"Excellently well," Hortense said, sitting up in her bed, and presenting a charming sight to the girl--who, however, had seen it often enough before--since her long hair streamed down over her lace-adorned night attire4 until it mingled5 with the great bear-skin thrown over the bed. "Excellently. A quieter neighbour than Monsieur West next door no traveller need wish to have. The young man moves not, neither does he have the nightmare. A pretty youth is Humphrey, with soft and gentle manners even in his sleep, it would seem. And you, child, have you too slept well?"
"Nay6, madame, none too well. I was not drowsy7 and, when I slept at last, I dreamed. Horrible dreams, madame, of swords and rapiers, and, oh!--of blood being shed. Yet I know not wherefore I should have dreamed thus. The house was peaceful, no travellers arrived in the night, there was no sound to startle sleep; nothing to tease a would-be sleeper8 but the noise of that river rushing on and on and swirling9 past the crazy wooden bridge in front of us."
"It may be your rest was disturbed by some haunting recollection in your brain of the journey that lies before us. Well! it has to be taken; we cannot abide10 in this gloomy old place for ever. Therefore, Jacquette, let us prepare for the day. Bid Suzanne go get my chocolate ready, forgetting not to put a glass of ratafia in it; and knock on the wall, child, and arouse that slumbering11 lover of yours. 'Tis time he awoke and, awaking, should bid La Truaumont also leave his bed, since he too, in his turn, must awaken12 those two brigands13 who ride with us and of whom, Dio mio! I like the look none too well."
Obedient to Hortense's order Jacquette crossed to the other side of the room and, feeling under the tapestry14 for the spot where she knew the closed and heavily bolted door to be, rapped on it with her knuckles15, while saying, "Humphrey, arise! The clocks have struck seven. Awake, sluggard16!"
But there came no answer to her summons. All was as still as though she had knocked at, and spoken to, an empty room.
"Knock again," the Duchess said. "Basta! how the young man sleeps."
But Jacquette's second knock was productive of no more response than the first had been, whereon the girl--though turning somewhat white with a feeling of apprehension18 in her mind, while recalling at the same time her dreams of swords and rapiers and blood--whispered to herself, "He has discovered all and he is gone. Gone to save one Louis or the other, as he said. Madame," she cried, turning round to the Duchess who still sat up in her bed listening intently now for some sound from Humphrey's room, "he is not there. Or being there sleeps so soundly that I cannot waken him."
"Doubtless," the Duchess said, "he has awakened19 before us, and, knowing of what lies before us, has descended21 to make preparations for the journey. That being so, he has done all we would have him do without being bidden to do it. His is a brave, trustworthy heart. Yet I do wonder if he has also bethought him of awakening22 La Truaumont. The man is, may be, a heavy sleeper: each night he empties his wine flask23 to the dregs ere seeking his bed. If Humphrey has not thought to rouse him, I will dare to say he is still snoring as heavily as a tired dog."
"It may be so," Jacquette said aloud, with reference to the Duchess's opinion that Humphrey had already risen; yet to her heart she whispered, "but not risen as you think. Instead, more like he has not sought his bed at all but, overhearing much of the plots of those conspirators24, has set out hours ago. By now he has doubtless been long in France, the frontier being so near. By now, also, 'tis certain he is riding post-haste either to save De Beaurepaire or to warn the King. Oh! Humphrey, Humphrey, my lover, may Heaven have and keep you."
"Call Suzanne," the Duchess said at this moment, since, always self-indulgent in her tastes, she saw no reason why her cup of chocolate should be longer delayed, no matter whether Humphrey West still slumbered25 late or had risen betimes: "Call Suzanne and bid her bring the morning drink. Likewise tell her to go and beat on La Truaumont's door. 'Tis time he was out of bed. And, Jacquette," as she always called the girl, "go out into the passage and beat yourself on Humphrey's door as loud as may be, while, if he answers not, open it if 'tis not locked and wake him."
