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CHAPTER II THE GIFT IS OFFERED
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 And next door, in a tidy but overcrowded bedroom, the Abbé Chassin, without any of the marks of his office, sat and listened to the babbling1 of an old spinster lady who was to terminate an uneventful and singularly respectable life as the messenger of destiny to not a few people.
The heavy curtains were pulled back from the side of the small fourposter by which the priest sat, and the candlelight fell soft and steady on the old, old blanched2 face within the neat capfrill, itself scarcely whiter than the visage it surrounded. On the waxlike countenance3, amid all the signs of nearing death, was the imprint4 of that masterfulness which sometimes descends5 with age upon a certain type of old lady. And Mlle Magny was talking, talking continuously and pitifully, her eyes fixed6, her shrivelled fingers pleating and plucking the edge of the sheet in the last fatal restlessness. Those hands were the only things that moved.
“I ought to have had it ready . . . but I did not know in time, I did not know! All these years to have had it in the family, and not to have known that it was there! But perhaps I shall be in time after all—they cannot have come back from the chapel7 yet, surely. But I must be quick, I must be quick! . . . and when the bride gives round the sword-knots and the fans to all the fine company I shall offer my gift to the young Duc. But I must be quick . . .”
And the withered8 hands, abandoning the sheet, began to fumble9 over the bed as if searching for something.
The Abbé bent10 forward and laid one of his own gently on the nearer.
“Cannot I help you, my daughter—cannot I do something for you?”
The eyes turned a moment; the brain, deeply absorbed in the past though it was, seemed to grasp this intrusion from the present, even to the pastoral mode of address.
“You are a priest, Monsieur? That is good—that is good! Yes, you can open this casket for me,” and she made as if she held it. “And inside you will find the wedding gift for the young Duc de Trélan—but you must be quick, quick! They will be back from the chapel! . . . Ah, I cannot find the key—I cannot turn the lock! My God, if I should be too late after all! Mon père, mon père, help me! . . . But, mon père, you are doing nothing!”
The Abbé looked round in desperation. He could see nothing that at all resembled a locked casket among the little treasures of the old lady’s room, the pincushions, the images of devotion, all the prim11 collection of a blameless lifetime. But in a moment the struggle with the imaginary lock came to an end, and as the tired hands relaxed a smile crept about Mlle Magny’s indrawn mouth.
“How handsome he is, Monseigneur Gaston!” she said in a tone of admiration13. “My dear lady will be proud of him to-day! They will dance to-night after the wedding, and I shall see it all, as my lady wishes. But none of the fine ladies there will have given the bride such a gift as I shall give the bridegroom, though I am only his dear mother’s maid. . . . But why does the Abbé not bring it to me? When the bride gives round the swordknots and the fans——”
“Madame,” gently interrupted the priest, “if you will tell me where your gift is, I will bring it to you instantly.”
A look of cunning swept over the dying old woman’s face, and a faint sound that was like a chuckle15 came from her lips.
“Ah, no, I have hidden it well!” she replied unexpectedly, “hidden it nearly as securely as the treasure of Mirabel itself. You will not find it in a hurry, Clotilde!”
Who was Clotilde, wondered the priest? The niece with whom she lived, probably. But what was this about a ‘treasure’ in Mirabel?
“To think,” went on the old voice musingly16, “that the precious paper was all these years in Cousin Fran?ois’ dining-room, and all those scores of years before that, since the time it was stolen. And all the dead and gone Duchesses might have had the rubies17 to wear. I might have clasped the necklace round my sainted lady’s own neck. Now the new Duchesse will be the first to put it round her pretty throat.”
The priest gave a little shiver. Still that wedding eight-and-twenty years ago! . . . Since then the pretty throat of which she spoke18 had known a very different necklace . . . but of the same colour . . .
“But if you have hidden the rubies, Madame,” he hazarded, bewildered between the ‘treasure’ and the ‘paper,’ the ‘gift’ and what was concealed19, “you will not be able to give them to the bride.”
“It was not I who hid them!” responded Mlle Magny impatiently. “It was the first Duc, in the days of Mazarin, who hid a great store of money and jewels at Mirabel. And no one was ever able to find them again. Stolen . . . hidden . . . hidden . . . stolen . . . they make a beautiful couple, and when Monseigneur de Paris has married them and the nuptial21 mass is finished. . . .”
A long pause. Then the old lady whispering, “Sainte Vierge, how tired I am!” clasped her hands on her breast. The Abbé got up and bent over her. Her eyes were closed, and he heard her murmur22 indistinctly, “Mater amabilis, virgo prudentissima, grant me soon to see my sainted lady!”
