As I reached the lobby, there was a fly standing at the inn-door. An incoherent waiter, with a dirty napkin under his arm, and flourishing a Japan tea-tray wildly in his hands, was gazing vacantly at space; Miss Lushington’s head peered darkly out from amidst her lemon-nets; an ostler, with one eye, held the carriage-door; and into that carriage, with her back to me, was entering the graceful15 figure of a lady in a riding-habit; a taper16 little foot, in the neatest of boots and—what shall I call them?—leg-sleeves? receding17 from the top-step, being the only feature, if I may be allowed the expression, distinguishable amongst that dark mass of folds and draperies.
There was a fatality18 about it! The thing was obviously in the hands of Destiny. The door shut-to with a bang. A pretty little gloved hand drew up the window, and the fly drove off with Miss Merlin inside, on the road to Castle Cropper.
Some men are the favourites of Fortune! others, the butts19 and targets of Fate. I endeavour at all times to bear my reverses with a sulky equanimity20. I retired21 accordingly, to derive22 what consolation23 I could from an elaborate and protracted24 breakfast by a good fire, and then proceeded into the bar to smoke.
In these ingenious days one cannot but be struck with the many devices that exist for the discovery of character. One man finds you out by your handwriting; another by the tone of your voice; a third judges exclusively from the shape of your hat; and I have met an extremely far-seeing foreigner who professed25 to learn, not your fortune, as the gipsies do, but your tastes and disposition26, from the lines on the palm of your hand. I think I should myself be inclined to judge of a man’s style by the sort of carriage he drives. This tendency—superstition—call it what you will, prompts me to take rather a careful survey of such vehicles as I come across, and therefore it was that, observing a strange dog-cart in the inn-yard as I traversed its stones, with an unlighted cigar in my mouth, I paused to examine more minutely the unfamiliar28 equipage.
So slang a turn-out it has not been my fortune to meet with, before or since. Imagine a very high box, narrowing considerably29 towards the top, on which, judging by the cushions and hand-rail, it is fair to conclude the driver is supposed to sit, perched on a pair of extremely tall wheels, painted red, and picked out with a staring yellow. Imagine the shafts30 of this contrivance, perfectly31 straight, and of great strength and substance, nearly on a level with the withers32 of the unfortunate animal that has to draw it. Imagine the old machine, wickered, and lacquered, and glazed33, and polished to the most dazzling pitch of brilliancy, attached to the person of a well-bred, crop-eared, vicious-looking bay mare34, herself wearing as little harness as is compatible with the fact of her being fastened to anything at all, and that little of the colour and appearance of untanned leather. Add to these, a tall whip with a yellow crop, long enough to drive four-in-hand, a pair of enormous lamps, and a white bull-terrier coiled on the foot-rug, licking his lips, with a bloodthirsty expression of countenance35, and winking36 hideously37 with his ominous38 and ill-looking eyes.
The proprietor39 of such “a trap,” as he would probably call it, could not fail to be a study in himself. Loud accents from within smote40 on my ear as I approached the bar. The shrill41 tones of Miss Lushington’s voice predominated, and I gathered from this that she had recovered her good-humour, which for the last few days had been most indubitably on the wane42. Entering the sanctum, I stood for a few seconds behind the wooden screen—which I have already mentioned, and which admits of a new-comer, himself unseen, reconnoitring the occupants of the place—to survey the visitor whose arrival seemed so acceptable to the presiding goddess. I had ample time to take a good look at him; for, whilst he discussed a glass of sherry and a bitter (a glass of sherry and a bitter—and it was not yet eleven o’clock!), both talker and listener were so engrossed43 with the former’s jokes and conversation that I had entered completely unobserved. He was a stout44 young man of some five-and-twenty summers, with a whiskerless face, and a ruddy complexion45, not yet destroyed, though obviously impaired46, by his habits of life. His cheek, still healthy in colour, was mottled here and there, as if the vessels47 near the surface were kept habitually48 too full, and he already began to show that slight puffiness under the eyes, as if he had put his neckcloth on too tight, which is the certain symptom of a digestion49 impaired by the too liberal use of stimulants50. Not that his neckcloth was too tight—far from it. Save a scarlet51 knot halfway52 down his throat, secured by a horse-shoe pin, there was