It was impossible to live a month at Cranford and not know the daily habits of each resident; and long before my visit was ended I knew much concerning the whole Brown trio. There was nothing new to be discovered respecting their poverty; for they had spoken simply and openly about that from the very first. They made no mystery of the necessity for their being economical. All that remained to be discovered was the Captain's infinite kindness of heart, and the various modes in which, unconsciously to himself, he manifested it. Some little anecdotes2 were talked about for some time after they occurred. As we did not read much, and as all the ladies were pretty well suited with servants, there was a dearth3 of subjects for conversation. We therefore discussed the circumstance of the Captain taking a poor old woman's dinner out of her hands one very slippery Sunday. He had met her returning from the bakehouse as he came from church, and noticed her precarious4 footing; and, with the grave dignity with which he did everything, he relieved her of her burden, and steered5 along the street by her side, carrying her baked mutton and potatoes safely home. This was thought very eccentric; and it was rather expected that he would pay a round of calls, on the Monday morning, to explain and apologise to the Cranford sense of propriety6: but he did no such thing: and then it was decided7 that he was ashamed, and was keeping out of sight. In a kindly8 pity for him, we began to say, "After all, the Sunday morning's occurrence showed great goodness of heart," and it was resolved that he should be comforted on his next appearance amongst us; but, lo! he came down upon us, untouched by any sense of shame, speaking loud and bass9 as ever, his head thrown back, his wig10 as jaunty11 and well-curled as usual, and we were obliged to conclude he had forgotten all about Sunday.
Miss Pole and Miss Jessie Brown had set up a kind of intimacy12 on the strength of the Shetland wool and the new knitting stitches; so it happened that when I went to visit Miss Pole I saw more of the Browns than I had done while staying with Miss Jenkyns, who had never got over what she called Captain Brown's disparaging13 remarks upon Dr Johnson as a writer of light and agreeable fiction. I found that Miss Brown was seriously ill of some lingering, incurable14 complaint, the pain occasioned by which gave the uneasy expression to her face that I had taken for unmitigated crossness. Cross, too, she was at times, when the nervous irritability15 occasioned by her disease became past endurance. Miss Jessie bore with her at these times, even more patiently than she did with the bitter self-upbraidings by which they were invariably succeeded. Miss Brown used to accuse herself, not merely of hasty and irritable16 temper, but also of being the cause why her father and sister were obliged to pinch, in order to allow her the small luxuries which were necessaries in her condition. She would so fain have made sacrifices for them, and have lightened their cares, that the original generosity17 of her disposition18 added acerbity19 to her temper. All this was borne by Miss Jessie and her father with more than placidity--with absolute tenderness. I forgave Miss Jessie her singing out of tune20, and her juvenility21 of dress, when I saw her at home. I came to perceive that Captain Brown's dark Brutus wig and padded coat (alas! too often threadbare) were remnants of the military smartness of his youth, which he now wore unconsciously. He was a man of infinite resources, gained in his barrack experience. As he confessed, no one could black his boots to please him except himself; but, indeed, he was not above saving the little maid-servant's labours in every way--knowing, most likely, that his daughter's illness made the place a hard one.
He endeavoured to make peace with Miss Jenkyns soon after the memorable22 dispute I have named, by a present of a wooden fire- shovel23 (his own making), having heard her say how much the grating of an iron one annoyed her. She received the present with cool gratitude24, and thanked him formally. When he was gone, she bade me put it away in the lumber-room; feeling, probably, that no present from a man who preferred Mr Boz to Dr Johnson could be less jarring than an iron fire-shovel.