To be on the brink23 of so important, so long-lost a secret—too late for it to be of use . . . yet, after all, perhaps, not too late—and to be baffled at the very moment of discovery! When such an extraordinary coincidence had brought him, of all men in the world, to this bedside, for its possessor to take the secret unrevealed out of life with her! It was hard!
Yet, as M. Chassin was a priest, he put away regret, and tried to think only of the needs of this soul about to pass through the great door. Mlle Magny had had the last rites24, that he knew. Was the moment come for the commendatory prayer? He slipped his fingers round her wrist. But the pulse, though feeble and irregular, was not at the last flutter. And slowly, as if his touch had roused her, the old lady opened her eyes again. The look in them was different; meeting it, the priest knew that she was no longer wandering in the mists of nearly thirty years ago. She was back in the present; so much so, indeed, that she was capable of astonishment25 at seeing this unknown man in peasant’s dress bending over her—more, of resenting it.
“Who are you, Monsieur, and . . . what . . . what are you doing here?” she demanded, in a tone which, if scarcely more than the frailest26 of whispers, yet conveyed some of that masterfulness which was written on her face.
“I am a priest, Madame, an insermenté, and M. Charlot, your neighbour, brought me here, at your niece’s desire.”
“Clotilde always . . . takes too much upon herself,” said the thread of a voice in a tone of displeasure. “I have already had . . . the Last Sacraments.”
“Yes, Madame,” assented27 M. Chassin, realising that Mlle Magny’s recovery of her senses was not advancing him much. “It was not for the purpose of administering you that I came.”
Her look asked him what his purpose was.
“Because, my daughter, you were speaking of—Mirabel.”
“Nonsense!” retorted Mlle Magny quite sharply. “I am not in . . . in the habit of . . . discussing my past life with strangers!”
“You have been ill, Madame,” said the priest gently. “And has not Mirabel something to do with your present life too?” Then, being a man who knew how to wait, he took his seat beside her again, and exercised this power.
“Have I been wandering?” asked the dying woman, suddenly turning her eyes upon him.
“A little, yes.”
“I have been very ill . . . and they tell me I shall not get better. . . . Is that so, Father?”
“It is what I have been given to understand, my daughter. But you have made your peace with God.”
“Yes,” said she. “But there is something else that I desire to do . . . before I die . . . yet God knows how I am to do it.”
The priest bent forward. “God does indeed know, my daughter, and it was doubtless He Who sent me here to-day. You wish, do you not, to give into the hands of the Duc de Trélan a paper now in your possession concerning a treasure which has been for many years hidden in his chateau28 of Mirabel.”
A flush rose in the ivory face. “I talked of that?”
“Of that—and of a wedding at Mirabel.”
Mlle Magny put a trembling hand over her eyes. “Indeed, you must forgive me! . . . All these years I cannot forget it—the lights, the jewels, the beauty of that couple, my lady’s happiness. For I was tirewoman, mon père, during many years, to the Duchesse Eléonore, the Dowager Duchess, a saint on earth. God rest her soul! She only lived for a short time after her son’s marriage.”
The priest nodded, as one who knows already. “I, too, have cause to say ‘God rest her!’—And the paper you spoke of?”
“What paper?” demanded the old voice, suddenly suspicious again.
“The paper containing the secret of the hoard29 hidden at Mirabel in Mazarin’s time, which has come into your hands, Madame, and which you were wishing that you could have given to the Duc de Trélan on his wedding day so many years ago.”
There was silence from the bed. “Well,” said the old lady at last, with more animation30, “if I told you . . . all that . . . I may as well tell you the rest.”
And slowly, with pauses for breath, she told him how the Duc de Trélan of Mazarin’s day, implicated31 in the rebellion of the Fronde, and not knowing which party would finally triumph in that kaleidoscope of civil conflict, buried gold and jewels in his once-royal chateau of Mirabel and made a memorandum32 of the hiding-place for his son, then away fighting with Condé. The Duc himself had to flee before Mazarin’s vengeance33 and died in exile; Mirabel was for a space confiscated34, and when the next Duc was reinstated the treasure could not be found. The memorandum of its hiding-place had been stolen by the late Duc’s steward35, who offered to sell it for a large sum to the successor to the title. Suspecting a hoax36 the latter refused; yet, as was not difficult for a great noble in those days, he procured37 a lettre de cachet against the offender38, who dragged out the rest of his life in prison. Before his arrest, however, he had placed the memorandum in the hands of a friend; but the friend never took any steps to utilise it, and merely preserved it in such a manner that it was to all intents and purposes lost—for he pasted the parchment, face downwards39, against the back of his wife’s portrait. Probably, said the old lady, he was waiting till the man who had confided40 it to him came out of prison; but this the steward never did, and a short time before his death in captivity41 his friend, Mlle Magny’s great-great-grandfather, died too. And there, gummed against the picture of the flourishing bourgeoise dame14 of Louis XIII.’s day, the parchment had remained for nearly a hundred and fifty years, till, some two years ago, on Cousin Fran?ois’ death, the portrait had come into Mlle Magny’s possession, and the old lady herself, in examining it, had lighted on the parchment, and realised of what irony42 Fate was capable.
