She sat up, wildly crying:
"Jani, the box! What have they done with the box?"
The ayah's arms were round her in a second. Jani whispered and soothed2 her mistress as, long ago, she had soothed her nursling. Safe was the mem sahib's box; no one should lay finger on it but herself. But the mem sahib must be good and sleep, for Jani was by her. And Rosamond let her head rest gratefully upon the wasted bosom3 that once had held such loving bounties4 for her, and from thence slid back upon her pillows into forgetfulness again. She was weary still, with a great and blessed weariness.
* * * * *
Dr. Saunders paid brief daily visits. In Sir Arthur's opinion he was inclined to make culpably5 light of the whole affair—to allow those unimportant fever cases in the compound to weigh against the indisposition of the Lieutenant-Governor's wife.
It is a notable fact that the medical man treats the feminine syncope as not calling for much notice. And though the excellent Scot conceded that there might be some shock caused by the fall, to account for the prolonged unconsciousness, he declined to admit to Sir Arthur there was ground for anxiety or to recommend any treatment but quiet—absolute quiet. The preliminary symptom of irritability7 towards himself which Sir Arthur commented upon as extraordinary and alarming, Dr. Saunders in so many words declined, as a waste of time, even to discuss.
Nevertheless, as days succeeded each other and the patient's languor8, not to say apathy9, continued unabated, Dr. Saunders abruptly10 changed his tactics and informed his Excellency that he had better lose no time in sending his wife home.
"Pack her off," he said brusquely.
"Pack her off!" The choice of words was as unfitting as the idea they embodied11 was distasteful.
"I thought," said Sir Arthur, loftily, "that you were aware, Dr. Saunders, of my intention of progressing homewards next month."
"Well, I should pack off Lady Gerardine by the next boat," said the doctor, no whit12 abashed13. "There's a good deal of sickness about, and I should not like to take the responsibility of keeping her on here in this condition. She's in a queer low state—damn queer low state, Sir Arthur."
Sir Arthur puffed14 an angry breath down his nostrils15 and fixed16 a withering17 gaze on the other's dry, impassive countenance18.
What sort of a physician was this who, having charge of the precious health of such a distinguished19 household, could allow one of its most important members to get into a damn queer low state and then brazenly20 announce the fact? Sir Arthur, a spot of red anger burning upon each cheekbone, gave Dr. Saunders clearly to understand how grossly he had failed in his post of trust, and announced his own intention of procuring21 higher opinion without delay. Whereat the doctor shrugged22 his shoulders and drove off in his little trap at break-neck speed, as philosophically23 as ever.
The higher medical opinion was procured24. And though it was enveloped25 in phraseology better suited to the patient's distinguished station, it was substantially the same as the first—with the single difference that it seemed to take a more serious view of the case. Lady Gerardine was once more ordered home with the least possible delay, this time under penalties so obscurely hinted at as to seem far more alarming than the most explicit26 statement.
Sir Arthur's irritable27 anxiety caught fire again. He hastened the departure with as much energy as he had hitherto displayed in repudiating28 the idea. Truth to tell, no prescription29 could have well been less pleasing to him. Precluded30 himself by public business from leaving before his allotted31 time, not only would his stately "progress" home be sorely shorn of its chief adornment32, but the visit of his distinguished relative, Lady Aspasia Melbury, would have to be unceremoniously postponed33. Moreover, it was never part of his views of the marital34 state to allow his beautiful wife to remove herself more than a day's journey from his personal influence. Scornfully as he would have repudiated35 any suggestion of jealousy36 (and indeed, as Aspasia had asserted, he was perhaps too vain a man to entertain so unflattering a guest in the complacency of his thoughts), he had, whether from long residence in the East or natural disposition6, an almost oriental manner of regarding the wife as an appanage to the man's estate—a satellite, pleasing and brilliant enough, but yet a mere37 satellite in the greater luminary's orbit of glory. And therefore, while feverishly38 speeding the necessary preparations, he could not but let it be seen that he was disappointed, not to say hurt, that there should be any necessity for them.
Lady Gerardine showed herself as gently indifferent to reproach as she had been to solicitude40. But the physician's wisdom was so far justified41 that, from the moment she was told of his decision, she roused herself and began to take some interest in life again.
"Home," she said, "England! Oh, I am glad!"
And, by-and-by, when she was alone with Aspasia, she began, to the girl's delight, to discuss plans with quite an eagerness in her weak voice.
