“It’s about this dinner of yours,” she said as soon as Quixtus appeared. “I telephoned you yesterday that I was coming.”
“And I said, my dear Clementina, that I was more than delighted.”
“It was the morose2 wart-hog inside me that made me decline,” she said frankly3. “But there’s a woman of sense also inside me that can cut the throat of the wart-hog when it likes. So here I am, a woman of sense. Now will you let a woman of sense run this dinner-party for you? Oh—I know what you may be thinking,” she went on hastily without giving him time to reply. “I’m not going to suggest liver and bacon and a boiled potato. I know how things should be done, better than you.”
“I’m afraid I’m inexperienced in entertainments of this kind,” said Quixtus, with a smile. “Spriggs generally attends to such matters.”
“Spriggs and I will put our heads together,” said Clementina. “I want you to give rather a wonderful dinner-party. What kind of table decorations have you?”
Spriggs was summoned. He loaded the dining-room table with family plate and table-centres and solid cut glass. His pride lay in a mid-Victorian épergne that at every banquet in the house proudly took the place of honour with a fat load of grapes and oranges and apples. Clementina set apart a few articles of silver and condemned4 the rest including the épergne as horrors.
“You’ll let me have the pleasure, Ephraim,” she said, “of providing all the flowers and making out a scheme of decoration. Anything I want I’ll get myself and make you a present of it. I’m by way of being an artist, you know, so it will be all right.”
“Could any one doubt it?” said Quixtus. “I am very much indebted to you, Clementina.”
“A woman comes in useful now and then. I’ve never done a hand’s turn for you and it’s time I began. You’ll want a hostess, won’t you?”
“Dear me,” said Quixtus, somewhat taken aback. “I suppose I shall. I never thought of it.”
“I’ll be hostess,” said Clementina. “I’m a kind of aunt to Tommy and Etta for whom you’re giving the party. I’m a kind of connection of yours—and you and I are kind of father and mother to Sheila. So it will be quite correct. Let me have your list of guests and don’t you worry your head about anything.”
Clementina in her sweeping5 mood was irresistible6. Quixtus, mild man, could do no more than acquiesce7 gratefully. It was most gracious of Clementina to undertake these perplexing arrangements. New sides of her character exhibited themselves every day. There was only one flaw in the newly revealed Clementina—her unaccountable disparagement8 of Mrs. Fontaine. But even this defect she remedied of her own accord.
“I take back what I said about Mrs. Fontaine,” she said abruptly10. “I was in a wart-hoggy humour. She’s a charming woman, with brilliant social gifts.”
Quixtus beamed, whereat Clementina felt more wart-hoggy than ever; but she beamed also, with a mansuetude that would have deceived Mrs. Fontaine herself.
Clementina, after an intimate interview with a first resentful, then obfuscated11 and finally boneless and submissive Spriggs, went her way, a sparkle of triumph in her eyes. And then began laborious12 days, during which she sacrificed many glorious hours of daylight to the arrangements for the dinner-party. She spent an incredible time in antique shops and schools of art needlework, and even haunted places near the London docks hunting for the glass and embroideries13 and other things she needed. She ordered rare flowers from florists14. She wasted her evenings over a water-colour design for the table decoration, and over designs for the menu and name-cards.
“It’s going to be a dinner that people shall remember,” she said to Etta.
“It’s going to be splendid,” said Etta. “You think of everything, darling, except the one thing—the most important.”
“What’s that, child?”
“Have you got a dress to wear, darling?”
“Dress?” echoed Clementina, staring at the child. “Why, of course. I’ve got my black.”
Etta stood aghast. “That old thing you took with you packed anyhow on the motor trip?”
“Naturally. Isn’t it good enough for you?”
“It’s not for me,” said Etta, growing bold. “I love you in anything. It’s for the other people. Do go and get yourself a nice frock. There’s still time. I’ve never liked to tell you before, dear, but the old one gapes15 at the back——“—she paused dramatically—“gapes dreadfully.”
“Oh, Lord, let it gape,” cried Clementina impatiently. “Don’t worry me.”
But Etta continued to worry, with partial success. Clementina obstinately16 refused to buy new raiment, but consented to call in Miss Pugsley, the little dressmaker round the corner in the King’s Road, who fashioned such homely17 garments as Clementina deigned18 to wear, and to hand over the old black dress to her for alterations19 and repairs. Etta sighed and spent anxious hours with Miss Pugsley and forced a grumbling20 and sarcastic21 Clementina to stand half clad while the frumpy rag attained22 something resembling a fit.
“At any rate there are no seams burst and it does hook together,” said Etta, dismally23 surveying the horror at the final fitting.
“Humph!” said Clementina, contemplating24 herself wryly25 in the mirror. “I suppose I look like a lady. Now I hope you’re satisfied.”
