CHAPTER IX. 12th June.

I HAVE seen Vera to-day. She has begun to plague me with her jealousy¹. Princess Mary has taken it into her head, it seems, to confide² the secrets of her heart to Vera: a happy choice, it must be confessed!

“I can guess what all this is leading to,” said Vera to me. “You had better simply tell me at once that you are in love with her.”

“But supposing I am not in love with her?”

“Then why run after her, disturb her, agitate³ her imagination!... Oh, I know you well! Listen—if you wish me to believe you, come to Kislovodsk in a week’s time; we shall be moving thither⁴ the day after to-morrow. Princess Mary will remain here longer. Engage lodgings⁵ next door to us. We shall be living in the large house near the spring, on the mezzanine floor. Princess Ligovski will be below us, and next door there is a house belonging to the same landlord, which has not yet been taken... Will you come?”...

I gave my promise, and this very same day I have sent to engage the lodgings.

Grushnitski came to me at six o’clock and announced that his uniform would be ready to-morrow, just in time for him to go to the ball in it.

“At last I shall dance with her the whole evening through... And then I shall talk to my heart’s content,” he added.

“When is the ball?”

“Why, to-morrow! Do you not know, then? A great festival—and the local authorities have undertaken to organize it”...

“Let us go to the boulevard”...

“Not on any account, in this nasty cloak”...

“What! Have you ceased to love it?”...

I went out alone, and, meeting Princess Mary I asked her to keep the mazurka for me. She seemed surprised and delighted.

“I thought that you would only dance from necessity as on the last occasion,” she said, with a very charming smile...

She does not seem to notice Grushnitski’s absence at all.

“You will be agreeably surprised to-morrow,” I said to her.

“At what?”

“That is a secret... You will find it out yourself, at the ball.”

I finished up the evening at Princess Ligovski’s; there were no other guests present except Vera and a certain very amusing, little old gentleman. I was in good spirits, and improvised⁶ various extraordinary stories. Princess Mary sat opposite me and listened to my nonsense with such deep, strained, and even tender attention that I grew ashamed of myself. What had become of her vivacity⁷, her coquetry, her caprices, her haughty⁸ mien⁹, her contemptuous smile, her absentminded glance?...

Vera noticed everything, and her sickly countenance¹⁰ was a picture of profound grief. She was sitting in the shadow by the window, buried in a wide arm-chair... I pitied her.

Then I related the whole dramatic story of our acquaintanceship, our love—concealing it all, of course, under fictitious¹¹ names.

So vividly¹² did I portray¹³ my tenderness, my anxieties, my raptures¹⁴; in so favourable¹⁵ a light did I exhibit her actions and her character, that involuntarily she had to forgive me for my flirtation¹⁶ with Princess Mary.

She rose, sat down beside us, and brightened up... and it was only at two o’clock in the morning that we remembered that the doctors had ordered her to go to bed at eleven.

1 jealousy   

n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌

参考例句：

• Some women have a disposition to jealousy.有些女人生性爱妒忌。
• I can't support your jealousy any longer.我再也无法忍受你的嫉妒了。

2 confide   

v.向某人吐露秘密

参考例句：

• I would never readily confide in anybody.我从不轻易向人吐露秘密。
• He is going to confide the secrets of his heart to us.他将向我们吐露他心里的秘密。

3 agitate   

vi.(for,against)煽动，鼓动；vt.搅动

参考例句：

• They sent agents to agitate the local people.他们派遣情报人员煽动当地的民众。
• All you need to do is gently agitate the water with a finger or paintbrush.你只需要用手指或刷子轻轻地搅动水。

4 thither   

adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的

参考例句：

• He wandered hither and thither looking for a playmate.他逛来逛去找玩伴。
• He tramped hither and thither.他到处流浪。

5 lodgings   

n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍

参考例句：

• When he reached his lodgings the sun had set. 他到达公寓房间时，太阳已下山了。
• I'm on the hunt for lodgings. 我正在寻找住所。

6 improvised   

a.即席而作的,即兴的

参考例句：

• He improvised a song about the football team's victory. 他即席创作了一首足球队胜利之歌。
• We improvised a tent out of two blankets and some long poles. 我们用两条毛毯和几根长竿搭成一个临时帐蓬。

7 vivacity   

n.快活，活泼，精神充沛

参考例句：

• Her charm resides in her vivacity.她的魅力存在于她的活泼。
• He was charmed by her vivacity and high spirits.她的活泼与兴高采烈的情绪把他迷住了。

8 haughty   

adj.傲慢的，高傲的

参考例句：

• He gave me a haughty look and walked away.他向我摆出傲慢的表情后走开。
• They were displeased with her haughty airs.他们讨厌她高傲的派头。

9 mien   

n.风采；态度

参考例句：

• He was a Vietnam veteran with a haunted mien.他是个越战老兵，举止总有些惶然。
• It was impossible to tell from his mien whether he was offended.从他的神态中难以看出他是否生气了。

10 countenance   

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。

11 fictitious   

adj.虚构的，假设的；空头的

参考例句：

• She invented a fictitious boyfriend to put him off.她虚构出一个男朋友来拒绝他。
• The story my mother told me when I was young is fictitious.小时候妈妈对我讲的那个故事是虚构的。

12 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。

13 portray   

v.描写，描述；画(人物、景象等)

参考例句：

• It is difficult to portray feelings in words.感情很难用言语来描写。
• Can you portray the best and worst aspects of this job?您能描述一下这份工作最好与最坏的方面吗？

14 raptures   

极度欢喜( rapture的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Her heart melted away in secret raptures. 她暗自高兴得心花怒放。
• The mere thought of his bride moves Pinkerton to raptures. 一想起新娘，平克顿不禁心花怒放。

15 favourable   

adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的

参考例句：

• The company will lend you money on very favourable terms.这家公司将以非常优惠的条件借钱给你。
• We found that most people are favourable to the idea.我们发现大多数人同意这个意见。

16 flirtation   

n.调情，调戏，挑逗

参考例句：

• a brief and unsuccessful flirtation with the property market 对房地产市场一时兴起、并不成功的介入
• At recess Tom continued his flirtation with Amy with jubilant self-satisfaction. 课间休息的时候，汤姆继续和艾美逗乐，一副得意洋洋、心满意足的样子。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险