They were in a long cool room, one of the bygone zenana apartments preserved practically untouched, which opened upon the one side into the garden through the arches of a colonnade42, and was secluded43 even from that quiet spot by marvellous stone lacework screens, each different down to the smallest detail of design, yet all in harmony. However the small dusky Eastern beauties may have rebelled in their day against these exquisite44 prison walls; the present Northern mistress of the whilom palace found pleasure in their very seclusion45, their apartness; and, according to her wont46, she feasted her soul lazily on their artistic47 perfections.
She was stretched on a highly painted Indian couch which had been converted into a sofa, and let her eyes wander from the carving48 of the window screens themselves to their even lovelier reflections, cut in grey shadow on the white marble of the pavement. From the inner rooms the waters of the baths played murmurous49 accompaniment to her thought and her interrupted speech. Aspasia, squatting50 on the rug at the foot of the couch, listened, commented, and suggested.
The latter had not yet quite overcome her horrified51 sense of guilt52 in connection with Lady Gerardine's singular breakdown53. Without being able to piece together any reasonable explanation of late events, she felt instinctively54 that here was more than met the eye; that there was in the web of her aunt's life, so to speak, an under-warp of unknown colour and unexpected strength; that behind the placid55 surface there lay secret depths; and that her own trifling56 treachery had unwittingly set forces in motion with incalculable possibilities. She had gone about, these days, with a solemn look—a living presentment of childish anxiety. The scared shadow was still on her pretty face as she now sat in attendance.
"Home in six weeks..." said Rosamond, dreamily. "We shall still find violets amid the dark-green leaves, Baby, and brown and yellow chrysanthemums58 on the top of their frost-bitten stalks."
"And is it not jolly," said Aspasia, hugging her knees, "to think that we can go and paddle about in the wet as much as ever we like, without any one after us! And isn't it delightful59 to be going off just our two selves. Oh! Aunt Rosamond, you gave me an awful fright, you know; but really it was rather well done of you, to faint off like that. You see, the doctor says, whatever they do, now, they're not to contradict you. If ever I get an illness I hope it will be that sort. It is worth anything to be leaving Runkle behind."
Rosamond did not answer, unless a small secret smile in her pillows could be called an answer.
"I don't suppose," proceeded Baby, emboldened60, "that you have ever been free from the dear Runkle for more than three days at a time since you married him."
The phrase being a mere statement of fact, it was again left without response.
"And really," pursued Aspasia, warming to her subject, "the way he pounced61 upon us last summer up in the hills was enough to ruin the nerves of a camel. No sooner gone than he was back. Positively62 one would rather have had him at home the whole time!"
Force of comparison evidently could no further go. Lady Gerardine gave one of her rare laughs. Baby's face was all wrathful gravity.
Poor Sir Arthur! Disciplinarian as he was, he failed to inspire his immediate63 circle with anything like average respect. It was a study in morals to watch the rapidity with which the first awe64 of some newly joined member of his English staff, the flattered reverential fascination65 produced by early intercourse66 with the great man, gave way to the snigger, the jeer67, the grudging68 submission69. But, serene70 in his own consciousness of power and his own heaven-born gift of applying it, Sir Arthur laid down the law smilingly and inflexibly71; and the native world about him, at least, bowed to his rule with impassive face and supple72 back. And, if there were any symptoms of that mutiny which his niece declared a long continuance of his rule must inevitably73 foster, it is quite certain that he would have refused to believe in it until the rebel's knife was actually at his throat.
"Ah," cried he, coming in upon them at the sound of his wife's laugh, "that's better! I thought we should soon have you on the right road when Sir James took you in hand."
Sir James's harmless ammonia mixture, orange-scented, differed as little from Dr. Saunders' sedative74 drops as the pith of his flowery advice from the latter's blunt statement. But Dr. Saunders was in deep disgrace, and would probably remain so until the Governor's next colic.
Lady Gerardine's face had instantly fallen back to its usual expression of indifference75.
"I hope you weren't listening," cried Aspasia, pertly, "we were just saying what a bore you are."
Sir Arthur laughed again, very guilelessly, and stooped to pinch her little pink ear.
"I have wired to Sir James to have his opinion upon the best resort for you in England, until my arrival, dear. His answer has just come."
He spread out the flimsy sheet and ran his short trim finger along the lines: "'Decidedly Brighton, Margate, or Eastbourne.' It is evident he thinks you require bracing77."
"I have quite decided76 where I am going," answered Lady Gerardine, turning her head on her cushion to look at him.