Suzanne was now at hand and, receiving her instructions, set about obeying them by first going to La Truaumont's room to summon him. At the same time, and when she had departed on her two missions, Jacquette going out into the corridor ran to the next room and began another tintamarre on the other door, calling loudly as she did so, "Humphrey! Humphrey! Humphrey! Awake! Awake!"
But there was no more answer from within to this second summons than there had been to the first.
"He has gone," she whispered to herself. "He has gone. He has overheard more strange matter and has deemed it well to set out on the instant. What an ending to our projects of a happy ride into that southern land of sunshine, to all that we had dreamt of being to each other for some weeks or months! To all our hopes of being so much together."
Thinking, however, that, ere her lover had set out, as now she felt sure he must have done, he might by chance have left some carefully worded line for her, something that she should understand very well, though, should it chance to fall into the hands of others, it would to them be unintelligible26, she lifted the latch27 of his door meaning to go in and see if, on some table or chair, and prominently in view, a billet might be lying. If that were not so, she would by one glance be able to discover through the disorder28 of the room--the absence of his riding cloak and feathered hat and rapier and pistols--whether he was definitely gone or only away for some little while.
As she lifted the latch, however, while pressing on the catch under her thumb thereby29 to push open the door, she discovered that either the latter was locked or the bolt on the inside shot.
"Locked or bolted!" the girl whispered, her face pale now and her breath coming fast and short. "Locked or bolted, and from the inside! And he there. There and silent--speechless. My God! what has happened to him? What?"
Faint with fear of some horror she could not express, with some hideous30 apprehension of impending31 evil--nay, of evil that had already fallen; dreading32 what might be in that room now, wondering if Humphrey had been discovered listening to those plotters in that other room and, in some way, reached, attacked and done to death, the girl leant helplessly against the door-post endeavouring to think what she should do next.
Should she alarm the house, already awakened for the work of the day; cry to some faquin or waiting woman passing up and down the stairs, or descend20 those stairs herself and summon the landlord to come and burst open the door? What--what should she do?
Suddenly, however, another thought whirling in her brain, dispersing33 and driving forth34 those which had possessed35 that brain a moment earlier, brought ease to her.
"He has not gone," she whispered to herself, the glow returning to her bosom36 that, an instant before, had felt like ice; "he cannot have gone. He has not discovered or overheard anything to cause him to set out for France. It must be so. He has descended, as madame supposed, to take steps for our journey, and, some of his effects being worth stealing, has locked his door and taken the key with him. Ah! yes. It must be so. Had he set forth, had he quitted this room for ever, he would not have locked the door after leaving nothing of his behind."
Eased therefore by these reflections, Jacquette made her way back to the Duchess and was about to enter the sleeping-room when she paused at hearing the voice of Hortense raised shrilly37, as though in excitement.
"What!" she heard her say. "La Truaumont makes no reply! You cannot awaken him and his door is locked inside. Dio mio, what does it mean! Have all failed in their trust! All deserted38 me!"
"Ah! madame," Jacquette exclaimed, as now she entered the room, "it must be with the captain as with Humphrey. Both have descended to make preparations for our departure after leaving their doors locked behind them for security."
"It may be so," the Duchess exclaimed. "Yet if it is, 'tis strange. Humphrey sleeps on my left, yet I heard no sound of movement in his room late or early, nor did you hear any in the room on your right where the captain slept. 'Tis passing strange."
"Yet easily solved, madame," Jacquette replied, "if all is as you suspect, and I," to herself, "hope. I will but don my clothes and then descend myself."
"Instead, send Suzanne. She is dressed and can go down at once."
Whereupon Suzanne, who had by now returned with the chocolate and chip bread for their early meal, was bidden to go at once below and see what had become of the absent men.
"And," said the Duchess to her ere she went, "seek out that other, if they are not about. That matamore who styles himself Fleur de Mai. If you cannot find them bring him here to my presence."
