It was not often that a cabinet particulier like Antoine was disengaged at luncheon3 time, being as a rule reserved many days in advance, but it had been a ‘funny’ season, as the saying went, and there was the possibility that a party of late-risers might look in yet (officers, or artistes from the Halls), who had been passing a night on the ‘tiles.’ But Madame Wetme trusted not. It was pleasant to escape every now and again from her lugubrious4 back-drawing-room that only faced a wall, or to peruse5 the early newspapers without having first to wait for them. And to-day precisely6 was the day for the hebdomadal causerie in the Jaw-waws’ Journal on matters appertaining to society, 52 signed by that ever popular diarist “Eva Schnerb.”
“Never,” Madame Wetme read, ”was a gathering7 more brilliant than that which I witnessed last night! I stood in a corner of the Great ball room and literally8 gasped9 at the wealth of jewels.... Beauty and bravery abounded10 but no one, I thought, looked better than our most-gracious Queen, etc.... Among the supper-guests I saw their Excellencies Prince and Princess Paul de Pismiche,—the Princess impressed me as being just a trifle pale: she is by no means strong, and unhappily our nefarious11 climate does not agree with everybody! Their Excellencies, Sir Somebody and Lady Something (Miss Ivy12 Something charming in cornflower charmeuse danced indefatigably13 all the evening, as did also one of the de Lambèse girls). The Count and Countess of Tolga—she all in blue furs and literally ablaze14 with gorgeous gems15 (I hear on excellent authority she is shortly relinquishing16 her post of Woman of the Bedchamber which she finds is really too arduous17 for her). The Duchess of Varna, looking veritably 53 radiant (by the way where has she been?) in the palest of pistachio-green mashlaks, which are all the rage at present.
“Have you a Mashlak?
“Owing to the visit of King Jotifa and Queen Thleeanouhee, the Eastern mashlak is being worn by many of the smart women about the Court. I saw an example at the Opera the other night in silver and gold lamé that I thought too——”
Madame Wetme broke off to look up, as a waiter entered the room.
“Did Madame ring?”
“No!...”
“I daresay. When will you know your bells?” Madame Wetme retorted, returning with a headshake to the gazette: Her beloved Eva was full of information this week and breathlessly she read on:
“I saw Minnie, Lady Violetrock (whose daughter Sonia is being educated here) at the garden fête the other day, at the Chateau19 des Fleurs, looking chic20 as she 54 always does, in a combination of petunia21 and purple ninon raffling22 a donkey.
“I hear on the best authority that before the Court goes to the Summer-Palace later on, there will be at least one more Drawing-room. Applications, from those entitled to attend, should be made to the Lord Chamberlain as soon as possible.”
One more Drawing-room—! the journal fell from Madame Wetme’s hand.
“I’m getting on now,” she reflected, “and if I’m not presented soon, I never will be....”
She raised imploring23 eyes to the mural imagery—to the “Cleopatra couchant,” to the “Arrival of Anthony,” to the “Sphinx,” to the “Temple of Ra,” as though seeking inspiration: “Ah my God!” she groaned24.
But Madame Wetme’s religion, her cruel God, was the Chic: The God Chic.
The sound of music from below reached her faintly. There was not a better orchestra (even at the Palace) than that which discoursed25 at the Café Cleopatra—and they played, the thought had sometimes pleased her, the same identical tunes26! 55
“Does it say when?” she murmured, reopening the gazette. No: But it would be “before” the Court left.... And when would that be?
“I have good grounds for believing,” she continued to read: “that in order to meet his creditors27, the Duke of Varna is selling a large portion of his country estate.”
If it were true ... Madame Wetme’s eyes rested in speculation28 on the Oleanders in the great flower-tubs before the Café, if it were true, why the Varnas must be desperate, and the Duchess ready to do anything. “Anything—for remuneration,” she murmured, rising and going towards a table usually used for correspondence. And seating herself with a look of decision, she opened a leather writing-pad, full of crab-coloured ink-marked blotting29 paper.
In the fan-shaped mirror above the writing-table she could see herself in fancy, all veils and aigrettes, as she would be on “the day” when coiffed by Ernst.
“Among a bevy30 of charming débutantes, no one looked more striking than Madame Wetme, who was presented by the Duchess 56 of Varna.” Being a client of the house (with an unpaid31 bill) she could dictate32 to Eva.... But first, of course, she must secure the Duchess. And taking up her pen she wrote: “Madame Wetme would give the Duchess of Varna fifty thousand crowns to introduce her at Court.” A trifle terse33 perhaps?? Madame Wetme considered. How if the Duchess should take offence.... It was just conceivable! And besides, by specifying34 no fixed35 sum, she might be got for less.
