'Why don't you go to your club, my dear?'
He now went there more frequently than he had been used to do. When he returned he found his wife and the Abbé still in the same place on the terrace, while Madame Faujas, a few yards away from them, preserved the demeanour of a blind and dumb guardian2.
When anyone in the town spoke3 to Mouret of the new Curé he still continued to sound his praises. Faujas, said he, was decidedly a superior sort of man, and he himself had never felt any doubt of his great abilities. Madame Paloque could never succeed in drawing a hostile word from him on the subject of the priest, in spite of the malicious4 way in which she would ask him after his wife in the midst of his remarks about Abbé Faujas. Old Madame Rougon had no better success in her attempts to unveil the secret troubles which she thought she could detect beneath Mouret's outward show of cheerfulness. She laid all sorts of traps for him as she watched his face with her sharp shrewd smile; but that inveterate5 chatterer, whose tongue was a regular town-crier's bell, now showed the greatest reserve when any reference was made to his household.
'So your husband has become reasonable at last?' Félicité remarked to her daughter one day. 'He leaves you free.'
Marthe looked at her mother with an air of surprise.
'I have always been free,' she said.
'Ah! my dear child, I see that you don't want to say anything against him. You told me once that he looked very unfavourably upon Abbé Faujas.'
'Nothing of the kind, I assure you! You must have imagined it. My husband is upon the best terms with Abbé Faujas. There is nothing whatever to make them otherwise.'
Marthe was much astonished at the persistence6 with which everybody seemed to imagine that her husband and the Abbé were not good friends. Frequently at the committee-meetings at the Home of the Virgin7 the ladies put questions to her which made her quite impatient. She was really very happy and contented8, and the house in the Rue9 Balande had never seemed pleasanter to her than it did now. Abbé Faujas had given her to understand that he would undertake her spiritual[Pg 135] direction as soon as he should be of opinion that Abbé Bourrette was no longer sufficient, and she lived in this hope, her mind full of simple joy, like a girl who is promised some pretty religious pictures if she keeps good. Every now and then indeed she felt as though she were becoming a child again; she experienced a freshness of feeling and child-like impulses that filled her with gentle emotion. One day, in the spring-time, as Mouret was pruning10 his tall box plants, he found her sitting at the bottom of the garden beneath the young shoots of the arbour with her eyes streaming with tears.
'What is the matter, my dear?' he asked anxiously.
'Nothing,' she said, with a smile, 'nothing at all, really; I am very happy, very.'
He shrugged12 his shoulders, and went on delicately cutting the box plants into an even line. He took considerable pride in having the neatest trimmed hedges in the neighbourhood. Marthe had wiped her eyes, but she soon began to weep again, feeling a choking heart-rending sensation at the scent13 of the severed14 verdure. She was forty years old now, and it was for her past-away youth that she was weeping.
Since his appointment as Curé of Saint-Saturnin's, Abbé Faujas had shown a dignity which seemed to increase his stature15. He carried his breviary and his hat with an air of authority, which he had exhibited at the cathedral in such wise as to ensure himself the respect of the clergy16. Abbé Fenil, having sustained another defeat on two or three matters of detail, now seemed to have left his adversary17 free to do as he pleased. Abbé Faujas, however, was not foolish enough to make any indiscreet use of his triumph, but showed himself extremely supple18. He was quite conscious that Plassans was still far from being his; and so, though he stopped every now and then in the street to shake hands with Monsieur Delangre, he merely exchanged passing salutations with Monsieur de Bourdeu, Monsieur Maffre, and the other guests of Monsieur Rastoil. A large section of society in the town still looked upon him with suspicion. They found fault with him for the want of frankness in his political opinions. In their estimation he ought to explain himself, declare himself in favour of one party or another. But the Abbé only smiled and said that he belonged to 'the honest men's party,' a reply which spared him a more explicit19 declaration. Moreover he showed no haste or anxiety, but continued to keep[Pg 136] aloof20 till the drawing-rooms should open their doors to him of their own accord.
