Chapter 24

　　One of the happiest days of my life.

　　July 10. - The excitement and anxiety through which I have gone thelast few days have been almost enough to turn my hair grey. It is all butsettled. To-morrow the die will be cast. I have written a long letter toLupin - feeling it my duty to do so, - regarding¹ his attention to Mrs. Posh,for they drove up to our house again last night.

　　July 11. - I find my eyes filling with tears as I pen the note of myinterview this morning with Mr. Perkupp. Addressing me, he said: "Myfaithful servant, I will not dwell² on the important service you have doneour firm. You can never be sufficiently³ thanked. Let us change thesubject. Do you like your house, and are you happy where you are?"I replied: "Yes, sir; I love my house and I love the neighbourhood,and could not bear to leave it."Mr. Perkupp, to my surprise, said: "Mr. Pooter, I will purchase thefreehold of that house, and present it to the most honest and most worthyman it has ever been my lot to meet."He shook my hand, and said he hoped my wife and I would be sparedmany years to enjoy it. My heart was too full to thank him; and, seeingmy embarrassment⁴, the good fellow said: "You need say nothing, Mr.

　　Pooter," and left the office.

　　I sent telegrams to Carrie, Gowing, and Cummings (a thing I havenever done before), and asked the two latter to come round to supper.

　　On arriving home I found Carrie crying with joy, and I sent Sarahround to the grocer's to get two bottles of "Jackson Freres."My two dear friends came in the evening, and the last post brought aletter from Lupin in reply to mine. I read it aloud to them all. It ran:

　　"My dear old Guv., - Keep your hair on. You are on the wrong tack⁵ again.

　　I am engaged to be married to 'Lillie Girl.' I did not mention it lastThursday, as it was not definitely⁶ settled. We shall be married in August,and amongst⁷ our guests we hope to see your old friends Gowing and Cummings. With much love to all, from THE SAME OLD LUPIN."

The End

1 regarding   

prep.关于，至于；就…而论，在…方面

参考例句：

• Regarding John,I will write to him at once.至于约翰，我将立即给他写信。
• Regarding these facts,a special committee is to be appointed.鉴于这些事实，必须成立一个专门委员会。

2 dwell   

vi.老是想着，详细讲述

参考例句：

• Sometimes his mind would dwell on the horrors he had been through.有时他会老是想着他所经历过的种种恐怖。
• A great number of water fowls dwell on the island.许多水鸟在岛上栖息。

3 sufficiently   

adv.足够地，充分地

参考例句：

• It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
• The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。

4 embarrassment   

n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫

参考例句：

• She could have died away with embarrassment.她窘迫得要死。
• Coughing at a concert can be a real embarrassment.在音乐会上咳嗽真会使人难堪。

5 tack   

n.大头钉；假缝，粗缝

参考例句：

• He is hammering a tack into the wall to hang a picture.他正往墙上钉一枚平头钉用来挂画。
• We are going to tack the map on the wall.我们打算把这张地图钉在墙上。

6 definitely   

adv.一定地，肯定地；明确地，确切地

参考例句：

• The team will definitely lose if he doesn't play.如果他不参加比赛，这个队肯定会输。
• I shall definitely be home before six o'clock.6点以前，我一定回家。

7 amongst   

prep.在…之中，在...之间(=among)

参考例句：

• He was sitting amongst a group of children,telling them a story.他正坐在一群孩子中间讲故事。
• You must settle the matter amongst yourselves.你们必须彼此商量，自行解决这些问题。