Meanwhile such painting as she did in the intervals27 of her daily excursions abroad, progressed exceedingly. Tommy coming into the studio one evening caught sight of the picture of the lady in the grey dress standing28 on its easel.
“Stunning!” he cried. “Stunning! You can almost hear the stuff rustle29. How the dickens do you get your texture30? You’re a holy mystery. By Jove, you are! All this”—he ran his thumb parallel with a fold in the drapery—“all this is a miracle.” He turned and faced her with worshipping eyes in which the tears were ready to spring. “By God, you’re great!”
The artist was thrilled by the homage31; the woman laughed inwardly. She had dashed at the task triumphantly32 and as if by magic the thing had come out right. She was living, these days, intensely. There was no miracle that she could not work.
A morning or two afterwards she issued a ukase to Tommy and Etta that they were to accompany her on an automobile34 excursion. Tommy to whom she had constituted herself taskmistress, boyishly glad of the holiday, flew down Romney Place, and found a great luxurious35 hired motor standing at her door. Presently Etta arrived, and then Clementina and Sheila and the young lovers started. Where were they going? Clementina explained. As she could not keep Sheila in London during August, she had decided36 on taking a furnished cottage in the country. Estate agents had highly recommended one at Moleham-on-Thames. She was going down to have a look at it, and wanted their advice. The motor ploughed through the squalor of Brentford and then sped along the Bath Road, through Colnbrook and Slough37 and Maidenhead and through the glorious greenery in which Henley is embowered, and on and on by winding38 shady roads, with here and there a flashing glimpse of river, by fields lush in golden pasture, up and down the gentle hills, through riverside villages where sleeping gaiety brings a smile to the eyes, between the high hedges of Oxfordshire lanes, through the cool verdant40 mystery of beech41 woods, until it entered through a great gateway42 and proceeded up a long avenue of elms and stopped before a slumbering43 red-brick manor44-house.
“This the cottage?” asked Tommy.
“Do you think it’s a waterfall?” asked Clementina.
They alighted. A caretaker took the order-to-view given by the estate agents and conducted the party over the place. The more Tommy saw the more amazed did he grow. There was a park; a garden; a pergola of roses; a couple of tennis courts; a lawn reaching to the river. The house, richly furnished throughout, contained rooms innumerable; four or five sitting-rooms, large dining-room, billiard room, countless45 bedrooms, a magnificent studio; in the grounds another studio.
“I’ll take it,” said Clementina.
“But, my dear,” gasped46 Tommy, “have you considered? I don’t want to be impertinent—but the rent of this place must be a thousand pounds a minute.”
She drew him apart from Etta and Sheila.
“My dear boy,” she said. “For no reason that I can see, I’ve lived all my life on tuppence a year. It’s only quite lately that I’ve realised that I’m a very rich woman and can do anything more or less I please. I’m going to take this place for August and September and hire a motor-car, and you and Etta are going to stay with me, and you can each bring as many idiot boys and girls as you choose, and I shall paint and you can paint and Sheila can run about the garden, and we’re all going to enjoy ourselves.”
Tommy thrust his hands into the pockets of his grey flannels47 and declared she was a wonder. Whereupon they proceeded to Moleham and after lunch at “The Black Boy,” motored back to Chelsea.
These were days filled with a myriad48 activities. The dinner-party engaged her curious attention. She sent back proofs of the menu and name cards time after time to the firm of art printers before she was satisfied. Then she took them to Quixtus. He was delighted.
“But, my dear Clementina, why are you taking all this ridiculous trouble?”
She laughed in her gruff way, and summoned Spriggs to another dark and awful interview.
A day or two before the dinner, Mrs. Fontaine who, although she had suggested the idea, did not view a dinner-party as a world-shaking phenomenon, bethought her of the matter. A pretty little note had summoned Quixtus to tea. They were alone.
“I have been wondering, my dear Dr. Quixtus,” she said, sweetly, her soft eyes on his, as soon as she had heard of the acceptances of the people in whom she was interested—“I have been wondering whether we are good enough friends for me to be audacious.”
He smiled an assurance.
“If I brought you a few flowers for the table would you accept them? And if you did, would you let me come and arrange them for you? It would be such a pleasure. Even the best trained servants can’t give the little touch that a woman can.”
Quixtus blushed. It was difficult to be ungracious to the flower of womanhood; yet the flower of womanhood had come too late in the day with her gracious proposal. He explained, wishing to soften49 the necessary refusal, that he had already called in the help of his artistic50 friends, Miss Clementina Wing and Tommy Burgrave.
“Why didn’t you send for me? Didn’t you think of me?”
“I did not venture,” said he.
“I have been deluding51 myself with the fancy that we were friends.” She sighed and looked at him with feminine significance. “Nothing venture nothing win.”