Such was the state of things when I left Cranford and went to Drumble. I had, however, several correspondents, who kept me au fait as to the proceedings25 of the dear little town. There was Miss Pole, who was becoming as much absorbed in crochet26 as she had been once in knitting, and the burden of whose letter was something like, "But don't you forget the white worsted at Flint's" of the old song; for at the end of every sentence of news came a fresh direction as to some crochet commission which I was to execute for her. Miss Matilda Jenkyns (who did not mind being called Miss Matty, when Miss Jenkyns was not by) wrote nice, kind, rambling27 letters, now and then venturing into an opinion of her own; but suddenly pulling herself up, and either begging me not to name what she had said, as Deborah thought differently, and SHE knew, or else putting in a postscript28 to the effect that, since writing the above, she had been talking over the subject with Deborah, and was quite convinced that, etc.--(here probably followed a recantation of every opinion she had given in the letter). Then came Miss Jenkyns--Deborah, as she liked Miss Matty to call her, her father having once said that the Hebrew name ought to be so pronounced. I secretly think she took the Hebrew prophetess for a model in character; and, indeed, she was not unlike the stern prophetess in some ways, making allowance, of course, for modern customs and difference in dress. Miss Jenkyns wore a cravat29, and a little bonnet30 like a jockey-cap, and altogether had the appearance of a strong-minded woman; although she would have despised the modern idea of women being equal to men. Equal, indeed! she knew they were superior. But to return to her letters. Everything in them was stately and grand like herself. I have been looking them over (dear Miss Jenkyns, how I honoured her!) and I will give an extract, more especially because it relates to our friend Captain Brown:-
"The Honourable31 Mrs Jamieson has only just quitted me; and, in the course of conversation, she communicated to me the intelligence that she had yesterday received a call from her revered32 husband's quondam friend, Lord Mauleverer. You will not easily conjecture33 what brought his lordship within the precincts of our little town. It was to see Captain Brown, with whom, it appears, his lordship was acquainted in the 'plumed34 wars,' and who had the privilege of averting35 destruction from his lordship's head when some great peril36 was impending37 over it, off the misnomered Cape38 of Good Hope. You know our friend the Honourable Mrs Jamieson's deficiency in the spirit of innocent curiosity, and you will therefore not be so much surprised when I tell you she was quite unable to disclose to me the exact nature of the peril in question. I was anxious, I confess, to ascertain39 in what manner Captain Brown, with his limited establishment, could receive so distinguished40 a guest; and I discovered that his lordship retired41 to rest, and, let us hope, to refreshing42 slumbers43, at the Angel Hotel; but shared the Brunonian meals during the two days that he honoured Cranford with his august presence. Mrs Johnson, our civil butcher's wife, informs me that Miss Jessie purchased a leg of lamb; but, besides this, I can hear of no preparation whatever to give a suitable reception to so distinguished a visitor. Perhaps they entertained him with 'the feast of reason and the flow of soul'; and to us, who are acquainted with Captain Brown's sad want of relish44 for 'the pure wells of English undefiled,' it may be matter for congratulation that he has had the opportunity of improving his taste by holding converse46 with an elegant and refined member of the British aristocracy. But from some mundane47 failings who is altogether free?"
Miss Pole and Miss Matty wrote to me by the same post. Such a piece of news as Lord Mauleverer's visit was not to be lost on the Cranford letter-writers: they made the most of it. Miss Matty humbly48 apologised for writing at the same time as her sister, who was so much more capable than she to describe the honour done to Cranford; but in spite of a little bad spelling, Miss Matty's account gave me the best idea of the commotion49 occasioned by his lordship's visit, after it had occurred; for, except the people at the Angel, the Browns, Mrs Jamieson, and a little lad his lordship had sworn at for driving a dirty hoop50 against the aristocratic legs, I could not hear of any one with whom his lordship had held conversation.
My next visit to Cranford was in the summer. There had been neither births, deaths, nor marriages since I was there last. Everybody lived in the same house, and wore pretty nearly the same well-preserved, old-fashioned clothes. The greatest event was, that Miss Jenkyns had purchased a new carpet for the drawing-room. Oh, the busy work Miss Matty and I had in chasing the sunbeams, as they fell in an afternoon right down on this carpet through the blindless window! We spread newspapers over the places and sat down to our book or our work; and, lo! in a quarter of an hour the sun had moved, and was blazing away on a fresh spot; and down again we went on our knees to alter the position of the newspapers. We were very busy, too, one whole morning, before Miss Jenkyns gave her party, in following her directions, and in cutting out and stitching together pieces of newspaper so as to form little paths to every chair set for the expected visitors, lest their shoes might dirty or defile45 the purity of the carpet. Do you make paper paths for every guest to walk upon in London?