"Eh?" cried Sir Arthur, scarce able to believe his ears.
"I have been unable to talk business, hitherto," proceeded his wife, gently. "But I wanted to tell you I have decided: I go to Saltwoods."
"To Saltwoods?" His eyes were fixed, protruding79, in displeased80 amazement81.
To Saltwoods, that paltry82 little Dorsetshire manor-house which, by the recent demise83 of Captain English's mother, had devolved upon his young widow! The Old Ancient House, as it was invariably called throughout the countryside, set in such preposterous84 isolation85 that the letting of it on any terms had ever remained an impossibility—the legacy86 was by no means acceptable to Sir Arthur. The various sums that he had already had to disburse87 for its upkeep and repairs had been a very just grievance88 with him; and one of the many matters of business he had resolved to accomplish on his return to England was the sale, at any loss, of this inconvenient89 estate.
"I mean to go there," said Lady Gerardine in the same tone of delicate deliberation, but sitting up among her cushions and pushing the hair from her forehead with the gesture that he had already learned to regard with some dismay as indicative of "her nervous moments." "Old Mary, the housekeeper90, can easily get in a couple of country girls, and that will do for me and Aspasia very well."
"Preposterous! Now that's what I call perfectly91 idiotic92! I don't want to find fault with you, my dear girl, and of course you've been ill and all that. But it's quite evident you are not yet in a state to see things in their right light. 'A case of sudden neurasthenia upon a highly sensitive organisation93,' as Sir James says."
This was certainly a more suitable definition of her ladyship's malady94 than the "damn queer low state" of Dr. Saunders; and Sir Arthur rolled it with some complacency upon his tongue.
"There, there, we won't discuss the matter any more just now. Rely upon me to arrange all that is necessary in the most suitable and satisfactory manner." He drew a carved stool to the head of the couch, and possessed95 himself of her hand in his affectionate way. "There, there, she must not be worried!"
Across the fatigue96 of Lady Gerardine's countenance came an expression that was almost a faint amusement, tempered with pity. Aspasia watching, very demure97, mouse-still, from her lowly post, found the situation one of interest.
"You are always kind," said Rosamond then; "but I shall be better at Saltwoods than anywhere. You forget that I have work to do."
"Work?" echoed Sir Arthur. He drew back to contemplate98 her uneasily; positively this sounded like wandering.
"It was your wish," she continued (could there lurk99 in that soft voice an undertone of resentment57?), "that I should ... look over"—she hesitated as if she could not pronounce her dead husband's name and remodelled100 her phrase—"that I should assist Major Bethune with his book."
"Ah!"
Sir Arthur remembered. But the proposition was none the less absurd. That Lady Gerardine, too delicate to be able to remain with him—with him, Sir Arthur, the Lieutenant-Governor, at a moment when a hostess was eminently101 needed at Government House—should be taking into her calculations the claims of so unimportant a personality as that of poor dead and gone English, was, for all his consciously punctilious102 chivalry103 towards his predecessor's shade, a piece of irritating feminine perversity104 that positively stank105 in Sir Arthur's nostrils. He snorted. For a moment, indeed, he was really angry. And the sharpness of his first exclamation106 brought the blood racing78 to Aspasia's cheeks. She hesitated on the point of interference. But the invalid's unruffled demeanour made no demand upon assistance. Suddenly realising himself the unfitness of his tone towards a neurasthenic patient of highly sensitive organisation, Sir Arthur dropped from loud indignation to his usual indulgent pitch:
"See, my love, how perverse109 you are. First, when it seemed a mere matter of justice to poor English's memory and could have been accomplished110 with a very trifling expenditure111 of trouble, you were opposed to the matter. And now, when, as Sir James says, it is so important for you to have absolute rest, to put even your ordinary correspondence on one side, you tell me, childishly, that it is my wish you should work! I hope, I hope," said Sir Arthur, appealing to space, "that I am not an unreasonable112 man."
"I was wrong," said Lady Gerardine; "I do not intend to do it because it was your wish, but because it is now mine."
Once again Sir Arthur paused for want of the phrase that would lit his sense of the extraordinary attitude of his wife and yet not induce any recurrence113 of the dreaded114 symptoms. Then a brilliant solution of the difficulty flashed across his mind.
"I will write and inform Major Bethune of the necessary postponement115 of the whole affair. And now, not a word more."
Lady Gerardine smiled, but it was with lips that were growing pale.
"I have myself written to Major Bethune," said she. "It is all settled. He will be travelling by our boat and will come to me at Saltwoods as soon as I am ready for him."