But Quixtus, simple soul, was too genuinely distressed52 by obvious happenings to follow the insidious53 scent54. With great wisdom Clementina had shown him her water-colour design, and he knew that Mrs. Fontaine, with all her daintiness, could not compete with the faultless taste and poetic55 imagination of a great artist. He wondered why so finely sensitive a nature as the flower of womanhood did not divine this. Her insistence56 jarred on him ever so little. And yet he shrank from wounding susceptibilities.
“I never thought you would be interested in such trivial domestic matters,” said he.
“It is the little things that count.”
For the first time in his intercourse57 with her, he felt uncomfortable. Here was the lady maintaining her reproach of neglect. If she took so much interest in this wretched dinner-party, why had she not offered her services at once? Unwittingly he contrasted her inaction with Clementina’s irresistible energy. In answer to her remark he said, smiling:
“I’m not so sure about that, although it’s often asserted. We lawyers have an axiom: De minimis non curat lex.”
“Pity a poor woman. What on earth does that mean?”
He translated.
“The law is one thing and human sentiment another.”
With all her rough contradiction and violent assertion, Clementina never pinned him down to a fine point of sentimental58 argument. There was a spaciousness59 about Clementina wherein he could breathe freely. This close atmosphere began to grow distasteful. There was a slight pause, which Mrs. Fontaine filled in by handing him his second cup of tea.
“Miss Clementina Wing,” said he, dashing for the open, “is so intimately associated not only with the object of our little entertainment, but also with myself in other matters, that I could do no less than consult her.”
Lena Fontaine bent60 forward, sugar-tongs in hand, ready to drop a lump into his cup—a charmingly intimate pose.
“Of course, I understand, dear Dr. Quixtus. And is she really coming to the dinner?”
“Why not?”
“She’s so—so unconventional. I thought she never went into society.”
“She is honouring me by making an exception in my case,” replied Quixtus, a little stiffly.
“I’m delighted to hear it,” she said sweetly; but in her heart she bitterly resented Clementina’s interference. She would get even with the fishfag for this.
On the morning of the dinner-party Clementina sent for Tommy. He found her, as usual, at work. She laid down her brush and handed him the water-colour design.
“I’m too busy to-day to fool about with this silly nonsense. I can’t spare any more time for it. You can carry out the scheme quite as well as I can. You’ll find everything there. Do you mind?”
Tommy did not mind. In fact, he was delighted at the task. The artist in him loved to deal with things of beauty and exquisite61 colours.
“Shall I give an eye to the wines?”
“Everything’s quite settled. I saw to it yesterday. Now clear out. I’m busy. And look here,” she cried, as he was mounting the staircase, “I’m not going to have you or Etta fooling round the place to-day. I’m going to paint till the very last minute.”
She resumed her painting. A short while afterwards, a note and parcel came from Etta. From the parcel she drew a long pair of black gloves. She threw them to the maid, Eliza.
“What shall I do with them, ma’am?”
“Wear ’em at your funeral,” said Clementina.
A few minutes before eight Quixtus stood in the great drawing-room waiting to receive his guests. On the stroke came Admiral Concannon, scrupulously62 punctual, and Etta followed by Tommy, who, having given the last touches to the table, waylaid63 her on the stairs. Then came Lady Louisa Malling and Lena Fontaine demure64 in pale heliotrope65. After them Lord and Lady Radfield, he, tall and distinguished66, with white moustache and imperial, she, much younger than he, dumpy, expensively dressed, wearing a false air of vivacity67. Then came in quick succession General and Lady Barnes, Griffiths (Quixtus’s colleague in the Anthropological68 Society), and his wife, John Powersfoot (the Royal Academician), Mr. and Mrs. Wilmour-Jackson, physically69 polished, vacant, opulent, friends of Mrs. Fontaine. Gradually the party assembled and the hum of talk filled the room. During an interval26 Quixtus turned to Tommy. What had become of Clementina, who had promised to play hostess? Tommy could give no information. All he knew about her was that he had stopped at her door and offered a lift in his cab, and Eliza had come down with a verbal message to the effect that he was to go away and that Miss Wing was not coming in his cab. Tommy opined that Clementina was in one of her crotchety humours. Possibly she would not turn up at all. Etta took Tommy aside.
“I’m sure that old black frock has split down the back and Eliza is mending it with black thread.”
Only the Quinns and Clementina to arrive; and at ten minutes past the Quinns, Sir Edward, Member of Parliament, and Lady, genial70, flustered71 folk with many apologies for lateness. The hands of the clock on the mantelpiece marked the quarter. Still no Clementina. Quixtus grew uneasy. What could have happened? Lena Fontaine turned from him and whispered to Lord Radfield.
“She has forgotten to put on her boots and is driving back for them.”
Then Spriggs appeared at the door and announced:
“Miss Clementina Wing.”
And Clementina sailed into the room.