Captain Brown and Miss Jenkyns were not very cordial to each other. The literary dispute, of which I had seen the beginning, was a "raw," the slightest touch on which made them wince51. It was the only difference of opinion they had ever had; but that difference was enough. Miss Jenkyns could not refrain from talking at Captain Brown; and, though he did not reply, he drummed with his fingers, which action she felt and resented as very disparaging to Dr Johnson. He was rather ostentatious in his preference of the writings of Mr Boz; would walk through the streets so absorbed in them that he all but ran against Miss Jenkyns; and though his apologies were earnest and sincere, and though he did not, in fact, do more than startle her and himself, she owned to me she had rather he had knocked her down, if he had only been reading a higher style of literature. The poor, brave Captain! he looked older, and more worn, and his clothes were very threadbare. But he seemed as bright and cheerful as ever, unless he was asked about his daughter's health.
"She suffers a great deal, and she must suffer more: we do what we can to alleviate52 her pain;--God's will be done!" He took off his hat at these last words. I found, from Miss Matty, that everything had been done, in fact. A medical man, of high repute in that country neighbourhood, had been sent for, and every injunction he had given was attended to, regardless of expense. Miss Matty was sure they denied themselves many things in order to make the invalid53 comfortable; but they never spoke1 about it; and as for Miss Jessie!--"I really think she's an angel," said poor Miss Matty, quite overcome. "To see her way of bearing with Miss Brown's crossness, and the bright face she puts on after she's been sitting up a whole night and scolded above half of it, is quite beautiful. Yet she looks as neat and as ready to welcome the Captain at breakfast-time as if she had been asleep in the Queen's bed all night. My dear! you could never laugh at her prim54 little curls or her pink bows again if you saw her as I have done." I could only feel very penitent55, and greet Miss Jessie with double respect when I met her next. She looked faded and pinched; and her lips began to quiver, as if she was very weak, when she spoke of her sister. But she brightened, and sent back the tears that were glittering in her pretty eyes, as she said -
"But, to be sure, what a town Cranford is for kindness! I don't suppose any one has a better dinner than usual cooked but the best part of all comes in a little covered basin for my sister. The poor people will leave their earliest vegetables at our door for her. They speak short and gruff, as if they were ashamed of it: but I am sure it often goes to my heart to see their thoughtfulness." The tears now came back and overflowed56; but after a minute or two she began to scold herself, and ended by going away the same cheerful Miss Jessie as ever.
"But why does not this Lord Mauleverer do something for the man who saved his life?" said I.
"Why, you see, unless Captain Brown has some reason for it, he never speaks about being poor; and he walked along by his lordship looking as happy and cheerful as a prince; and as they never called attention to their dinner by apologies, and as Miss Brown was better that day, and all seemed bright, I daresay his lordship never knew how much care there was in the background. He did send game in the winter pretty often, but now he is gone abroad."
I had often occasion to notice the use that was made of fragments and small opportunities in Cranford; the rose-leaves that were gathered ere they fell to make into a potpourri57 for someone who had no garden; the little bundles of lavender flowers sent to strew58 the drawers of some town-dweller, or to burn in the chamber59 of some invalid. Things that many would despise, and actions which it seemed scarcely worth while to perform, were all attended to in Cranford. Miss Jenkyns stuck an apple full of cloves61, to be heated and smell pleasantly in Miss Brown's room; and as she put in each clove60 she uttered a Johnsonian sentence. Indeed, she never could think of the Browns without talking Johnson; and, as they were seldom absent from her thoughts just then, I heard many a rolling, three-piled sentence.
Captain Brown called one day to thank Mist Jenkyns for many little kindnesses, which I did not know until then that she had rendered. He had suddenly become like an old man; his deep bass voice had a quavering in it, his eyes looked dim, and the lines on his face were deep. He did not--could not--speak cheerfully of his daughter's state, but he talked with manly62, pious63 resignation, and not much. Twice over he said, "What Jessie has been to us, God only knows!" and after the second time, he got up hastily, shook hands all round without speaking, and left the room.
That afternoon we perceived little groups in the street, all listening with faces aghast to some tale or other. Miss Jenkyns wondered what could be the matter for some time before she took the undignified step of sending Jenny out to inquire.
Jenny came back with a white face of terror. "Oh, ma'am! Oh, Miss Jenkyns, ma'am! Captain Brown is killed by them nasty cruel railroads!" and she burst into tears. She, along with many others, had experienced the poor Captain's kindness.
"How?--where--where? Good God! Jenny, don't waste time in crying, but tell us something." Miss Matty rushed out into the street at once, and collared the man who was telling the tale.
"Come in--come to my sister at once, Miss Jenkyns, the rector's daughter. Oh, man, man! say it is not true," she cried, as she brought the affrighted carter, sleeking64 down his hair, into the drawing-room, where he stood with his wet boots on the new carpet, and no one regarded it.
"Please, mum, it is true. I seed it myself," and he shuddered65 at the recollection. "The Captain was a-reading some new book as he was deep in, a-waiting for the down train; and there was a little lass as wanted to come to its mammy, and gave its sister the slip, and came toddling66 across the line. And he looked up sudden, at the sound of the train coming, and seed the child, and he darted67 on the line and cotched it up, and his foot slipped, and the train came over him in no time. O Lord, Lord! Mum, it's quite true, and they've come over to tell his daughters. The child's safe, though, with only a bang on its shoulder as he threw it to its mammy. Poor Captain would be glad of that, mum, wouldn't he? God bless him!" The great rough carter puckered68 up his manly face, and turned away to hide his tears. I turned to Miss Jenkyns. She looked very ill, as if she were going to faint, and signed to me to open the window.
"Matilda, bring me my bonnet. I must go to those girls. God pardon me, if ever I have spoken contemptuously to the Captain!"
Miss Jenkyns arrayed herself to go out, telling Miss Matilda to give the man a glass of wine. While she was away, Miss Matty and I huddled69 over the fire, talking in a low and awe-struck voice. I know we cried quietly all the time.
Miss Jenkyns came home in a silent mood, and we durst not ask her many questions. She told us that Miss Jessie had fainted, and that she and Miss Pole had had some difficulty in bringing her round; but that, as soon as she recovered, she begged one of them to go and sit with her sister.
"Mr Hoggins says she cannot live many days, and she shall be spared this shock," said Miss Jessie, shivering with feelings to which she dared not give way.
"But how can you manage, my dear?" asked Miss Jenkyns; "you cannot bear up, she must see your tears."
"God will help me--I will not give way--she was asleep when the news came; she may be asleep yet. She would be so utterly70 miserable71, not merely at my father's death, but to think of what would become of me; she is so good to me." She looked up earnestly in their faces with her soft true eyes, and Miss Pole told Miss Jenkyns afterwards she could hardly bear it, knowing, as she did, how Miss Brown treated her sister.
However, it was settled according to Miss Jessie's wish. Miss Brown was to be told her father had been summoned to take a short journey on railway business. They had managed it in some way--Miss Jenkyns could not exactly say how. Miss Pole was to stop with Miss Jessie. Mrs Jamieson had sent to inquire. And this was all we heard that night; and a sorrowful night it was. The next day a full account of the fatal accident was in the county paper which Miss Jenkyns took in. Her eyes were very weak, she said, and she asked me to read it. When I came to the "gallant72 gentleman was deeply engaged in the perusal73 of a number of 'Pickwick,' which he had just received," Miss Jenkyns shook her head long and solemnly, and then sighed out, "Poor, dear, infatuated man!"
The corpse74 was to be taken from the station to the parish church, there to be interred75. Miss Jessie had set her heart on following it to the grave; and no dissuasives could alter her resolve. Her restraint upon herself made her almost obstinate76; she resisted all Miss Pole's entreaties77 and Miss Jenkyns' advice. At last Miss Jenkyns gave up the point; and after a silence, which I feared portended78 some deep displeasure against Miss Jessie, Miss Jenkyns said she should accompany the latter to the funeral.