She sank a fraction deeper among her cushions as she spoke116, and a blue shade gathered about her mouth and nostrils. Aspasia scrambled117 to her feet in time to arrest the storm that was threatening in clouds upon her uncle's brow.
"For Heaven's sake," she cried, "hold your tongue and go away, Runkle. You'll kill her!" She dived for the smelling-salts and shrieked118 for Jani. "Good gracious," she rated him, holding the bottle with pink, shaky fingers to the waxen nostrils, "after all the doctors said, and everything!"
Sir Arthur retired120, remarkably121 crestfallen122, to his study. How was a man to exercise the proper marital control upon the marble-white obstinacy123 of a fainting woman?
Neurasthenic shock was a very fine diagnosis124. But it was a question, after all—he lit his cheroot—whether a "damn queer state" did not more aptly picture the actual condition of affairs.
* * * * *
The receipt of a letter from Lady Aspasia Melbury was the first drop of balm in his Excellency's unwontedly distasteful cup. She pooh-poohed his old-fashioned suggestion that the hostess's enforced absence necessitated125 a postponement of her visit—announced her arrival at the prescribed time, and her conviction that she and her cousin would get on "like a house on fire." Such being the great lady's opinion, the great man was delighted; and, before many further hours had gone by, the younger and less important Aspasia, with hardly suppressed giggles126, heard him hold forth127 at the dinner table to the following effect:
"What my wife requires really is absolute country quiet. I have arranged that she should pass her first weeks in England at her own little place in Dorsetshire, a charming old manor-house. She naturally does not wish to see much society till my return; and, anyhow, there is a small piece of work which she is undertaking128 at my suggestion." Here he whispered audibly to the General—his guest of the evening: "Poor English, you know—a little biography we are getting up about him. He was killed, you remember, in that Baroghil expedition."
"Umph, yes; I remember, Inziri Pass—seven years ago, nasty business," grumbled129 the General, as he guzzled130 his soup; and Aspasia's eyes danced and her cheeks grew pink with suppressed laughter. Young Simpson thought she was laughing at him, and became abjectly131 wretched for the evening.
* * * * *
Having re-established his supremacy132 to his own satisfaction, Sir Arthur took an enormous interest in the protocol133 of his wife's departure. As he himself intended to accompany her to Bombay—he was to meet Lady Aspasia at an intermediate town on her May north—all the pomp and circumstance in which his soul delighted was to grace the occasion: the escorts, the salutes134, the special trains, and so forth. Finding that Major Bethune was bound by the same boat, he annexed136 him to his "progress," with a condescension137 peculiarly his own. "He is engaged in some literary work, at my request. A very good kind of fellow; very intelligent, too," he explained.
And so Raymond Bethune found himself one of the Lieutenant-Governor's brilliant retinue138 that autumn evening of the departure. "A silent, unemotional man," Sir Arthur might have added to his description, had he, in his own sublime139 content, ever thought of examining the impressions of others.
Yet, under his impassive exterior140, Raymond Bethune was conscious of a keener interest than he had felt these many years. But it was not in the smartness of the Lieutenant-Governor's escort, in the gorgeousness of his equipages or the general splendour of the magnate himself that he found food for speculation141; it was in the personality of Sir Arthur's wife—a repellent yet fascinating enigma142. His thoughts perpetually worked round it without being able to solve it.
In another manner, a sweet, vague stirring of his being—totally new experience this!—the girlish presence of Aspasia filled his mind also to an unacknowledged degree. He felt as if his life had been caught up out of its own vastly different course and suddenly intertwined with that of these two women; the one whose every action, every word, was mysterious to him; and the other, clear to the eye as running water, child-heart, child-soul, impulse elemental, nature itself from her spontaneous laugh to her frank impertinence.
"Do you know," whispered Aspasia to him, as they stood side by side under the great colonnade waiting for their turn to descend143 to the carriage, "I have been hating myself ever since I was such a beast about poor Aunt Rosamond. I think it has half killed her, this business. Even the Runkle wants her to give it up while she's so ill."
The man's eyes had been lost in a musing144 contemplation of the rosy145 pointed39 face surrounded by diaphanous146 folds of grey gauze. A dainty figure was Aspasia in her soft greys—the sort of travelling companion a man might gladly take with him through the arid147 and dusty journey of life. But at these words his singular light gaze kindled148.
