"This is rather an odd experience, my dear sir," said Mr. Muxky; "called in to see our poor friend, who has, as it were, slipped his cable before my arrival. Our poor friend, now, was a--well--man of the world as you are--you will understand what I mean--our poor friend was a--free liver."
Yes, Gilbert Lloyd thought that he was a man who ate and drank heartily9, and never stinted10 himself in anything.
"Nev-er stinted himself in anything!" repeated Mr. Muxky, who had by this time added many years to his personal appearance, and entirely11 prevented the bystanders from gleaning12 any expression from his eyes, by the assumption of a pair of glasses of neutral tint--"nev-er stinted himself in anything! Ah, a great deal may be ascribed to that, my dear sir; a great deal may be ascribed to that!"
"Yes," said Gilbert Lloyd carelessly; "if a man will take as much lobster-salad and Strasbourg pie as he can eat, with as much champagne13 and moselle as he can carry; and if, in spite of the remonstrances14 of his friends, he will sit without his hat on the top of a drag, with the August sun beating down upon him--"
"Did he do that, my dear sir--did he do that?"
"He did, indeed! Several of us implored15 him to be careful; but you might as well have spoken to the wind as to him, poor dear fellow. We told him that he'd probably have a--a--what do you call it?"
"No, no; sunstroke--that's what I mean; sunstroke. Perigal, who was out in India in the Punjaub business--he was on our drag when poor Harvey was taken bad, and he said it was sunstroke all over--regular case."
"Did he, indeed?" said Mr. Muxky. "Well, that's odd, very odd! From the symptoms you have described, I imagined that it must have been something of the kind:--brain overdone19, system overtaxed. In this railway age, Mr. Lloyd, we live such desperately21 rapid lives, concentrate so much mental energy and bodily fibre into a few years, that--"
"I'm glad you're satisfied, Mr. Muxky," said Gilbert Lloyd, pulling out his purse. "It's a satisfaction in these melancholy22 cases to know that everything has been done, and that there was no chance of saving the poor fellow, even if--"
"I scarcely say that, Mr. Lloyd. A little bloodletting might, if taken at the exact moment--in tempore veni; you recollect23 the old quotation--might have been of some use. There's a prejudice just now against the use of the lancet, I know; but still-- For me?" taking a crisp hank-note which Lloyd handed to him. "O, thank you, thank you! This is far too munifi--"
"The labourer, Mr. Muxky, is worthy24 of his hire," said Gilbert Lloyd: "and it is our fault--not yours--that you were summoned too late. But, as you just now remarked, it is impossible in these cases to know what is impending25, or how nigh may be the danger. I was very much struck by that remark. And now good-afternoon, Mr. Muxky. I must go out and find my poor wife, who is quite upset by this unfortunate affair. Good-afternoon--not another word of thanks, I beg; and any of the usual formalities in these matters---I don't know what they are--but certificates, and that kind of thing, we may look to you to settle? Thanks again. Good-day."
And Gilbert Lloyd shook hands with the overwhelmed Mr. Muxky, whose eyes gleamed even through the neutral-tinted glasses, and whose pale face burst into a pleased perspiration26, as he crumpled27 the crisp bank-note into his waistcoat-pocket, and followed Mrs. Bush down the stairs.
"A sensible man that, Mrs. Bush," said he when he reached the first landing; "a very sensible, kind-hearted, clear-headed man. Under all the circumstances, you're very lucky in having had such a man in the house. No fuss, no preposterous28 excitement--everything quite proper, but thoroughly29 businesslike."
"You're right, Dr. Muxky," responded the sympathetic landlady30. "When I saw as clear as clear that that poor creature was going the way of all flesh--which is grass, and also dust and ashes--and knew I'd got those Miss Twillows in the drawing-rooms, you might have knocked me down with a feather. Nervous is nothing to what the Miss Twillows is; and coming regular from Peckham for the sea-bathing now five years, regular as the month of July comes round; and giving no trouble, through bringing their own maid; and stopping on all September,--without perambulators in the passage, and children's boots, which after being filled with sand will not take the polish,--their leaving would be a loss to me which--"
Mrs. Bush stopped suddenly in her harangue31, as the drawing-room door, by which they were standing32, was cautiously opened, and an elderly female head was slowly protruded33. It was a large head, and yet it had what is called a "skimpy" character. What little hair there was on it was of a mixed pepper-and-salt kind of colour, and gathered into two large roll-curls, one on either side of the head, in front, and into a thin wisp behind. In this wisp was stuck a comb, pendent from which was a little bit of black lace. The features could not be defined, as the lower part of the face was entirely hidden in a handkerchief held to the nose, exhaling34 pungent35 vinegar. Mr. Muxky stared a little at this apparition--stared more when the head wagged and the mouth opened, and the word "Doctor?" was uttered in interrogative accent. Then Mr. Muxky, beginning to perceive how the land lay, said in his softest tones: "Yes, my dear madam, I am the doctor."
