papa, if you please," said Kate, looking him full in the face, and speaking in a low stern voice,--"you must remember the manner in which and the conditions under which I married my husband! And, remembering them, you must be good enough never to dare--it is a strong word to use to one's father, but I repeat it--never to dare to address me in this way again. I know my duty to my husband, and--according to my lights, and under the peculiar30 circumstances of our union--I do it!"
It was not to be supposed that Katharine, however devoid31 of that instinctive32 perception of love which will make the dullest of women quick to see when trouble is hanging over one dear to her, was either blind or indifferent to the depression of Robert's spirits and the change in his appearance. Towards her, individually, he was always the same,--studious and eager to forward her wishes, and bounding his to making her happy; but he was preoccupied and gloomy. He was beginning to look old, too; the vigorous upright look which had been the first thing in his appearance to strike an observer, was less conspicuous33 than it had been, and his step was slower and heavier. His wife was not blind to the alteration34, and she put it all down to the account of "business." In this general conclusion she was quite right; but Katharine had not the remotest glimmering35 of a suspicion that misfortune and loss were constituents36 of this "business." She believed her husband to be a very rich man, whose ambition it was to become very much richer, and whose life was devoted37 to the realisation of that ambition. She had never ceased to regard him as the "City man" of their first acquaintance; and though her ideas respecting the transactions carried on by City men had undergone considerable alteration since that time, she was as far as ever from a real comprehension of the risks and the anxieties which her husband's life included. The making of money in larger or smaller sums Katharine understood to be his calling; and so far as the variation was between larger and smaller, she comprehended anxiety being involved; but as to serious loss, as to ruin, she had not the faintest notion of such a possibility. Of Mr. Guyon's transactions with her husband Mrs. Streightley was also profoundly ignorant. Robert had taken care she should be so, for his sake as well as for her own. He knew Katharine's delicacy38 of feeling and her pride perfectly39, and he also appreciated her acuteness and keenness as they deserved. From hurt and indignant mortification40 at discovering that her father had taken such means to "exploiter" her marriage, to questioning why a clever and shrewd man of business, such as Katharine well knew Robert to be, should admit such unscrupulous demands on her father's part, would be an easy and natural transition; and Robert shrunk with terror from the idea that any such clue should ever find its way to his wife's hands. No symptom of such danger had shown itself; the feelings with which Katharine regarded her father had ceased to be of a kind to prompt her to much personal interest in his affairs, and by nature she was not inquisitive41. That Mr. Guyon's pursuits were frivolous42 in the extreme; that he presented that most contemptible43 of spectacles--an old man aping the dissolute manners of an objectionable order of youth, Katharine was becoming more and more painfully aware; but she looked no deeper into his life than the surface, from which she turned away with a feeling which, had she investigated it, she must have acknowledged to be contempt.
The nobility of Katharine's nature asserted itself in the manner in which she regarded the marriage of Gordon Frere and Hester Gould. That the intelligence should not cost her a pang44 of exceeding keenness was impossible; but she did battle with herself against the temptations to bitterness and enmity against Hester which beset45 her, and she came nobly out of the strife46. Little did she dream how closely her demeanour was scrutinised; little did she imagine that the bright dark eyes of the obsequious47 Mr. Daniel Thacker, perhaps the humblest of Mrs. Streightley's servants and the most respectful of her admirers, were steadily48 directed to her face for many days during his stay at Middlemeads, with the purpose of reading what might appear on that fair dial indicative of storm and turmoil49 in her heart. She had no suspicion that she was watched; but, as she also had nothing whatever to hide, there was no danger in her unconsciousness. The brief sharp pain she endured had come and passed when she was alone. She remembered how she had envied Hester Gould her wealth, only because it left her free to marry as she liked: she remembered her own bitter saying, "she may buy instead of being bought," and she thought it had been strangely realised. But she would not be unjust either to Hester Gould or to her own false lover. She would acknowledge that Hester had many attractions other than her wealth; she would acknowledge her fair share of beauty, her talents, her good manners, the numerous charms which might easily secure a genuine attachment50. She was ready to believe that Gordon Frere might really love Hester; and the more ready, as she had reason to know the shallowness and fickleness51 of his nature. "I daresay he cares for her as much as he cared for me," Katharine thought; "and in this case he can afford to indulge his fancy,--in mine he could not. She is fortunate that he can love her and marry her, otherwise she too would find that he would love her and leave her, as he left me, to the ridicule52 of her friends, and a broken heart, were she fool enough to break her heart for him. And he--he has only done exactly what I did, even supposing he does not love her. He has only married for money. With this difference, to be sure,--that I would have shared poverty with him, and he would not face it for me: with this other difference too, that I was in earnest, and he was only amusing himself. Our positions are pretty much the same in the end; we are both rich, we are parted from each other, and satisfied to be so, and another has the first claim on each. I have no right to despise him for the marriage he has made, nor dares he to despise me."
