V ACTORS ALL

 As Played at Tunbridge Wells, April 3, 1750

 

"I am thinking if some little, filching¹, inquisitive² poet should get my story, and represent it to the stage, what those ladies who are never precise but at a play would say of me now,—that I were a confident, coming piece, I warrant, and they would damn the poor poet for libelling the sex."

DRAMATIS PERSONÆ

DUKE OF ORMSKIRK.

 

COLONEL DENSTROUDE, }

SIR GRESLEY CARNE, } Gentlemen of the town.

MR. BABINGTON-HERLE, }

 

VANRINGHAM, a play-actor and a Jacobite emissary.

 

MR. LANGTON, secretary to Ormskirk.

 

MISS ALLONBY, an heiress, loves Captain Audaine.

 

LOTTRUM, maid to Miss Allonby.

 

BENYON, MINCHIN, and OTHER SERVANTS to Ormskirk.

SCENE

 

Tunbridge Wells, shifting from Ormskirk's lodgings³ at the Mitre to

Vanringham's apartments in the Three Gudgeons.

ACTORS ALL

 

PROEM.—To Explain Why the Heroine of This Comedy Must Wear Her Best

 

I quit pilfering⁴ from the writings of Francis Audaine, since in the happenings which now concern us he plays but a subsidiary part. The Captain had an utter faith in decorum, and therefore it was, as he records, an earth-staggering shock when the following day, on the Pantiles, in full sight of the best company at the Wells, Captain Audaine was apprehended⁵. He met disaster like an old acquaintance, and hummed a scrap⁶ of song—"O, gin I were a bonny bird,"—and shrugged⁷; but when Miss Allonby, with whom he had been chatting, swayed and fell, the Captain caught her in his arms, and standing⁸ thus, turned angrily upon the emissaries of the law.

 

"Look you, you rascals," said he, "you have spoiled a lady's afternoon with your foolish warrant!"

 

He then relinquished⁹ the unconscious girl to her brother's keeping, tenderly kissed one insensate hand, and afterward¹⁰ strolled off to jail en route for a perfunctory trial and a subsequent traffic with the executioner that Audaine did not care to think of.

 

Tunbridge buzzed like a fly-trap with the ensuing rumors¹¹. The Captain was at the head of a most heinous¹² Jacobitical uprising. The great Duke of Ormskirk was come hastily from London on the business. Highlanders were swarming¹³ over the Border, ten thousand French troops had landed at Pevensey, commanded by the Chevalier St. George in person, and twenty thousand friars and pilgrims from Coruña had sailed for Milford Haven¹⁴, under the admiralty of young Henry Stuart. The King was locked in the Tower; the King had been assassinated¹⁵ that morning by a Spanish monk¹⁶, with horse-pistols and a cast in his left eye; and the King and the Countess of Yarmouth had escaped three days ago, in disguise, and were now on their way to Hanover.

 

These were the reports which went about Tunbridge, while Dorothy Allonby wept a little and presently called for cold water and a powder-puff, and afterward for a sedan chair.

1 filching   

v.偷（尤指小的或不贵重的物品）( filch的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The boys were in the habit of filching fruit from the peddler's carts. 那些男孩们有偷小贩车上水果的习惯。 来自互联网

2 inquisitive   

adj.求知欲强的，好奇的，好寻根究底的

参考例句：

• Children are usually inquisitive.小孩通常很好问。
• A pat answer is not going to satisfy an inquisitive audience.陈腔烂调的答案不能满足好奇的听众。

3 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。

4 pilfering   

v.偷窃（小东西），小偷( pilfer的现在分词 )；偷窃（一般指小偷小摸）

参考例句：

• He was caught pilfering. 他行窃时被抓个正着。
• Pilfering has stopped entirely since they put Angus in charge of the stores. 自从他们让安格斯掌管商店以来，小偷小摸就杜绝了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 apprehended   

逮捕，拘押( apprehend的过去式和过去分词 )； 理解

参考例句：

• She apprehended the complicated law very quickly. 她很快理解了复杂的法律。
• The police apprehended the criminal. 警察逮捕了罪犯。

6 scrap   

n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废

参考例句：

• A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
• Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。

7 shrugged   

vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。
• She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 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。

9 relinquished   

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。

10 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

11 rumors   

n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• Rumors have it that the school was burned down. 有谣言说学校给烧掉了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rumors of a revolt were afloat. 叛变的谣言四起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 heinous   

adj.可憎的，十恶不赦的

参考例句：

• They admitted to the most heinous crimes.他们承认了极其恶劣的罪行。
• I do not want to meet that heinous person.我不想见那个十恶不赦的人。

13 swarming   

密集( swarm的现在分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去

参考例句：

• The sacks of rice were swarming with bugs. 一袋袋的米里长满了虫子。
• The beach is swarming with bathers. 海滩满是海水浴的人。

14 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

15 assassinated   

v.暗杀( assassinate的过去式和过去分词 )；中伤；诋毁；破坏

参考例句：

• The prime minister was assassinated by extremists. 首相遭极端分子暗杀。
• Then, just two days later, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. 跟着在两天以后，肯尼迪总统在达拉斯被人暗杀。 来自辞典例句

16 monk   

n.和尚，僧侣，修道士

参考例句：

• The man was a monk from Emei Mountain.那人是峨眉山下来的和尚。
• Buddhist monk sat with folded palms.和尚合掌打坐。