CHAPTER XXI.

"Florence," repeated Royal Ainsley, his face white as death, his teeth chattering¹, "order the servants not to answer the bell!"

But it was too late; the door had already swung back on its hinges. An instant later the servant appeared with a card.

"A gentleman, miss," he said. "I told him you were not at home, as you requested."

Florence St. John held the card in her white fingers.

"You see, it was not a lady," she said, half amused at his agitation².

He drew a breath of intense relief.

"Pardon me, Florence," he said. "I—I—thought it was one of your girl friends who was about to share your attention with me. I gave way to my annoyance³. Be kind, and forget it. Remember the old adage⁴: 'One finds much to pardon in a man who is in love.'"

His explanation of the matter satisfied her. Very young girls are never suspicious. The remembrance of that one evening always stood out bright and clear in Florence St. John's life. She gave herself up to happiness, and when Royal urged her to name an early day, she laughingly consented.

[95]

"All the ladies in our family have been married in April," she declared.

"That is almost four months from now, my darling," he groaned⁵. "Do not ask me to wait so long. So much might take place within that time!"

He was about to add "to part us," but stopped himself just in time.

"A lady has to have a trousseau prepared," she said, archly. "And when you put yourself in the hands of these modistes, you are at their mercy; they will not be hurried. Mamma, I am sure, would not consent to an earlier marriage than that. I hope that I may persuade her to do so."

"You will allow me to persuade her differently, if I can?" he asked, eagerly.

"Yes, if you can," she answered.

"I will try to settle it before I leave the house this very night," he declared. "Ah, here comes your mother now! If you will make some kind of an excuse to absent yourself from the room, my darling, for a few moments, I will urge my suit so eloquently⁶ that she will find it difficult to say 'no' to me."

Mrs. St. John greeted the young man pleasantly as she entered. She was too thoroughly⁸ a woman of the world to greet him effusively⁹, knowing, had she done so, it would be sure to make him too confident of success.

Royal Ainsley laid himself out to please the mother as he had never attempted to please an elderly woman before.

"You asked me to play over a new piece of music for you when you came. If you will please excuse me for a moment, I will get it," said Florence, glancing up shyly at him with laughing eyes, as much as to say, "I am going to give you a chance for the longed-for interview with mamma"—a look which Royal Ainsley answered with a nod. Florence had scarcely reached the upper landing ere Royal Ainsley left his seat, and walked eagerly over to Mrs. St. John's side.

"My dear lady," he began, dropping into a seat opposite[96] her, "I want to tell you a little story and hear your opinion about it."

Mrs. St. John was wise enough to know what was coming, but she did not betray more than the usual interest.

"It is the story of a young man who wished to possess a treasure which belonged to another. He yearned¹⁰ for it with all his soul.

"My dear lady, not to beat further round the bush, let me say I am the young man who wishes to possess the treasure which you hold as sacred. That treasure is your beautiful daughter Florence, my dear lady. I love her with all my heart. I want your consent to make her my wife."

"Dear, dear me!" exclaimed Mrs. St. John, apparently¹¹ greatly frustrated¹². "I hope you have not spoken a word of this to the dear child."

"Yes, I have, and we have both determined¹³ to abide¹⁴ by your decision, as to how long we shall have to wait, though we both hope you will set as early a day as possible."

"Remember that my Florence is only a school-girl yet," declared the mother. "I could not think of parting from her yet."

"Dear, dear lady!" cried Royal Ainsley, "do not doom¹⁵ me to such pitiful suspense¹⁶, I beg of you! There are some men who could wait with much patience, but I am not one of them. I should have to go away and travel incessantly¹⁷."

This was exactly what Mrs. St. John did not wish to happen. The gilded¹⁸ youth before her was too good a catch in the matrimonial market to lose.

Every mother is always glad to have her daughter make a good match. She was no exception to the rule.

And when she read in the paper, a few months later, of that uncle's death, and that he had left his vast wealth to his nephew, Royal Ainsley, she was determined that no effort should be spared to make him fall in love with her daughter.

He grew eloquent⁷ in his pleading. Ere ten minutes[97] more had elapsed, he had drawn¹⁹ from Mrs. St. John's lips the promise that the wedding should take place in four months' time at the very latest.

He made up his mind to accept this decision for the present, but he would certainly depend upon his own eloquence²⁰ and persuasive²¹ powers in the near future to overcome her scruples²² and influence her to name an earlier day.

He left the house that night buoyant of spirits and gay of heart. It was strange that in that hour he thought of Ida May.