So Katharine wrote to Ellen Streightley, and expressed interest in the marriage, and hope of its happiness, which were perfectly sincere, and were most welcome to the recipient53 of her letter. She treated the subject with polite indifference54 in her reply to Lady Henmarsh. She understood cousin Hetty tolerably well, and disdained55 the spitefulness which she perceived too thoroughly to stoop to retaliation56. It was a fortunate circumstance for Robert that his sister had remained with her mother at the Brixton villa4 after Miss Gould's marriage, and thus no occasion arose for the lengthened57 and frequent discussion of the event. Had Ellen been at Middlemeads, she would have talked about the wedding to an embarrassing extent. As it was, his reluctance to mention Gordon Frere's name--a reluctance which Katharine did not suspect--was seconded by her own, which Robert's state of mind prevented him from surmising58; and after a mere59 formal comment, whose insufficiency, considering the intimacy60 subsisting61 between the Streightleys and Miss Gould, did not fail to strike Mr. Thacker, the subject was dropped. He tried to talk about the wedding, at which he had been present, and at which his sisters had officiated as bridesmaids; but he had not courage to persevere62 in the face of Robert's silence and the well-bred coldness of Katharine's manner, which plainly implied that the matter was one wholly devoid of interest to her; but, of course, if Mr. Thacker chose to pursue that topic of conversation, she was bound to listen and to reply.
Life at Middlemeads proceeded much as usual, except that the amusements of autumn were substituted for those of spring. There was no other change in the aspect of affairs at the stately and luxurious63 country-house, over which Katharine presided with grace and dignity which seemed to grow more and more remarkable64. Her beauty was at its zenith now; and no doubt the subsidence of all angry and impetuous feeling, the "settling down" which had taken place within the past year, had told upon her physically65 as well as morally. She had not, indeed, acted upon Mrs. Stanbourne's advice in its spirit. She had not faced the fact that the greatest of all her obligations towards her husband was the obligation to love him. She had not tried to realise that; and in so far the change in her was maimed and incomplete. But she had kept the letter of her promise to her friend, and ruled her life with more consideration for her husband than in the earlier days of their marriage. Had there been no obstacle, as unfortunately there was, in the secret bound in Robert's conscience, to a perfect understanding between the husband and wife, it might have come about at this period, when Gordon Frere's marriage had completed the severance66 of the past from Katharine's present life.
Mrs. Stanbourne was at Middlemeads shortly after the marriage of Gordon and Hester, and had been even more anxious than before to find Katharine on good terms with Robert. She was about to leave England for an indefinite time; and she would fain have gone away leaving her young kinswoman more intent on happiness, and less intent on pleasure, than she had found her on her first visit to Middlemeads. Observation had but increased her respect and regard for Robert Streightley; and she now noticed his depressed67 and careworn68 manner with sincere regret. She was at a loss to what origin to ascribe it; for things were far better, in a domestic point of view, than they had been in the spring. Had Mrs. Stanbourne met Mr. Guyon at Middlemeads, she might have discerned at least a portion of the truth, bringing, as she would have done, clearer notions of "business" than those of Katharine to aid her observations; but that gentleman avoided her with a persistent69 caution, for which, while far from divining its motives70, she was unfeignedly grateful. Mrs. Stanbourne could not have thoroughly understood Mr. Guyon, had she had ever so favourable71 an opportunity of detecting him; but she despised him intuitively, and had often taken herself to task for the unreasoning dislike with which he inspired her.
"My dear Kate, what quantities of money you spend on furniture!" said Mrs. Stanbourne to Katharine, a day or two before she left Middlemeads. She had entered the morning-room, and found Mrs. Streightley looking over an upholsterer's pattern-book; while a "young man" stood by, awaiting her decision and her orders. She had given them, and the young man had taken his departure, charged by Katharine to have certain articles ready for her inspection72 by a certain day of the ensuing week.
"Do I?" asked Katharine absently. "Well, perhaps I do; but I did not choose the things here myself, you know; and then, I like change."
"May I ask what you are changing now, Kate?"