For the first and only time in his life did Quixtus lose his courtliness of manner. For a perceptible instant he stood stock still and stared open-mouthed. It was a Clementina that he had never seen before; a Clementina that no one had ever seen before. It was Clementina in a hundred-guinea gown, gold silk gleaming through ambergris net, Clementina exquisitely72 corseted and revealing a beautifully curved and rounded figure; Clementina with a smooth, clear olive skin, with her fine black hair coiled by a miracle of the hairdresser’s art, majestically73 on her head, and set off with a great diamond comb; Clementina wearing diamonds at her throat; Clementina perfectly74 gloved; Clementina carrying an ostrich75 feather fan; Clementina erect76, proud, smiling, her strong face illuminated77 by her fine eyes a-glitter with suppressed excitement; Clementina a very great lady and almost a beautiful woman. Those who knew her stared like Quixtus; those who did not looked at her appreciatively.
She sailed across the room, hand outstretched to Quixtus.
“I’m so sorry I’m late, and so sorry I could not run in to-day. I’ve been up to my ears in work. I hope Tommy has been a satisfactory lieutenant78.”
“He has most faithfully carried out your instructions,” said Quixtus, recovering his balance.
Clementina smiled on Mrs. Fontaine. “How d’ye do. How charming to meet you again. But you’re looking pale to-night, my dear, quite fagged out, I hope nothing’s the matter.”
She turned round quickly leaving Lena Fontaine speechless with amazement79 and indignation, and shook hands with the astonished Admiral. Was this regal-looking woman the same paint-daubed rabbit-skinner of the studio? He murmured vague nothings.
“Well, my dears?”
Tommy and Etta thus greeted stood paralysed before her like village children at a school feast when they are addressed by the awe-inspiring squire’s lady.
“Pinch me. Pinch me hard,” Tommy whispered, when Clementina had turned to meet Lord Radfield whom Quixtus was presenting.
“I believe I have the pleasure of taking you down to dinner,” said Lord Radfield.
“I’m a sort of brevet hostess in this house,” said Clementina. “A bad one, I’m afraid, seeing how late I am.”
Spriggs announced dinner. Quixtus led the way with Lady Radfield, Clementina on Lord Radfield’s arm closed the procession. The company took their places in the great dining-room. Quixtus at the end of the table by the door sat between Lady Radfield and Lady Louisa. Clementina at the foot between Lord Radfield and General Barnes. Lena Fontaine had her place as near Clementina as possible, between Lord Radfield and Griffiths, a dry splenetic man who had taken her in. Clementina had thus arranged the table-plan.
The scheme of decoration was too striking in its beauty not to arouse immediate80 and universal comment. It was half barbaric. Rich Chinese gold embroideries on the damask; black and gold lacquer urns81, a great black-and-gold lacquer tray. Black irises82, with golden tongues, in gold-dust Venetian glass; tawny83 orchids84 flaring85 profusely86 among the black and gold. Here and there shining though greenery the glow of golden fruit, and, insistent87 down the long table, the cool sheen of ambergris grapes. Glass and silver and damask; black and gold and ambergris; audacious, startling; then appealing to the eye as perfect in its harmony.
Quixtus and Tommy each proclaimed the author. All eyes were directed to Clementina. Attention was diverted to the name-and menu-cards. Lord Radfield put his name-card into his pocket.
“It is not every day in the week that one takes away a precious work of art from a London dinner-party.”
Clementina enjoyed a little triumph, the flush of which mounted to her dark face. With the flush, and in the setting she had prepared for herself, she looked radiant. Her late entrance had produced a dramatic effect; the immediate concentration of every one on her work, added to the commonplace of her reputation, had at once established her as the central figure in the room; and she sat as hostess at the foot of the table a symphony in ambergris, gold and black. Woman, in the use of woman’s weapons, has evolved no laws of fence.
“Did what?” asked Etta.
“Why used the table as a personal decoration. Don’t you see how it all leads up to her—leads up, by Jove, to her eyes and the diamonds in her hair. And, I say, doesn’t it wipe out Mrs. Fontaine?”
Tommy was right. Lena Fontaine’s pale colouring, her white face and chestnut89 hair faded into nothingness against the riot of colour. The pale heliotrope of her dress was killed. She was insignificant90 to the eye. Conscious of this eclipse, hating herself for having put on heliotrope and yet wondering which of her usual half-tone costumes she could have worn, she paid her tribute to the designer with acid politeness. She wished she had not come. Clementina as fishfag and Clementina as Princess were two totally different people. She could deal with the one. How could she deal with the other? The irony91 in Clementina’s glance made her quiver with fury; her heart still burned hot with the indignation of the first greeting. She felt herself to be in the midst of hostile influences. Griffiths, a man of unimaginative fact, plunged92 headlong into a discourse93 on comparative statistics of accidents to railway servants. She listened absently, angry with Quixtus for pairing her with so dreary94 a fellow. Griffiths, irritated by her non-intelligence, transferred the lecture to his other neighbour as soon as an opportunity occurred. Lena Fontaine awaited her chance with Lord Radfield. But Clementina held him amused and interested, and soon drew General Barnes into the talk. With the slough of her old outer trappings Clementina had cast off the slough of her abrupt9 and unconventional speech. She was a woman of acute intellect, wide reading and wide observation. She had ideas and wit and she had come out this evening flamingly determined95 to use all her powers. Her success sent her pulses throbbing96. Here were two men, at the outset of her experiment, hanging on her words, paying indubitable homage, not to the woman of brains, not to the well-known painter, but to the essential woman herself. The talk quickly became subtle, personal, a quick interchange of hinted sentiment, that makes for charm. When Lord Radfield at last turned to Lena Fontaine, she could offer him nothing but commonplaces; Goodwood, a scandal or so, the fortunes of a bridge club. Clementina adroitly97 brought them both quickly into her circle, and Lena Fontaine had the chagrin98 to see the politely bored old face suddenly lit up with reawakened interest. For a moment or two Lena Fontaine flashed into the talk, determined to offer battle; but after a while she felt dominated, cowed, with no fight left in her. The other woman ruled triumphant33.
Tommy could not keep his eyes off Clementina, and neglected Etta and his left-hand neighbour shamefully99. An unprecedented rosiness100 of fingernails caught his keen vision. In awe-stricken tones he whispered to Etta:
“Manicured!”
“Go on with your dinner,” said Etta, “and don’t stare, Tommy. It’s rude.”
The exquisitely cooked and served meal proceeded. The French chef whom Clementina had engaged and to whom she had given full scope for his art had felt like an architect unrestricted by site or expense who can put into concrete form the dreams of a lifetime. John Powersfoot, the sculptor102, sitting next to Lady Louisa, cried out to his host:
“This is not a dinner you’re giving us, Quixtus, it’s a poem.”
Lady Louisa ate on, too much absorbed in flavours for articulate thought.
Quixtus smiled. “I’m not responsible. The mistress of the feast is facing me at the other end.”
Powersfoot, who knew the Clementina of everyday life, threw up his hands in a Latin gesture which he had learned at the Beaux-Arts and of which he was proud.
“The most remarkable103 woman of the century.”
“I think you’re right,” said Quixtus.
He looked down the table and caught her eye and exchanged smiles. Now that he could adjust his mind to the concept of Clementina transfigured, he felt conscious of a breathless admiration104. He grew absurdly impatient of the social conventions which pinned him in his seat leagues of lacquer and orchids away from her. Idiotic105 envy of the two men whom she was fascinating by her talk entered his heart. She was laughing, showing her white strong teeth, as only once before she had shown her teeth to him. He longed to escape from the vivaciously106 inane107 Lady Radfield and join the group at the other end of the table. Now and then his eye rested on Lena Fontaine; but she had almost faded out of sight.
At the end of the dinner he held the door open for the ladies to pass out. Clementina, immediately preceded by Etta, whispered a needless recommendation not to linger. The door closed. Etta put her arm round Clementina’s waist.
“Oh, darling, you look too magnificent for words. But why didn’t you tell me? Why did you make a fool of me about the old black dress?”
Clementina disengaged the girl’s arm gently.
“My child,” she said. “If I have the extra pressure of a feather on me, I’ll yell. I’m suffering the tortures of the damned.”
“Oh, poor darling.”
“It’s worth it, though,” said Clementina.
When the men came upstairs, she again enjoyed a triumph. Men and women crowded round her and ministered instinctively108 to her talk. All the pent-up emotions, longings109, laughter of years found torrential utterance110. Powersfoot, standing over her was amazed to discover how shapely were her bare arms and how full and graceful111 her neck and shoulders.
Quixtus talked for a few moments with the spotless flower of womanhood. In the stiff formality of the drawing-room she regained112 her individuality. With a resumption of her air of possession she patted a vacant seat on the couch beside her and invited him to sit down. He obeyed.
“I thought you were going to neglect me altogether,” she said.
He protested courteously113. They sparred a little. Then Wilmour-Jackson, polished and opulent, eye-glass in eye, crossed over to the couch and Quixtus, rising with an eagerness that made Lena Fontaine bite her lip, yielded him the seat and joined the charmed circle around Clementina. A little thrill of pleasure passed through him as she glanced a welcome. He gazed at her, fascinated. Something magnetic, feminine, he was too confused to know what, emanated114 from her and held him bound. Never in all the years of his knowledge of her had she appealed to him in this extraordinary manner. Why had the perfect neck and arms, the graceful figure been hidden under shapeless garments? Why had the magnificence of her hair never been revealed? Why had grim frown and tightened115 lips locked within the features the laughter that now played about them? Once he had seen her face illuminated—at the hotel in Marseilles—but then it was with generous and noble feeling and he had forgotten the disfiguring attire116. But now she had the stateliness of a queen, and men hung around her, irresistibly117 attracted. . . .