'No, my friend, not now; later on we will see about it,' he said to Abbé Bourrette, who had been pressing him to pay a visit to Monsieur Rastoil.
He was known to have refused two invitations to the Sub-Prefecture, and the Mourets were still the only people with whom he continued intimate. There he was, as it were, occupying a post of observation between two hostile camps. On Tuesdays, when the two sets of guests assembled in the gardens on his right and left, he took up his position at his window and watched the sunset in the distance behind the forests of the Seille, and then, before withdrawing, he lowered his eyes and replied with as much amiability21 to the bows of Monsieur Rastoil's guests as to those of the Sub-Prefect's. His intercourse22 with his neighbours as yet went no further than this.
On Tuesday, however, he went down into the garden. He was quite at home now in Mouret's grounds and no longer confined himself to pacing up and down beneath the arbour as he read his breviary. All the walks and beds seemed to belong to him; his cassock glided23 blackly past all the greenery. On that particular Tuesday, as he made a tour of the garden, he caught sight of Monsieur Maffre and Madame Rastoil below him and bowed to them; and then as he passed below the terrace of the Sub-Prefecture, he saw Monsieur de Condamin leaning there in company with Doctor Porquier. After an exchange of salutations, the priest was turning along the path, when the doctor called to him.
'Just a word, your reverence24, I beg.'
Then he asked him at what time he could see him the following day. This was the first occasion on which any one of the two sets of guests had spoken to the priest from one garden to the other. The doctor was in great trouble however. His scamp of a son had been caught in a gambling25 den11 behind the gaol26 in company with other worthless characters. The most distressing28 part of the matter was that Guillaume was accused of being the leader of the band, and of having led Monsieur Maffre's sons, much younger than himself, astray.
'Pooh!' said Monsieur de Condamin with his sceptical laugh; 'young men must sow their wild oats. What a fuss about nothing! Here's the whole town in a state of perturbation[Pg 137] because some young fellows have been caught playing baccarat and there happened to be a lady with them!'
The doctor seemed very much shocked at this.
'I want to ask your advice,' he said, addressing himself to the priest. 'Monsieur Maffre came to my house boiling over with anger, and assailed29 me with the bitterest reproaches, crying out that it was all my fault, as I had brought my son up badly. I am extremely distressed30 and troubled about it. Monsieur Maffre ought to know me better. I have sixty years of stainless31 life behind me.'
He went on wailing32, dwelling33 upon the sacrifices that he had made for his son and expressing his fears that he would lose his practice in consequence of the young man's misconduct. Abbé Faujas, standing34 in the middle of the path, raised his head and gravely listened.
'I shall be only too glad if I can be of any service to you,' he said kindly35. 'I will see Monsieur Maffre and will let him understand that his natural indignation has carried him too far. I will go at once and ask him to appoint a meeting with me for to-morrow. He is over there, on the other side.'
The Abbé crossed the garden and went towards Monsieur Maffre, who was still there with Madame Rastoil. When the justice of the peace found that the priest desired an interview with him, he would not hear of his taking any trouble about it, but put himself at his disposition36, saying that he would do himself the honour of calling upon him the next day.
'Ah! Monsieur le Curé,' Madame Rastoil then remarked, 'let me compliment you upon your sermon last Sunday. All the ladies were much affected37 by it, I assure you.'
The Abbé bowed and crossed the garden again in order to reassure38 Doctor Porquier. Then he continued slowly pacing about the walks till nightfall, without taking part in any further conversations, but ever hearing the merriment of the groups of guests on his right hand and his left.
When Monsieur Maffre appeared the next day, Abbé Faujas was watching a couple of men who were at work repairing the fountain in the garden. He had expressed a desire to see the fountain play again, for the empty basin, said he, had such a melancholy39 appearance. At first Mouret had not seemed very willing to have anything done, alleging40 the probability of accidents with Désirée, but Marthe had prevailed upon him to let the repairs be executed upon the understanding that the basin should be protected by a railing.
[Pg 138]
'Monsieur le Curé,' said Rose, 'the justice of the peace wishes to see you.'