"Surely," said he, "you do not connect Lady Gerardine's illness with anything that you or I have done? That would be absurd, in the circumstances"—he threw a scornful glance about him—"too absurd a proposition to be entertained for a moment." ("This sensibility in a woman who has consoled herself so quickly and to such good purpose!" he added to himself.)
"Oh," said Aspasia back, in a brisk angry whisper, "you don't understand, and neither do I. But I feel, and you don't ... and I think you are perfectly hateful!"
She had caught his look, followed his thought, and was indignant.
* * * * *
And now out into the divine Indian evening they set. The travellers, with their crowd of attendants, moved of necessity slowly, for Lady Gerardine went upon her husband's arm, in the languor of the semi-invalid. Through the frowning gateway149, down the stairway they passed, to halt again before the last flight of steps, Rosamond drew herself away from Sir Arthur's support, leaned up against the rough stone slabs150 of the wall, and laid a slender gloved hand absently in one of five prints that mark it.
"Do you see those?" cried Baby turning, all her ill-humour forgotten in her desire to impart a thrilling piece of information to Major Bethune as he walked behind her. "Do you see those funny marks? Those are supposed to be made by the hands of the queens, when they came down to be burned. Ugh! I say, Aunt Rosamond, are not you rather glad you are not an ancient Indian princess, and that Runkle is not an old rajah, and that you've not got to look forward to frizzle on his pyre?"
"You forget," came Rosamond's dreamy voice in reply, "I should not have been alive to grace Sir Arthur's pyre. My ashes would have mingled151 with other ashes long, long before.... Oh, I'm not so sure," she went on, again fitting a delicate hand into the sinister152 prints, "I am not sure that it was not a kind law in the end."
"Gracious!" cried the irrepressible Aspasia, with a shriek119 and a laugh. And then she whispered, all bubbling mischief153, into Bethune's ear: "The poor Runkle, he is not as bad as all that, after all!"
Then, at sight of his face, she suddenly fell grave; and the two stood looking at each other. Bethune had first been startled by Lady Gerardine's look and accents even more than by the words themselves. The next moment, however, he mentally shrugged the shoulder of contempt.
Whom did she think to take in by her affectation of sensibility, this languid, self-centred creature in the midst of her chosen luxury?
Thus, when his eyes met Aspasia's, they were sad with the scorn of things, sad for the sordid154 trickeries of the soul of her on whom the love of his dead friend had been lavished155.
Sir Arthur, with touching156 unconsciousness of the interlude, was once again affectionately sustaining his wife. Then, as the procession moved on once more, Baby, troubled and discomfited—she could have hardly explained why—moved childishly close to Raymond Bethune, and shivered a little.
"I am glad to be getting away from this haunted place and this uncanny country," she whispered again. "I feel sure I should have ended by making one of these dreadful natives stick a knife into me. I am always plunging157 in upon their feelings and offending their castes, and all the rest of it. Just look at Saif-u-din's face—Runkle's new secretary—I never saw such a glare as he threw upon us all just now. I suppose he thought we were making fun of their precious suttee!" Aspasia's idea of native distinctions was still of the vaguest.
Bethune turned the keen gaze of the conscious dominator upon the man that Aspasia had indicated with her little indiscreet finger. The red-turbaned, artistically158 draped figure, with the noble dusky head and the fan-shaped raven159 beard, was striding in their wake with a serene dignity that looked as if nothing could ever ruffle108 it. Had he been ruffled107? Had the glare existed merely in Aspasia's imagination? While recognising a Pathan (whose contempt for the Hindoo probably exceeded Baby's own), Bethune knew that it was quite possible the irritable pride of the mountain man had taken fire at some real or fancied slight; but the betrayal could have been no more than a flash.
The Major of Guides smiled to himself. He knew his native: the man who will never give you more than an accidental peep of the bared blade in the velvet160 sheath—no, not till he means to strike! About this fellow, a splendid specimen161 of the noblest race, a creature cut out of steel and bronze, there was, he thought, a more than usual sinister hint of the wild nature under all the exquisite manner and the perfect self-restraint; and he found himself regarding him with the complacent162 eye of the connoisseur163. The artistic lion-tamer likes his lions savage164.
As he looked he wondered once and again how one so evidently a son of the warlike Pathans could have sought the pacific calling of secretary.
Sir Arthur was taking his new toy down to Bombay with him, where there were, he had been informed, certain documents which might be of value to the "monumental work." And so it came to pass that Bethune and Muhammed Saif-u-din, destined165 to share one of the subordinate vehicles, found themselves presently standing166 side by side at the foot of the steps.