At last Lady Radfield disentangled her lord and departed. Others followed her example. The party broke up, with the curious suddenness of London. In a brief interval between adieux, Quixtus and Clementina found themselves alone together.
“Well?” she asked. “Are you pleased?”
“Pleased? What a word! I’m dumfounded. I’ve been blind and my eyes are open. I never knew you before.”
“Because I have a decent gown on? I couldn’t do less.”
“Because,” said he, “I never knew what a beautiful woman you were.”
The blood flew to her dark cheeks. She touched his arm, and looked at him.
“Do you really think I look nice?”
His reply was cut short by the Quinns coming up to take leave, but she read it on his face. The room thinned. Lena Fontaine came up.
“It’s getting late. I must rescue Louisa and go. Your dinner-party was quite a success, Dr. Quixtus.”
“So glad you think so,” said Clementina. “Especially now that I hear you were originally responsible for it. It was most kind of you to think of our dear young people. But don’t go yet. Lady Louisa is quite happy with Mr. Griffiths. He is feeding her with facts. Let us sit down for a minute or two and chat comfortably.”
She moved to a sofa near by and motioned Mrs. Fontaine to a seat. The latter had to yield. Quixtus drew up a chair.
“I’ve done a desperate thing,” said Clementina. “I’ve taken the old Manor House at Moleham-on-Thames, for August and September. It’s as big as a hotel and unless I fill it with people, I shall be lost in it. Now every one who wants to paint can have a studio—I myself am going to paint every morning—and any one who wants to write can have a library. Sheila has picked out the library for you, Ephraim—takes it for granted that you’re coming. I hope you will. You’ll break her heart if you don’t—and there’ll be a room for Mr. Huckaby too. There’ll be Etta and Tommy, of course—and the Admiral has promised to put in a week or two—and so on. And if you’ll only come and stay August with me, my dear Mrs. Fontaine, my cup of happiness, unlike my house, will be full.”
Lena Fontaine gasped for an outraged118 moment. Then a swift, fierce temptation assailed119 her to take the enemy at her word and fight the battle; but, glancing at her, she saw the irony and banter120 and deadly purpose behind the glittering eyes, and her courage failed her. She was dominated again by the intense personality, frightened by her sudden and unexpected power. To stay under the woman’s roof was an impossibility.
“I’m sorry I can’t accept such a charming invitation,” she said with a smile of the lips, “for I’ve made an engagement with some friends to go to Dinard.”
“Oh—you’re going to Dinard too?” cried Clementina.
“What do you mean by ‘too’?” asked the other shortly.
“I heard a rumour121 that Dr. Quixtus was going there. It seemed so silly that I paid no attention to it. Are you really going Ephraim?”
It was a trap deliberately122 laid. It was a defiance123, a challenge. From the corner of the sofa she stretched out her bare arm at full length and laid her hand on his shoulder. The other woman looked white and pinched; her eyes lost their allurement124, and regarded him almost with enmity.
“You promised.”
The words were snapped out before she could realise their significance. The instant after she could have thrust hat-pins into herself in punishment for folly125. The manhood in Quixtus leapt at the lash39. He knew then, with a startling clarity of assurance, that nothing in the world would induce him to strut126 about casinos with her in Dinard. He smiled courteously.
“Pardon me, dear Mrs. Fontaine. I made no promise. You must remember my little—my little trope of the daw and the peacocks.”
Clementina satisfied, withdrew her hand.
“Of course, dear Ephraim, if you would prefer to go to Dinard with Mrs. Fontaine——”
Lena Fontaine rose. “Dr. Quixtus is obviously free to do what he chooses. I wish you would kindly127 leave me out of it.”
Clementina rose too, and held out her hand.
“I will, my dear Mrs. Fontaine,” she said sweetly. “If I can. Good-bye. It has been so delightful128 to have had you.”
Her exit with Lady Louisa was confused with that of other stragglers. The Admiral, Etta and Tommy remained. They all went down to Quixtus’s study, the little back room of the adventure of the drunken housekeeper129 now cheery with decanters and syphons and cigarettes, and chatted intimately till the Admiral reminded Etta that the horses—such fat horses, murmured Etta—had been standing for nearly an hour. Tommy accompanied father and daughter to the carriage. Quixtus and Clementina were left alone.
“Can I tell Sheila to-morrow that you’re coming down to Moleham?”
“I think you can,” said Quixtus. “I think you can quite safely.”
“I’m sorry Mrs. Fontaine wasn’t able to join us.”
“Because she has such brilliant social gifts,” replied Clementina.
There was a span of silence. Clementina inhaled131 a puff132 of the Turkish cigarette she had lit and then threw it into the grate.
“For God’s sake, my dear man, look in that drawer and give me some tobacco I can smoke. I smuggled133 it in yesterday.”
Quixtus gave her the yellow package and papers and she rolled a cigarette of Maryland and smoked contentedly134. Tommy came in.