"O dear, yes, of course. It's my dressing-room furniture. I hate that walnut-wood, it looks so brittle73; and I was quite delighted with Lady Kilmantan's rooms; so I am going to have just the same. They will be charming, with a conservatory74 and an aviary75 thrown out on the western side--just the aspect, you know."
"But your present conservatory is a splendid one, Kate, to say nothing of your acre of glass at the gardens."
"But I don't care for that great show thing; I want one of my own, that no one can go into except I specially76 invite them, and where I can choose the flowers myself, and put common flowers in if I please, and not be dictated77 to by the gardeners. See, here are the plans; charming, are they not? Here's to be a delicious little fountain, and the floor is to be white marble."
"Very pretty, Kate; but also very expensive. Don't think me intrusive78, dear, or impertinent, if I say again I think you spend a very great deal of money. Mr. Streightley is very rich, I believe; do you know how rich?"
"N-not exactly," said Kate hesitatingly. "I know nothing about his income, except that he tells me to do just as I like. People talk of him to me as a 'City magnate,' and as if there were no end to his money."
"Have you any idea how much you spend yourself, Kate, in a year?"
"No, I have not. Every thing of this kind"--and she waved her hand, to indicate the room in which they were sitting, with its luxurious appointments--"Mr. Streightley arranges for. I have nothing to do with money except for my private expenses, dress, and that; and I have not had any bills yet."
"I fancy they will surprise you when they arrive, Kate. But if Mr. Streightley has said nothing, I am perhaps taking fright unnecessarily." And then Mrs. Stanbourne rather abruptly79 turned the conversation to her approaching departure from England. She was to winter at Rome with her daughter and her son-in-law; and she and Katharine indulged in talking about a proposed plan for the Streightleys joining the party there. It did very well to talk about, if nothing more came of it; and the vague prospect80 softened81 the pain with which Katharine bade her friend adieu a few days later.
The alterations82 at Middlemeads went on briskly, and, like all alterations, exhibited a tendency to extend their scope and increase their variety. The dull wintry weather had come now, and the comfort of the luxurious house was somewhat interfered83 with by the presence of workmen and the disarrangement of some of the rooms. Under a momentary84 impression created by what Mrs. Stanbourne had said, Katharine had spoken to her husband about the cost of her intended improvements, which had now extended far beyond the narrow sphere of her own apartments. It was the first time the subject of money had been mooted85 between them; and Katharine's manner was slightly constrained86, her pride slightly touched. She shrank from the least possibility of a rebuke25, from the shade of an imputation87 that she had interpreted the carte-blanche which her husband had given her too liberally. A different and more painful kind of embarrassment88 possessed Robert; and his over-eagerness to hide it from his wife, his stern resolution to carry out to the letter the tacit contract between them, induced him to reassure89 her with so much vehemence90, that Katharine never gave the subject another thought, but plunged91 into her plans with fresh vigour92 and heedless extravagance.
Mrs. Streightley found the distance from London inconvenient93, when each day required her to pronounce a judgment94 upon some new pattern in furniture or hangings, or to decide for or against some piece of virtù or ornament95 of a rare and costly96 description. The season was dull down in Buckinghamshire; and though London was in a certain sense, the fashionable one, dull also, it would at least offer that dear delight to all who lead such lives as hers--a change. So she assented97 very gladly to a proposition which Robert made to her at the beginning of November, that they should remove to the house in Portland Place for a month. The reason he assigned for this arrangement, on his own part, was the plea of "business," which Katharine never inquired into; and in a few days, with the ease and celerity with which rich people make even the most out-of-the-way arrangements, Katharine found herself settled in her town-house, if not with all the luxury and completeness of "the season," in very perfect comfort. She had not thought it necessary to apprise98 Mr. Guyon of her intention of coming up to town; nor did she let him know immediately that she had done so. On the second afternoon after her arrival in London she called at his house, but without any expectation of finding him at home. She was, however, shown into the dingy99 dining-room--more dingy than ever; and there her father joined her after a few minutes. He expressed all the fit and appropriate sentiments on beholding100 her, with his usual fluency101; but he did not express surprise quite successfully. This did not strike Katharine at the time; but as she drove back to Portland Place, having invited her father to dinner on the following day, she thought of it, and felt sure that he had not been surprised,--in fact, that he knew she was in town.
"How very odd!" she thought; "has Robert been to see him? And if he has, why should papa not have mentioned it, and said at once he had been expecting to see me?"