The girl sped away to do as she was bidden, and, while she was gone, Hortense, sitting up in her bed, drank her chocolate and seemed more puzzled at the circumstance that neither she, on one side, had heard a sound from Humphrey, nor Jacquette, on the other, from La Truaumont, than at aught else. Then, when five minutes had elapsed, Suzanne, forgetting in her excitement to knock, and forgetting also all deference39 due to her mistress, rushed into the room, exclaiming:--
"Oh! madame, neither the illustrious captain nor monsieur the Englishman have been seen below this morning. Yet--yet--the horses are all in their stalls, not one is missing."
"Oh! great heavens," moaned Jacquette at this significant piece of intelligence.
"And the other," cried the Duchess, "the great truculent40 one? The fellow called Fleur de Mai. What of him? Why is he not here as I commanded?"
"Madame," the maid cried, her voice rising almost to a shriek41, "he, too, is missing. He slept before the fire in the great room wrapped in his cloak, but at daybreak, when the house was opened, he was no longer there--and--madame, neither can he be found."
"Not found. Yet there was still another, the meaner one; the one called Boisfleury," the Duchess cried, springing out of her bed in beauteous disarray42. "What of him? Is he too, missing? And the landlord, where is he?"
"The landlord, madame, is bewildered. He comes with the pass-keys to open all the doors of their rooms. As for the man, Boisfleury, he is outside. He waits on Madame la Duchesse."
"Take him into the salon43. And, Jacquette, give me my robe. Quick. 'Twill cover this négligé." While, as she spoke17, she seized the masses of long hair that hung down her back and twisted them up into a huge knot upon her head. After which she thrust her little feet into a pair of warm, soft slippers44 and entered the salon followed by Jacquette.
Before her there stood the man, Boisfleury, white and shaky looking, so that, as Hortense shrewdly suspected, he had been hastily summoned from his bed, wherein, she did not doubt, he had been sleeping off the potency45 of the draughts46 in which he and his companion nightly indulged.
"What know you of these absent men?" she asked now, while her usually soft, velvety47 eyes looked anything but softly into those of the man before her so that, either from their piercing glance, or from the vision of beauty en déshabille which confronted him--or, perhaps, from that other cause which the Duchess had suspected--he shivered and shook before her.
"What know you, I say? Answer, man, and stand not trembling thus. Speak, fellow."
"Most gracious lady, I know nothing. Last night I sought my bed early, the better to be ready for our departure this morning and----"
"Got you that wound on your face in your bed? 'Tis a strange place to encounter such a thing."
"Madame la Duchesse, I fell upon the stairs and hurt myself."
"It resembles not a bruise48. More like unto a sharp cut. Yet this is nought49 to me. Tell me, I say, what you know of the absence of those three. Of the young English seigneur, of your leader, the captain, and your boon50 companion?"
"Gracious lady," Boisfleury said again, "I know nothing. The young English seigneur I saw not at all. Madame la Duchesse will remember that he abode51 not with us but with madame and mademoiselle," directing his eyes towards Jacquette. "The noble captain supped alone very early and then retired52 at once. As for Fleur de Mai and me, we supped together; he drank more than was good for him--as--as I warned him--and then rolled himself in his cloak and slept before the fire. Whereon I sought my bed."
"I will have the house ransacked53 to find one at least of them," the Duchess exclaimed, her eyes ablaze54; "nay, I will have the whole of this heretical, canticle-singing town ransacked, if I can do so, to find him. For the others I care not, no, not even if they have gone to their master the devil! While as for you----"
"As for me, most noble dame3?" Boisfleury repeated, cringingly, though with a strange gleam in his eye. "As for me, Madame la Duchesse?"
"I do not believe you. If we were in Paris you should be sent to the Bastille or La Tournelle----"
"Madame la Duchesse has shaken the dust of Paris off her feet," the man answered, with an insolent55 leer. "We shall not meet in Paris when I return to it."
