"I am glad of all details," remarked my friend, "whether they seem to you to be relevant or not."
"I shall try not to miss anything of importance. The one unpleasant thing about the house, which struck me at once, was the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are only two, a man and his wife. Toller, for that is his name, is a rough, uncouth1 man, with grizzled hair and whiskers, and a perpetual smell of drink. Twice since I have been with them he has been quite drunk, and yet Mr. Rucastle seemed to take no notice of it. His wife is a very tall and strong woman with a sour face, as silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable2. They are a most unpleasant couple, but fortunately I spend most of my time in the nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in one corner of the building.
"For two days after my arrival at the Copper3 Beeches4 my life was very quiet; on the third, Mrs. Rucastle came down just after breakfast and whispered something to her husband.
"'Oh, yes,' said he, turning to me, 'we are very much obliged to you, Miss Hunter, for falling in with our whims5 so far as to cut your hair. I assure you that it has not detracted in the tiniest iota6 from your appearance. We shall now see how the electric-blue dress will become you. You will find it laid out upon the bed in your room, and if you would be so good as to put it on we should both be extremely obliged.'
"The dress which I found waiting for me was of a peculiar7 shade of blue. It was of excellent material, a sort of beige, but it bore unmistakable signs of having been worn before. It could not have been a better fit if I had been measured for it. Both Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle expressed a delight at the look of it, which seemed quite exaggerated in its vehemence8. They were waiting for me in the drawing-room, which is a very large room, stretching along the entire front of the house, with three long windows reaching down to the floor. A chair had been placed close to the central window, with its back turned towards it. In this I was asked to sit, and then Mr. Rucastle, walking up and down on the other side of the room, began to tell me a series of the funniest stories that I have ever listened to. You cannot imagine how comical he was, and I laughed until I was quite weary. Mrs. Rucastle, however, who has evidently no sense of humour, never so much as smiled, but sat with her hands in her lap, and a sad, anxious look upon her face. After an hour or so, Mr. Rucastle suddenly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of the day, and that I might change my dress and go to little Edward in the nursery.
1 uncouth | |
adj.无教养的,粗鲁的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
2 amiable | |
adj.和蔼可亲的,友善的,亲切的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
3 copper | |
n.铜;铜币;铜器;adj.铜(制)的;(紫)铜色的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
4 beeches | |
n.山毛榉( beech的名词复数 );山毛榉木材 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
5 WHIMS | |
虚妄,禅病 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
6 iota | |
n.些微,一点儿 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
7 peculiar | |
adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
8 vehemence | |
n.热切;激烈;愤怒 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
欢迎访问英文小说网 |