"I called on papa this afternoon," she said to her husband that day at dinner, at which meal she could not help observing Robert's unusual gloom and thoughtfulness. "He is coming to dine with us to-morrow. Have you seen him yet?"
"Yes," said Robert; "he came to the office yesterday."
Some feeling like anger, but which she could not precisely102 define, caused Katharine to turn red and hot for a moment. Her husband said no more, and seemed lost in thought. Had their mistress chanced to look towards them, she would have seen a very expressive103 glance exchanged between the servants in attendance. The "situation" was not quite a mystery for the servants' hall, and the opinion there for some time had been that "the old 'un was a-comin' of it a deal too strong, and he'd find Streightley wouldn't stand it much longer."
Katharine felt uncomfortable, she did not know why; and she watched her father on the following day with a degree of attention she had seldom bestowed104 upon him of late. His manner was as jaunty105, his conversation was as fluent, his juvenility106 was as marked, as well-preserved, as ever. He was delightfully107 facetious109; and when he told Katharine that he had all sorts of messages in charge for her from Cousin Hetty, and that--gad! he had nearly forgotten the chief news of all--sentence of death against Sir Timothy; couldn't live a month, the doctors said; and as they had the power of proving the soundness of their own judgment, of course he wouldn't live a month,--he made the little joke quite fascinating. Still there was something about him, and about Robert, who was a poor dissembler, which Katharine did not like, did not understand, and which made her uncomfortable. There was a fourth person present; a circumstance which each felt to be a relief. This was Ellen Streightley. Katharine had gone that afternoon to the Brixton villa, and had paid Robert's mother a visit, during which she had been as charming and agreeable as she could be when she chose. She had brought Ellen home with her; and an instinct now made her doubly glad she had done so. Robert had thanked her warmly and gratefully for her prompt attention to his mother and to Ellen, and had looked as happy as ever for a little. Somehow Katharine liked his thanks, liked his kind words; and when she wondered what was amiss, found herself hoping it was nothing involving any distress110 of mind to Robert.
Mr. Guyon went away early, having told his daughter he should come to breakfast on the morrow. "But I daresay I shall not see you, my dear," he added; "for Robert and I have business to talk over, and we mean to shut you out,--don't we, Robert?" And the affectionate father-in-law nodded in his most airy and jovial111 way to Mr. Streightley. But Robert only bowed. He was immovably grave, and Katharine almost made up her mind that she would ask him what was the cause of his restraint and gloom. She never did ask the question, however; for the following day found her full of all the delightful108 occupations which she had planned for herself in town--found her bent112 on enjoying all that London had to offer during its partial eclipse, and also found her father and Robert apparently113 on as good terms as ever. Robert had noticed his wife's transient uneasiness, and, determined114 to adhere to his fatal resolution of concealment115, he had applied116 himself to the task of hiding the truth, this time with success.
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1
deferred
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| adj.延期的，缓召的v.拖延，延缓，推迟( defer的过去式和过去分词 )；服从某人的意愿，遵从 | |
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2
juvenile
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| n.青少年，少年读物；adj.青少年的，幼稚的 | |
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3
reluctance
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| n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿 | |
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villa
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| n.别墅，城郊小屋 | |
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5
depicted
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| 描绘，描画( depict的过去式和过去分词 )； 描述 | |
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boon
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| n.恩赐，恩物，恩惠 | |
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7
revelling
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| v.作乐( revel的现在分词 )；狂欢；着迷；陶醉 | |
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8
simultaneously
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| adv.同时发生地，同时进行地 | |
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geniality
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| n.和蔼，诚恳；愉快 | |
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10
conceited
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| adj.自负的，骄傲自满的 | |
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11
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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12
tableaux
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| n.舞台造型，（由活人扮演的）静态画面、场面；人构成的画面或场景( tableau的名词复数 )；舞台造型；戏剧性的场面；绚丽的场景 | |
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13
commemorated
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| v.纪念，庆祝( commemorate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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comported
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| v.表现( comport的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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15
ledgers
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| n.分类账( ledger的名词复数 ) | |
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invoices
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| 发票( invoice的名词复数 )； （发货或服务）费用清单； 清单上货物的装运； 货物的托运 | |
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17
preoccupied
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| adj.全神贯注的，入神的；被抢先占有的；心事重重的v.占据（某人）思想，使对…全神贯注，使专心于( preoccupy的过去式) | |
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18
badinage
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| n.开玩笑，打趣 | |
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amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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virtues
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| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
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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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refinement
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| n.文雅；高尚；精美；精制；精炼 | |
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wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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rebuked
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| 责难或指责( rebuke的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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rebuke
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| v.指责，非难，斥责 [反]praise | |
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26
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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dreary
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| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
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miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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devoid
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| adj.全无的，缺乏的 | |
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32
instinctive
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| adj.(出于)本能的；直觉的；(出于)天性的 | |
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conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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alteration
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| n.变更，改变；蚀变 | |
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glimmering
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| n.微光，隐约的一瞥adj.薄弱地发光的v.发闪光，发微光( glimmer的现在分词 ) | |
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36
constituents
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| n.选民( constituent的名词复数 )；成分；构成部分；要素 | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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38
delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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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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40
mortification
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| n.耻辱，屈辱 | |
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41
inquisitive
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| adj.求知欲强的，好奇的，好寻根究底的 | |
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42
frivolous
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| adj.轻薄的；轻率的 | |
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contemptible
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| adj.可鄙的，可轻视的，卑劣的 | |
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pang
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| n.剧痛，悲痛，苦闷 | |
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beset
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| v.镶嵌；困扰，包围 | |