Whether because of the interest he must have seen he had inspired in the officer, or whether he was simply drawn167 towards him by his racial military instincts, Raymond could not determine, but, as they halted, well-nigh shoulder to shoulder, the Pathan suddenly wheeled round, looked him full in the face in his turn, then smiled. It was a frank smile, showing a flash of splendid teeth; and it lit up the fierce, proud features in a way that was at once bright and sad.
"It would be curious," reflected Bethune, "to know what sort of a soul dwells in that envelope, which might become the greatest gentleman on earth. I'll warrant the fellow has many a bloody168 page in his story that a man might scarce look upon, and yet he has got a smile to stir you like a woman's."
The first horses of the escort began to move with much crisp action, for Sir Arthur was at last installed in his state chariot. Through the great glass windows he might be seen and admired of all beholders, feeling his wife's pulse with an air of profound concern; while she, submissive, her patient smile upon her lips, was gazing up into his face with gentle abstracted eyes.
"A model couple!" sneered169 Bethune to himself. And, turning impatiently aside to devote his attention to the more pleasing subject of the oriental, he found the latter just in the act of dropping his glance from the same spectacle, and thought to notice a flicker170 as of kindred scorn pass across the statuesque composure of the dark face.
"For ever will the East and the West be as poles apart," cogitated171 the soldier, even as M. Chatelard had done; "upon no point do they in their heart more despise us than in our subserviency172 to our women. I am not sure," he pursued to himself, cynically173, as the splendid presence of Saif-u-din settled itself with dignity upon the seat beside him; "I am not sure but that the orientals knew what they were about when they made their laws concerning the false and mischievous174 sex."
Loud and deep rang the great guns of the salute135: their Excellencies had started. Rosamond Gerardine was bound for England. In a waggon175, at the tail of all the other equipages, sat Jani, withered176 and sad-faced, wrapt in her thoughts as closely as in her dusky chuddah. She would not talk with the bearers or even lament177 her coming exile. She held on tightly with one thin brown hand to a much-battered military tin case, which she herself had laid on the seat beside her. No one else would she permit to touch it. The other servants mocked her about it, vowing178 it was full of her hoardings and that they would rob her of it. At that she would menace them fiercely with her monkey paw. Strange, sad, inscrutable little Parca keeping guard on the fate of lives!
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
torrent
|
|
| n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
soothed
|
|
| v.安慰( soothe的过去式和过去分词 )；抚慰；使舒服；减轻痛苦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
bosom
|
|
| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
bounties
|
|
| （由政府提供的）奖金( bounty的名词复数 )； 赏金； 慷慨； 大方 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
culpably
|
|
| adv.该罚地，可恶地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
6
disposition
|
|
| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
irritability
|
|
| n.易怒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
languor
|
|
| n.无精力，倦怠 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
apathy
|
|
| n.漠不关心，无动于衷；冷淡 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
abruptly
|
|
| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
embodied
|
|
| v.表现( embody的过去式和过去分词 )；象征；包括；包含 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
whit
|
|
| n.一点，丝毫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
abashed
|
|
| adj.窘迫的，尴尬的v.使羞愧，使局促，使窘迫( abash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
puffed
|
|
| adj.疏松的v.使喷出( puff的过去式和过去分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
nostrils
|
|
| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
fixed
|
|
| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
withering
|
|
| 使人畏缩的，使人害羞的，使人难堪的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
countenance
|
|
| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
distinguished
|
|
| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
brazenly
|
|
| adv.厚颜无耻地；厚脸皮地肆无忌惮地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
procuring
|
|
| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的现在分词 )；拉皮条 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
shrugged
|
|
| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
philosophically
|
|
| adv.哲学上；富有哲理性地；贤明地；冷静地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
procured
|
|
| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
enveloped
|
|
| v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
explicit
|
|
| adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
irritable
|
|
| adj.急躁的；过敏的；易怒的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
repudiating
|
|
| v.（正式地）否认( repudiate的现在分词 )；拒绝接受；拒绝与…往来；拒不履行（法律义务） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
prescription
|
|
| n.处方，开药；指示，规定 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
precluded
|
|
| v.阻止( preclude的过去式和过去分词 )；排除；妨碍；使…行不通 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
allotted
|
|
| 分配，拨给，摊派( allot的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
adornment
|
|
| n.装饰；装饰品 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
postponed
|
|
| vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
marital
|
|
| adj.婚姻的，夫妻的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
repudiated
|
|
| v.（正式地）否认( repudiate的过去式和过去分词 )；拒绝接受；拒绝与…往来；拒不履行（法律义务） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
jealousy
|
|
| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
mere
|
|
| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