“Ah, if only I had had it earlier!” she concluded wistfully. “What a gift to have made my sainted lady, who was sometimes pressed for money for her charities, since, like all the Saint-Chamans, both her husband and her son spent their means royally. And now these two years that I have had it it is useless! Where is the Duc de Trélan now? Alas43, we know where his wife, the Duchesse Valentine, went! . . . And what is Mirabel to-day?”
“No, Madame,” said the priest, as the voice ceased exhausted44, “two years ago you could have done nothing. But to-day, as Heaven has so ordered it, you can give that paper to the Duc de Trélan, if you wish.”
She turned her sunken eyes on him again. The lustre45 was already fading.
“And how is that, if you please?”
“Because I am . . . in close touch with the Duc. If you commit the paper to me he shall have it before—before I am many days older.”
“But—if he is still alive—he is an émigré . . . has been an émigré for many years!” objected Mlle Magny incredulously.
“Nevertheless I am in close touch with him.”
The failing eyes of the sick woman searched his face—that commonplace visage out of which looked neither good nor evil. It was difficult to read.
“I have nothing but your word for that,” she said, while suspicion and a wistful desire to trust him strove together in look and tone.
The priest put his hand into a pocket of his embroidered46 vest and pulled out an ornate rosary of ebony and silver. Taking one of the silver paternoster beads47 between his finger and thumb; he bent over Mlle Magny and held it near her eyes. “Can you see what is engraved49 on that bead48, Madame? It is not a sacred emblem50.”
The old lady put up her feeble hand and tried to push his a little further off. “You are holding it too near, mon père,” she said irritably51. “I am not so blind as that. . . . It looks like . . . it is very worn . . . yet it looks like a bird of some kind, with wings outspread. What is that doing on a chaplet? Is it on the rest of the beads?”
He showed her. “Victor, Cardinal52 de Trélan, in the early days of the century, seems to have had a strange fancy for his family crest53 on his rosary. There is his monogram54 on one bead. That bird, Madame, is the Trélan phoenix55, and the present Duc gave me this old rosary at my ordination56.”
Instantly she seized his hand. “The Trélan phoenix! Let me look again! Yes, it is, it is! Ah, to see it once more after all these years!” And as the priest relinquished57 the chaplet, the Duchesse Eléonore’s tirewoman, almost sobbing58, put it to her lips.
The Abbé waited, and after a moment she turned on him moist eyes and said, puzzled, “But . . . but . . . I seem to remember . . . ordination . . . the Cardinal’s rosary . . . it was surely to the young Duc’s foster-brother, a Breton peasant, whom I never saw . . . that it was given . . . when he took orders?”
“You remember quite rightly, Madame. And I am that foster-brother, that Breton peasant, Pierre Chassin.”
Had he suddenly revealed himself as Louis XVIII. or the Comte d’Artois the devoted59 old spinster could scarcely have shown more emotion.
“God be praised! God be praised for this mercy!” she quavered. “His foster-brother! Yes, I remember hearing from my lady all about your mother. Six years before I entered her service it was . . .”
“—Remembering then, Madame, what I too owe to your lady of blessed memory, and to the Duc, who, as you probably know, had me educated and gave me a cure on his estates in the south, you may trust me, may you not, with the document?”
“Yes, indeed!” returned the old lady, and there was no shadow of doubt in her tone now. But the shock of joy, her devotion to the great family with whom her life had been bound up, and the advent60 of this man who, if he were not himself the rose, was almost a graft61 from the tree—all these seemed to have benumbed her faculties62, for she lay quiet, tears of weakness and happiness stealing from under the closed lids. Presently she said,
“He is in France again then, the Duc?”
“I am afraid I cannot tell you that, my daughter. But, on the faith of a Christian63 and a priest he shall have the secret in his hands very shortly.”
“He will not be able to make use of it now.”