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strife
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| n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争 | |
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obsequious
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| adj.谄媚的，奉承的，顺从的 | |
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steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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turmoil
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| n.骚乱，混乱，动乱 | |
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attachment
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| n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附 | |
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fickleness
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| n.易变；无常；浮躁；变化无常 | |
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ridicule
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| v.讥讽，挖苦；n.嘲弄 | |
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recipient
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| a.接受的,感受性强的 n.接受者,感受者,容器 | |
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indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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disdained
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| 鄙视( disdain的过去式和过去分词 )； 不屑于做，不愿意做 | |
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retaliation
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| n.报复，反击 | |
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lengthened
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| （时间或空间）延长，伸长( lengthen的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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surmising
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| v.臆测，推断( surmise的现在分词 )；揣测；猜想 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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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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subsisting
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| v.（靠很少的钱或食物）维持生活，生存下去( subsist的现在分词 ) | |
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persevere
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| v.坚持，坚忍，不屈不挠 | |
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luxurious
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| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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physically
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| adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律 | |
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severance
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| n.离职金；切断 | |
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depressed
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| adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的 | |
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careworn
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| adj.疲倦的，饱经忧患的 | |
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persistent
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| adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的 | |
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motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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favourable
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| adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的 | |
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inspection
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| n.检查，审查，检阅 | |
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brittle
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| adj.易碎的；脆弱的；冷淡的；(声音)尖利的 | |
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conservatory
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| n.温室，音乐学院；adj.保存性的，有保存力的 | |
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aviary
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| n.大鸟笼，鸟舍 | |
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specially
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| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
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dictated
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| v.大声讲或读( dictate的过去式和过去分词 )；口授；支配；摆布 | |
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intrusive
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| adj.打搅的；侵扰的 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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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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alterations
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| n.改动( alteration的名词复数 )；更改；变化；改变 | |
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interfered
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| v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉 | |
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momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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mooted
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| adj.未决定的，有争议的，有疑问的v.提出…供讨论( moot的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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constrained
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| adj.束缚的,节制的 | |
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imputation
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| n.归罪，责难 | |
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embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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reassure
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| v.使放心，使消除疑虑 | |
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vehemence
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| n.热切；激烈；愤怒 | |
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plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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vigour
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| （=vigor）n.智力，体力，精力 | |
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inconvenient
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| adj.不方便的，令人感到麻烦的 | |
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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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ornament
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| v.装饰，美化；n.装饰，装饰物 | |
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costly
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| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
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assented
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| 同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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apprise
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| vt.通知，告知 | |
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99
dingy
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| adj.昏暗的，肮脏的 | |
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100
beholding
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| v.看，注视( behold的现在分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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101
fluency
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| n.流畅，雄辩，善辩 | |
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102
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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103
expressive
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| adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的 | |
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104
bestowed
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| 赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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105
jaunty
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| adj．愉快的，满足的；adv.心满意足地，洋洋得意地；n.心满意足；洋洋得意 | |
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106
juvenility
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| n.年轻，不成熟 | |
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delightfully
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| 大喜，欣然 | |
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108
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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facetious
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| adj.轻浮的，好开玩笑的 | |
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110
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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jovial
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| adj.快乐的，好交际的 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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113
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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114
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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115
concealment
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| n.隐藏, 掩盖，隐瞒 | |
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116
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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