Abbé Faujas hastened indoors. He wanted to take Monsieur Maffre up to his own room on the second floor, but Rose had already opened the drawing-room door.
'Go in,' she said; 'aren't you at home here? It is useless to make the justice go up two flights of stairs. If you had only told me this morning, I would have given the room a dusting.'
As she closed the door upon the Abbé and the magistrate41, after opening the shutters42, Mouret called her into the dining-room.
'That's right, Rose,' he cried, 'you had better give my dinner to your priest this evening, and if he hasn't got sufficient blankets of his own upstairs you can take mine off my bed.'
The cook exchanged a meaning glance with Marthe, who was working by the window, waiting till the sunshine should leave the terrace. Then, shrugging her shoulders, she said:
'Ah! sir, you have never had a charitable heart!'
She took herself off, while Marthe continued sewing without raising her head. For the last few days she had, with feverish43 energy, again applied44 herself to her needlework. She was embroidering45 an altar-frontal as a gift for the cathedral. The ladies were desirous of giving a complete set of altar furniture. Madame Rastoil and Madame Delangre had undertaken to present the candlesticks, and Madame de Condamin had ordered a magnificent silver crucifix from Paris.
Meantime, in the drawing-room, Abbé Faujas was gently remonstrating46 with Monsieur Maffre, telling him that Doctor Porquier was a religious man and a person of the highest integrity, and that no one could be more pained than he by his son's deplorable conduct. The magistrate listened with a sanctimonious47 air, and his heavy features and big prominent eyes assumed quite an ecstatic expression at certain pious48 remarks which the priest uttered in a very moving manner. He allowed that he had been rather too hasty, and declared that he was willing to make every apology as his reverence thought he had been in the wrong.
'You must send your own sons to me,' said the priest, 'and I will talk to them.'
Monsieur Maffre shook his head with a slight sneering49 laugh.
[Pg 139]
'Oh! you needn't be afraid about them, Monsieur le Curé. The young scamps won't play any more tricks. They have been locked up in their rooms for the last three days with nothing but bread and water. If I had had a stick in my hand when I found out what they had been doing, I should have broken it across their backs.'
The Abbé looked at him and recollected50 how Mouret had accused him of having killed his wife by harshness and avarice51; then, with a gesture of protest, he added:
'No, no; that is not the way to treat young men. Your elder son, Ambroise, is twenty years old and the younger is nearly eighteen, isn't he? They are no longer children, remember. You must allow them some amusements.'
The magistrate remained silent with surprise.
'Then you would let them go on smoking and allow them to frequent cafés?' he said, presently.
'Well,' replied the priest, with a smile. 'I think that young men should be allowed to meet together to talk and smoke their cigarettes and even to play a game of billiards52 or chess. They will give themselves every license53 if you show no tolerance54. Only remember that it is not to every café that I should be willing for them to go. I should like to see a special one provided for them, a sort of club, as I have seen done in several towns.'
Then he unfolded a complete scheme for such a club. Monsieur Maffre gradually seemed to appreciate it. He nodded his head as he said:
'Capital, capital! It would be a worthy55 pendant to the Home of the Virgin. Really, Monsieur le Curé, we must put such a splendid idea as this into execution.'
'Well, then,' the priest concluded, as he accompanied Monsieur Maffre to the door, 'since you approve of the plan, just advocate it among your friends. I will see Monsieur Delangre, and speak to him about it. We might meet in the cathedral on Sunday after vespers and come to some decision.'
On the Sunday, Monsieur Maffre brought Monsieur Rastoil with him. They found Abbé Faujas and Monsieur Delangre in a little room adjoining the sacristy. The gentlemen displayed great enthusiasm in favour of the priest's idea, and the institution of a young men's club was agreed upon in principle. There was considerable discussion, however, as to what it should be called. Monsieur Maffre was strongly desirous that it should be known as the Guild56 of Jesus.
[Pg 140]
'Oh, no! no!' the priest impatiently cried at last. 'You would get scarcely anyone to join, and the few members would only be jeered57 at. There must be no attempt to tack58 religion on to the business; indeed, I intend that we should leave religion outside its doors altogether. All we want to do is to win the young people over to our side by providing them with some innocent recreation; that is all.'