“Who knows? And if not now, when happier days come, perhaps. If he can make use of it, it will be of immeasurably greater service to him to-day than it would ever have been a quarter of a century ago. For this much I can tell you, Madame, that, wherever he is, he is fighting for the King.”
“As a Trélan should!” she murmured with a smile. But the smile had gone when she added, “And the terrible fate of his wife, the Duchesse Valentine?”
“It broke his heart,” said the priest briefly64.
“My lady was spared much,” murmured Mlle Magny. She passed a shaking hand over her eyes. “So much blood . . . and Mirabel deserted65. . . . Are the candles going out, mon père, or is it my eyes? N’importe—you can still find the parchment . . . that little closed frame by the mirror yonder. If you open it you will know the face.”
He did. It was a little pastel drawing of the Duchesse Eléonore, his patroness, wearing the widow’s weeds in which he best recalled her. He came back to the bed holding it.
“It was to have been buried with me, that little picture . . . it still shall be. Clotilde knew how fond I was of it—but she would never have guessed anything else, poor fool . . . I took a lesson from my forbear . . . Tear off the paper at the back, mon père.”
M. Chassin obeyed, and as he peeled off the pinkish, speckly paper recently pasted there, a piece of yellow parchment doubled up against the real back of the picture was disclosed. It was folded in four, and on it was written in brownish ink the single word, “Mirabel.”
“Open it!” said the voice from the bed, grown very weak now.
The priest obeyed. As he unfolded the parchment with no very steady hands, his eyes were greeted with a sort of rough sketch-map of some complexity66, underneath67 which was written, in a crabbed68 seventeenth century hand:
“Plan de l’endroit dans mon chasteau de Mirabel où j’ay fait enterrer plusieurs milliers de pistoles et divers69 parements de pierreries de feu ma femme, à cause des troubles sévissant en ce royaume.” And he caught sight of “Item, 10 sacs contenant chascun 2,500 pistoles . . . Item, un collier de rubis des Indes fort bien travaillé . . . Item, une coupe en or ciselé dite de la reyne Margueritte” . . .
The whole was inscribed70 “Pour mon fils hault et puissant71 seigneur Gui de Saint-Chamans, Marquis de la Ganache, Vicomte de Saint-Chamans,” and signed, “Fait par20 moy a mon dit chasteau de Mirabel ce six avril de l’an mil six cent cinquante-deux, Antoine-Louis de Saint-Chamans, Duc de Treslan.”
“This is indeed——” began the priest as soon as he could find voice, when, glancing off the parchment, he saw the change which, in the brief space of his study of the document, had come over the face on the pillow. Mlle Magny had used her last reserve of strength over this matter; it was gone now, and she was going too.
“Promise me, Father!” she gasped72 out as he bent over her.
“I promise you, my daughter, as I hope myself for salvation73!”
The drawn12 lips smiled. “I can say my Nunc Dimittis . . . Bless me, Pierre Chassin!”
He raised his hand. “Benedicat te . . .” and passed straight on to the “Go forth74, O Christian soul . . .”
By the end she was unconscious, and a quarter of an hour later, the weeping Clotilde on one side of the bed and the proscribed75 priest praying on the other, Mlle Magny, her last thoughts on earth occupied with the house of Trélan, went through the great door to meet her sainted lady, leaving on its hither side the secret of Mirabel to bring about results undreamt of.

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1 babbling babbling     
n.胡说,婴儿发出的咿哑声adj.胡说的v.喋喋不休( babble的现在分词 );作潺潺声(如流水);含糊不清地说话;泄漏秘密
参考例句:
  • I could hear the sound of a babbling brook. 我听得见小溪潺潺的流水声。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Infamy was babbling around her in the public market-place. 在公共市场上,她周围泛滥着对她丑行的种种议论。 来自英汉文学 - 红字
2 blanched 86df425770f6f770efe32857bbb4db42     
v.使变白( blanch的过去式 );使(植物)不见阳光而变白;酸洗(金属)使有光泽;用沸水烫(杏仁等)以便去皮
参考例句:
  • The girl blanched with fear when she saw the bear coming. 那女孩见熊(向她)走来,吓得脸都白了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • Their faces blanched in terror. 他们的脸因恐惧而吓得发白。 来自《简明英汉词典》
3 countenance iztxc     
n.脸色,面容;面部表情;vt.支持,赞同
参考例句:
  • At the sight of this photograph he changed his countenance.他一看见这张照片脸色就变了。
  • I made a fierce countenance as if I would eat him alive.我脸色恶狠狠地,仿佛要把他活生生地吞下去。
4 imprint Zc6zO     
n.印痕,痕迹;深刻的印象;vt.压印,牢记
参考例句:
  • That dictionary is published under the Longman imprint.那本词典以朗曼公司的名义出版。
  • Her speech left its imprint on me.她的演讲给我留下了深刻印象。
5 descends e9fd61c3161a390a0db3b45b3a992bee     
v.下来( descend的第三人称单数 );下去;下降;下斜
参考例句:
  • This festival descends from a religious rite. 这个节日起源于宗教仪式。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The path descends steeply to the village. 小路陡直而下直到村子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
6 fixed JsKzzj     
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的
参考例句:
  • Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗?
  • Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定,我们就不应该随意改变。
7 chapel UXNzg     
n.小教堂,殡仪馆
参考例句:
  • The nimble hero,skipped into a chapel that stood near.敏捷的英雄跳进近旁的一座小教堂里。
  • She was on the peak that Sunday afternoon when she played in chapel.那个星期天的下午,她在小教堂的演出,可以说是登峰造极。
8 withered 342a99154d999c47f1fc69d900097df9     
adj. 枯萎的,干瘪的,(人身体的部分器官)因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式
参考例句:
  • The grass had withered in the warm sun. 这些草在温暖的阳光下枯死了。
  • The leaves of this tree have become dry and withered. 这棵树下的叶子干枯了。
9 fumble P6byh     
vi.笨拙地用手摸、弄、接等,摸索
参考例句:
  • His awkwardness made him fumble with the key.由于尴尬不安,他拿钥匙开锁时显得笨手笨脚。
  • He fumbled his one-handed attempt to light his cigarette.他笨拙地想用一只手点燃香烟。
10 bent QQ8yD     
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的
参考例句:
  • He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
  • We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。
11 prim SSIz3     
adj.拘泥形式的,一本正经的;n.循规蹈矩,整洁;adv.循规蹈矩地,整洁地
参考例句:
  • She's too prim to enjoy rude jokes!她太古板,不喜欢听粗野的笑话!
  • He is prim and precise in manner.他的态度一本正经而严谨
12 drawn MuXzIi     
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的
参考例句:
  • All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
  • Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。
13 admiration afpyA     
n.钦佩,赞美,羡慕
参考例句:
  • He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
  • We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。
14 dame dvGzR0     
n.女士
参考例句:
  • The dame tell of her experience as a wife and mother.这位年长妇女讲了她作妻子和母亲的经验。
  • If you stick around,you'll have to marry that dame.如果再逗留多一会,你就要跟那个夫人结婚。
15 chuckle Tr1zZ     
vi./n.轻声笑,咯咯笑
参考例句:
  • He shook his head with a soft chuckle.他轻轻地笑着摇了摇头。
  • I couldn't suppress a soft chuckle at the thought of it.想到这个,我忍不住轻轻地笑起来。
16 musingly ddec53b7ea68b079ee6cb62ac6c95bf9     
adv.沉思地,冥想地
参考例句:
17 rubies 534be3a5d4dab7c1e30149143213b88f     
红宝石( ruby的名词复数 ); 红宝石色,深红色
参考例句:
  • a necklace of rubies intertwined with pearls 缠着珍珠的红宝石项链
  • The crown was set with precious jewels—diamonds, rubies and emeralds. 王冠上镶嵌着稀世珍宝—有钻石、红宝石、绿宝石。
18 spoke XryyC     
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
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
19 concealed 0v3zxG     
a.隐藏的,隐蔽的
参考例句:
  • The paintings were concealed beneath a thick layer of plaster. 那些画被隐藏在厚厚的灰泥层下面。
  • I think he had a gun concealed about his person. 我认为他当时身上藏有一支枪。
20 par OK0xR     
n.标准,票面价值,平均数量;adj.票面的,平常的,标准的
参考例句:
  • Sales of nylon have been below par in recent years.近年来尼龙织品的销售额一直不及以往。
  • I don't think his ability is on a par with yours.我认为他的能力不能与你的能力相媲美。
21 nuptial 1vVyf     
adj.婚姻的,婚礼的
参考例句:
  • Their nuptial day hasn't been determined.他们的结婚日还没有决定。
  • I went to the room which he had called the nuptial chamber.我走进了他称之为洞房的房间。
22 murmur EjtyD     
n.低语,低声的怨言;v.低语,低声而言
参考例句:
  • They paid the extra taxes without a murmur.他们毫无怨言地交了附加税。
  • There was a low murmur of conversation in the hall.大厅里有窃窃私语声。
23 brink OWazM     
n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘,边沿
参考例句:
  • The tree grew on the brink of the cliff.那棵树生长在峭壁的边缘。
  • The two countries were poised on the brink of war.这两个国家处于交战的边缘。
24 rites 5026f3cfef698ee535d713fec44bcf27     
仪式,典礼( rite的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • to administer the last rites to sb 给某人举行临终圣事
  • He is interested in mystic rites and ceremonies. 他对神秘的仪式感兴趣。
25 astonishment VvjzR     
n.惊奇,惊异
参考例句:
  • They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
  • I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。
26 frailest b8f7017591b41f5aecb54ee54f225440     
脆弱的( frail的最高级 ); 易损的; 易碎的
参考例句:
27 assented 4cee1313bb256a1f69bcc83867e78727     
同意,赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The judge assented to allow the prisoner to speak. 法官同意允许犯人申辩。
  • "No," assented Tom, "they don't kill the women -- they're too noble. “对,”汤姆表示赞同地说,“他们不杀女人——真伟大!