"Out, dog!" the Duchess cried, advancing towards the fellow, her hot Italian blood aflame at his insolence56 and also at the certainty that he was lying to her. "Out, animal! Or the landlord----"
At this moment, however, the landlord himself appeared at the door, and, with many bows and genuflexions, announced that he had opened the doors of the rooms of all the missing men with his pass-keys--and--and--it was very strange, but all their effects were there untouched.
Then, ere the Duchess could reply to this ominous57 statement a cry from Jacquette startled her, and, a moment later, she had rushed toward the girl and caught her in her arms ere she swooned.
"Can I lend assistance?" a soft voice asked as this occurred, and Emérance de Villiers-Bordéville appeared at the open door of the room, clad, like the Duchess, in a long robe de chamber.
"No," the latter said, looking at her with a glance that would have withered58 many another woman, a look full of disdain59. "No. And, madame, this is my private room, therefore I desire to possess it in privacy."
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1
enveloped
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| v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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dame
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| n.女士 | |
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attire
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| v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装 | |
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mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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drowsy
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| adj.昏昏欲睡的，令人发困的 | |
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sleeper
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| n.睡眠者，卧车，卧铺 | |
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swirling
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| v.旋转，打旋( swirl的现在分词 ) | |
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abide
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| vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受 | |
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slumbering
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| 微睡，睡眠（slumber的现在分词形式） | |
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awaken
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| vi.醒，觉醒；vt.唤醒，使觉醒，唤起，激起 | |
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brigands
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| n.土匪，强盗( brigand的名词复数 ) | |
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tapestry
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| n.挂毯，丰富多采的画面 | |
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knuckles
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| n.（指人）指关节( knuckle的名词复数 )；（指动物）膝关节，踝v.（指人）指关节( knuckle的第三人称单数 )；（指动物）膝关节，踝 | |
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sluggard
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| n.懒人；adj.懒惰的 | |
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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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18
apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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awakening
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| n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的 | |
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flask
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| n.瓶，火药筒，砂箱 | |
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conspirators
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| n.共谋者，阴谋家( conspirator的名词复数 ) | |
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slumbered
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| 微睡，睡眠（slumber的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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unintelligible
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| adj.无法了解的，难解的，莫明其妙的 | |
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latch
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| n.门闩，窗闩；弹簧锁 | |
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disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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impending
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| a.imminent, about to come or happen | |
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dreading
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| v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的现在分词 ) | |
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dispersing
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| adj. 分散的 动词disperse的现在分词形式 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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shrilly
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| 尖声的； 光亮的，耀眼的 | |
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deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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deference
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| n.尊重，顺从；敬意 | |
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40
truculent
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| adj.野蛮的，粗野的 | |
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41
shriek
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| v./n.尖叫，叫喊 | |
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42
disarray
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| n.混乱，紊乱，凌乱 | |
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43
salon
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| n.[法]沙龙；客厅；营业性的高级服务室 | |
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44
slippers
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| n. 拖鞋 | |
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potency
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| n. 效力，潜能 | |
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draughts
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| n. <英>国际跳棋 | |
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47
velvety
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| adj. 像天鹅绒的, 轻软光滑的, 柔软的 | |
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48
bruise
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| n.青肿，挫伤；伤痕；vt.打青；挫伤 | |
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49
nought
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| n.／adj.无，零 | |
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50
boon
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| n.恩赐，恩物，恩惠 | |
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51
abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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52
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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53
ransacked
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| v.彻底搜查( ransack的过去式和过去分词 )；抢劫，掠夺 | |
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54
ablaze
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| adj.着火的，燃烧的；闪耀的，灯火辉煌的 | |
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55
insolent
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| adj.傲慢的，无理的 | |
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56
insolence
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| n.傲慢；无礼；厚颜；傲慢的态度 | |
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57
ominous
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| adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的 | |
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58
withered
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| adj. 枯萎的，干瘪的，（人身体的部分器官）因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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59
disdain
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| n.鄙视，轻视；v.轻视，鄙视，不屑 | |
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