The justice of the peace gazed at the priest with such an expression of astonishment59 and anxiety that Monsieur Delangre was obliged to bend his head to conceal a smile, while he slyly pulled the Abbé's cassock. Then the priest went on in a calmer voice:
'I am sure, gentlemen, that you do not feel any distrust of me, and I ask you to leave the management of the matter in my hands. I propose to adopt some very simple name, such a one, for instance, as the Young Men's Club, which fully60 expresses all that is required.'
Monsieur Rastoil and Monsieur Maffre bowed, although this title seemed to them a little weak. They next spoke of nominating the Curé as president of a provisional committee.
'I fancy,' said Monsieur Delangre, glancing at the priest, 'that this suggestion will scarcely meet with his reverence's approbation61.'
'Oh dear, no!' the Abbé exclaimed, slightly shrugging his shoulders. 'My cassock would frighten the timid and lukewarm away. We should only get the pious young people, and it is not for them that we are going to found our club. What we want is to gather in the wanderers; to win converts, in a word; isn't that so?'
'Clearly,' replied the presiding judge.
'Very well, then, it will be better for us to keep ourselves in the background, myself especially. What I propose is this: your son, Monsieur Rastoil, and yours, Monsieur Delangre, will alone come forward. It must appear as if they themselves had formed the idea of this club. Send them to me in the morning, and I will talk the matter over at length with them. I already have a suitable building in my mind and a code of rules quite prepared. Your two sons, Monsieur Maffre, will naturally be enrolled62 at the head of the list of members.'
The presiding judge seemed flattered at the part assigned to his son; and so matters were arranged in this way, notwithstanding the resistance of the justice of the peace, who[Pg 141] had hoped to win some personal distinction from the founding of the club. The next day Séverin Rastoil and Lucien Delangre put themselves in communication with Abbé Faujas. Séverin was a tall young man of five-and-twenty, with a badly shaped skull63 and a dull brain, who had just been called to the bar, thanks to the position which his father held. The latter was anxiously dreaming of making him a public prosecutor's assessor, despairing of his ever succeeding in winning any practice for himself. Lucien, on the other hand, was short and sharp-eyed, had a crafty64 mind, and pleaded with all the coolness of an old practitioner65, although he was a year younger than Séverin. The 'Plassans Gazette' spoke of him as a future light of the bar. It was more particularly to him that the Abbé gave the minutest instructions as to his scheme. As for young Rastoil he simply went fussing about, bursting with importance. In three weeks the Young Men's Club was founded and opened.
There was at that time beneath the church of the Minimes, situated66 at the end of the Cours Sauvaire, a number of very large rooms and an old monastery67 refectory, which were no longer put to any use. This was the place that Abbé Faujas had thought of for the club, and the clergy of the parish very willingly allowed him to use the rooms. One morning, when the provisional committee of the Young Men's Club had set workmen going in this cellar-like place, the citizens of Plassans were quite astounded68 to see what appeared to be a café being fitted up under the church. Five days afterwards there was no longer any room for doubt on the point. The place was certainly going to be a café. Divans69 were being brought thither70, with marble-topped tables, chairs, two billiard-tables, and even three crates71 of crockery and glass. An entrance was contrived72 at the end of the building, as far as possible from the doorway73 of the church, and great crimson74 curtains, genuine restaurant-curtains, were hung behind the glass panes75. You descended76 five stone steps, and on opening the door found yourself in a large hall; to the right of which there was a smaller one and a reading-room, while in a square room at the far end were placed the two billiard-tables. They were exactly beneath the high altar.
'Well, my poor boys,' said Guillaume Porquier one day to Monsieur Maffre's two sons, whom he had met on the Cours, 'so they are going to make you serve at mass between your games at bézique.'
[Pg 142]
However, Ambroise and Alphonse besought77 him not to speak to them in public, as their father had threatened to send them to sea if they continued to associate with him.
