SCENE IV THE PRISON BARS DISSOLVE

 Lady Tintagel was alone.

She stood at the far end of the drawing-room.

When he entered she was leaning against the mantelpiece, looking down into the fire.

She turned, still gripping the marble edge with her left hand.

She wore a gown of trailing black velvet¹ and stood on a white Angora rug.

Miles of rose carpet lay between him and the fireplace.

He seemed to be walking uphill, as he came toward her.

When he reached the rug at last, he and she seemed to be standing² together on the summit of a delectable³ mountain. His mind still ran on his unsuitable attire⁴, but he forgot the sentence he had prepared.

60“I couldn’t,” was his lame⁵ apology.

She looked at him, and smiled. “You—wouldn’t,” she said.

There was such complete understanding in the grave regard of her kind eyes, in the low tones of her voice, so sweet and full of music.

It was all strangely intimate. As he stood beside her, lines he had heard years before flashed into his mind.

“Two men looked out through prison bars;

One saw mud; the other, stars.”

Hitherto he had seen mud—always mud. In her presence he realised the possibility of seeing stars—undreamed of stars.

And his prison bars themselves seemed vanishing.

Something captive in him broke its chains and leapt out into liberty.

And still she spoke⁶ no word; but her eyes dwelt on him with that all-enveloping, comprehending look of tenderness.

An unspoken sentence seemed to hang 61suspended. The silence was tense with it, as when a great orchestra, ready to sound the opening strain of a mighty⁷ symphony, waits, with eye, hand, and ear alert, for the first beat of the lifted baton⁸.

But, on the instant, came an anti-climax.

“Dinner is served, my lady,” announced a deferential⁹ voice.

She laughed. “I suppose one must eat,” she said; and his common sense wondered why she said it, and why the same thought, unspoken, had been in his own mind.

She laid her hand within his arm, and they moved slowly down the room together. Walking so with her, he noted¹⁰ that she was slightly taller than he. She leaned on him. He felt vividly¹¹ alive. Where was his shell—his shell of morbid¹² reserve, in which he had hidden himself since his babyhood?

He tried to ask her how it came about that she had been expecting him; but something restrained the question.

He wanted to tell her all about himself, 62right from the beginning; all he had thought, and felt, and suffered; his shrinking from intimacy¹³ with his fellow-men; his loneliness; his shameful¹⁴ habit—he knew, now, that it was shameful—of looking in, unseen, at other people’s windows, his half-unconscious belief that some day he would look in, out of the darkness, and see a room which his spirit would acclaim¹⁵ as home; and how, to-day—at last—But he could not tell her that! Yes, he could! He could tell her anything. She would understand. And, when his confession¹⁶ was over, he would kneel before her—as a tired little boy might kneel at his mother’s knees at bedtime—and say his prayers. Then she would lay her hands upon his head, and Divine forgiveness and benediction¹⁷ would be his.

They were crossing the hall. The butler stood at the dining-room door.

“After dinner,” she said, “you must tell me all.”

1 velvet   

n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的

参考例句：

• This material feels like velvet.这料子摸起来像丝绒。
• The new settlers wore the finest silk and velvet clothing.新来的移民穿着最华丽的丝绸和天鹅绒衣服。

2 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

3 delectable   

adj.使人愉快的；美味的

参考例句：

• What delectable food you cook!你做的食品真好吃！
• But today the delectable seafood is no longer available in abundance.但是今天这种可口的海味已不再大量存在。

4 attire   

v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装

参考例句：

• He had no intention of changing his mode of attire.他无意改变着装方式。
• Her attention was attracted by his peculiar attire.他那奇特的服装引起了她的注意。

5 lame   

adj.跛的，(辩解、论据等)无说服力的

参考例句：

• The lame man needs a stick when he walks.那跛脚男子走路时需借助拐棍。
• I don't believe his story.It'sounds a bit lame.我不信他讲的那一套。他的话听起来有些靠不住。

6 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

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。

7 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

8 baton   

n.乐队用指挥杖

参考例句：

• With the baton the conductor was beating time.乐队指挥用指挥棒打拍子。
• The conductor waved his baton,and the band started up.指挥挥动指挥棒，乐队开始演奏起来。

9 deferential   

adj. 敬意的，恭敬的

参考例句：

• They like five-star hotels and deferential treatment.他们喜欢五星级的宾馆和毕恭毕敬的接待。
• I am deferential and respectful in the presence of artists.我一向恭敬、尊重艺术家。

10 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

11 vividly   

adv.清楚地，鲜明地，生动地

参考例句：

• The speaker pictured the suffering of the poor vividly.演讲者很生动地描述了穷人的生活。
• The characters in the book are vividly presented.这本书里的人物写得栩栩如生。

12 morbid   

adj.病的；致病的；病态的；可怕的

参考例句：

• Some people have a morbid fascination with crime.一些人对犯罪有一种病态的痴迷。
• It's morbid to dwell on cemeteries and such like.不厌其烦地谈论墓地以及诸如此类的事是一种病态。

13 intimacy   

n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行

参考例句：

• His claims to an intimacy with the President are somewhat exaggerated.他声称自己与总统关系密切，这有点言过其实。
• I wish there were a rule book for intimacy.我希望能有个关于亲密的规则。

14 shameful   

adj.可耻的，不道德的

参考例句：

• It is very shameful of him to show off.他向人炫耀自己，真不害臊。
• We must expose this shameful activity to the newspapers.我们一定要向报社揭露这一无耻行径。

15 acclaim   

v.向…欢呼，公认；n.欢呼，喝彩，称赞

参考例句：

• He was welcomed with great acclaim.他受到十分热烈的欢迎。
• His achievements earned him the acclaim of the scientific community.他的成就赢得了科学界的赞誉。

16 confession   

n.自白，供认，承认

参考例句：

• Her confession was simply tantamount to a casual explanation.她的自白简直等于一篇即席说明。
• The police used torture to extort a confession from him.警察对他用刑逼供。

17 benediction   

n.祝福；恩赐

参考例句：

• The priest pronounced a benediction over the couple at the end of the marriage ceremony.牧师在婚礼结束时为新婚夫妇祈求上帝赐福。
• He went abroad with his parents' benediction.他带着父母的祝福出国去了。