nothing to be seen of the customary wisp of ribbon which has now replaced that obsolete53 article of apparel, so concealed54 was it by the fall of a turned-down shirt collar, extremely well starched56 and of a singularly varied57 and gaudy58 pattern, not unlike the papering of a room. His hat, which he had not thought it necessary to lay aside, was of the “pork-pie” order, immortalised by Leech—a head-dress extremely trying to a countenance already divested59 by Nature of any particular expression, and which, like many other graceful eccentricities60, looks as ill upon a man as it is becoming to a woman. Coat and waistcoat, I need hardly observe, were of a checked pattern, to which, for richness of hue61 and diversity of colours, the rainbow of heaven is a mere62 pale and feeble transparency. Beneath the latter, knickerbockers of course! formed apparently63 from some woollen fabric64, designed by the inventor for a horse-cloth, and combining great strength of wear-and-tear, with an unassuming and neutral tint65. Scarlet hose, imparting fulness to the calf66, and general contour to the leg (in this instance much required, the limbs themselves being of too massive an order for elegance), sprang from the voluminous superfluities above, and a pair of exceedingly stout half-boots, much strapped67 and pieced, and, as it were, tattooed68 like the mocassins of a Red Indian, completed this choice and becoming costume. When I add that a double curb-chain of gold, sustaining a dozen trinkets, ornamented70 the wearer’s stomach, and a short pipe, blackened by unintermitting smoking, graced his mouth, I have done all I can to convey a representation of the gentleman whom I now found making himself agreeable to Miss Lushington in the bar, and whom I had no hesitation71 in setting down in my own mind as the proprietor of the dog-cart in the yard.
He was sitting, when I entered, not at, but on the table, by the side of his sherry and bitters. Volumes of smoke, latakia, and something stronger, I could swear by the fragrance72 (and here I may remark, in parenthesis73, that if the London tobacconists kept up the exorbitant74 price of cigars, as they have lately done, nobody will smoke anything but a short pipe very soon), curled upward from his mouth, and I was just too late for some irresistible75 witticism76 which had convulsed Miss Lushington with laughter. Indeed, that lady’s fair hand was applied77 to her lips, as if to conceal55 or repress her hilarity78, when I entered. An Oriental woman’s idea of modesty79 is to cover her mouth; and, indeed, to keep that organ shut, as much as possible, is no bad custom for the sex to adopt. But why ladies of Miss Lushington’s social standing should habitually express intense amusement by the same gesture, I cannot take upon me to explain. When the teeth are black and the hands white there may be reason for it; but Miss Lushington could not fairly be accused of either of these specialities.
“Softly! How goes it?” exclaimed the new-comer, removing his pipe from his mouth, and rolling off the table, and on to his legs, with a coachmanlike action extremely difficult to acquire. “Give us your flipper80, old boy! Ah! I forgot you’d had your wing broken. Never mind; might have been worse. Won’t your liquor up? Now, Miss L., look alive! those sparklers of yours were made for use as well as ornament69. What’s our friend’s variety? An invalid2 ought to be taken care of, you know. Draught81 three times a day, and the mixture as before.”
Greeting my voluble acquaintance, whom I now recognised as young Mr. Plumtree, of The Ashes, but of whom my previous knowledge did by no means warrant such a familiarity as he was kind enough to display, with a more stately and reserved demeanour than usual I lit my cigar, and proceeded, in self-defence, to envelop82 my person in its fumes83.
Without being a stickler84 for the more ceremonious forms of politeness, or an advocate for the stilted85 dignity of the old school, I do not quite relish86 the tendency of certain individuals to be so “gallows familiar,” as a poor good-for-nothing friend of mine used to call it; nor do I see that a man has a right to call me “Softly,” with no handle prefixed, the third time he has ever met me in his life, “Gaudent pr?nomine molles auricul?,” quoth Horace; and he understood human nature, if anybody did. Besides, I knew enough of the gentleman now occupying the bar, to have no great wish to cultivate his further intimacy87.
I had avoided him hitherto as much as possible. It seemed to be part of the bad luck of the day that I should be thrown into his society now. To have failed by thirty seconds in seeing Miss Merlin in the morning, and find myself the boon88 companion of young Plumtree at noon, was surely a combination of untoward89 circumstances which that individual himself would have called “hard lines.”