"It is not fit for you to go alone. It would be against both propriety and humanity were I to allow it."
Miss Jessie seemed as if she did not half like this arrangement; but her obstinacy79, if she had any, had been exhausted80 in her determination to go to the interment. She longed, poor thing, I have no doubt, to cry alone over the grave of the dear father to whom she had been all in all, and to give way, for one little half- hour, uninterrupted by sympathy and unobserved by friendship. But it was not to be. That afternoon Miss Jenkyns sent out for a yard of black crape, and employed herself busily in trimming the little black silk bonnet I have spoken about. When it was finished she put it on, and looked at us for approbation--admiration she despised. I was full of sorrow, but, by one of those whimsical thoughts which come unbidden into our heads, in times of deepest grief, I no sooner saw the bonnet than I was reminded of a helmet; and in that hybrid81 bonnet, half helmet, half jockey-cap, did Miss Jenkyns attend Captain Brown's funeral, and, I believe, supported Miss Jessie with a tender, indulgent firmness which was invaluable82, allowing her to weep her passionate83 fill before they left.
Miss Pole, Miss Matty, and I, meanwhile attended to Miss Brown: and hard work we found it to relieve her querulous and never-ending complaints. But if we were so weary and dispirited, what must Miss Jessie have been! Yet she came back almost calm as if she had gained a new strength. She put off her mourning dress, and came in, looking pale and gentle, thanking us each with a soft long pressure of the hand. She could even smile--a faint, sweet, wintry smile--as if to reassure84 us of her power to endure; but her look made our eyes fill suddenly with tears, more than if she had cried outright85.
It was settled that Miss Pole was to remain with her all the watching livelong night; and that Miss Matty and I were to return in the morning to relieve them, and give Miss Jessie the opportunity for a few hours of sleep. But when the morning came, Miss Jenkyns appeared at the breakfast-table, equipped in her helmet-bonnet, and ordered Miss Matty to stay at home, as she meant to go and help to nurse. She was evidently in a state of great friendly excitement, which she showed by eating her breakfast standing86, and scolding the household all round.
No nursing--no energetic strong-minded woman could help Miss Brown now. There was that in the room as we entered which was stronger than us all, and made us shrink into solemn awestruck helplessness. Miss Brown was dying. We hardly knew her voice, it was so devoid87 of the complaining tone we had always associated with it. Miss Jessie told me afterwards that it, and her face too, were just what they had been formerly88, when her mother's death left her the young anxious head of the family, of whom only Miss Jessie survived.
She was conscious of her sister's presence, though not, I think, of ours. We stood a little behind the curtain: Miss Jessie knelt with her face near her sister's, in order to catch the last soft awful whispers.
"Oh, Jessie! Jessie! How selfish I have been! God forgive me for letting you sacrifice yourself for me as you did! I have so loved you--and yet I have thought only of myself. God forgive me!"
"And my father, my dear, dear father! I will not complain now, if God will give me strength to be patient. But, oh, Jessie! tell my father how I longed and yearned91 to see him at last, and to ask his forgiveness. He can never know now how I loved him--oh! if I might but tell him, before I die! What a life of sorrow his has been, and I have done so little to cheer him!"
A light came into Miss Jessie's face. "Would it comfort you, dearest, to think that he does know?--would it comfort you, love, to know that his cares, his sorrows"--Her voice quivered, but she steadied it into calmness--"Mary! he has gone before you to the place where the weary are at rest. He knows now how you loved him."
A strange look, which was not distress92, came over Miss Brown's face. She did not speak for come time, but then we saw her lips form the words, rather than heard the sound--"Father, mother, Harry93, Archy;"--then, as if it were a new idea throwing a filmy shadow over her darkened mind--"But you will be alone, Jessie!"
Miss Jessie had been feeling this all during the silence, I think; for the tears rolled down her cheeks like rain, at these words, and she could not answer at first. Then she put her hands together tight, and lifted them up, and said--but not to us--"Though He slay94 me, yet will I trust in Him."
After this second funeral, Miss Jenkyns insisted that Miss Jessie should come to stay with her rather than go back to the desolate96 house, which, in fact, we learned from Miss Jessie, must now be given up, as she had not wherewithal to maintain it. She had something above twenty pounds a year, besides the interest of the money for which the furniture would sell; but she could not live upon that: and so we talked over her qualifications for earning money.
"I can sew neatly," said she, "and I like nursing. I think, too, I could manage a house, if any one would try me as housekeeper97; or I would go into a shop as saleswoman, if they would have patience with me at first."
Miss Jenkyns declared, in an angry voice, that she should do no such thing; and talked to herself about "some people having no idea of their rank as a captain's daughter," nearly an hour afterwards, when she brought Miss Jessie up a basin of delicately-made arrowroot, and stood over her like a dragoon until the last spoonful was finished: then she disappeared. Miss Jessie began to tell me some more of the plans which had suggested themselves to her, and insensibly fell into talking of the days that were past and gone, and interested me so much I neither knew nor heeded98 how time passed. We were both startled when Miss Jenkyns reappeared, and caught us crying. I was afraid lest she would be displeased99, as she often said that crying hindered digestion100, and I knew she wanted Miss Jessie to get strong; but, instead, she looked queer and excited, and fidgeted round us without saying anything. At last she spoke.
"I have been so much startled--no, I've not been at all startled-- don't mind me, my dear Miss Jessie--I've been very much surprised-- in fact, I've had a caller, whom you knew once, my dear Miss Jessie" -
"A gentleman, my dear, who wants to know if you would see him."
"Is it?--it is not"--stammered out Miss Jessie--and got no farther.
"This is his card," said Miss Jenkyns, giving it to Miss Jessie; and while her head was bent102 over it, Miss Jenkyns went through a series of winks103 and odd faces to me, and formed her lips into a long sentence, of which, of course, I could not understand a word.
"May he come up?" asked Miss Jenkyns at last.
"Oh, yes! certainly!" said Miss Jessie, as much as to say, this is your house, you may show any visitor where you like. She took up some knitting of Miss Matty's and began to be very busy, though I could see how she trembled all over.
Miss Jenkyns rang the bell, and told the servant who answered it to show Major Gordon upstairs; and, presently, in walked a tall, fine, frank-looking man of forty or upwards104. He shook hands with Miss Jessie; but he could not see her eyes, she kept them so fixed105 on the ground. Miss Jenkyns asked me if I would come and help her to tie up the preserves in the store-room; and though Miss Jessie plucked at my gown, and even looked up at me with begging eye, I durst not refuse to go where Miss Jenkyns asked. Instead of tying up preserves in the store-room, however, we went to talk in the dining-room; and there Miss Jenkyns told me what Major Gordon had told her; how he had served in the same regiment106 with Captain Brown, and had become acquainted with Miss Jessie, then a sweet- looking, blooming girl of eighteen; how the acquaintance had grown into love on his part, though it had been some years before he had spoken; how, on becoming possessed107, through the will of an uncle, of a good estate in Scotland, he had offered and been refused, though with so much agitation108 and evident distress that he was sure she was not indifferent to him; and how he had discovered that the obstacle was the fell disease which was, even then, too surely threatening her sister. She had mentioned that the surgeons foretold109 intense suffering; and there was no one but herself to nurse her poor Mary, or cheer and comfort her father during the time of illness. They had had long discussions; and on her refusal to pledge herself to him as his wife when all should be over, he had grown angry, and broken off entirely110, and gone abroad, believing that she was a cold-hearted person whom he would do well to forget.
He had been travelling in the East, and was on his return home when, at Rome, he saw the account of Captain Brown's death in Galignani.
Just then Miss Matty, who had been out all the morning, and had only lately returned to the house, burst in with a face of dismay and outraged111 propriety.
"Oh, goodness me!" she said. "Deborah, there's a gentleman sitting in the drawing-room with his arm round Miss Jessie's waist!" Miss Matty's eyes looked large with terror.
Miss Jenkyns snubbed her down in an instant.
"The most proper place in the world for his arm to be in. Go away, Matilda, and mind your own business." This from her sister, who had hitherto been a model of feminine decorum, was a blow for poor Miss Matty, and with a double shock she left the room.
The last time I ever saw poor Miss Jenkyns was many years after this. Mrs Gordon had kept up a warm and affectionate intercourse112 with all at Cranford. Miss Jenkyns, Miss Matty, and Miss Pole had all been to visit her, and returned with wonderful accounts of her house, her husband, her dress, and her looks. For, with happiness, something of her early bloom returned; she had been a year or two younger than we had taken her for. Her eyes were always lovely, and, as Mrs Gordon, her dimples were not out of place. At the time to which I have referred, when I last saw Miss Jenkyns, that lady was old and feeble, and had lost something of her strong mind. Little Flora113 Gordon was staying with the Misses Jenkyns, and when I came in she was reading aloud to Miss Jenkyns, who lay feeble and changed on the sofa. Flora put down the Rambler when I came in.
"Ah!" said Miss Jenkyns, "you find me changed, my dear. If can't see as I used to do. I Flora were not here to read to me, I hardly know how I should get through the day. Did you ever read the Rambler? It's a wonderful book--wonderful! and the most improving reading for Flora" (which I daresay it would have been, if she could have read half the words without spelling, and could have understood the meaning of a third), "better than that strange old book, with the queer name, poor Captain Brown was killed for reading--that book by Mr Boz, you know--'Old Poz'; when I was a girl--but that's a long time ago--I acted Lucy in 'Old Poz.'" She babbled114 on long enough for Flora to get a good long spell at the "Christmas Carol," which Miss Matty had left on the table.
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spoke
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| 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 | |
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anecdotes
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| n.掌故，趣闻，轶事( anecdote的名词复数 ) | |
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dearth
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| n.缺乏，粮食不足，饥谨 | |
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precarious
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| adj.不安定的，靠不住的；根据不足的 | |
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steered
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| v.驾驶( steer的过去式和过去分词 )；操纵；控制；引导 | |
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propriety
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| n.正当行为；正当；适当 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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bass
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| n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴 | |
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wig
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| n.假发 | |
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jaunty
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| adj．愉快的，满足的；adv.心满意足地，洋洋得意地；n.心满意足；洋洋得意 | |
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intimacy
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| n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行 | |
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disparaging
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| adj.轻蔑的，毁谤的v.轻视( disparage的现在分词 )；贬低；批评；非难 | |
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incurable
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| adj.不能医治的，不能矫正的，无救的；n.不治的病人，无救的人 | |
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irritability
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| n.易怒 | |
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irritable
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| adj.急躁的；过敏的；易怒的 | |
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generosity
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| n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为 | |
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18
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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19
acerbity
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| n.涩，酸，刻薄 | |
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20
tune
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| n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整 | |
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21
juvenility
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| n.年轻，不成熟 | |
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memorable
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| adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的 | |
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23
shovel
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| n.铁锨，铲子，一铲之量；v.铲，铲出 | |
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24
gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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25
proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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26
crochet
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| n.钩针织物；v.用钩针编制 | |
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27
rambling
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| adj.[建]凌乱的，杂乱的 | |
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28
postscript
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| n.附言，又及；(正文后的)补充说明 | |
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29
cravat
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| n.领巾，领结；v.使穿有领结的服装，使结领结 | |
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30
bonnet
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| n.无边女帽；童帽 | |
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31
honourable
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| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
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32
revered
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| v.崇敬，尊崇，敬畏( revere的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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33
conjecture
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| n./v.推测，猜测 | |
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34
plumed
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| 饰有羽毛的 | |
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35
averting
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| 防止，避免( avert的现在分词 )； 转移 | |
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36
peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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37
impending
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| a.imminent, about to come or happen | |
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38
cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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39
ascertain
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| vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清 | |
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40
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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41
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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42
refreshing
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| adj.使精神振作的，使人清爽的，使人喜欢的 | |
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43
slumbers
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| 睡眠，安眠( slumber的名词复数 ) | |
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44
relish
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| n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味 | |
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45
defile
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| v.弄污，弄脏；n.(山间)小道 | |
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46
converse
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| vi.谈话，谈天，闲聊；adv.相反的，相反 | |
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47
mundane
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| adj.平凡的；尘世的；宇宙的 | |
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48
humbly
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| adv. 恭顺地，谦卑地 | |
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49
commotion
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| n.骚动，动乱 | |
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50
hoop
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| n.（篮球）篮圈，篮 | |
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51
wince
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| n.畏缩，退避，（因痛苦，苦恼等)面部肌肉抽动；v.畏缩，退缩，退避 | |
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52
alleviate
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| v.减轻，缓和，缓解(痛苦等) | |
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53
invalid
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| n.病人，伤残人；adj.有病的，伤残的；无效的 | |
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54
prim
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| adj.拘泥形式的，一本正经的；n.循规蹈矩，整洁；adv.循规蹈矩地，整洁地 | |
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55
penitent
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| adj.后悔的；n.后悔者；忏悔者 | |
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56
overflowed
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| 溢出的 | |
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57
potpourri
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| n.混合之事物；百花香 | |
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58
strew
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| vt.撒；使散落；撒在…上，散布于 | |
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59
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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60
clove
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| n.丁香味 | |
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61
cloves
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| n.丁香（热带树木的干花，形似小钉子，用作调味品，尤用作甜食的香料）( clove的名词复数 )；蒜瓣(a garlic ~|a ~of garlic) | |
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62
manly
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| adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地 | |
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pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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64
sleeking
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| 使…光滑而发亮( sleek的现在分词 )； 修光 | |
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65
shuddered
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| v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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66
toddling
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| v.（幼儿等）东倒西歪地走( toddle的现在分词 )；蹒跚行走；溜达；散步 | |
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67
darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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68
puckered
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| v.（使某物）起褶子或皱纹( pucker的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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69
huddled
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| 挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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70
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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71
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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72
gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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73
perusal
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| n.细读，熟读；目测 | |
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74
corpse
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| n.尸体，死尸 | |
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75
interred
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| v.埋，葬( inter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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76
obstinate
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| adj.顽固的，倔强的，不易屈服的，较难治愈的 | |
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77
entreaties
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| n.恳求，乞求( entreaty的名词复数 ) | |
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78
portended
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| v.预示( portend的过去式和过去分词 )；预兆；给…以警告；预告 | |
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79
obstinacy
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| n.顽固；（病痛等）难治 | |
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80
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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81
hybrid
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| n.(动，植）杂种，混合物 | |
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82
invaluable
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| adj.无价的，非常宝贵的，极为贵重的 | |
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83
passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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84
reassure
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| v.使放心，使消除疑虑 | |
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85
outright
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| adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的 | |
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86
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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87
devoid
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| adj.全无的，缺乏的 | |
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88
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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89
hush
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| int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静 | |
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90
sobbing
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| <主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
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91
yearned
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| 渴望，切盼，向往( yearn的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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92
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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93
harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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94
slay
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| v.杀死，宰杀，杀戮 | |
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95
murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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96
desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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97
housekeeper
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| n.管理家务的主妇，女管家 | |
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98
heeded
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| v.听某人的劝告，听从( heed的过去式和过去分词 )；变平，使（某物）变平( flatten的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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99
displeased
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| a.不快的 | |
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100
digestion
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| n.消化，吸收 | |
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101
scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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102
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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103
winks
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| v.使眼色( wink的第三人称单数 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮 | |
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104
upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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105
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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106
regiment
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| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
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107
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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108
agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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109
foretold
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| v.预言，预示( foretell的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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110
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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111
outraged
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| a.震惊的，义愤填膺的 | |
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112
intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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113
flora
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| n.(某一地区的)植物群 | |
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114
babbled
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| v.喋喋不休( babble的过去式和过去分词 )；作潺潺声（如流水）；含糊不清地说话；泄漏秘密 | |
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