28 chateau lwozeH     
n.城堡,别墅
参考例句:
  • The house was modelled on a French chateau.这房子是模仿一座法国大别墅建造的。
  • The chateau was left to itself to flame and burn.那府第便径自腾起大火燃烧下去。
29 hoard Adiz0     
n./v.窖藏,贮存,囤积
参考例句:
  • They have a hoard of food in the basement.地下室里有他们贮藏的食物。
  • How many curios do you hoard in your study?你在你书房里聚藏了多少古玩?
30 animation UMdyv     
n.活泼,兴奋,卡通片/动画片的制作
参考例句:
  • They are full of animation as they talked about their childhood.当他们谈及童年的往事时都非常兴奋。
  • The animation of China made a great progress.中国的卡通片制作取得很大发展。
31 implicated 8443a53107b44913ed0a3f12cadfa423     
adj.密切关联的;牵涉其中的
参考例句:
  • These groups are very strongly implicated in the violence. 这些组织与这起暴力事件有着极大的关联。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Having the stolen goods in his possession implicated him in the robbery. 因藏有赃物使他涉有偷盗的嫌疑。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
32 memorandum aCvx4     
n.备忘录,便笺
参考例句:
  • The memorandum was dated 23 August,2008.备忘录上注明的日期是2008年8月23日。
  • The Secretary notes down the date of the meeting in her memorandum book.秘书把会议日期都写在记事本上。
33 vengeance wL6zs     
n.报复,报仇,复仇
参考例句:
  • He swore vengeance against the men who murdered his father.他发誓要向那些杀害他父亲的人报仇。
  • For years he brooded vengeance.多年来他一直在盘算报仇。
34 confiscated b8af45cb6ba964fa52504a6126c35855     
没收,充公( confiscate的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • Their land was confiscated after the war. 他们的土地在战后被没收。
  • The customs officer confiscated the smuggled goods. 海关官员没收了走私品。
35 steward uUtzw     
n.乘务员,服务员;看管人;膳食管理员
参考例句:
  • He's the steward of the club.他是这家俱乐部的管理员。
  • He went around the world as a ship's steward.他当客船服务员,到过世界各地。
36 hoax pcAxs     
v.欺骗,哄骗,愚弄;n.愚弄人,恶作剧
参考例句:
  • They were the victims of a cruel hoax.他们是一个残忍恶作剧的受害者。
  • They hoax him out of his money.他们骗去他的钱。
37 procured 493ee52a2e975a52c94933bb12ecc52b     
v.(努力)取得, (设法)获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 );拉皮条
参考例句:
  • These cars are to be procured through open tender. 这些汽车要用公开招标的办法购买。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • A friend procured a position in the bank for my big brother. 一位朋友为我哥哥谋得了一个银行的职位。 来自《用法词典》
38 offender ZmYzse     
n.冒犯者,违反者,犯罪者
参考例句:
  • They all sued out a pardon for an offender.他们请求法院赦免一名罪犯。
  • The authorities often know that sex offenders will attack again when they are released.当局一般都知道性犯罪者在获释后往往会再次犯案。
39 downwards MsDxU     
adj./adv.向下的(地),下行的(地)
参考例句:
  • He lay face downwards on his bed.他脸向下伏在床上。
  • As the river flows downwards,it widens.这条河愈到下游愈宽。
40 confided 724f3f12e93e38bec4dda1e47c06c3b1     
v.吐露(秘密,心事等)( confide的过去式和过去分词 );(向某人)吐露(隐私、秘密等)
参考例句:
  • She confided all her secrets to her best friend. 她向她最要好的朋友倾吐了自己所有的秘密。
  • He confided to me that he had spent five years in prison. 他私下向我透露,他蹲过五年监狱。 来自《简明英汉词典》
41 captivity qrJzv     
n.囚禁;被俘;束缚
参考例句:
  • A zoo is a place where live animals are kept in captivity for the public to see.动物园是圈养动物以供公众观看的场所。
  • He was held in captivity for three years.他被囚禁叁年。
42 irony P4WyZ     
n.反语,冷嘲;具有讽刺意味的事,嘲弄
参考例句:
  • She said to him with slight irony.她略带嘲讽地对他说。
  • In her voice we could sense a certain tinge of irony.从她的声音里我们可以感到某种讥讽的意味。
43 alas Rx8z1     
int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等)
参考例句:
  • Alas!The window is broken!哎呀!窗子破了!