“Something more mysterious, more delicate in style....” Madame Wetme murmured with a sigh, beginning the letter anew:
“If the Duchess of Varna will call on Madame Wetme this afternoon, about five, and partake of a cup of tea, she will hear of something to her advantage.”
Madame Wetme smiled: “That should get her!” she reflected, and selecting an envelope, she directed it boldly to the Ritz. “Being hard up, she is sure to be there!” she reasoned, as she left the room in quest of a page. 57
The French maid of the Duchess of Varna was just putting on her mistress’s shoes, in a private sitting-room36 at the Ritz, when Madame Wetme’s letter arrived.
The pleasure of being in the capital once more, after a long spell of the country, had given her an appetite for her lunch and she was feeling braced37 after an excellent meal.
“I shall not be back, I expect, till late, Louison,” she said to her maid, “and should anyone enquire38 where I am, I shall either be at the Palace, or at the Skating-Rink.”
“Madame la Duchesse will not be going to her corsetier’s?”
“It depends if there’s time. What did I do with my shopping-list?” the Duchess replied, gathering up abstractedly a large, becoroneted vanity-case and a parasol. She had a gown of khaki and daffodil and a black tricorne hat trimmed with green. “Give me my other sunshade, the jade—and don’t forget—: On me trouvera, Soit au Palais Royal, soit, au Palais de Glace!” she enjoined39 sailing quickly out.
Leaving the Ritz by a side door, she 58 found herself in a quiet, shady street, bordering the Regina Gardens. Above a sky so blue, so clear, so luminous40 seemed to cry out: “Nothing matters! Why worry? Be sanguine41! Amuse yourself! Nothing matters!”
Traversing the gardens, her mind preoccupied42 by Madame Wetme’s note, the Duchess branched off into a busy thoroughfare, leading towards the Opera, in whose vicinity lay the city’s principal shops. To learn of anything to one’s advantage was, of course, always welcome, but there were various other claims upon her besides that afternoon, which she was unable, or loath43 to ignore—the palace, a thé dansant or two, and then her favourite rink ... although the unfortunate part was, most of the rink instructors44 were still unpaid, and, on the last occasion she had hired a man to waltz with her, he had taken advantage of the fact by pressing her waist with greater freedom than she felt he need have done.
Turning into the Opera Square with its fine arcades45, she paused, half furtively46, before a Florist’s shop. Only her solicitors47 59 and a few in the secret were aware that the premises48 known as Haboubet of Egypt were her own; for fearful lest they might be occupied one day by sheriffs’ officers, the little business venture had been kept the closest mystery. Lilies “from Karnak,” Roses “from the Land of Punt” (all grown in the gardens of her country house, in the purlieus of the capital) found immediate49 and daily favour among amateurs of the choice. Indeed as her gardener frequently said, the demand for Roses from the Land of Punt, was more than he could possibly cope with without an extra man.
“I may as well run in and take whatever there’s in the till,” she reflected—“not that, I fear, there’s much....”
The superintendent50, a slim Tunisian boy, was crouching51 pitcher-posture upon the floor, chanting languidly to himself, his head supported by an osier pannier lately arrived from “Punt.”
“Up, Bachir!” the Duchess upbraided52. “Remember the fresh consignments53 perish, while you dream there and sing.”
The young Tunisian smiled. 60
He worshipped the Duchess, and the song he was improvising54 as she entered, had been inspired by her. In it (had she known) he had led her by devious55 tender stages to his Father’s fondouk at Tifilalet “on the blue Lake of Fetzara,” where he was about to present her to the Cheikh, and the whole assembled village, as his chosen bride.
The Duchess considered him. He had a beautiful face spoiled by a bad complexion56, which doubtless (the period of puberty passed) he would outgrow57.
“Consignment him come not two minute,” the youth replied.
“Ah Bachir? Bachir!”
“By the glorious Koran, I will swear it.”
“Be careful not to shake those Alexandrian Balls,” the Duchess peremptorily58 enjoined pointing towards some Guelder-roses—“or they’ll fall before they’re sold!”
“No matter at all. They sold already! An American lady this morning, she purchase all my Alexandrian-Balls; two heavy bunch.”
“Let me see your takings.”...