feverishly
|
|
| adv. 兴奋地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
pointed
|
|
| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
solicitude
|
|
| n.焦虑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
justified
|
|
| a.正当的，有理的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
colonnade
|
|
| n.柱廊 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
secluded
|
|
| adj.与世隔绝的；隐退的；偏僻的v.使隔开，使隐退( seclude的过去式和过去分词) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
exquisite
|
|
| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
seclusion
|
|
| n.隐遁，隔离 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
wont
|
|
| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
artistic
|
|
| adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
carving
|
|
| n.雕刻品，雕花 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
murmurous
|
|
| adj.低声的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
50
squatting
|
|
| v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的现在分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
horrified
|
|
| a.(表现出)恐惧的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
guilt
|
|
| n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
breakdown
|
|
| n.垮，衰竭；损坏，故障，倒塌 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
instinctively
|
|
| adv.本能地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
placid
|
|
| adj.安静的，平和的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
trifling
|
|
| adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
resentment
|
|
| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
chrysanthemums
|
|
| n.菊花( chrysanthemum的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
delightful
|
|
| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
emboldened
|
|
| v.鼓励，使有胆量( embolden的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
pounced
|
|
| v.突然袭击( pounce的过去式和过去分词 )；猛扑；一眼看出；抓住机会（进行抨击） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
positively
|
|
| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
immediate
|
|
| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
awe
|
|
| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
fascination
|
|
| n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
intercourse
|
|
| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
jeer
|
|
| vi.嘲弄，揶揄；vt.奚落；n.嘲笑，讥评 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
grudging
|
|
| adj.勉强的，吝啬的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
submission
|
|
| n.服从，投降；温顺，谦虚；提出 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
serene
|
|
| adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
inflexibly
|
|
| adv.不屈曲地，不屈地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
supple
|
|
| adj.柔软的，易弯的，逢迎的，顺从的，灵活的；vt.使柔软，使柔顺，使顺从；vi.变柔软，变柔顺 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
inevitably
|
|
| adv.不可避免地；必然发生地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
sedative
|
|
| adj.使安静的，使镇静的；n. 镇静剂，能使安静的东西 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
indifference
|
|
| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
decided
|
|
| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
bracing
|
|
| adj.令人振奋的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
racing
|
|
| n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
protruding
|
|
| v.（使某物）伸出，（使某物）突出( protrude的现在分词 )；凸 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
displeased
|
|
| a.不快的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
81
amazement
|
|
| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
82
paltry
|
|
| adj.无价值的，微不足道的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
83
demise
|
|
| n.死亡；v.让渡，遗赠，转让 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
84
preposterous
|
|
| adj.荒谬的，可笑的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
85
isolation
|
|
| n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
86
legacy
|
|
| n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
87
disburse
|
|
| v.支出，拨款 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
88
grievance
|
|
| n.怨愤，气恼，委屈 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
89
inconvenient
|
|
| adj.不方便的，令人感到麻烦的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
90
housekeeper
|
|
| n.管理家务的主妇，女管家 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
91
perfectly
|
|
| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
92
idiotic
|
|
| adj.白痴的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
93
organisation
|
|
| n.组织，安排，团体，有机休 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
94
malady
|
|
| n.病，疾病(通常做比喻) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
95
possessed
|
|
| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
96
fatigue
|
|
| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
97
demure
|
|
| adj.严肃的；端庄的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
98
contemplate
|
|
| vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
99
lurk
|
|
| n.潜伏，潜行；v.潜藏，潜伏，埋伏 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
100
remodelled
|
|
| v.改变…的结构[形状]( remodel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
101
eminently
|
|
| adv.突出地；显著地；不寻常地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
102
punctilious
|
|
| adj.谨慎的，谨小慎微的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
103
chivalry
|
|
| n.骑士气概，侠义；（男人）对女人彬彬有礼，献殷勤 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
104
perversity
|
|
| n.任性；刚愎自用 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
105
stank
|
|
| n. (英)坝，堰，池塘 动词stink的过去式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
106
exclamation
|
|
| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
107
ruffled
|
|
| adj. 有褶饰边的, 起皱的 动词ruffle的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
108
ruffle
|
|
| v.弄皱，弄乱；激怒，扰乱；n.褶裥饰边 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
109
perverse
|
|
| adj.刚愎的；坚持错误的，行为反常的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