“Will you and these infants lunch with me to-morrow at the Carlton?”
“With pleasure,” said Quixtus.
“Do you know,” she said, “I’ve never been inside the place? It will be quite an adventure.”
A few moments later Tommy and herself were speeding westward135 in a taxi-cab. The boy spoke136 little. All his darling conceptions of Clementina had been upheaved, dynamited137, tossed into the air and lay around him in amorphous138 fragments. Nor was she conversationally139 inclined. Tommy now was a tiny little speck140 in her horizon. Yet when the motor drew up at her house in Romney Place and he opened the gate for her, something significant happened.
He put out his hand. “Good-night, Clementina.”
She laughed. “Where are your manners, Tommy? Aren’t you going to kiss me?”
He hesitated, just the fraction of a second, and then kissed her. She ran up to her room exultant141; not because she had been kissed; far from it. But because he had hesitated. Between Clementina fishfag and Clementina princess was a mighty142 gulf143. She knew it. She exulted144. She went to bed, but could not sleep. She had a headache; such a headache; a glorious headache; a thunder and lightning of a headache!
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
unprecedented
|
|
| adj.无前例的，新奇的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
morose
|
|
| adj.脾气坏的，不高兴的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
frankly
|
|
| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
condemned
|
|
| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
sweeping
|
|
| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
irresistible
|
|
| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
acquiesce
|
|
| vi.默许，顺从，同意 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
disparagement
|
|
| n.轻视，轻蔑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
abrupt
|
|
| adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
abruptly
|
|
| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
obfuscated
|
|
| v.使模糊，使混乱( obfuscate的过去式和过去分词 )；使糊涂 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
12
laborious
|
|
| adj.吃力的，努力的，不流畅 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
embroideries
|
|
| 刺绣( embroidery的名词复数 )； 刺绣品； 刺绣法 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
florists
|
|
| n.花商，花农，花卉研究者( florist的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
gapes
|
|
| v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的第三人称单数 )；张开，张大 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
obstinately
|
|
| ad.固执地，顽固地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
homely
|
|
| adj.家常的，简朴的；不漂亮的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
deigned
|
|
| v.屈尊，俯就( deign的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
alterations
|
|
| n.改动( alteration的名词复数 )；更改；变化；改变 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
grumbling
|
|
| adj. 喃喃鸣不平的, 出怨言的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
sarcastic
|
|
| adj.讥讽的，讽刺的，嘲弄的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
attained
|
|
| （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） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
dismally
|
|
| adv.阴暗地，沉闷地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
contemplating
|
|
| 深思，细想，仔细考虑( contemplate的现在分词 )； 注视，凝视； 考虑接受（发生某事的可能性）； 深思熟虑，沉思，苦思冥想 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
wryly
|
|
| adv. 挖苦地，嘲弄地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
interval
|
|
| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
intervals
|
|
| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
standing
|
|
| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
rustle
|
|
| v.沙沙作响；偷盗(牛、马等)；n.沙沙声声 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
texture
|
|
| n.(织物)质地；(材料)构造；结构；肌理 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
homage
|
|
| n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
triumphantly
|
|
| ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
triumphant
|
|
| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
automobile
|
|
| n.汽车，机动车 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
luxurious
|
|
| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
decided
|
|
| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
slough
|
|
| v.蜕皮，脱落，抛弃 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
winding
|
|
| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
lash
|
|
| v.系牢；鞭打；猛烈抨击；n.鞭打；眼睫毛 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
verdant
|
|
| adj.翠绿的，青翠的，生疏的，不老练的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
beech
|
|
| n.山毛榉；adj.山毛榉的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
gateway
|
|
| n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
slumbering
|
|
| 微睡，睡眠（slumber的现在分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
manor
|
|
| n.庄园，领地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
countless
|
|
| adj.无数的，多得不计其数的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
gasped
|
|
| 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： |
|
|
|
|
47
flannels
|
|
| 法兰绒男裤； 法兰绒( flannel的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
myriad
|
|
| adj.无数的；n.无数，极大数量 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
soften
|
|
| v.(使)变柔软；(使)变柔和 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
artistic
|
|
| adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
deluding
|
|
| v.欺骗，哄骗( delude的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
distressed
|
|
| 痛苦的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
insidious
|
|
| adj.阴险的，隐匿的，暗中为害的，（疾病）不知不觉之间加剧 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
scent
|
|
| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
poetic
|
|
| adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
insistence
|
|
| n.坚持；强调；坚决主张 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
intercourse
|
|
| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
sentimental
|
|
| adj.多愁善感的，感伤的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
spaciousness
|
|
| n.宽敞 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
bent
|
|
| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
exquisite
|
|
| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
scrupulously
|
|
| adv.一丝不苟地；小心翼翼地，多顾虑地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
waylaid
|
|
| v.拦截，拦路( waylay的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
demure
|
|
| adj.严肃的；端庄的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
heliotrope
|
|
| n.天芥菜；淡紫色 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