With a smile of triumph, Bachir turned 61 towards the till. He had the welfare of the establishment at heart as well as his own, and of an evening often he would flit, garbed59 in his long gandourah, through the chief Cafés and Dancings’ of the city, a vast pannier heaped high with flowers upon his head, which he would dispose of to dazzled clients for an often exorbitant60 sum. But for these excursions of his (which ended on occasion in adventure) he had received no authority at all.
“Not so bad,” the Duchess commented: “And, as there’s to be a Court again soon, many orders for bouquets61 are sure to come in!”
“I call in outside hands to assist me: I summon Ouardi! He an Armenian boy. Sympathetic. My friend. More attached to him am I than a branch of Jessamine is about a Vine.”
“The garlands of Ouardi would make even a jackal look bewitching!”
“Ah: he has taste?” 62
“I engage my friend. Much work always in the month of Redjeb!”
“Engage nobody,” the Duchess answered as she left the shop, “until I come again.”
Hailing one of the little shuttered cabs of the city in the square she directed the driver to drop her at the palace gates, and pursued by an obstreperous63 newsboy with an evening paper, yelling: “Chedorlahomor! Sodom! Extra Special!” the cab clattered64 off at a languid trot65. Under the plane-trees, near the Houses of Parliament, she was overtaken by the large easy-stepping horses of the Ambassadress of England, and acknowledged with a winning movement of the wrist, Lady Something’s passing acceuil. It was yet not quite the correct hour for the Promenade66, where beneath the great acacias Society liked best to ride or drive, but, notwithstanding, that zealous68 reporter of social deeds, the irrepressible Eva Schnerb, was already on the prowl and able with satisfaction to note: “I saw the Duchess of Varna early driving in the Park, all alone in a little one-horse 63 shay, that really looked more elegant than any Delaunay-Belleville!”
Arriving before the palace gates, the Duchess perceived an array of empty carriages waiting in the drive, which made her apprehensive69 of a function. She had anticipated an intimate chat with the Queen alone, but this it seemed was not to be.
Following a youthful page with a resigned face, down a long black rug woven with green and violet flowers, who left her with a sigh (as if disappointed of a tip) in charge of a couple of giggling70 colleagues, and who, in turn, propelled her towards a band of sophisticated-looking footmen and grim officials, she was shewn at last into a vast white drawing-room whose ceiling formed a dome71.
Knowing the Queen’s interest in the Chedorlahomor Excavation72 Bill, a number of representative folk, such as the wives of certain Politicians or Diplomats73, as well as a few of her own more immediate circle, had called to felicitate her upon its success. Parliament had declared itself willing to do the unlimited74 graceful75 by all those 64 concerned, and this in a great measure was due to the brilliant wire pulling of the Queen.
She was looking singularly French in a gold helmet and a violet Vortniansky gown, and wore a rope of faultless pearls, clasped very high beneath the chin.
“I hope the Archbishop will bless the Excavators’ tools!” she was saying to the wife of the Premier76, as the Duchess entered. “The picks at any rate....”
That lady made no reply: In presence of royalty77 she would usually sit and smile at her knees, raising her eyes from time to time to throw, beneath her lashes78, an ineffable79 expiring glance.
“God speed them safe home again!” the Archduchess Elizabeth who was busy knitting said. An ardent80 philanthropist she had begun already making “comforts” for the men, as the nights in the East are cold. The most philanthropic perhaps of all the Royal Family, her hobby was designing, for the use of the public, sanitary81, but artistic82, places of Necessity on a novel system of ventilation. The King had 65 consented to open (and it was expected appropriately) one of these in course of construction in the Opera Square.
“Amen,” the Queen answered, signalling amiably83 to the Duchess of Varna, whose infrequent visits to court disposed her always to make a fuss of her.
But no fuss the Queen could make of the Duchess of Varna, could exceed that being made by Queen Thleeanouhee, in a far-off corner, of her Excellency, Lady Something. The sympathy, the entente84 indeed that had arisen between these two ladies was exercising considerably85 the minds of certain members of the diplomatic corps86, although had anyone wished to eavesdrop87, their conversation upon the whole must have been found to be anything but esoteric.
“What I want,” Queen Thleeanouhee was saying, resting her hand confidentially88 on her Excellency’s knee: “what I want is an English maid with Frenchified fingers—— Is there such a thing to be had?”
“But surely——” Lady Something smiled: for the servant-topic was one she felt at home on. 66
“In Dateland, my dear, servant girls are nothing but sluts.”