The head dropped again, and again the lips opened. "Fever?" was what they said this time, while a skinny hand at the end of a skinny arm made itself manifest, pointing upwards36.
"Fever," repeated Mr. Muxky, "that has removed our poor friend upstairs--nothing of the sort, my dear madam, I can assure you; nothing but--"
"Not smallpox37?--don't say it's smallpox!" This from another voice, the owner of which was in the background, unseen. "O, Hannah, does he say it's smallpox?"
"He don't say anything of the kind, Miss Twillow," interposed Mrs. Bush; "knowing that in the midst of life we are in death, specially38 sitting in hot suns without our hats on the tops of stage-coaches, and to say nothing of too much to drink. You've never been inconvenienced since you've been in this house, have you, m'm? and you won't be now. It isn't my fault, I'm sure; nor yet Dr. Muxky's; and, considering all things, not a great put-out, though doubtless upsetting to the nerves."
"That's just the point, Mrs. Bush," said Mr. Muxky, who was not going to lose the chance; "nothing to fear; but yet, some temperaments39 so constituted that--like the ?olian harp--the--the slightest breath of fright has an effect on them. If my poor services now could be of any use--"
"Yes, now do," said Mrs. Bush, "Miss Twillow, Miss Hannah; just see the doctor for a minute. You've had a shock, I'll allow, and it's natural you should be upset; but the doctor will put you right in a minute."
Thus Mr. Muxky secured two new patients; not a bad day's work.
While these matters were in progress in the house Gertrude had left, and the subdued40 bustle41 inevitably42 attendant upon the necessary care and the unavoidable household disorganisation which succeeds a death, even when the dead is only a stranger in the house where the solution of the enigma43 has come to him,--she was sitting on the shore close by the foamy44 edge of the waves, and thinking.
Gertrude had gone down to the shore across the broad road, now crowded with people out for the bright summer afternoon; with carriages and gigs, with vehicles of the highest elegance45, and with such as had no pretence46 to anything but convenience; with pedestrians47 of every class, assembled with all sorts of objects, hygiene48 and flirtation49 being predominant. She had gone away down the slope, and on to the strip of pebbly50 sand; and where one of the wooden barriers marked out a measured space, she sat down on a seaweed-flecked heap of shingle51, and began to think. The long line of the horizon, where the blue sea met the blue sky, parted only by a narrow verge52 of light, broken white clouds, was before her--between it and her absent, troubled eyes lay the wide expanse of sea. A short space only parted her from the moving, restless, talking crowd upon the Esplanade; but her sense of solitude53 was complete. The ridge54 of the slope hid her; the soft plash of the sea, with its monotonous55 recurrence56, soothed57 her ear, and deadened the sound of wheels and the murmur58 of voices; her eyes met only the great waters, across which sometimes a boat glided59, on which sometimes a sea-bird's wing rested for an instant. As Gertrude sat there, with her arms extended and her hands tightly clasped together, with her head bent60 forward and her eyes fixed upon the distant line of the sea and sky, her thoughts obeyed her will, and formed themselves, consecutive61, complete, and purposeful. The girl--for she was but a girl, after all--had brought thither62 a heavy trouble; to be taken out, looked at, weighed, examined. She had brought there a half-developed purpose, to be thought into maturity63, to be fully64 fashioned and resolved upon. Before she should leave that place she would have done these things; and when she should leave it, a new phase in her life would have begun. Ineffable65 sadness was in her brown eyes--grief and dread66, which did not seem newly born there, but constant dwellers67, only that to-day they had been suddenly awakened68 once again from temporary repose69. If there had been anyone to see Gertrude, as she sat by the edge of the waves, and to note her face, with its concentrated and yet varying expression, that person, if an acute observer, would have been struck by the contrast between the eyes and the mouth. The character of the look in the eyes shifted and varied70; there was fear in it, grief, weariness, disgust, sometimes even horror; and these expressions passed like the lights and shadows over a fair landscape. But the mouth did not vary; firm, closely shut,--so compressed that its tightness produced a white line above the red of