As I smoked my cigar, rather sulkily, and watched my aversion making the agreeable to Miss Lushington—a process at which, to do him justice, he appeared singularly skilful90,—I recalled in my mind all I knew of his antecedents, and could not help congratulating myself, the while, that he was no son of mine.
Young James Plumtree, then—or “Jovial91 Jem,” as he was called by his familiars—was the only son of John Plumtree, of The Ashes, a most respectable, and, I believe, unimpeachable92 country gentleman, living in the vicinity of Soakington. I have always understood that the father was a man of grave and particularly gentlemanlike demeanour, and, although an excellent sportsman, extremely averse27 to anything approaching slang. It was, therefore, perfectly natural that his son should turn out one of the “loudest” and most uproarious rattles93 of his day.
The boy had an excellent education, too—at eight, a private tutor, who could never keep him out of the stable, and into the pockets of whose sad-coloured garments his pupil was continually putting white-mice and such abnormal vermin—nay94, on one occasion, this long-suffering Mentor95 discovered a ferret in the tail of his coat, and an eel8 in the crown of his hat; at twelve, transferred to Eton, where he was placed as low as he possibly could be, and, notwithstanding repeated floggings, and constant wiggings from “my tutor,” persevered96 in the study of natural history with an ardour that could by no means be brought to harmonise with the rules of that elegant college. Corporal punishment is—or at least, in young Plumtree’s day, used to be—inflicted for the following misdemeanours, of which he was habitually found guilty, viz.: Entertaining fighting-dogs, at an outlay97 of a shilling per week, and making use of the same in their combative98 capacity; associating, both in and out of bounds, with cads and such low persons, with aggressive views on personal property in the form of hares, pheasants, etc., at Stoke, Burnham, Thames Ditton, and elsewhere; keeping singing-birds in a bureau that ought to have been devoted99 to school-books, and white-mice in the lower drawers of the same, along with clean linen100; also, and this partiality for ferrets was one of the boy’s most remarkable101 characteristics, taking a female of that species into three-o’clock school, and producing her, so to speak, in open court; finally, never, under any circumstances, knowing one word of his lesson.
When Plumtree left college, the head master, who, like many other head masters, had rather a weakness for a pickle102 in his heart, took him kindly103 by the hand, and recommended him, with perfect single-mindedness, to devote his energies to the habits of beasts and birds, and the study of comparative anatomy104, “the only mental labour, Plumtree,” added the don, with extreme kindness, “for which you seem either qualified105 or inclined.”
A lad of such tastes was pretty sure to be sent to one of the universities: and after an interval106 of a delicious twelvewmonth at home, during which period of relaxation107 the young ’squire not only destroyed every rat in every barn within a day’s ride of The Ashes, but also made acquaintance with every tap of beer, and struck up a friendship with every blackguard, within the same distance, this promising108 acolyte109 was entered at Brazen-Nose, and went up to keep his terms at Alma Mater, and acquire whatever knowledge was most adapted to his intellectual hunger, at that repository of learning.
Here, it is needless to observe, he rowed a great deal, smoked a great deal, drank an enormous quantity of beer, and read not the least in the world. He acquired, however, considerable proficiency110 in the difficult art of driving a tandem111, and could conceal boots and breeches under loose pantaloons, when attending chapel112 on a hunting morning, more dexterously113 than any undergraduate of his year.
He kept the drag, too, for one season, but found his mode of life too dissipated to admit of the nerve requisite114 for that amusement. These dare-devil young gentlemen, you see, go out for the express purpose of breaking each other’s necks. They ride, of course, directly at the leading hound; but that quadruped, generally an old stager, and stimulated115 by a red-herring steeped in aniseed, gives them plenty to do before they can catch him. It is a point of honour, I am given to understand, to turn away from nothing; and the man who can get through his horse quickest, is esteemed116 to have won the laurels117 of the day. It is scarcely possible to imagine an education more calculated to make a horseman, and spoil a sportsman, than the Oxford118 drag.
When Plumtree renounced119 the mastership of this dashing establishment, he devoted himself exclusively to driving, and became, if possible, more beery than before. For lectures he cherished an unaccountable aversion, nor was it likely that the wit and learning of the schools would prove very tempting120 to a man whose heart was habitually in the cellars.