When the first astonishment was over, the Young Men's Club proved a great success. Monseigneur Rousselot accepted the honorary presidency78, and even visited it in person one evening, attended by his secretary, Abbé Surin. Each of them drank a glass of currant-syrup in the smaller room, and the glass which his lordship used was preserved with great respect upon a sideboard. The Bishop's visit is still talked of with much emotion at Plassans, and it brought about the adherence79 of all the fashionable young men of the town. It was soon considered very bad style not to belong to the Young Men's Club.
Guillaume Porquier, however, used to prowl about the entrance, sniggering like a young wolf who dreams of making his way into a sheep-fold. Notwithstanding all the fear they had of their father, Monsieur Maffre's sons quite worshipped this shameless young man who regaled them with stories of Paris, and entertained them at secret little parties in the suburbs. They had got into the habit of meeting him regularly every Saturday evening at nine o'clock near a certain seat on the Mall. They slipped away from the club and sat gossiping till eleven, concealed80 beneath the dark shade of the plane-trees. On these occasions Guillaume always twitted them about the evenings they spent underneath81 the church of the Minimes.
'It is very kind of you,' he, would say, 'to let yourselves be led by the nose. The verger gives you glasses of sugar and water as though he were administering the communion to you, doesn't he?'
'Nothing of the sort! you are quite mistaken, I assure you,' Ambroise exclaimed. 'You might fancy you were in the Café du Cours, or the Café de France, or the Café des Voyageurs. We drink beer, or punch, or madeira, whatever we like, whatever is drunk in other places.'
Guillaume continued jeering82 however.
'Well, I shouldn't like to go drinking their dirty stuff,' he said. 'I should be afraid that they had mixed some drug with it to make me go to confession83. I suppose you amuse yourselves by playing at hot-cockles and puss-in-the-corner!'
The young Maffres gaily84 laughed at his pleasantries, but they took care to undeceive him. They told him that even[Pg 143] cards were allowed, and that there was no flavour of a church about the place at all. The club was extremely pleasant, there were very comfortable couches, and mirrors all over.
'Well,' said Guillaume, 'you'll never make me believe that you can't hear the organ when there is an evening service at the church. It would make me swallow my coffee the wrong way only to know that there was a baptism, or a marriage, or a funeral going on over my cup.'
'Well, there's something in that,' Alphonse allowed. 'Only the other day, while I was playing at billiards with Séverin in the day-time, we could distinctly hear a funeral going on. It was the funeral of the butcher's little girl, the butcher at the corner of the Rue de la Banne. That fellow Séverin is a big jackass, he tried to frighten me by telling me that the whole funeral would fall through on our heads.'
'Ah well! it must be a very pleasant place, that club of yours!' cried Guillaume. 'I wouldn't set foot in it for all the money in the world! I'd as soon go and drink my coffee in a sacristy.'
The truth of the matter was that Guillaume felt very much vexed85 that he did not belong to the Young Men's Club. His father had forbidden him to offer himself for election, fearing that he would be rejected. At last, however, the young man grew so annoyed about the matter that he sent in an application to be allowed to join the club, without mentioning what he had done to his people. The question was a very serious one. The committee which elected the members then comprised the young Maffres amongst its number, and Lucien Delangre was its president and Séverin Rastoil its secretary. These young men felt terribly embarrassed. While they did not dare to grant Guillaume's application, they were unwilling86 to do anything to hurt the feelings of Doctor Porquier, so worthy and irreproachable87 a person, one, too, who was so completely trusted by all the fashionable ladies. At last Ambroise and Alphonse begged Guillaume not to press his application, giving him to understand that he had no chance of being admitted.
'You are a couple of pitiful poltroons!' he replied to them. 'Do you suppose that I care a fig88 about joining your brotherhood89? I was only amusing myself. I wanted to see if you would have the courage to vote against me. I shall have a good laugh when those hypocrites bang the door in my face.[Pg 144] As for you, my good little boys, you can go and amuse yourselves where you like; I shall never speak to you again.'