the upper lip,-- it expressed power and resolution, when that long process of thinking--too purposeful to be called a reverie--commenced, and it expressed power and resolution when at length Gertrude rose. Hours had passed over her unheeded, as she sat by the sea; the afternoon had lengthened72 into the evening; the crowd of loungers had dispersed73. She had heard, but not heeded71, the church-bells ringing for evening service; and now silence was all around her, and the red flush of sunset was upon the sky and the sea. When she had risen from her seat of shingle, Gertrude stood for some minutes and looked along the shore, where her solitary74 figure seemed doubly lonely. Then she turned and scanned the long line of the houses and the road, on which a few scattered75 human beings only were moving. A strange reluctance76 to move possessed77 her; but at length she shook it off, and with a slight shudder78 turned her back upon the sea, fast becoming gray as the sun went down, and walked steadily79, though not quickly, back to the lodging-house where she had left her husband.
As she drew near to the house, Gertrude looked up at the window of the room in which she had seen Harvey Gore80 die. It was open; but the green blind was closely drawn. Looking upwards at the window, she did not perceive till she was close upon it that the house-door was slightly ajar; but as she raised her hand to the knocker, the door was opened widely by Mrs. Bush, and Gertrude, going into the passage, found Gilbert Lloyd there. The sudden sight of him caused her to start for an instant, but not perceptibly; and Mrs. Bush immediately addressed her with voluble questions and regrets.
Where had she been all this time? She had gone out without her lunch, and had she had nothing to eat? How uneasy she and Mr. Lloyd had been about her! (Mr. Lloyd had evidently secured by this time a high place in the good graces of Mrs. Bush.) Mr. Lloyd had been waiting and watching for her ever so long; and she, Mrs. Bush, as soon as ever the poor dear dead gentleman upstairs had been "put tidy,"--which was her practical mode of expressing the performance of the toilet of the dead,--had been also watching and waiting for Mrs. Lloyd's reappearance. Suspicion and scanty81 civility had given place in the manner of the worthy landlady--who was infinitely82 satisfied with the proper sense of what was due to her in the unfortunate position of affairs exhibited by Gilbert Lloyd--to anxiety for the comfort of the young lady whom she had so unwillingly83 received.
During the colloquy84 between Mrs. Bush and Gertrude, Gilbert Lloyd had been standing, awkwardly enough, in the passage, but without speaking. But when a pause came, and Gertrude approached the parlour-door, he spoke16.
"Where have you been, Gertrude?" he asked sternly.
His wife stood still and answered, but did not look at him.
"I have been sitting by the seashore."
"You must be cold and hungry, I should think."
"I am neither."
"I suppose you know you cannot remain here?"
"Why?"
He seemed a little at a loss for an answer; but replied, after a moment's pause:
"A death in the house is sufficient reason. Mrs. Bush can't attend to a lady-lodger, under the circumstances. You can go back to town in the morning; for to-night I shall take you to the nearest hotel."
"Very well."
She never looked at him; not by the most fleeting85 flicker86 of an eyelash did she address her face to him, though he looked steadily at her, trying to compel her glance. She went into the parlour, through the folding-door into the bedroom, collected the few articles which she had taken out of her travelling-bag, and returned, carrying it in her hand. Evidently all arrangements had been made by Gilbert Lloyd with Mrs. Bush: no more was said. Gertrude took a friendly leave of the landlady, and went out of the house, walking silently by her husband's side. He did not offer her his arm, and not a word was spoken between them until the door of a private sitting-room87 at the George had closed behind them. Then he turned savagely88 round upon her, and said, in a thick low voice, "The meaning of this foolery?"
This time she looked at him--looked him straight in the face with the utmost calmness. There was not the least flush of colour in her pale face, not the slightest trembling of her lips, not the smallest flutter of her hands,--by which in woman agitation89 is so often betrayed,--as she said calmly, "You are polite, but mysterious. And I suppose the journey, or something, has rendered me a little dull. I don't quite follow you. What 'foolery' are you pleased to ask the meaning of?"
She had the best of it so far. She stood erect90, facing the light, her head thrown back, her arm outstretched, with nothing of bravado91, but with a good deal of earnestness in her manner and air. Gilbert Lloyd's head was sunk on his breast, his brow was knit over his frowning eyes, his lips tightly set, and his under-jaw was clenched92 and rigid6. His hands were plunged93 into his pockets, and he had commenced to pace the room; but at his wife's question he stopped, and said, "What foolery! Why, the foolery of your conduct in those lodgings94 this day; the foolery of your coming down, in the first place, when you weren't wanted, and of your conduct once you came."
"I came," said Gertrude, in a perfectly calm voice, and still looking him steadily in the face, "in pursuance of the arrangement between us. It was your whim95, when last I saw you, to wish for my company here; and you settled the time at which I was to come. My 'foolery' so far consists in having exactly obeyed you."
"Your obedience96 is very charming," said Gilbert Lloyd with a sneer97; "and no doubt I should have enjoyed your company as much as I generally do. Few men are blessed with wives embodying98 all the cardinal99 virtues100. But circumstances have changed since we made that arrangement. I couldn't tell this man was going to die, I suppose?"
She had purposely turned her face away when her husband began to sneer at her, and was pretending to occupy herself with opening her travelling-bag; but as these words fell upon her ear, she drew herself to her full height, and again looking steadily at him, said, "I suppose not."
"You suppose not! Why, of course not! By heavens, it's enough to drive a man to desperation to be tied for life to a white-faced cat like this, who stands opposite him repeating his words, and shows no more interest in him than--By Jove," he exclaimed, shaking his clenched fist at her, "I feel as if I could knock the life out of you!"
To have been struck by him would have been no novel experience on Gertrude's part. More than once in these paroxysms of temper he had seized her roughly by the arm or shoulder, leaving the livid imprint101 of his hand on her delicate flesh; and she fully expected that he would strike her now. But as he spoke he had been hastily pacing the room; and it was not until he stopped to menace her that he looked in her face, and saw there an expression such as he had never seen before. Anger, terror, misery102, obstinacy103, contempt,--all these passions he had often seen mirrored in Gertrude's features, but never the aversion, the horror, the loathing104 which now appeared there. The look seemed to paralyse him, for in it he divined the feelings of which it was the reflex. His extended arm dropped by his side, and his whole manner changed, as he said, "There! enough of that! It was hard enough for me to have the trouble of poor Gore's illness to fight against, without anything else; and when you did come, Gertrude, I thought--well"--pulling himself together, as it were, he bent forward towards her, and with a soft look in his eyes and an inexpressible tenderness in his voice, whispered, "I thought you might have brought a word of cheer and comfort and--and love--to your poor old Gilbert, who--"
While speaking he gradually drew near to her, and advanced his hand until it touched her waist. Gertrude no sooner felt his clasp than, with a short sharp cry as if of bodily pain, she withdrew herself from it.
"Don't touch me!" she exclaimed, in a voice half choked with sobs105. Her calmness was gone, and her whole system was quivering with emotion. "For Heaven's sake keep off! Never lay your touch on me, in kindness or in cruelty, again, or you will find that the 'white-faced cat' has claws, and can use them."
Gilbert Lloyd stared for an instant in mute astonishment106 at his wife, who stood confronting him, her eyes sparkling like glowing coals in the midst of her pale face, her hair pushed back off her forehead, her hands tightly clasped behind her head. He was cowed by this sudden transformation107, by this first act of overt20 rebellion on Gertrude's part, and thought it best to temporise. So he said, "Why, Gertrude darling, my little lady, what's all--"
"No more of that Gilbert," she interrupted, calming herself by a strong effort, unlocking her hands, and again confronting him. "Those pet names are things of the past now--of the past, which must be to us even more dead and more forgotten than it is to most people."
The solemnity of her tone and of her look angered him, and he said shortly, "Don't preach, please. Spare yourself that."
"I am not preaching, Gilbert, and I am not--as you sometimes tell me--acting; but I have something to say which you must hear."