Well, of course, it came to a finish at last; and Jovial Jem was rusticated121; “Rusticated, by the Hookey!” to use his own remarkable words, “and recommended not to come up again. Well out of it, too, in my opinion: and as to another round, why if I do, I do; but if I do, I’m—!”
Old Plumtree was grievously disappointed, of course. By the way, I know very few cases in which sons do not disappoint their fathers. I suppose it would be difficult to persuade the latter that the former are not exclusively in fault. Old Squaretoes lays down a course of conduct for his child, totally irrespective of the feelings, inclination122, and disposition of the latter. Then, if young Squaretoes don’t fit the groove123, and slide easily down the metal, he is undutiful, disobedient, ungrateful, everything that the Prodigal124 Son was, before he came to eating husks amongst the swine. If young S. turn out “slow,” ten to one but old S., in suicidal folly125, wishes he “had a spice more devil in him.” If he be fast, the governor shakes in his shoes, foreseeing debts, bills, acceptances, renewals126, and eventual127 penury128. If he make a figure in the world on his own wings, taking warning by Icarus, and scorning to use the paternal129 pinions130, his father is often jealous of his success. If, on the contrary, he remain in secure and humble131 obscurity, then the cry is, “Why, the lad has no spirit in him! Look at what I should have done at his age, and with his advantages!” Good masters make good servants. Unselfish and considerate fathers, more than people are aware of, make attached and dutiful sons.
So Jovial Jem came home, and took up his abode132 at The Ashes, completely upsetting the regularity133 of that establishment, where, in his absence, everything went on like clockwork. For his own sake, Mr. Plumtree senior gave his son a couple of rooms, shut off from the rest of the mansion134 by double doors of baize, through which the fumes of latakia could not possibly penetrate135, and ordered the domestics to serve their young master with breakfast and dinner at his own hours, when required, in his own apartments. By this arrangement, the heir was wonderfully little in his father’s way; and unless the pair happened to meet on a summer’s morning, when the old one was going to his hay-field, fresh and rosy136, and the young one returning from a junketing, pale and exhausted137, father and son often did not see each other for weeks. Consequently, they got on admirably. Young Plumtree swore “The Governor was a dear old bird; crotchety of course, but a regular brick nevertheless;” and old Plumtree, who always took a solemn pinch of snuff before he delivered himself of a remark, was fond of stating, very slowly and distinctly, that “Young men won’t settle at once. Can’t expect it, sir—can’t expect it! But the lad’s got something in him. If we could only get at it, sir! if we could only get at it!”
“I heard of your downer, old ’un,” this agreeable young gentleman observed with great cordiality, transferring his attention from Miss Lushington to myself. “Wasn’t out myself that day; couldn’t raise a prad, or I’d have seen you picked up, and dissected138, and all that. First day I can get away from home, says I, I’ll just tool over and visit the mutilated sportsman. Thought you’d be dull, you know, with nobody but Miss Lushington, though she’s pleasant company too when she’s got her stockings on right-side-in.”
“Come, that’s a good one,” observed the lady alluded139 to thus familiarly, with a meaning glance. “As if you didn’t know of our late arrival! Oh, you’re a deep one, Mr. Plumtree, you are!”
The young gentleman blushed, a real honest shame-faced blush, such as I did not believe could have been raised, after six years of Eton and two of Oxford, to save a man’s life. “Get out!” said he, chivalrously140 ignoring the cause of his confusion. “None of your chaff141, Miss L. Ain’t I always ready to help a lame142 dog over a stile? Wouldn’t I drive a hundred miles in a butcher’s cart without springs, to succour a mutilated friend? Ain’t I pitiful, and tender, and soft-hearted? Come, you know I am.”
“Indeed I know nothing of the kind,” replied the lady, bridling143 and tossing her head. It was Miss Lushington’s plan, you see, always to give her admirer what she called a “set-down” the moment they passed an imaginary line of her own demarcation; so she proceeded, speaking very distinctly, and with her lips set tight—
“If you’ve driven all this way only to talk nonsense to me, Mr. Plumtree, you’ve wasted your time sadly. But you’ll never make me believe that. I know what I know; and others might know it too, if so be as you was to take and rile me more than I think pleasant. And you’re too late, after all,” added Miss L. viciously. “She was in the fly an hour before you drove into the yard: why, bless you! she’s at the top of the hunt by this time, and no more chance of coming up with her than if she was the wind.”
Without pausing to consider what peculiar144 position in the chase Miss Lushington intended to convey by her expression of the “top of the hunt,” I shot a glance at Young Plumtree, who seemed, I thought, to quail145 considerably under the volubility he had provoked. Indeed, strange to say, he appeared completely “shut up,” and at a loss for a reply. A horrible suspicion darted146 across me, lighting147 up, as such fancies do, the previous darkness with a dazzling and momentary148 brilliance149. Could this unwelcome and unhappy young man be under the influence of a hopeless attachment150 for Miss Merlin,—one of those unaccountable infatuations of which we read in novels, but which, fortunately for the general comfort of society, we so seldom meet with in real life?
And yet, why not? To be sure, judging from Quizby’s letter and his frank acknowledgment of an attachment to her in his youth, the lady must have arrived by this time at middle age, and Plumtree was a mere boy (for, after all, a man of five-and-twenty is little more than a boy), actually shaving for whiskers, top-dressing with balm of Columbia, and raising an abundant crop of pimples151 as the result. A woman too, after she arrives at a certain point of maturity152, say five-and-thirty, remains153 for an incredible period at that attractive stage of her charms. She has lost indeed the bright freshness of youth; but if she has been really handsome, she has gained in exchange a certain depth of colouring and intensity154 of expression, which are equally efficient weapons of offence.
Then, while the passing years blunt her darts155 scarcely perceptibly, every day adds to her experience and dexterity156 in their use. A coquette of twenty years’ standing is like an old ma?tre d’armes of the Empire, cool, wary157, dauntless, and skilful; rusé in the art of destruction, and taught by a hundred combats to take every advantage, and never to throw a chance away. I have often thought, notwithstanding the dancing exploit, a man would have been safer with Herodias’s daughter than with Herodias herself.
Then a young man, if he once suffers himself to be captivated by a woman considerably his senior, becomes rather childish, not to say imbecile, in the process. He goes into leading-strings forthwith, and there is no folly or extravagance of which he is incapable158. Shall I ever forget what a fool young Larkspur made of himself about old Lady Foxglove, who might have been his mother, and looked as if she had been his wet-nurse? Nor can I cease to regret the fate of my poor friend Capon, who left college to run away with Mrs. Mallard the actress, at a period when that lady had become too aged159 and infirm for genteel comedy parts at any of the theatres royal, and of whom I last heard at a French watering-place, living in cheap lodgings160 at the head of a grown-up family not his own, nor indeed, unless scandal be more scandalous than usual, the issue of the talented Mr. Mallard deceased.
I looked at young Plumtree with a kind of loathing161 pity. I thought of what his deplorable state would be, when all the pleasures of his present existence should have palled162 upon him in the pursuit of the unattainable; when ’baccy should have lost its soothing163 properties, and there should be no more charm in beer; when dogs might “delight to bark and bite,” and Plumtree, quantum mutatus, would care not which half-stifled champion was dragged gurgling and snarling164 “across the line;” when the three-pound terrier, eating its own weight a dozen times over in rats, would no longer excite his garrulous165 plaudits as he hung half muzzy over the pit; and to shoot pigeons for a fat pig, or see a man trundling a wheelbarrow backwards166, and picking up stones with his mouth, would be equally tasteless and insipid167; nay, when counting out the game-cock himself, prone168 on the square-cut turf, but of mettle169 invincible170, from the top of the clean-cut comb to the points of his steel spurs, would be considered simply a dull but cruel pastime, and like Othello’s in his fancied degradation171, Plumtree’s “occupation would be gone.”
All unconscious of my forebodings, their confiding172 object pulled a square and heavily-sealed note from what I believe Mr. Poole terms the “opossum pocket” of his shooting-jacket, and handed it to me with the mock dignity of an ambassador presenting his credentials173, winking demurely174 on Miss Lushington the while.
“Can you read?” inquired the facetious175 envoy176. “If so, there’s a bit of blotting177 from the old folks at home. I told the governor that as you weren’t fit to do much ‘scraping,’ I’d best bring it over, and take back the answer by word of mouth. But you’ll come, won’t you? It’s a crafty178 crib enough, The Ashes, and you’ll get your health there as well as here for a day or so. I can’t say much for the biting, but there’s some lining179 with a green seal to it, that will set your collar-bone for you, make your hair curl tight up to the roots, and bring you down to-morrow morning, as fresh as a bull-calf, and as hearty180 as a buck181.”
There was no resisting such inducements as these, and indeed the letter of Mr. Plumtree senior, though extremely pompous182 and ceremonious, was hospitable183, considerate, and kind. Though almost a stranger, he hoped that I would excuse our short acquaintance, and dine with him at The Ashes, adding, that as I ought not to expose myself to cold from the night-air, he trusted that I would take a bed.
Although such a creature of habit that I would far rather have remained in solitary184 state at the Haycock, I felt it would have been more than churlish to refuse so hospitable an invitation, the only drawback to which was the necessity I foresaw of driving over in “the trap” with young Plumtree. I would have given a good deal to be permitted to order a post-chaise and pair, and go over comfortably, with all the windows up; but it is of no use to struggle with destiny; I saw what was before me, and resolved to confront my fate like a man.
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1
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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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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invalids
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| 病人，残疾者( invalid的名词复数 ) | |
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drizzling
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| 下蒙蒙细雨，下毛毛雨( drizzle的现在分词 ) | |
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glazing
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| n.玻璃装配业；玻璃窗；上釉；上光v.装玻璃( glaze的现在分词 )；上釉于，上光；（目光）变得呆滞无神 | |
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writhing
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| （因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的现在分词 ) | |
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fustian
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| n.浮夸的；厚粗棉布 | |
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eel
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| n.鳗鲡 | |
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bustle
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| v.喧扰地忙乱，匆忙，奔忙；n.忙碌；喧闹 | |
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waylay
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| v.埋伏，伏击 | |
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apprised
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| v.告知，通知( apprise的过去式和过去分词 )；评价 | |
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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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tumult
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| n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹 | |
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agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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taper
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| n.小蜡烛，尖细，渐弱；adj.尖细的；v.逐渐变小 | |
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receding
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| v.逐渐远离( recede的现在分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题 | |
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fatality
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| n.不幸，灾祸，天命 | |
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butts
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| 笑柄( butt的名词复数 )； （武器或工具的）粗大的一端； 屁股； 烟蒂 | |
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equanimity
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| n.沉着，镇定 | |
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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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derive
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| v.取得；导出；引申；来自；源自；出自 | |
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consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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protracted
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| adj.拖延的；延长的v.拖延“protract”的过去式和过去分词 | |
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professed
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| 公开声称的，伪称的，已立誓信教的 | |
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disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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averse
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| adj.厌恶的；反对的，不乐意的 | |
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28
unfamiliar
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| adj.陌生的，不熟悉的 | |
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29
considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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30
shafts
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| n.轴( shaft的名词复数 )；（箭、高尔夫球棒等的）杆；通风井；一阵（疼痛、害怕等） | |
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31
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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32
withers
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| 马肩隆 | |
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33
glazed
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| adj.光滑的，像玻璃的；上过釉的；呆滞无神的v.装玻璃( glaze的过去式)；上釉于，上光；（目光）变得呆滞无神 | |
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34
mare
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| n.母马，母驴 | |
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35
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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36
winking
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| n.瞬眼，目语v.使眼色( wink的现在分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮 | |
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37
hideously
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| adv.可怕地，非常讨厌地 | |
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38
ominous
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| adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的 | |
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39
proprietor
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| n.所有人；业主；经营者 | |
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40
smote
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| v.猛打，重击，打击( smite的过去式 ) | |
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41
shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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42
wane
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| n.衰微，亏缺，变弱；v.变小，亏缺，呈下弦 | |
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43
engrossed
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| adj.全神贯注的 | |
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45
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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46
impaired
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| adj.受损的；出毛病的；有（身体或智力）缺陷的v.损害，削弱( impair的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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47
vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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48
habitually
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| ad.习惯地，通常地 | |
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49
digestion
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| n.消化，吸收 | |
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50
stimulants
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|
| n.兴奋剂( stimulant的名词复数 )；含兴奋剂的饮料；刺激物；激励物 | |
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51
scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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52
halfway
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| adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途 | |
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53
obsolete
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| adj.已废弃的，过时的 | |
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54
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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55
conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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56
starched
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|
| adj.浆硬的，硬挺的，拘泥刻板的v.把（衣服、床单等）浆一浆( starch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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57
varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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58
gaudy
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| adj.华而不实的；俗丽的 | |
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59
divested
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| v.剥夺( divest的过去式和过去分词 )；脱去（衣服）；2。从…取去…；1。（给某人）脱衣服 | |
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60
eccentricities
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| n.古怪行为( eccentricity的名词复数 )；反常；怪癖 | |
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61
hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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62
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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63
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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64
fabric
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| n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织 | |
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65
tint
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| n.淡色，浅色；染发剂；vt.着以淡淡的颜色 | |
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66
calf
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| n.小牛，犊，幼仔，小牛皮 | |
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67
strapped
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| adj.用皮带捆住的，用皮带装饰的；身无分文的；缺钱；手头紧v.用皮带捆扎(strap的过去式和过去分词)；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带 | |
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68
tattooed
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| v.刺青，文身( tattoo的过去式和过去分词 )；连续有节奏地敲击；作连续有节奏的敲击 | |
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69
ornament
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| v.装饰，美化；n.装饰，装饰物 | |
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70
ornamented
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| adj.花式字体的v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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71
hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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72
fragrance
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| n.芬芳，香味，香气 | |
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73
parenthesis
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| n.圆括号，插入语，插曲，间歇，停歇 | |
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74
exorbitant
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| adj.过分的；过度的 | |
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75
irresistible
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|
| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
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76
witticism
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| n.谐语，妙语 | |
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77
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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78
hilarity
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| n.欢乐；热闹 | |
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79
modesty
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| n.谦逊，虚心，端庄，稳重，羞怯，朴素 | |
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80
flipper
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| n. 鳍状肢，潜水用橡皮制鳍状肢 | |
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81
draught
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|
| n.拉，牵引，拖；一网（饮，吸，阵)；顿服药量，通风；v.起草，设计 | |
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82
envelop
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| vt.包，封，遮盖；包围 | |
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83
fumes
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| n.(强烈而刺激的)气味，气体 | |
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84
stickler
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| n.坚持细节之人 | |
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85
stilted
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| adj.虚饰的；夸张的 | |
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86
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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87
intimacy
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|
| n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行 | |
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88
boon
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| n.恩赐，恩物，恩惠 | |
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89
untoward
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|
| adj.不利的，不幸的，困难重重的 | |
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90
skilful
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|
| (=skillful)adj.灵巧的，熟练的 | |
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91
jovial
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| adj.快乐的，好交际的 | |
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92
unimpeachable
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| adj.无可指责的；adv.无可怀疑地 | |
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93
rattles
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|
| （使）发出格格的响声， （使）作嘎嘎声( rattle的第三人称单数 )； 喋喋不休地说话； 迅速而嘎嘎作响地移动，堕下或走动； 使紧张，使恐惧 | |
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94
nay
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|
| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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95
mentor
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|
| n.指导者，良师益友；v.指导 | |
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96
persevered
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|
| v.坚忍，坚持( persevere的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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97
outlay
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| n.费用，经费，支出；v.花费 | |
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98
combative
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| adj.好战的；好斗的 | |
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99
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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100
linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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101
remarkable
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|
| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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102
pickle
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| n.腌汁，泡菜；v.腌，泡 | |
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103
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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104
anatomy
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| n.解剖学，解剖；功能，结构，组织 | |
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105
qualified
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| adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的 | |
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106
interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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107
relaxation
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| n.松弛，放松；休息；消遣；娱乐 | |
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108
promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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109
acolyte
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| n.助手，侍僧 | |
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110
proficiency
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| n.精通，熟练，精练 | |
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111
tandem
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| n.同时发生；配合；adv.一个跟着一个地；纵排地；adj.（两匹马）前后纵列的 | |
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112
chapel
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| n.小教堂，殡仪馆 | |
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113
dexterously
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| adv.巧妙地，敏捷地 | |
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114
requisite
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| adj.需要的，必不可少的；n.必需品 | |
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115
stimulated
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| a.刺激的 | |
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116
esteemed
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|
| adj.受人尊敬的v.尊敬( esteem的过去式和过去分词 )；敬重；认为；以为 | |
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117
laurels
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| n.桂冠，荣誉 | |
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118
Oxford
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| n.牛津（英国城市） | |
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119
renounced
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| v.声明放弃( renounce的过去式和过去分词 )；宣布放弃；宣布与…决裂；宣布摒弃 | |
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120
tempting
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| a.诱人的, 吸引人的 | |
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121
rusticated
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| v.罚（大学生）暂时停学离校( rusticate的过去式和过去分词 )；在农村定居 | |
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122
inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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123
groove
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| n.沟，槽；凹线，（刻出的）线条，习惯 | |
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124
prodigal
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| adj.浪费的，挥霍的，放荡的 | |
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125
folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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126
renewals
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| 重建( renewal的名词复数 )； 更新； 重生； 合同的续订 | |
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127
eventual
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| adj.最后的，结局的，最终的 | |
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128
penury
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| n.贫穷，拮据 | |
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129
paternal
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| adj.父亲的，像父亲的，父系的，父方的 | |
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130
pinions
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| v.抓住[捆住]（双臂）( pinion的第三人称单数 ) | |
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131
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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132
abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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133
regularity
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| n.规律性，规则性；匀称，整齐 | |
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134
mansion
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| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
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135
penetrate
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| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
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136
rosy
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| adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的 | |
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137
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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138
dissected
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|
| adj.切开的，分割的，（叶子）多裂的v.解剖（动物等）( dissect的过去式和过去分词 )；仔细分析或研究 | |
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139
alluded
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| 提及，暗指( allude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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140
chivalrously
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| adv.象骑士一样地 | |
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141
chaff
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| v.取笑，嘲笑；n.谷壳 | |
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142
lame
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| adj.跛的，(辩解、论据等)无说服力的 | |
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143
bridling
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| 给…套龙头( bridle的现在分词 )； 控制； 昂首表示轻蔑（或怨忿等）； 动怒，生气 | |
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144
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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145
quail
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| n.鹌鹑；vi.畏惧，颤抖 | |
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146
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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147
lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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148
momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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149
brilliance
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| n.光辉，辉煌，壮丽，（卓越的）才华，才智 | |
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150
attachment
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| n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附 | |
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151
pimples
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| n.丘疹，粉刺，小脓疱( pimple的名词复数 ) | |
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152
maturity
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| n.成熟；完成；(支票、债券等)到期 | |
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153
remains
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|
| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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intensity
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| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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155
darts
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| n.掷飞镖游戏；飞镖( dart的名词复数 )；急驰，飞奔v.投掷，投射( dart的第三人称单数 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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dexterity
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| n.(手的)灵巧，灵活 | |
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wary
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| adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的 | |
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incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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lodgings
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| n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍 | |
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loathing
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| n.厌恶，憎恨v.憎恨，厌恶( loathe的现在分词)；极不喜欢 | |
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palled
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| v.（因过多或过久而）生厌，感到乏味，厌烦( pall的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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soothing
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| adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的 | |
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snarling
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| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的现在分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
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garrulous
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| adj.唠叨的，多话的 | |
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backwards
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| adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地 | |
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insipid
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| adj.无味的，枯燥乏味的，单调的 | |
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prone
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| adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的 | |
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mettle
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| n.勇气，精神 | |
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invincible
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| adj.不可征服的，难以制服的 | |
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degradation
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| n.降级；低落；退化；陵削；降解；衰变 | |
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confiding
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| adj.相信人的，易于相信的v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的现在分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等） | |
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credentials
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| n.证明，资格，证明书，证件 | |
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demurely
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| adv.装成端庄地，认真地 | |
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facetious
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| adj.轻浮的，好开玩笑的 | |
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envoy
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| n.使节，使者，代表，公使 | |
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blotting
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| 吸墨水纸 | |
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crafty
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| adj.狡猾的，诡诈的 | |
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lining
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| n.衬里，衬料 | |
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hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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buck
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| n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃 | |
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182
pompous
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| adj.傲慢的，自大的；夸大的；豪华的 | |
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183
hospitable
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| adj.好客的；宽容的；有利的，适宜的 | |
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solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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