  • Alas,the truth is less romantic.然而,真理很少带有浪漫色彩。
44 exhausted 7taz4r     
adj.极其疲惫的,精疲力尽的
参考例句:
  • It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长,到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
  • Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。
45 lustre hAhxg     
n.光亮,光泽;荣誉
参考例句:
  • The sun was shining with uncommon lustre.太阳放射出异常的光彩。
  • A good name keeps its lustre in the dark.一个好的名誉在黑暗中也保持它的光辉。
46 embroidered StqztZ     
adj.绣花的
参考例句:
  • She embroidered flowers on the cushion covers. 她在这些靠垫套上绣了花。
  • She embroidered flowers on the front of the dress. 她在连衣裙的正面绣花。
47 beads 894701f6859a9d5c3c045fd6f355dbf5     
n.(空心)小珠子( bead的名词复数 );水珠;珠子项链
参考例句:
  • a necklace of wooden beads 一条木珠项链
  • Beads of perspiration stood out on his forehead. 他的前额上挂着汗珠。
48 bead hdbyl     
n.念珠;(pl.)珠子项链;水珠
参考例句:
  • She accidentally swallowed a glass bead.她不小心吞下了一颗玻璃珠。
  • She has a beautiful glass bead and a bracelet in the box.盒子里有一颗美丽的玻璃珠和手镯。
49 engraved be672d34fc347de7d97da3537d2c3c95     
v.在(硬物)上雕刻(字,画等)( engrave的过去式和过去分词 );将某事物深深印在(记忆或头脑中)
参考例句:
  • The silver cup was engraved with his name. 银杯上刻有他的名字。
  • It was prettily engraved with flowers on the back. 此件雕刻精美,背面有花饰图案。 来自《简明英汉词典》
50 emblem y8jyJ     
n.象征,标志;徽章
参考例句:
  • Her shirt has the company emblem on it.她的衬衫印有公司的标记。
  • The eagle was an emblem of strength and courage.鹰是力量和勇气的象征。
51 irritably e3uxw     
ad.易生气地
参考例句:
  • He lost his temper and snapped irritably at the children. 他发火了,暴躁地斥责孩子们。
  • On this account the silence was irritably broken by a reproof. 为了这件事,他妻子大声斥责,令人恼火地打破了宁静。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
52 cardinal Xcgy5     
n.(天主教的)红衣主教;adj.首要的,基本的
参考例句:
  • This is a matter of cardinal significance.这是非常重要的事。
  • The Cardinal coloured with vexation. 红衣主教感到恼火,脸涨得通红。
53 crest raqyA     
n.顶点;饰章;羽冠;vt.达到顶点;vi.形成浪尖
参考例句:
  • The rooster bristled his crest.公鸡竖起了鸡冠。
  • He reached the crest of the hill before dawn.他于黎明前到达山顶。
54 monogram zEWx4     
n.字母组合
参考例句:
  • There was a monogram in the corner in which were the initials"R.K.B.".原来手帕角上有个图案,其中包含着RKB三个字母。
  • When we get married I don't have to change the monogram on my luggage.当我们结婚后,我连皮箱上的字母也不用改。
55 phoenix 7Njxf     
n.凤凰,长生(不死)鸟;引申为重生
参考例句:
  • The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
  • The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。
56 ordination rJQxr     
n.授任圣职
参考例句:
  • His ordination gives him the right to conduct a marriage or a funeral.他的晋升圣职使他有权主持婚礼或葬礼。
  • The vatican said the ordination places the city's catholics in a "very delicate and difficult decision."教廷说,这个任命使得这个城市的天主教徒不得不做出“非常棘手和困难的决定”。
57 relinquished 2d789d1995a6a7f21bb35f6fc8d61c5d     
交出,让给( relinquish的过去式和过去分词 ); 放弃
参考例句:
  • She has relinquished the post to her cousin, Sir Edward. 她把职位让给了表弟爱德华爵士。
  • The small dog relinquished his bone to the big dog. 小狗把它的骨头让给那只大狗。
58 sobbing df75b14f92e64fc9e1d7eaf6dcfc083a     
<主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的
参考例句:
  • I heard a child sobbing loudly. 我听见有个孩子在呜呜地哭。
  • Her eyes were red with recent sobbing. 她的眼睛因刚哭过而发红。
59 devoted xu9zka     
adj.忠诚的,忠实的,热心的,献身于...的
参考例句:
  • He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
  • We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
60 advent iKKyo     
n.(重要事件等的)到来,来临
参考例句:
  • Swallows come by groups at the advent of spring. 春天来临时燕子成群飞来。