"Gilbert Lloyd," said Gertrude, "this day you and I part for ever. Don't interrupt me," she said, as he made a hasty gesture; "hear me out. I knew that this would be the end of our hasty and ill-advised marriage; but I did not think the end would come so soon. It has come now, and no power on earth would induce me to alter my determination."
"O, that's it, is it?" said Lloyd, after a minute's silence. "And this is my wife, if you please; this is the young lady who promised to love, honour, and obey! This woman, who now coolly talks about our parting for ever, is one who has hung about my neck a thousand times and--"
"No," exclaimed Gertrude, interrupting him, "no! This" (touching109 herself lightly on the breast) "is your wife indeed--is the woman who bears your name and has borne your caprices; but" (again touching herself) "this is not the woman that left London this morning. I wish to heaven I were--I wish to heaven I were!"
She uttered these last words in a low plaintive110 tone that was almost a wail111, and covered her face with her hands.
"This is mere112 foolery and nonsense," said Lloyd, after a momentary113 pause. "You wish you were, indeed! If you're not the same woman, what the devil has changed you?"
"Do you want to know?" she asked suddenly, looking up at him,--not eagerly, boldly, or defiantly114, but with the expression of horror and loathing which he had previously115 noticed.
"No!" he replied with an oath; "why should I waste my time listening to your string of querulous complaints? You want a separation, do you? Well, I am not disposed to say 'no' to any reasonable request; but if I agree to this, mind, it's not to be the usual business."
Finding he paused, Gertrude said, "I scarcely understand you."
"Well, I mean that 'parting for ever' does not mean coming together again next month, to live in a fool's paradise for a week, and then hate each other worse than ever. If we part, we part for ever, which means that we never meet again on earth--or rather, that we begin life afresh, with the recollection of the last few months completely expunged116. We have neither of us any relations to worry us with attempts at reconciliation117; not half-a-dozen men know of the fact of my having been married, and none of them have ever seen you. So that on both sides we start entirely free. It is not very likely that we shall ever run across each other's path in the future; but if we do, we meet as entire strangers, and the fact of our having been anything to one another must never be brought forward to prejudice any scheme in which either of us may be engaged. Do you follow me?"
"Perfectly."
"And does what I propose meet your views?"
"Entirely."
"That's right. Curious," said Lloyd, with a short, sharp laugh,--"curious that just as we are about to part, we should begin to agree. However, you're right, I suppose; we could not hit it; we were always having tremendous rows, and now each of us can go our own way; and," he added, under his breath, as he glanced at Gertrude's expressive118 face and trim figure, "I don't think I've had the worst of the bargain."
After a moment's silence, Lloyd said, "What do you propose to do?"
"I have no schemes at present," Gertrude replied; "and if I had, you have no right to ask about them."
"You've not taken long to shake off your harness, by Jove!" said Lloyd bitterly. "However, whatever you do hereafter, you must have something to start with now." He took out a pocket-book, and counted from it some bank-notes. "I've not done so badly as people thought," said he; "and here are two hundred pounds, all my available capital. Yon shall have half of this--here it is." He pushed a roll of notes towards her. She took it without a word, and placed it in her travelling-bag. "You'll sleep here to-night, I suppose; and had better clear out of this place early to-morrow. I shall have to stay until after the funeral. And now, I suppose, that's about all?"
"All," said Gertrude, taking up her travelling-bag and moving towards the door.
"Won't you--won't you say 'good-bye'?" said Lloyd, putting out his hand as she passed him.
Gertrude made him no reply; but she gathered her dress tightly round her, as though to preserve it from his touch; and on glancing at her face Gilbert Lloyd saw there the same look of horror and loathing which had paralysed him even in the midst of his furious rage.
点击收听单词发音
1 pulsation | |
n.脉搏,悸动,脉动;搏动性 | |
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2 jaw | |
n.颚,颌,说教,流言蜚语;v.喋喋不休,教训 | |
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3 fixed | |
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的 | |
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4 rigor | |
n.严酷,严格,严厉 | |
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5 rigidity | |
adj.钢性,坚硬 | |
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6 rigid | |
adj.严格的,死板的;刚硬的,僵硬的 | |
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7 drawn | |
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的 | |
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8 perfectly | |
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地 | |
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9 heartily | |
adv.衷心地,诚恳地,十分,很 | |
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10 stinted | |
v.限制,节省(stint的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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11 entirely | |
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地 | |
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12 gleaning | |
n.拾落穗,拾遗,落穗v.一点点地收集(资料、事实)( glean的现在分词 );(收割后)拾穗 | |
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13 champagne | |
n.香槟酒;微黄色 | |
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14 remonstrances | |
n.抱怨,抗议( remonstrance的名词复数 ) | |
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15 implored | |
恳求或乞求(某人)( implore的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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16 spoke | |
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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17 derangement | |
n.精神错乱 | |
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18 flux | |
n.流动;不断的改变 | |
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19 overdone | |
v.做得过分( overdo的过去分词 );太夸张;把…煮得太久;(工作等)过度 | |
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20 overt | |
adj.公开的,明显的,公然的 | |
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21 desperately | |
adv.极度渴望地,绝望地,孤注一掷地 | |
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22 melancholy | |
n.忧郁,愁思;adj.令人感伤(沮丧)的,忧郁的 | |
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23 recollect | |
v.回忆,想起,记起,忆起,记得 | |
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24 worthy | |
adj.(of)值得的,配得上的;有价值的 | |
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25 impending | |
a.imminent, about to come or happen | |
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26 perspiration | |
n.汗水;出汗 | |
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27 crumpled | |
adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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28 preposterous | |
adj.荒谬的,可笑的 | |
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29 thoroughly | |
adv.完全地,彻底地,十足地 | |
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30 landlady | |
n.女房东,女地主 | |
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31 harangue | |
n.慷慨冗长的训话,言辞激烈的讲话 | |
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32 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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33 protruded | |
v.(使某物)伸出,(使某物)突出( protrude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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34 exhaling | |
v.呼出,发散出( exhale的现在分词 );吐出(肺中的空气、烟等),呼气 | |
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35 pungent | |
adj.(气味、味道)刺激性的,辛辣的;尖锐的 | |
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36 upwards | |
adv.向上,在更高处...以上 | |
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37 smallpox | |
n.天花 | |
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38 specially | |
adv.特定地;特殊地;明确地 | |
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39 temperaments | |
性格( temperament的名词复数 ); (人或动物的)气质; 易冲动; (性情)暴躁 | |
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40 subdued | |
adj. 屈服的,柔和的,减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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41 bustle | |
v.喧扰地忙乱,匆忙,奔忙;n.忙碌;喧闹 | |
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42 inevitably | |
adv.不可避免地;必然发生地 | |
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43 enigma | |
n.谜,谜一样的人或事 | |
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44 foamy | |
adj.全是泡沫的,泡沫的,起泡沫的 | |
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45 elegance | |
n.优雅;优美,雅致;精致,巧妙 | |
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46 pretence | |
n.假装,作假;借口,口实;虚伪;虚饰 | |
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47 pedestrians | |
n.步行者( pedestrian的名词复数 ) | |
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48 hygiene | |
n.健康法,卫生学 (a.hygienic) | |
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49 flirtation | |
n.调情,调戏,挑逗 | |
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50 pebbly | |
多卵石的,有卵石花纹的 | |
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51 shingle | |
n.木瓦板;小招牌(尤指医生或律师挂的营业招牌);v.用木瓦板盖(屋顶);把(女子头发)剪短 | |
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52 verge | |
n.边,边缘;v.接近,濒临 | |
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53 solitude | |
n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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54 ridge | |
n.山脊;鼻梁;分水岭 | |
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55 monotonous | |
adj.单调的,一成不变的,使人厌倦的 | |
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56 recurrence | |
n.复发,反复,重现 | |
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57 soothed | |
v.安慰( soothe的过去式和过去分词 );抚慰;使舒服;减轻痛苦 | |
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58 murmur | |
n.低语,低声的怨言;v.低语,低声而言 | |
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59 glided | |
v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 );掠过;(鸟或飞机 ) 滑翔 | |
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60 bent | |
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的 | |
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61 consecutive | |
adj.连续的,联贯的,始终一贯的 | |
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62 thither | |
adv.向那里;adj.在那边的,对岸的 | |
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63 maturity | |
n.成熟;完成;(支票、债券等)到期 | |
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64 fully | |
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地 | |
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65 ineffable | |
adj.无法表达的,不可言喻的 | |
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66 dread | |
vt.担忧,忧虑;惧怕,不敢;n.担忧,畏惧 | |
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67 dwellers | |
n.居民,居住者( dweller的名词复数 ) | |
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68 awakened | |
v.(使)醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 );(使)觉醒;弄醒;(使)意识到 | |
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69 repose | |
v.(使)休息;n.安息 | |
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70 varied | |
adj.多样的,多变化的 | |
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71 heeded | |
v.听某人的劝告,听从( heed的过去式和过去分词 );变平,使(某物)变平( flatten的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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72 lengthened | |
(时间或空间)延长,伸长( lengthen的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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73 dispersed | |
adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的 | |
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74 solitary | |
adj.孤独的,独立的,荒凉的;n.隐士 | |
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75 scattered | |
adj.分散的,稀疏的;散步的;疏疏落落的 | |
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76 reluctance | |
n.厌恶,讨厌,勉强,不情愿 | |
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77 possessed | |
adj.疯狂的;拥有的,占有的 | |
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78 shudder | |
v.战粟,震动,剧烈地摇晃;n.战粟,抖动 | |
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79 steadily | |
adv.稳定地;不变地;持续地 | |
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80 gore | |
n.凝血,血污;v.(动物)用角撞伤,用牙刺破;缝以补裆;顶 | |
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81 scanty | |
adj.缺乏的,仅有的,节省的,狭小的,不够的 | |
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82 infinitely | |
adv.无限地,无穷地 | |
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83 unwillingly | |
adv.不情愿地 | |
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84 colloquy | |
n.谈话,自由讨论 | |
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85 fleeting | |
adj.短暂的,飞逝的 | |
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86 flicker | |
vi./n.闪烁,摇曳,闪现 | |
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87 sitting-room | |
n.(BrE)客厅,起居室 | |
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88 savagely | |
adv. 野蛮地,残酷地 | |
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89 agitation | |
n.搅动;搅拌;鼓动,煽动 | |
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90 erect | |
n./v.树立,建立,使竖立;adj.直立的,垂直的 | |
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91 bravado | |
n.虚张声势,故作勇敢,逞能 | |
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92 clenched | |
v.紧握,抓紧,咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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93 plunged | |
v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 );暴跌;骤降;突降 | |
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94 lodgings | |
n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍 | |
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95 whim | |
n.一时的兴致,突然的念头;奇想,幻想 | |
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96 obedience | |
n.服从,顺从 | |
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97 sneer | |
v.轻蔑;嘲笑;n.嘲笑,讥讽的言语 | |
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98 embodying | |
v.表现( embody的现在分词 );象征;包括;包含 | |
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99 cardinal | |
n.(天主教的)红衣主教;adj.首要的,基本的 | |
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100 virtues | |
美德( virtue的名词复数 ); 德行; 优点; 长处 | |
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101 imprint | |
n.印痕,痕迹;深刻的印象;vt.压印,牢记 | |
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102 misery | |
n.痛苦,苦恼,苦难;悲惨的境遇,贫苦 | |
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103 obstinacy | |
n.顽固;(病痛等)难治 | |
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104 loathing | |
n.厌恶,憎恨v.憎恨,厌恶( loathe的现在分词);极不喜欢 | |
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105 sobs | |
啜泣(声),呜咽(声)( sob的名词复数 ) | |
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106 astonishment | |
n.惊奇,惊异 | |
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107 transformation | |
n.变化;改造;转变 | |
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108 stilts | |
n.(支撑建筑物高出地面或水面的)桩子,支柱( stilt的名词复数 );高跷 | |
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109 touching | |
adj.动人的,使人感伤的 | |
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110 plaintive | |
adj.可怜的,伤心的 | |
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111 wail | |
vt./vi.大声哀号,恸哭;呼啸,尖啸 | |
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112 mere | |
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
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113 momentary | |
adj.片刻的,瞬息的;短暂的 | |
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114 defiantly | |
adv.挑战地,大胆对抗地 | |
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115 previously | |
adv.以前,先前(地) | |
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116 expunged | |
v.擦掉( expunge的过去式和过去分词 );除去;删去;消除 | |
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117 reconciliation | |
n.和解,和谐,一致 | |
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118 expressive | |
adj.表现的,表达…的,富于表情的 | |
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