110
accomplished
|
|
| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
111
expenditure
|
|
| n.(时间、劳力、金钱等)支出；使用，消耗 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
112
unreasonable
|
|
| adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
113
recurrence
|
|
| n.复发，反复，重现 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
114
dreaded
|
|
| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
115
postponement
|
|
| n.推迟 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
116
spoke
|
|
| 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 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
117
scrambled
|
|
| v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
118
shrieked
|
|
| v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
119
shriek
|
|
| v./n.尖叫，叫喊 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
120
retired
|
|
| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
121
remarkably
|
|
| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
122
crestfallen
|
|
| adj. 挫败的，失望的，沮丧的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
123
obstinacy
|
|
| n.顽固；（病痛等）难治 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
124
diagnosis
|
|
| n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
125
necessitated
|
|
| 使…成为必要，需要( necessitate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
126
giggles
|
|
| n.咯咯的笑( giggle的名词复数 )；傻笑；玩笑；the giggles 止不住的格格笑v.咯咯地笑( giggle的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
127
forth
|
|
| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
128
undertaking
|
|
| n.保证，许诺，事业 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
129
grumbled
|
|
| 抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
130
guzzled
|
|
| v.狂吃暴饮，大吃大喝( guzzle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
131
abjectly
|
|
| 凄惨地； 绝望地； 糟透地； 悲惨地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
132
supremacy
|
|
| n.至上；至高权力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
133
protocol
|
|
| n.议定书，草约，会谈记录，外交礼节 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
134
salutes
|
|
| n.致敬，欢迎，敬礼( salute的名词复数 )v.欢迎，致敬( salute的第三人称单数 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
135
salute
|
|
| vi.行礼，致意，问候，放礼炮；vt.向…致意，迎接，赞扬；n.招呼，敬礼，礼炮 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
136
annexed
|
|
| [法] 附加的，附属的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
137
condescension
|
|
| n.自以为高人一等，贬低(别人) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
138
retinue
|
|
| n.侍从；随员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
139
sublime
|
|
| adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
140
exterior
|
|
| adj.外部的，外在的；表面的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
141
speculation
|
|
| n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
142
enigma
|
|
| n.谜，谜一样的人或事 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
143
descend
|
|
| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
144
musing
|
|
| n. 沉思，冥想 adj. 沉思的, 冥想的 动词muse的现在分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
145
rosy
|
|
| adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
146
diaphanous
|
|
| adj.(布)精致的，半透明的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
147
arid
|
|
| adj.干旱的；(土地)贫瘠的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
148
kindled
|
|
| （使某物）燃烧，着火( kindle的过去式和过去分词 )； 激起（感情等）； 发亮，放光 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
149
gateway
|
|
| n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
150
slabs
|
|
| n.厚板，平板，厚片( slab的名词复数 )；厚胶片 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
151
mingled
|
|
| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
152
sinister
|
|
| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
153
mischief
|
|
| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
154
sordid
|
|
| adj.肮脏的，不干净的，卑鄙的，暗淡的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
155
lavished
|
|
| v.过分给予，滥施( lavish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
156
touching
|
|
| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
157
plunging
|
|
| adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
158
artistically
|
|
| adv.艺术性地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
159
raven
|
|
| n.渡鸟，乌鸦；adj.乌亮的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
160
velvet
|
|
| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
161
specimen
|
|
| n.样本，标本 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
162
complacent
|
|
| adj.自满的；自鸣得意的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
163
connoisseur
|
|
| n.鉴赏家，行家，内行 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
164
savage
|
|
| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
165
destined
|
|
| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
166
standing
|
|
| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
167
drawn
|
|
| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
168
bloody
|
|
| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
169
sneered
|
|
| 讥笑，冷笑( sneer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
170
flicker
|
|
| vi./n.闪烁，摇曳，闪现 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
171
cogitated
|
|
| v.认真思考，深思熟虑( cogitate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
172
subserviency
|
|
| n.有用，裨益 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
173
cynically
|
|
| adv.爱嘲笑地，冷笑地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
174
mischievous
|
|
| adj.调皮的，恶作剧的，有害的，伤人的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
175
waggon
|
|
| n.运货马车，运货车；敞篷车箱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
176
withered
|
|
| 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 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
177
lament
|
|
| n.悲叹，悔恨，恸哭；v.哀悼，悔恨，悲叹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
178
vowing
|
|
| 起誓，发誓（vow的现在分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |