chapter xiv

“This is delightful¹!” Sydney cried, as she sat down beside the bright fire in the pretty bedroom near Katharine’s, which had been allotted² to her at the Deanery. “It is quite too lovely of you to ask me, and it is quite too lovely of them to let me come! I never thought I should be allowed to, and Lady Frederica said ‘No’ at first, and I mustn’t go visiting because of not being ‘out’; but St. Quentin stood by me, and said everyone had holidays at Christmas-time, and I should go if I wanted. You can guess how much I did want; even now it seems too good to be true!”
“Well, I am very pleased to have you, dear,” Katharine said, smiling across at the girl, “though I wish it were for longer than two days. There is so much I want to hear. I miss the calisthenic class now that there are Christmas holidays for everybody. How did
[162]
 you spend Christmas, and how is your cousin?”
“I hoped he might be better because he didn’t seem getting worse,” Sydney said a little sadly; “but Dr. Lorry doesn’t seem to think so. He says St. Quentin must get weaker, and that it is only his splendid constitution makes him fight so long.”
There was silence for a few minutes in the pretty room.
“Well, you haven’t told me yet how you spent Christmas?” Katharine asked, rousing³ herself with an effort.
“Sir Algernon was with us——” began Sydney, but was interrupted.
“Whom did you say?”
“Sir Algernon Bridge; he is a friend, I think, of Cousin St. Quentin’s.”

1 delightful   

adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的

参考例句：

• We had a delightful time by the seashore last Sunday.上星期天我们在海滨玩得真痛快。
• Peter played a delightful melody on his flute.彼得用笛子吹奏了一支欢快的曲子。

2 allotted   

分配，拨给，摊派( allot的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I completed the test within the time allotted . 我在限定的时间内完成了试验。
• Each passenger slept on the berth allotted to him. 每个旅客都睡在分配给他的铺位上。

3 rousing   

adj.充满活力[激情]的；激励的，激动人心的v.醒来，唤醒( rouse的现在分词 )；使…活跃起来[产生兴趣]

参考例句：

• the rousing finale of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony 贝多芬第九交响曲激动人心的末乐章
• The team was given a rousing reception by the fans. 球队受到了球迷的热烈欢迎。