“Life is like that, ma’am, I regret indeed, to have to say: I once had a housemaid who had lived with Sarah Bernhardt, and oh, wasn’t she a terror!” Lady Something declared, warding89 off a little black bat-eared dog who was endeavouring to scramble90 on to her lap.
“Teddywegs, Teddywegs!” the Archduchess exclaimed jumping up and advancing to capture her pet: “He arrived from London not later than this morning,” she said: “from the Princess Elsie of England.”
“He looks like some special litter,” Lady Something remarked.
“How the dear girl loves animals!”
“Prince Yousef and she are of an equal age!”
“She is interested in Yousef I’m inclined to believe; but the worst of life is, nearly everyone marches to a different tune,” the Archduchess replied. 67
“One hears of her nothing that isn’t agreeable.”
“Like her good mother, Queen Glory,” the Archduchess said, “one feels, of course, she’s all she should be.”
Lady Something sighed.
“Yes ... and even more!” she murmured, letting fall a curtsy to King William who had entered. He had been lunching at the Headquarters of the Girl Guides, and wore the uniform of a general.
Lady Something turned paler than the white candytuft that is found on ruins. “Oh la, sir,” she stammered95, “how should I know!”
“Oh la, sir!” Lady Something stammered again.
But the King took pity on her evident confusion: “Tepid potatoes,” he answered, “on a stone-cold plate.” 68
The Ambassadress beamed.
“I trust the warmth of the girls, sir, compensated97 you for the coldness of the plates?” she ventured.
“The inspection98, in the main, was satisfactory! Although I noticed that one or two of the guides, seemed inclined to lead astray,” the King replied, regarding Teddywegs, who was inquisitively99 sniffing100 his spurs.
“He’s strange yet to everything,” the Archduchess commented.
“What’s this—a new dog?”
“From Princess Elsie....”
“They say she’s stupid, but I do not know that intellect is always a blessing101!” the King declared, drooping102 his eyes to his abdomen103, with an air of pensive104 modesty105.
“Poor child, she writes she is tied to the shore, so that I suppose she is unable to leave dear England.”
“Tied to it?”
“And bound till goodness knows.”
“As was Andromeda!” the King sententiously exclaimed.... “She would have little, or maybe nothing, to wear,” he 69 clairvoyantly106 went on: “I see her standing67 shivering, waiting for Yousef.... Chained by the leg, perhaps, exposed to the howling winds.”3
“Nonsense. She means to say she can’t get away yet on account of her engagements: that’s all.”
“After Cowes-week,” Lady Something put in, “she is due to pay a round of visits before joining her parents in the North.”
“How I envy her,” the Archduchess sighed, “amid that entrancing scene....”
Lady Something looked attendrie.
“Your royal highness is attached to England?” she asked.
“I fear I was never there.... But I shall always remember I put my hair up when I was twelve years old because of the Prince of Wales.”
“Oh? And ... which of the Georges?” Lady Something gasped.
“It’s so long ago now that I really forget.”
“And pray, ma’am, what was the point of it?”
Amid the general flutter following the King’s appearance, it was easy enough for the Duchess of Varna to slip away. Knowing the palace inside out it was unnecessary to make any fuss. Passing through a long room, where a hundred holland-covered chairs stood grouped, Congresswise, around a vast table, she attained109 the Orangery, that gave access to the drive. The mellay of vehicles had considerably increased, and the Duchess paused a moment to consider which she should borrow, when recollecting110 she wished to question one of the royal gardeners on a little matter of mixing manure111, she decided112 to return through the castle grounds instead. Taking a path that descended113 between rhododendrons and grim old cannons114 towards the town, she was comparing the capriciousness of certain bulbs to that of certain people, when she heard her name called from behind, and glancing round perceived the charming silhouette115 of the Countess of Tolga.
“I couldn’t stand it inside: Could you?” 71
“It was made by me!”
“Oh, Violet....” the Duchess murmured, her face taking on a look of wonder.
“Don’t forget, dear, Sunday.”
“Is it a party?”
“I’ve asked Grim-lips and Ladybird, Hairy and Fluffy117, Hardylegs and Bluewings, Spindleshanks, and Our Lady of Furs.”
“Not Nanny-goat?”
“Luckily ...” the Countess replied, raising to her nose the heliotropes in her hand.
“Is he no better?”
“You little know, dear, what it is to be all alone with him chez soi when he thinks and sneers118 into the woodwork.”
“Into the woodwork?”
“He addresses the ceiling, the walls, the floor—me never!”
“Dear dove.”
“All I can I’m plastic.”
“Can one be plastic ever enough, dear?”
“Often but for Olga ...” the Countess murmured, considering a little rosy119 ladybird on her arm. 72
“Sweet girl—! She’s just my consolation121.”
“C’est une ame exquise!”
“Well au revoir, dear: We shall meet again at the Princess Leucippe’s later on,” the duchess said, detecting her gardener in the offing.
By the time she had obtained her recipe and cajoled a few special shoots from various exotic plants, the sun had begun to decline. Emerging from the palace by a postern-gate, where lounged a sentry123, she found herself almost directly beneath the great acacias on the Promenade. Under the lofty leafage of the trees, as usual towards this hour, society, in its varying grades had congregated124 to be gazed upon. Mounted on an eager-headed little horse his Weariness (who loved being seen) was plying125 up and down, while in his wake a “screen artiste,” on an Arabian mare126 with powdered withers127 and eyes made up with kohl, was creating 73 a sensation. Every time she used her whip the powder rose in clouds. Wending her way through the throng128 the duchess recognised the rose-harnessed horses of Countess Medusa Rappa—the Countess bolt upright, her head carried stiffly staring with a pathetic expression of dead joie-de-vie between her coachman’s and footman’s waists. But the intention of calling at the Café Cleopatra caused the duchess to hasten. The possibility of learning something beneficial to herself was a lure129 not to be resisted. Pausing to allow the marvellous blue automobile130 of Count Ann-Jules to pass (with the dancer Kalpurnia inside), she crossed the Avenue, where there seemed, on the whole, to be fewer people. Here she remarked a little ahead of her the masculine form of the Countess Yvorra, taking a quiet stroll before Salut in the company of her Confessor. In the street she usually walked with her hands clasped behind her back, huddled131 up like a statesman: “Des choses abominables!... Des choses hors nature!” she was saying, in tones of evident relish132, as the duchess passed. 74
Meanwhile Madame Wetme was seated anxiously by the samovar in her drawing-room. To receive the duchess, she had assumed a mashlak à la mode, whitened her face and rouged133 her ears, and set a small, but costly134 aigrette at an insinuating135 angle in the edifice136 of her hair. As the hour of Angelus approached, the tension of waiting grew more and more acute, and beneath the strain of expectation even the little iced-sugar cakes upon the tea-table looked green with worry.
Suppose, after all, she shouldn’t come? Suppose she had already left? Suppose she were in prison? Only the other day a woman of the highest fashion, a leader of “society” with an A, had served six months as a consequence of her extravagance....
In agitation137 Madame Wetme helped herself to a small glassful of Cointreau, (her favourite liqueur) when, feeling calmer for the consommation, she was moved to take a peep out of Antoine.
But nobody chic at all met her eye.
Between the oleanders upon the curb138, 75 that rose up darkly against a flame-pink sky, two young men dressed “as Poets” were arguing and gesticulating freely over a bottle of beer. Near them, a sailor with a blue drooping collar and dusty boots (had he walked, poor wretch139, to see his mother?) was gazing stupidly at the large evening gnats140 that revolved141 like things bewitched about the café lamps. While below the window a lean soul in glasses, evidently an impresario142, was loudly exclaiming: “London has robbed me of my throat, sir!! It has deprived me of my voice.”
No, an “off” night certainly!
Through a slow, sun-flower of a door (that kept on revolving143 long after it had been pushed) a few military men bent144 on a game of billiards145, or an early fille de joie (only the discreetest des filles “serieuses” were supposed to be admitted)—came and went.
“To-night they’re fit for church,” Madame Wetme complacently146 smiled as the door swung round again: “Navy-blue and silver-fox looks the goods,” she reflected, “upon any occasion! It suggests something sly—like a Nurse’s uniform.” 76
“A lady in the drawing-room, Madame, desires to speak to you,” a chasseur tunefully announced, and fingering nervously147 her aigrette Madame Wetme followed.
The Duchess of Varna was inspecting a portrait with her back to the door as her hostess entered.
“I see you’re looking at my Murillo!” Madame Wetme began.
“Oh.... Is it o-ri-gi-nal?” the duchess drawled.
“No.”
“I thought not.”
“To judge by the Bankruptcy-sales of late (and it’s curious how many there’ve been ...) it would seem from the indifferent figure he makes, that he is no longer accounted chic,” Madame Wetme observed as she drew towards the duchess a chair.
“I consider the chic to be such a very false religion!...” the duchess said, accepting the seat which was offered her.
“Well, I come of an old Huguenot family myself!”
“——...?” 77
“Ah my early home.... Now, I hear, it’s nothing but a weed-crowned ruin.”
The duchess considered the ivory cat handle of her parasol: “You wrote to me?” she asked.
“Yes: about the coming court.”
“About it?”
“Every woman has her dream, duchess! And mine’s to be presented.”
“The odd ambition!” the duchess crooned.
“I admit we live in the valley. Although I have a great sense of the hills!” Madame Wetme declared demurely148.
“Indeed?”
“My husband you see ...”
“...............”
“Ah! well!”
“Of course.”
“If I’m not asked this time, I shall die of grief.”
“Have you made the request before?”
“I have attempted!”
“Well?”
“When the Lord Chamberlain refused 78 me, I shed tears of blood,” Madame Wetme wanly149 retailed150.
“It would have been easier, no doubt, in the late king’s time!”
Madame Wetme took a long sighing breath.
“I only once saw him in my life,” she said, “and then he was standing against a tree, in an attitude offensive to modesty.”
“Tell me ... as a public man, what has your husband done——”
“He’s open-handed?”
“Ah ... as you would find....”
The duchess considered: “I might,” she said, “get you cards for a State concert....”
“A State concert, duchess? That’s no good to me!”
“A drawing-room you know is a very dull affair.”
“I will liven it!”
“Or an invitation perhaps to begin with to one of the Embassies—the English for instance might lead....” 79
“Nowhere...! You can’t depend on that: people have asked me to lunch, and left me to pay for them...! There is so much trickery in Society....” Madame Wetme laughed.
The duchess smiled quizzically: “I forget if you know the Tolgas,” she said.
“By ‘name’!”
“The Countess is more about the throne at present than I.”
“I suppose there are things still one wouldn’t do however——!” the duchess took offence.
“The Tolgas are so hard.”
“You want a misfortune and they’re sweet to you. Successful persons they’re positively154 hateful to!”
“These women of the Bedchamber are all alike, so glorified155. You would never credit they were Chambermaids at all! I often smile to myself when I see one of them at a première at the Opera, gorged156 with pickings, and think that, most likely, but an hour before she was 80 stumbling along a corridor with a pailful of slops!”
“You’re fond of music, Madame?” the duchess asked.
“It’s my joy: I could go again and again to The Blue Banana!”
“I’ve not been.”
“Pom-pom, pompity-pom! We might go one night, perhaps, together.”
“...”
“Doudja Degdeg is always a draw, although naturally now she is getting on!”
“And I fear so must I”—the duchess rose remarking.
“So soon?”
“I’m only so sorry I can’t stay longer——!”
“Then it’s all decided,” Madame Wetme murmured archly as she pressed the bell.
“Oh I’d not say that.”
“If I’m not asked, remember this time, I shall die with grief.”
“To-night the duke and I are dining with the Leucippes, and possibly ...” the duchess broke off to listen to the orchestra in the café below, which was playing the waltz-air from Der Rosenkavalier. 81
“They play well!” she commented.
“People often tell me so.”
“It must make one restless, dissatisfied, that yearning157, yearning music continually at the door?”
Madame Wetme sighed.
“It makes you often long,” she said, “to begin your life again!”
“Again?”
“Still——! If he’s open-handed,” the duchess murmured as she left the room.
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proprietor
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| n.所有人；业主；经营者 | |
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perusing
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| v.读（某篇文字）( peruse的现在分词 )；（尤指）细阅；审阅；匆匆读或心不在焉地浏览（某篇文字） | |
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luncheon
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| n.午宴，午餐，便宴 | |
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lugubrious
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| adj.悲哀的，忧郁的 | |
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peruse
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| v.细读，精读 | |
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precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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gathering
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literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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abounded
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nefarious
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ivy
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indefatigably
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14
ablaze
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| adj.着火的，燃烧的；闪耀的，灯火辉煌的 | |
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gems
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| growth； economy； management； and customer satisfaction 增长 | |
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16
relinquishing
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| 交出，让给( relinquish的现在分词 )； 放弃 | |
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17
arduous
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| adj.艰苦的，费力的，陡峭的 | |
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18
bustling
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| adj.喧闹的 | |
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19
chateau
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| n.城堡，别墅 | |
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20
chic
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| n./adj.别致(的)，时髦(的)，讲究的 | |
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21
petunia
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| n.矮牵牛花 | |
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22
raffling
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| v.以抽彩方式售（物）( raffle的现在分词 ) | |
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23
imploring
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| 恳求的，哀求的 | |
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24
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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25
discoursed
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| 演说（discourse的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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26
tunes
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| n.曲调，曲子( tune的名词复数 )v.调音( tune的第三人称单数 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调 | |
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27
creditors
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| n.债权人，债主( creditor的名词复数 ) | |
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28
speculation
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| n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机 | |
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29
blotting
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| 吸墨水纸 | |
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30
bevy
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| n.一群 | |
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31
unpaid
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| adj.未付款的，无报酬的 | |
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32
dictate
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| v.口授；(使)听写；指令，指示，命令 | |
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33
terse
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| adj.(说话，文笔)精炼的，简明的 | |
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34
specifying
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| v.指定( specify的现在分词 )；详述；提出…的条件；使具有特性 | |
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35
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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36
sitting-room
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| n.（BrE）客厅，起居室 | |
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37
braced
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| adj.拉牢的v.支住( brace的过去式和过去分词 )；撑牢；使自己站稳；振作起来 | |
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38
enquire
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| v.打听，询问；调查，查问 | |
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39
enjoined
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| v.命令( enjoin的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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40
luminous
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| adj.发光的，发亮的；光明的；明白易懂的；有启发的 | |
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41
sanguine
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| adj.充满希望的，乐观的，血红色的 | |
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42
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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43
loath
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| adj.不愿意的；勉强的 | |
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44
instructors
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| 指导者，教师( instructor的名词复数 ) | |
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45
arcades
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| n.商场( arcade的名词复数 )；拱形走道（两旁有商店或娱乐设施）；连拱廊；拱形建筑物 | |
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46
furtively
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| adv. 偷偷地, 暗中地 | |
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47
solicitors
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| 初级律师( solicitor的名词复数 ) | |
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48
premises
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| n.建筑物，房屋 | |
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49
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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50
superintendent
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| n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长 | |
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51
crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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52
upbraided
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| v.责备，申斥，谴责( upbraid的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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53
consignments
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| n.托付货物( consignment的名词复数 )；托卖货物；寄售；托运 | |
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54
improvising
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| 即兴创作（improvise的现在分词形式） | |
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55
devious
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| adj.不坦率的，狡猾的；迂回的，曲折的 | |
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56
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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57
outgrow
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| vt.长大得使…不再适用；成长得不再要 | |
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58
peremptorily
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| adv.紧急地，不容分说地，专横地 | |
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59
garbed
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| v.（尤指某类人穿的特定）服装，衣服，制服( garb的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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60
exorbitant
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| adj.过分的；过度的 | |
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61
bouquets
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| n.花束( bouquet的名词复数 )；（酒的）芳香 | |
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62
orchid
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| n.兰花，淡紫色 | |
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63
obstreperous
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| adj.喧闹的，不守秩序的 | |
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64
clattered
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| 发出咔哒声（clatter的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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65
trot
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| n.疾走，慢跑；n.老太婆；现成译本；(复数）trots:腹泻（与the 连用）；v.小跑，快步走，赶紧 | |
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66
promenade
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| n./v.散步 | |
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67
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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68
zealous
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| adj.狂热的，热心的 | |
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69
apprehensive
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| adj.担心的，恐惧的，善于领会的 | |
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70
giggling
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| v.咯咯地笑( giggle的现在分词 ) | |
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71
dome
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| n.圆屋顶，拱顶 | |
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72
excavation
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| n.挖掘，发掘；被挖掘之地 | |
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73
diplomats
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| n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人 | |
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74
unlimited
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| adj.无限的，不受控制的，无条件的 | |
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75
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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76
premier
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|
| adj.首要的；n.总理，首相 | |
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77
royalty
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| n.皇家，皇族 | |
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78
lashes
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| n.鞭挞( lash的名词复数 )；鞭子；突然猛烈的一击；急速挥动v.鞭打( lash的第三人称单数 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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79
ineffable
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| adj.无法表达的，不可言喻的 | |
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80
ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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81
sanitary
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| adj.卫生方面的，卫生的，清洁的，卫生的 | |
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82
artistic
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| adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的 | |
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83
amiably
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| adv.和蔼可亲地，亲切地 | |
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84
entente
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| n.协定；有协定关系的各国 | |
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85
considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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86
corps
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| n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组 | |
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87
eavesdrop
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| v.偷听，倾听 | |
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88
confidentially
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| ad.秘密地，悄悄地 | |
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89
warding
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| 监护，守护（ward的现在分词形式） | |
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90
scramble
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| v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料 | |
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91
rumour
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| n.谣言，谣传，传闻 | |
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92
betrothal
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| n. 婚约, 订婚 | |
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93
alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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94
acme
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| n.顶点，极点 | |
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95
stammered
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| v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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96
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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97
compensated
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| 补偿，报酬( compensate的过去式和过去分词 )； 给（某人）赔偿（或赔款） | |
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98
inspection
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| n.检查，审查，检阅 | |
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99
inquisitively
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| 过分好奇地； 好问地 | |
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100
sniffing
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| n.探查法v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的现在分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说 | |
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101
blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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102
drooping
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| adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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103
abdomen
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| n.腹，下腹(胸部到腿部的部分) | |
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104
pensive
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| a.沉思的,哀思的,忧沉的 | |
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105
modesty
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| n.谦逊，虚心，端庄，稳重，羞怯，朴素 | |
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106
clairvoyantly
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| adj.透视的，有洞察力的n.透视者，千里眼的人 | |
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107
chuckled
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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108
eligible
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| adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的 | |
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109
attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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110
recollecting
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| v.记起，想起( recollect的现在分词 ) | |
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111
manure
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| n.粪，肥，肥粒；vt.施肥 | |
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112
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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113
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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114
cannons
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| n.加农炮，大炮，火炮( cannon的名词复数 ) | |
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115
silhouette
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| n.黑色半身侧面影，影子，轮廓；v.描绘成侧面影，照出影子来，仅仅显出轮廓 | |
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116
honeymoon
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| n.蜜月（假期）；vi.度蜜月 | |
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117
fluffy
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| adj.有绒毛的，空洞的 | |
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118
sneers
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| 讥笑的表情（言语）( sneer的名词复数 ) | |
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119
rosy
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| adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的 | |
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120
averred
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| v.断言( aver的过去式和过去分词 )；证实；证明…属实；作为事实提出 | |
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121
consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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122
memoirs
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| n.回忆录；回忆录传( mem,自oir的名词复数) | |
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123
sentry
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| n.哨兵，警卫 | |
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124
congregated
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| （使）集合，聚集( congregate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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125
plying
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| v.使用（工具）( ply的现在分词 )；经常供应（食物、饮料）；固定往来；经营生意 | |
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126
mare
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| n.母马，母驴 | |
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127
withers
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| 马肩隆 | |
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128
throng
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| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
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129
lure
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| n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引 | |
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130
automobile
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| n.汽车，机动车 | |
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131
huddled
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| 挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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132
relish
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| n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味 | |
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133
rouged
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| 胭脂，口红( rouge的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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134
costly
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| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
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135
insinuating
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| adj.曲意巴结的，暗示的v.暗示( insinuate的现在分词 )；巧妙或迂回地潜入；（使）缓慢进入；慢慢伸入 | |
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136
edifice
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| n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿，教室) | |
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137
agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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138
curb
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| n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制 | |
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139
wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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140
gnats
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| n.叮人小虫( gnat的名词复数 ) | |
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141
revolved
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| v.（使）旋转( revolve的过去式和过去分词 )；细想 | |
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142
impresario
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| n.歌剧团的经理人；乐团指挥 | |
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143
revolving
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| adj.旋转的，轮转式的；循环的v.（使）旋转( revolve的现在分词 )；细想 | |
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144
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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145
billiards
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| n.台球 | |
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146
complacently
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| adv. 满足地, 自满地, 沾沾自喜地 | |
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147
nervously
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| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
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148
demurely
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| adv.装成端庄地，认真地 | |
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149
wanly
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| adv.虚弱地；苍白地，无血色地 | |
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150
retailed
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| vt.零售（retail的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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151
avert
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| v.防止，避免；转移(目光、注意力等) | |
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152
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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153
entreated
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| 恳求，乞求( entreat的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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154
positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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155
glorified
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| 美其名的，变荣耀的 | |
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156
gorged
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| v.（用食物把自己）塞饱，填饱( gorge的过去式和过去分词 )；作呕 | |
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157
yearning
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| a.渴望的；向往的；怀念的 | |
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158
yoke
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| n.轭；支配；v.给...上轭，连接，使成配偶 | |
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