The young Maffres, in great consternation90, then besought Lucien Delangre to try to arrange matters in such a way as would prevent any unpleasantness. Lucien submitted the difficulty to his usual adviser91, Abbé Faujas, for whom he had conceived a genuine disciple's admiration92. The Abbé came to the Young Men's Club every afternoon from five o'clock till six. He walked through the big room with a pleasant smile, nodding and sometimes stopping for a few minutes at one of the tables to chat with some of the young men. However, he never accepted anything to drink, not even a glass of water. Afterwards he passed into the reading-room, and, taking a seat at the long table covered with a green cloth, he attentively93 pored over the newspapers which the club received, the Legitimist organs of Paris and the neighbouring departments. Occasionally he made a rapid note in a little pocket-book. Then he went quietly away, again smiling at the members who were present, and shaking hands with them. On some occasions, however, he remained for a longer time to watch a game at chess, or chat merrily about all kinds of matters. The young men, who were extremely fond of him, used to say that when he talked no one would take him for a priest.
When the mayor's son told him of the embarrassment94 which Guillaume's application had caused the committee, Abbé Faujas promised to arrange the affair; and next morning he went to see Doctor Porquier, to whom he related everything. The doctor was aghast. His son, he cried, was determined95 to kill him with distress27 by dishonouring96 his grey hairs. What could be done now? Even if the application were withdrawn97, the shame and disgrace would be none the less. The priest then advised him to send Guillaume away for two or three months to an estate which he possessed99 a few leagues from Plassans, and undertook to charge himself with the further conduct of the affair. As soon as Guillaume had left the town, the committee postponed100 the consideration of his application, saying that there was no occasion for haste in the matter, as the applicant101 was absent and that a decision could be taken later on.
Doctor Porquier heard of this solution from Lucien Delangre one afternoon when he was in the garden of the Sub-Prefecture. He immediately hastened to the terrace. It[Pg 145] was the hour when Abbé Faujas read his breviary. Doctor Porquier caught sight of him under the Mourets' arbour.
'Ah, Monsieur le Curé!' he cried, 'how can I thank you? I should like very much to shake hands with you.'
'The wall is rather high,' said the priest, looking at it with a smile.
But Doctor Porquier was an effusive102 individual who did not allow himself to be discouraged by obstacles.
'Wait a moment!' he cried. 'If you will allow me, Monsieur le Curé, I will come round.'
Then he disappeared. The Abbé, still smiling, slowly bent103 his steps towards the little door which opened into the Impasse104 des Chevillottes. The doctor was already gently knocking at it.
'Ah! this door is nailed up,' said the priest. 'One of the nails is broken though. If I had any sort of a tool, there would be no difficulty in getting the other one out.'
He glanced round him and caught sight of a spade. Then, after he had drawn98 back the bolts with a slight effort, he opened the door, and stepped out into the alley105, where Doctor Porquier overwhelmed him with thanks and compliments. As they walked along, talking, Monsieur Maffre, who happened at the time to be in Monsieur Rastoil's garden, opened a little door that was hidden away behind the presiding judge's waterfall. The gentlemen were much amused to find themselves all three in this deserted106 little lane.
They remained there for a few moments, and, as they took leave of the Abbé, the magistrate and the doctor poked107 their heads inside the Mourets' garden, looking about them with curiosity.
Mouret, however, who was putting stakes to his tomatoes, raised his head and caught sight of them. He was fairly lost in astonishment.
'Hallo! so they've made their way in here!' he muttered. 'The Curé now only has to bring in both gangs!'
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conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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guardian
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| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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malicious
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| adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的 | |
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inveterate
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| adj.积习已深的，根深蒂固的 | |
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persistence
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| n.坚持，持续，存留 | |
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virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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contented
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rue
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pruning
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| n.修枝，剪枝，修剪v.修剪（树木等）( prune的现在分词 )；精简某事物，除去某事物多余的部分 | |
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den
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shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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severed
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stature
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clergy
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adversary
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supple
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explicit
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aloof
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amiability
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intercourse
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glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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24
reverence
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| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
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25
gambling
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| n.赌博；投机 | |
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26
gaol
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| n.(jail)监狱；(不加冠词)监禁；vt.使…坐牢 | |
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27
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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distressing
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| a.使人痛苦的 | |
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assailed
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| v.攻击( assail的过去式和过去分词 )；困扰；质问；毅然应对 | |
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30
distressed
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| 痛苦的 | |
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31
stainless
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| adj.无瑕疵的，不锈的 | |
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32
wailing
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| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的现在分词 )；沱 | |
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33
dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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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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35
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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36
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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37
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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38
reassure
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| v.使放心，使消除疑虑 | |
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39
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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40
alleging
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| 断言，宣称，辩解( allege的现在分词 ) | |
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41
magistrate
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| n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官 | |
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42
shutters
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| 百叶窗( shutter的名词复数 )； （照相机的）快门 | |
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43
feverish
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| adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的 | |
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44
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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45
embroidering
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| v.（在织物上）绣花( embroider的现在分词 )；刺绣；对…加以渲染（或修饰）；给…添枝加叶 | |
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46
remonstrating
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| v.抗议( remonstrate的现在分词 )；告诫 | |
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47
sanctimonious
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| adj.假装神圣的，假装虔诚的，假装诚实的 | |
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pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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49
sneering
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| 嘲笑的，轻蔑的 | |
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50
recollected
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| adj.冷静的；镇定的；被回忆起的；沉思默想的v.记起，想起( recollect的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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51
avarice
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| n.贪婪；贪心 | |
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52
billiards
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| n.台球 | |
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53
license
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| n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许 | |
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tolerance
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| n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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56
guild
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| n.行会，同业公会，协会 | |
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57
jeered
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| v.嘲笑( jeer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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58
tack
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| n.大头钉；假缝，粗缝 | |
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59
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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approbation
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| n.称赞；认可 | |
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enrolled
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| adj.入学登记了的v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的过去式和过去分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起 | |
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63
skull
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| n.头骨；颅骨 | |
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crafty
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| adj.狡猾的，诡诈的 | |
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practitioner
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| n.实践者，从事者；(医生或律师等)开业者 | |
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situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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monastery
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| n.修道院，僧院，寺院 | |
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68
astounded
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| v.使震惊(astound的过去式和过去分词)；愕然；愕；惊讶 | |
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divans
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| n.（可作床用的）矮沙发( divan的名词复数 )；（波斯或其他东方诗人的）诗集 | |
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thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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71
crates
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| n. 板条箱, 篓子, 旧汽车 vt. 装进纸条箱 | |
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contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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73
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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74
crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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panes
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| 窗玻璃( pane的名词复数 ) | |
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76
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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77
besought
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| v.恳求，乞求（某事物）( beseech的过去式和过去分词 )；(beseech的过去式与过去分词) | |
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78
presidency
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| n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期) | |
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79
adherence
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| n.信奉，依附，坚持，固着 | |
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80
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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81
underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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82
jeering
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| adj.嘲弄的，揶揄的v.嘲笑( jeer的现在分词 ) | |
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83
confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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84
gaily
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| adv.欢乐地，高兴地 | |
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85
vexed
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| adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论 | |
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86
unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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87
irreproachable
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| adj.不可指责的，无过失的 | |
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88
fig
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| n.无花果(树) | |
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89
brotherhood
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| n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊 | |
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90
consternation
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| n.大为吃惊，惊骇 | |
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91
adviser
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| n.劝告者，顾问 | |
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92
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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93
attentively
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| adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神 | |
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embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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95
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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96
dishonouring
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| 使（人、家族等）丧失名誉（dishonour的现在分词形式） | |
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97
withdrawn
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| vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出 | |
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98
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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99
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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100
postponed
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| 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） | |
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101
applicant
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| n.申请人，求职者，请求者 | |
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102
effusive
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| adj.热情洋溢的；感情(过多)流露的 | |
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103
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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104
impasse
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| n.僵局；死路 | |
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105
alley
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| n.小巷，胡同；小径，小路 | |
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106
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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107
poked
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| v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 )；戳出；拨弄；与（某人）性交 | |
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