  • The advent of the Euro will redefine Europe.欧元的出现将重新定义欧洲。
61 graft XQBzg     
n.移植,嫁接,艰苦工作,贪污;v.移植,嫁接
参考例句:
  • I am having a skin graft on my arm soon.我马上就要接受手臂的皮肤移植手术。
  • The minister became rich through graft.这位部长透过贪污受贿致富。
62 faculties 066198190456ba4e2b0a2bda2034dfc5     
n.能力( faculty的名词复数 );全体教职员;技巧;院
参考例句:
  • Although he's ninety, his mental faculties remain unimpaired. 他虽年届九旬,但头脑仍然清晰。
  • All your faculties have come into play in your work. 在你的工作中,你的全部才能已起到了作用。 来自《简明英汉词典》
63 Christian KVByl     
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒
参考例句:
  • They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
  • His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。
64 briefly 9Styo     
adv.简单地,简短地
参考例句:
  • I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
  • He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。
65 deserted GukzoL     
adj.荒芜的,荒废的,无人的,被遗弃的
参考例句:
  • The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
  • The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。
66 complexity KO9z3     
n.复杂(性),复杂的事物
参考例句:
  • Only now did he understand the full complexity of the problem.直到现在他才明白这一问题的全部复杂性。
  • The complexity of the road map puzzled me.错综复杂的公路图把我搞糊涂了。
67 underneath VKRz2     
adj.在...下面,在...底下;adv.在下面
参考例句:
  • Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
  • She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣,里面套着一条连衣裙。
68 crabbed Svnz6M     
adj.脾气坏的;易怒的;(指字迹)难辨认的;(字迹等)难辨认的v.捕蟹( crab的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • His mature composi tions are generally considered the more cerebral and crabbed. 他成熟的作品一般被认为是触动理智的和难于理解的。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • He met a crabbed, cantankerous director. 他碰上了一位坏脾气、爱争吵的主管。 来自辞典例句
69 divers hu9z23     
adj.不同的;种种的
参考例句:
  • He chose divers of them,who were asked to accompany him.他选择他们当中的几个人,要他们和他作伴。
  • Two divers work together while a standby diver remains on the surface.两名潜水员协同工作,同时有一名候补潜水员留在水面上。
70 inscribed 65fb4f97174c35f702447e725cb615e7     
v.写,刻( inscribe的过去式和过去分词 );内接
参考例句:
  • His name was inscribed on the trophy. 他的名字刻在奖杯上。
  • The names of the dead were inscribed on the wall. 死者的名字被刻在墙上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
71 puissant USSxr     
adj.强有力的
参考例句:
  • The young man has a puissant body.这个年轻人有一副强壮的身体。
  • Global shipbuilding industry is puissant in conformity burst forth.全球造船业在整合中强力迸发。
72 gasped e6af294d8a7477229d6749fa9e8f5b80     
v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 );喘息;倒抽气;很想要
参考例句:
  • She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
  • People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
73 salvation nC2zC     
n.(尤指基督)救世,超度,拯救,解困
参考例句:
  • Salvation lay in political reform.解救办法在于政治改革。
  • Christians hope and pray for salvation.基督教徒希望并祈祷灵魂得救。
74 forth Hzdz2     
adv.向前;向外,往外
参考例句:
  • The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
  • He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。
75 proscribed 99c10fdb623f3dfb1e7bbfbbcac1ebb9     
v.正式宣布(某事物)有危险或被禁止( proscribe的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • They are proscribed by federal law from owning guns. 根据联邦法律的规定,他们不准拥有枪支。 来自辞典例句
  • In earlier days, the church proscribed dancing and cardplaying. 从前,教会禁止跳舞和玩牌。 来自辞典例句


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