1 chattering   

n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The teacher told the children to stop chattering in class. 老师叫孩子们在课堂上不要叽叽喳喳讲话。
• I was so cold that my teeth were chattering. 我冷得牙齿直打战。

2 agitation   

n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动

参考例句：

• Small shopkeepers carried on a long agitation against the big department stores.小店主们长期以来一直在煽动人们反对大型百货商店。
• These materials require constant agitation to keep them in suspension.这些药剂要经常搅动以保持悬浮状态。

3 annoyance   

n.恼怒，生气，烦恼

参考例句：

• Why do you always take your annoyance out on me?为什么你不高兴时总是对我出气？
• I felt annoyance at being teased.我恼恨别人取笑我。

4 adage   

n.格言，古训

参考例句：

• But the old adage that men grow into office has not proved true in my experience.但是，根据我的经验，人们所谓的工作岗位造就人材这句古话并不正确。
• Her experience lends credence to the adage " We live and learn!"她的经验印证了一句格言: 活到老，学到老！

5 groaned   

v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦

参考例句：

• He groaned in anguish. 他痛苦地呻吟。
• The cart groaned under the weight of the piano. 大车在钢琴的重压下嘎吱作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 eloquently   

adv. 雄辩地(有口才地, 富于表情地)

参考例句：

• I was toasted by him most eloquently at the dinner. 进餐时他口若悬河地向我祝酒。
• The poet eloquently expresses the sense of lost innocence. 诗人动人地表达了失去天真的感觉。

7 eloquent   

adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的

参考例句：

• He was so eloquent that he cut down the finest orator.他能言善辩，胜过最好的演说家。
• These ruins are an eloquent reminder of the horrors of war.这些废墟形象地提醒人们不要忘记战争的恐怖。

8 thoroughly   

adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地

参考例句：

• The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
• The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。

9 effusively   

adv.变溢地，热情洋溢地

参考例句：

• We were effusively welcomed by the patron and his wife. 我们受到老板和他妻子的热忱欢迎。 来自辞典例句
• The critics praised her effusively. 评论家们热情洋溢地表扬了她。 来自互联网

10 yearned   

渴望，切盼，向往( yearn的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The people yearned for peace. 人民渴望和平。
• She yearned to go back to the south. 她渴望回到南方去。

11 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

12 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

14 abide   

vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受

参考例句：

• You must abide by the results of your mistakes.你必须承担你的错误所造成的后果。
• If you join the club,you have to abide by its rules.如果你参加俱乐部，你就得遵守它的规章。

15 doom   

n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定

参考例句：

• The report on our economic situation is full of doom and gloom.这份关于我们经济状况的报告充满了令人绝望和沮丧的调子。
• The dictator met his doom after ten years of rule.独裁者统治了十年终于完蛋了。

16 suspense   

n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑

参考例句：

• The suspense was unbearable.这样提心吊胆的状况实在叫人受不了。
• The director used ingenious devices to keep the audience in suspense.导演用巧妙手法引起观众的悬念。

17 incessantly   

ad.不停地

参考例句：

• The machines roar incessantly during the hours of daylight. 机器在白天隆隆地响个不停。
• It rained incessantly for the whole two weeks. 雨不间断地下了整整两个星期。

18 gilded   

a.镀金的，富有的

参考例句：

• The golden light gilded the sea. 金色的阳光使大海如金子般闪闪发光。
• "Friends, they are only gilded disks of lead!" "朋友们，这只不过是些镀金的铅饼！ 来自英汉文学 - 败坏赫德莱堡

19 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

20 eloquence   

n.雄辩；口才，修辞

参考例句：

• I am afraid my eloquence did not avail against the facts.恐怕我的雄辩也无补于事实了。
• The people were charmed by his eloquence.人们被他的口才迷住了。

21 persuasive   

adj.有说服力的，能说得使人相信的

参考例句：

• His arguments in favour of a new school are very persuasive.他赞成办一座新学校的理由很有说服力。
• The evidence was not really persuasive enough.证据并不是太有说服力。

22 scruples   

n.良心上的不安( scruple的名词复数 )；顾虑，顾忌v.感到于心不安，有顾忌( scruple的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• I overcame my moral scruples. 我抛开了道德方面的顾虑。
• I'm not ashamed of my scruples about your family. They were natural. 我并未因为对你家人的顾虑而感到羞耻。这种感觉是自然而然的。 来自疯狂英语突破英语语调