distinguished
|
|
| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
vivacity
|
|
| n.快活，活泼，精神充沛 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
anthropological
|
|
| adj.人类学的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
physically
|
|
| adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
genial
|
|
| adj.亲切的，和蔼的，愉快的，脾气好的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
flustered
|
|
| adj.慌张的；激动不安的v.使慌乱，使不安( fluster的过去式和过去分词) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
exquisitely
|
|
| adv.精致地；强烈地；剧烈地；异常地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
majestically
|
|
| 雄伟地； 庄重地； 威严地； 崇高地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
perfectly
|
|
| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
ostrich
|
|
| n.鸵鸟 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
erect
|
|
| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
illuminated
|
|
| adj.被照明的；受启迪的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
lieutenant
|
|
| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
amazement
|
|
| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
immediate
|
|
| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
81
urns
|
|
| n.壶( urn的名词复数 )；瓮；缸；骨灰瓮 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
82
irises
|
|
| n.虹( iris的名词复数 )；虹膜；虹彩；鸢尾（花） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
83
tawny
|
|
| adj.茶色的，黄褐色的；n.黄褐色 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
84
orchids
|
|
| n.兰花( orchid的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
85
flaring
|
|
| a.火焰摇曳的，过份艳丽的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
86
profusely
|
|
| ad.abundantly | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
87
insistent
|
|
| adj.迫切的，坚持的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
88
ingenuous
|
|
| adj.纯朴的，单纯的；天真的；坦率的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
89
chestnut
|
|
| n.栗树，栗子 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
90
insignificant
|
|
| adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
91
irony
|
|
| n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
92
plunged
|
|
| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
93
discourse
|
|
| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
94
dreary
|
|
| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
95
determined
|
|
| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
96
throbbing
|
|
| a. 跳动的,悸动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
97
adroitly
|
|
| adv.熟练地，敏捷地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
98
chagrin
|
|
| n.懊恼；气愤；委屈 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
99
shamefully
|
|
| 可耻地； 丢脸地； 不体面地； 羞耻地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
100
rosiness
|
|
| n.玫瑰色；淡红色；光明；有希望 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
101
groaned
|
|
| v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
102
sculptor
|
|
| n.雕刻家，雕刻家 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
103
remarkable
|
|
| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
104
admiration
|
|
| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
105
idiotic
|
|
| adj.白痴的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
106
vivaciously
|
|
| adv.快活地；活泼地；愉快地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
107
inane
|
|
| adj.空虚的，愚蠢的，空洞的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
108
instinctively
|
|
| adv.本能地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
109
longings
|
|
| 渴望，盼望( longing的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
110
utterance
|
|
| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
111
graceful
|
|
| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
112
regained
|
|
| 复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
113
courteously
|
|
| adv.有礼貌地，亲切地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
114
emanated
|
|
| v.从…处传出，传出( emanate的过去式和过去分词 )；产生，表现，显示 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
115
tightened
|
|
| 收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）变紧； （使）绷紧； 加紧 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
116
attire
|
|
| v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
117
irresistibly
|
|
| adv.无法抵抗地，不能自持地；极为诱惑人地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
118
outraged
|
|
| a.震惊的，义愤填膺的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
119
assailed
|
|
| v.攻击( assail的过去式和过去分词 )；困扰；质问；毅然应对 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
120
banter
|
|
| n.嘲弄，戏谑；v.取笑，逗弄，开玩笑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
121
rumour
|
|
| n.谣言，谣传，传闻 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
122
deliberately
|
|
| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
123
defiance
|
|
| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
124
allurement
|
|
| n.诱惑物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
125
folly
|
|
| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
126
strut
|
|
| v.肿胀，鼓起；大摇大摆地走；炫耀；支撑；撑开；n.高视阔步；支柱，撑杆 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
127
kindly
|
|
| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
128
delightful
|
|
| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
129
housekeeper
|
|
| n.管理家务的主妇，女管家 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
130
vaguely
|
|
| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
131
inhaled
|
|
| v.吸入( inhale的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
132
puff
|
|
| n.一口(气)；一阵(风)；v.喷气，喘气 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
133
smuggled
|
|
| 水货 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
134
contentedly
|
|
| adv.心满意足地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
135
westward
|
|
| n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
136
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： |
|
|
|
|
137
dynamited
|
|
| v.（尤指用于采矿的）甘油炸药( dynamite的过去式和过去分词 )；会引起轰动的人[事物] | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
138
amorphous
|
|
| adj.无定形的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
139
conversationally
|
|
| adv.会话地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
140
speck
|
|
| n.微粒，小污点，小斑点 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
141
exultant
|
|
| adj.欢腾的，狂欢的，大喜的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
142
mighty
|
|
| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
143
gulf
|
|
| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
144
exulted
|
|
| 狂喜，欢跃( exult的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |