The next morning, on her breakfast tray, Miss Bart found a note from her hostess.
"Dearest Lily," it ran, "if it is not too much of a bore to be down by ten, will you come to my sitting-room1 to help me with some tiresome2 things?"
Lily tossed aside the note and subsided3 on her pillows with a sigh. It WAS a bore to be down by ten--an hour regarded at Bellomont as vaguely4 synchronous5 with sunrise--and she knew too well the nature of the tiresome things in question. Miss Pragg, the secretary, had been called away, and there would be notes and dinner-cards to write, lost addresses to hunt up, and other social drudgery6 to perform. It was understood that Miss Bart should fill the gap in such emergencies, and she usually recognized the obligation without a murmur7.
Today, however, it renewed the sense of servitude which the previous night's review of her cheque-book had produced. Everything in her surroundings ministered to feelings of ease and amenity8. The windows stood open to the sparkling freshness of the September morning, and between the yellow boughs9 she caught a perspective of hedges and parterres leading by degrees of lessening10 formality to the free undulations of the park. Her maid had kindled11 a little fire on the hearth12, and it contended cheerfully with the sunlight which slanted14 across the moss-green carpet and caressed15 the curved sides of an old marquetry desk. Near the bed stood a table holding her breakfast tray, with its harmonious16 porcelain17 and silver, a handful of violets in a slender glass, and the morning paper folded beneath her letters. There was nothing new to Lily in these tokens of a studied luxury; but, though they formed a part of her atmosphere, she never lost her sensitiveness to their charm. Mere18 display left her with a sense of superior distinction; but she felt an affinity19 to all the subtler manifestations20 of wealth.
Mrs. Trenor's summons, however, suddenly recalled her state of dependence21, and she rose and dressed in a mood of irritability22 that she was usually too prudent23 to indulge. She knew that such emotions leave lines on the face as well as in the character, and she had meant to take warning by the little creases24 which her midnight survey had revealed.
The matter-of-course tone of Mrs. Trenor's greeting deepened her irritation25. If one did drag one's self out of bed at such an hour, and come down fresh and radiant to the monotony of note-writing, some special recognition of the sacrifice seemed fitting. But Mrs. Trenor's tone showed no consciousness of the fact.
"Oh, Lily, that's nice of you," she merely sighed across the chaos26 of letters, bills and other domestic documents which gave an incongruously commercial touch to the slender elegance27 of her writing-table.
"There are such lots of horrors this morning," she added, clearing a space in the centre of the confusion and rising to yield her seat to Miss Bart.
Mrs. Trenor was a tall fair woman, whose height just saved her from redundancy. Her rosy28 blondness had survived some forty years of futile29 activity without showing much trace of ill-usage except in a diminished play of feature. It was difficult to define her beyond saying that she seemed to exist only as a hostess, not so much from any exaggerated instinct of hospitality as because she could not sustain life except in a crowd. The collective nature of her interests exempted30 her from the ordinary rivalries31 of her sex, and she knew no more personal emotion than that of hatred32 for the woman who presumed to give bigger dinners or have more amusing house-parties than herself. As her social talents, backed by Mr. Trenor's bank-account, almost always assured her ultimate triumph in such competitions, success had developed in her an unscrupulous good nature toward the rest of her sex, and in Miss Bart's utilitarian33 classification of her friends, Mrs. Trenor ranked as the woman who was least likely to "go back" on her.
"It was simply inhuman34 of Pragg to go off now," Mrs. Trenor declared, as her friend seated herself at the desk. "She says her sister is going to have a baby--as if that were anything to having a house-party! I'm sure I shall get most horribly mixed up and there will be some awful rows. When I was down at Tuxedo35 I asked a lot of people for next week, and I've mislaid the list and can't remember who is coming. And this week is going to be a horrid36 failure too--and Gwen Van Osburgh will go back and tell her mother how bored people were. I did mean to ask the Wetheralls--that was a blunder of Gus's. They disapprove37 of Carry Fisher, you know. As if one could help having Carry Fisher! It WAS foolish of her to get that second divorce--Carry always overdoes38 things--but she said the only way to get a penny out of Fisher was to divorce him and make him pay alimony. And poor Carry has to consider every dollar. It's really absurd of Alice Wetherall to make such a fuss about meeting her, when one thinks of what society is coming to. Some one said the other day that there was a divorce and a case of appendicitis39 in every family one knows. Besides, Carry is the only person who can keep Gus in a good humour when we have bores in the house. Have you noticed that ALL the husbands like her? All, I mean, except her own. It's rather clever of her to have made a specialty40 of devoting herself to dull people--the field is such a large one, and she has it practically to herself. She finds compensations, no doubt--I know she borrows money of Gus--but then I'd PAY her to keep him in a good humour, so I can't complain, after all."
Mrs. Trenor paused to enjoy the spectacle of Miss Bart's efforts to unravel41 her tangled42 correspondence.
"But it is only the Wetheralls and Carry," she resumed, with a fresh note of lament43. "The truth is, I'm awfully44 disappointed in Lady Cressida Raith."
"Disappointed? Had you known her before?"
"Mercy, no--never saw her till yesterday. Lady Skiddaw sent her over with letters to the Van Osburghs, and I heard that Maria Van Osburgh was asking a big party to meet her this week, so I thought it would be fun to get her away, and Jack45 Stepney, who knew her in India, managed it for me. Maria was furious, and actually had the impudence46 to make Gwen invite herself here, so that they shouldn't be QUITE out of it--if I'd known what Lady Cressida was like, they could have had her and welcome! But I thought any friend of the Skiddaws' was sure to be amusing. You remember what fun Lady Skiddaw was? There were times when I simply had to send the girls out of the room. Besides, Lady Cressida is the Duchess of Beltshire's sister, and I naturally supposed she was the same sort; but you never can tell in those English families. They are so big that there's room for all kinds, and it turns out that Lady Cressida is the moral one--married a clergy-man and does missionary47 work in the East End. Think of my taking such a lot of trouble about a clergyman's wife, who wears Indian jewelry48 and botanizes! She made Gus take her all through the glass-houses yesterday, and bothered him to death by asking him the names of the plants. Fancy treating Gus as if he were the gardener!"
Mrs. Trenor brought this out in a CRESCENDO49 of indignation.
"Oh, well, perhaps Lady Cressida will reconcile the Wetheralls to meeting Carry Fisher," said Miss Bart pacifically.
"I'm sure I hope so! But she is boring all the men horribly, and if she takes to distributing tracts50, as I hear she does, it will be too depressing. The worst of it is that she would have been so useful at the right time. You know we have to have the Bishop51 once a year, and she would have given just the right tone to things. I always have horrid luck about the Bishop's visits," added Mrs. Trenor, whose present misery52 was being fed by a rapidly rising tide of reminiscence; "last year, when he came, Gus forgot all about his being here, and brought home the Ned Wintons and the Farleys--five divorces and six sets of children between them!"
"When is Lady Cressida going?" Lily enquired53.
Mrs. Trenor cast up her eyes in despair. "My dear, if one only knew! I was in such a hurry to get her away from Maria that I actually forgot to name a date, and Gus says she told some one she meant to stop here all winter."
"To stop here? In this house?"
"Don't be silly--in America. But if no one else asks her--you know they NEVER go to hotels."
"Perhaps Gus only said it to frighten you."
"No--I heard her tell Bertha Dorset that she had six months to put in while her husband was taking the cure in the Engadine. You should have seen Bertha look vacant! But it's no joke, you know--if she stays here all the autumn she'll spoil everything, and Maria Van Osburgh will simply exult54."
At this affecting vision Mrs. Trenor's voice trembled with self-pity.
"Oh, Judy--as if any one were ever bored at Bellomont!" Miss Bart tactfully protested. "You know perfectly55 well that, if Mrs. Van Osburgh were to get all the right people and leave you with all the wrong ones, you'd manage to make things go off, and she wouldn't."
Such an assurance would usually have restored Mrs. Trenor's complacency; but on this occasion it did not chase the cloud from her brow.
"It isn't only Lady Cressida," she lamented56. "Everything has gone wrong this week. I can see that Bertha Dorset is furious with me."
"Furious with you? Why?"
"Because I told her that Lawrence Selden was coming; but he wouldn't, after all, and she's quite unreasonable57 enough to think it's my fault."
Miss Bart put down her pen and sat absently gazing at the note she had begun.
"I thought that was all over," she said.
"So it is, on his side. And of course Bertha has been idle since. But I fancy she's out of a job just at present--and some one gave me a hint that I had better ask Lawrence. Well, I DID ask him--but I couldn't make him come; and now I suppose she'll take it out of me by being perfectly nasty to every one else."
"Oh, she may take it out of HIM by being perfectly charming--to some one else."
Mrs. Trenor shook her head dolefully. "She knows he wouldn't mind. And who else is there? Alice Wetherall won't let Lucius out of her sight. Ned Silverton can't take his eyes off Carry Fisher--poor boy! Gus is bored by Bertha, Jack Stepney knows her too well--and--well, to be sure, there's Percy Gryce!"
She sat up smiling at the thought.
Miss Bart's countenance58 did not reflect the smile.
"Oh, she and Mr. Gryce would not be likely to hit it off."
"You mean that she'd shock him and he'd bore her? Well, that's not such a bad beginning, you know. But I hope she won't take it into her head to be nice to him, for I asked him here on purpose for you."
Lily laughed. "MERCI DU COMPLIMENT! I should certainly have no show against Bertha."
"Do you think I am uncomplimentary? I'm not really, you know. Every one knows you're a thousand times handsomer and cleverer than Bertha; but then you're not nasty. And for always getting what she wants in the long run, commend me to a nasty woman."
Miss Bart stared in affected59 reproval. "I thought you were so fond of Bertha."
"Oh, I am--it's much safer to be fond of dangerous people. But she IS dangerous--and if I ever saw her up to mischief60 it's now. I can tell by poor George's manner. That man is a perfect barometer--he always knows when Bertha is going to---"
"To fall?" Miss Bart suggested.
"Don't be shocking! You know he believes in her still. And of course I don't say there's any real harm in Bertha. Only she delights in making people miserable61, and especially poor George."
"Well, he seems cut out for the part--I don't wonder she likes more cheerful companionship."
"Oh, George is not as dismal62 as you think. If Bertha did worry him he would be quite different. Or if she'd leave him alone, and let him arrange his life as he pleases. But she doesn't dare lose her hold of him on account of the money, and so when HE isn't jealous she pretends to be."
Miss Bart went on writing in silence, and her hostess sat following her train of thought with frowning intensity63.
"Do you know," she exclaimed after a long pause, "I believe I'll call up Lawrence on the telephone and tell him he simply MUST come?"
"Oh, don't," said Lily, with a quick suffusion64 of colour. The blush surprised her almost as much as it did her hostess, who, though not commonly observant of facial changes, sat staring at her with puzzled eyes.
"Good gracious, Lily, how handsome you are! Why? Do you dislike him so much?"
"Not at all; I like him. But if you are actuated by the benevolent65 intention of protecting me from Bertha--I don't think I need your protection."
Mrs. Trenor sat up with an exclamation66. "Lily!---PERCY? Do you mean to say you've actually done it?"
Miss Bart smiled. "I only mean to say that Mr. Gryce and I are getting to be very good friends."
"H'm--I see." Mrs. Trenor fixed67 a rapt eye upon her. "You know they say he has eight hundred thousand a year--and spends nothing, except on some rubbishy old books. And his mother has heart-disease and will leave him a lot more. OH, LILY, DO GO SLOWLY," her friend adjured68 her.
Miss Bart continued to smile without annoyance69. "I shouldn't, for instance," she remarked, "be in any haste to tell him that he had a lot of rubbishy old books."
"No, of course not; I know you're wonderful about getting up people's subjects. But he's horribly shy, and easily shocked, and--and---"
"Why don't you say it, Judy? I have the reputation of being on the hunt for a rich husband?"
"Oh, I don't mean that; he wouldn't believe it of you--at first," said Mrs. Trenor, with candid70 shrewdness. "But you know things are rather lively here at times--I must give Jack and Gus a hint--and if he thought you were what his mother would call fast--oh, well, you know what I mean. Don't wear your scarlet71 CREPE-DE-CHINE for dinner, and don't smoke if you can help it, Lily dear!"
Lily pushed aside her finished work with a dry smile. "You're very kind, Judy: I'll lock up my cigarettes and wear that last year's dress you sent me this morning. And if you are really interested in my career, perhaps you'll be kind enough not to ask me to play bridge again this evening."
"Bridge? Does he mind bridge, too? Oh, Lily, what an awful life you'll lead! But of course I won't--why didn't you give me a hint last night? There's nothing I wouldn't do, you poor duck, to see you happy!"
And Mrs. Trenor, glowing with her sex's eagerness to smooth the course of true love, enveloped72 Lily in a long embrace.
"You're quite sure," she added solicitously73, as the latter extricated74 herself, "that you wouldn't like me to telephone for Lawrence Selden?"
"Quite sure," said Lily.
The next three days demonstrated to her own complete satisfaction Miss Bart's ability to manage her affairs without extraneous75 aid.
As she sat, on the Saturday afternoon, on the terrace at Bellomont, she smiled at Mrs. Trenor's fear that she might go too fast. If such a warning had ever been needful, the years had taught her a salutary lesson, and she flattered herself that she now knew how to adapt her pace to the object of pursuit. In the case of Mr. Gryce she had found it well to flutter ahead, losing herself elusively76 and luring77 him on from depth to depth of unconscious intimacy78. The surrounding atmosphere was propitious79 to this scheme of courtship. Mrs. Trenor, true to her word, had shown no signs of expecting Lily at the bridge-table, and had even hinted to the other card-players that they were to betray no surprise at her unwonted defection. In consequence of this hint, Lily found herself the centre of that feminine solicitude80 which envelops81 a young woman in the mating season. A solitude82 was tacitly created for her in the crowded existence of Bellomont, and her friends could not have shown a greater readiness for self-effacement had her wooing been adorned83 with all the attributes of romance. In Lily's set this conduct implied a sympathetic comprehension of her motives84, and Mr. Gryce rose in her esteem85 as she saw the consideration he inspired.
The terrace at Bellomont on a September afternoon was a spot propitious to sentimental86 musings, and as Miss Bart stood leaning against the balustrade above the sunken garden, at a little distance from the animated87 group about the tea-table, she might have been lost in the mazes88 of an inarticulate happiness. In reality, her thoughts were finding definite utterance89 in the tranquil90 recapitulation of the blessings91 in store for her. From where she stood she could see them embodied92 in the form of Mr. Gryce, who, in a light overcoat and muffler, sat somewhat nervously93 on the edge of his chair, while Carry Fisher, with all the energy of eye and gesture with which nature and art had combined to endow her, pressed on him the duty of taking part in the task of municipal reform.
Mrs. Fisher's latest hobby was municipal reform. It had been preceded by an equal zeal94 for socialism, which had in turn replaced an energetic advocacy of Christian95 Science. Mrs. Fisher was small, fiery96 and dramatic; and her hands and eyes were admirable instruments in the service of whatever causes he happened to espouse98. She had, however, the fault common to enthusiasts99 of ignoring any slackness of response on the part of her hearers, and Lily was amused by her unconsciousness of the resistance displayed in every angle of Mr. Gryce's attitude. Lily herself knew that his mind was divided between the dread101 of catching102 cold if he remained out of doors too long at that hour, and the fear that, if he retreated to the house, Mrs. Fisher might follow him up with a paper to be signed. Mr. Gryce had a constitutional dislike to what he called "committing himself," and tenderly as he cherished his health, he evidently concluded that it was safer to stay out of reach of pen and ink till chance released him from Mrs. Fisher's toils103. Meanwhile he cast agonized104 glances in the direction of Miss Bart, whose only response was to sink into an attitude of more graceful105 abstraction. She had learned the value of contrast in throwing her charms into relief, and was fully13 aware of the extent to which Mrs. Fisher's volubility was enhancing her own repose106.
She was roused from her musings by the approach of her cousin Jack Stepney who, at Gwen Van Osburgh's side, was returning across the garden from the tennis court.
The couple in question were engaged in the same kind of romance in which Lily figured, and the latter felt a certain annoyance in contemplating107 what seemed to her a caricature of her own situation. Miss Van Osburgh was a large girl with flat surfaces and no high lights: Jack Stepney had once said of her that she was as reliable as roast mutton. His own taste was in the line of less solid and more highly-seasoned diet; but hunger makes any fare palatable108, and there had been times when Mr. Stepney had been reduced to a crust.
Lily considered with interest the expression of their faces: the girl's turned toward her companion's like an empty plate held up to be filled, while the man lounging at her side already betrayed the encroaching boredom109 which would presently crack the thin veneer110 of his smile.
"How impatient men are!" Lily reflected. "All Jack has to do to get everything he wants is to keep quiet and let that girl marry him; whereas I have to calculate and contrive111, and retreat and advance, as if I were going through an intricate dance, where one misstep would throw me hopelessly out of time."
As they drew nearer she was whimsically struck by a kind of family likeness112 between Miss Van Osburgh and Percy Gryce. There was no resemblance of feature. Gryce was handsome in a didactic way--he looked like a clever pupil's drawing from a plaster-cast--while Gwen's countenance had no more modelling than a face painted on a toy balloon. But the deeper affinity was unmistakable: the two had the same prejudices and ideals, and the same quality of making other standards non-existent by ignoring them. This attribute was common to most of Lily's set: they had a force of negation113 which eliminated everything beyond their own range of perception. Gryce and Miss Van Osburgh were, in short, made for each other by every law of moral and physical correspondence---"Yet they wouldn't look at each other," Lily mused100, "they never do. Each of them wants a creature of a different race, of Jack's race and mine, with all sorts of intuitions, sensations and perceptions that they don't even guess the existence of. And they always get what they want."
She stood talking with her cousin and Miss Van Osburgh, till a slight cloud on the latter's brow advised her that even cousinly amenities114 were subject to suspicion, and Miss Bart, mindful of the necessity of not exciting enmities at this crucial point of her career, dropped aside while the happy couple proceeded toward the tea-table.
Seating herself on the upper step of the terrace, Lily leaned her head against the honeysuckles wreathing the balustrade. The fragrance115 of the late blossoms seemed an emanation of the tranquil scene, a landscape tutored to the last degree of rural elegance. In the foreground glowed the warm tints116 of the gardens. Beyond the lawn, with its pyramidal pale-gold maples117 and velvety118 firs, sloped pastures dotted with cattle; and through a long glade119 the river widened like a lake under the silver light of September. Lily did not want to join the circle about the tea-table. They represented the future she had chosen, and she was content with it, but in no haste to anticipate its joys. The certainty that she could marry Percy Gryce when she pleased had lifted a heavy load from her mind, and her money troubles were too recent for their removal not to leave a sense of relief which a less discerning intelligence might have taken for happiness. Her vulgar cares were at an end. She would be able to arrange her life as she pleased, to soar into that empyrean of security where creditors120 cannot penetrate121. She would have smarter gowns than Judy Trenor, and far, far more jewels than Bertha Dorset. She would be free forever from the shifts, the expedients122, the humiliations of the relatively123 poor. Instead of having to flatter, she would be flattered; instead of being grateful, she would receive thanks. There were old scores she could pay off as well as old benefits she could return. And she had no doubts as to the extent of her power. She knew that Mr. Gryce was of the small chary124 type most inaccessible125 to impulses and emotions. He had the kind of character in which prudence126 is a vice97, and good advice the most dangerous nourishment127. But Lily had known the species before: she was aware that such a guarded nature must find one huge outlet128 of egoism, and she determined129 to be to him what his Americana had hitherto been: the one possession in which he took sufficient pride to spend money on it. She knew that this generosity130 to self is one of the forms of meanness, and she resolved so to identify herself with her husband's vanity that to gratify her wishes would be to him the most exquisite131 form of self-indulgence. The system might at first necessitate132 a resort to some of the very shifts and expedients from which she intended it should free her; but she felt sure that in a short time she would be able to play the game in her own way. How should she have distrusted her powers? Her beauty itself was not the mere ephemeral possession it might have been in the hands of inexperience: her skill in enhancing it, the care she took of it, the use she made of it, seemed to give it a kind of permanence. She felt she could trust it to carry her through to the end.
And the end, on the whole, was worthwhile. Life was not the mockery she had thought it three days ago. There was room for her, after all, in this crowded selfish world of pleasure whence, so short a time since, her poverty had seemed to exclude her. These people whom she had ridiculed133 and yet envied were glad to make a place for her in the charmed circle about which all her desires revolved134. They were not as brutal135 and self-engrossed as she had fancied--or rather, since it would no longer be necessary to flatter and humour them, that side of their nature became less conspicuous136. Society is a revolving137 body which is apt to be judged according to its place in each man's heaven; and at present it was turning its illuminated138 face to Lily.
In the rosy glow it diffused139 her companions seemed full of amiable140 qualities. She liked their elegance, their lightness, their lack of emphasis: even the self-assurance which at times was so like obtuseness141 now seemed the natural sign of social ascendency. They were lords of the only world she cared for, and they were ready to admit her to their ranks and let her lord it with them. Already she felt within her a stealing allegiance to their standards, an acceptance of their limitations, a disbelief in the things they did not believe in, a contemptuous pity for the people who were not able to live as they lived.
The early sunset was slanting142 across the park. Through the boughs of the long avenue beyond the gardens she caught the flash of wheels, and divined that more visitors were approaching. There was a movement behind her, a scattering143 of steps and voices: it was evident that the party about the tea-table was breaking up. Presently she heard a tread behind her on the terrace. She supposed that Mr. Gryce had at last found means to escape from his predicament, and she smiled at the significance of his coming to join her instead of beating an instant retreat to the fire-side.
She turned to give him the welcome which such gallantry deserved; but her greeting wavered into a blush of wonder, for the man who had approached her was Lawrence Selden.
"You see I came after all," he said; but before she had time to answer, Mrs. Dorset, breaking away from a lifeless colloquy144 with her host, had stepped between them with a little gesture of appropriation145.
收听单词发音 |
1
sitting-room
|
|
| n.（BrE）客厅，起居室 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
tiresome
|
|
| adj.令人疲劳的，令人厌倦的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
subsided
|
|
| v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
vaguely
|
|
| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
synchronous
|
|
| adj.同步的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
drudgery
|
|
| n.苦工，重活，单调乏味的工作 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
murmur
|
|
| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
amenity
|
|
| n.pl.生活福利设施，文娱康乐场所；（不可数）愉快，适意 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
boughs
|
|
| 大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
lessening
|
|
| 减轻，减少，变小 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
kindled
|
|
| （使某物）燃烧，着火( kindle的过去式和过去分词 )； 激起（感情等）； 发亮，放光 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
hearth
|
|
| n.壁炉炉床，壁炉地面 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
fully
|
|
| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
slanted
|
|
| 有偏见的； 倾斜的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
caressed
|
|
| 爱抚或抚摸…( caress的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
harmonious
|
|
| adj.和睦的，调和的，和谐的，协调的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
porcelain
|
|
| n.瓷；adj.瓷的，瓷制的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
mere
|
|
| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
affinity
|
|
| n.亲和力，密切关系 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
manifestations
|
|
| n.表示，显示（manifestation的复数形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
dependence
|
|
| n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
irritability
|
|
| n.易怒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
prudent
|
|
| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
creases
|
|
| （使…）起折痕，弄皱( crease的第三人称单数 )； （皮肤）皱起，使起皱纹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
irritation
|
|
| n.激怒，恼怒，生气 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
chaos
|
|
| n.混乱，无秩序 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
elegance
|
|
| n.优雅；优美，雅致；精致，巧妙 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
rosy
|
|
| adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
futile
|
|
| adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
exempted
|
|
| 使免除[豁免]( exempt的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
rivalries
|
|
| n.敌对，竞争，对抗( rivalry的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
hatred
|
|
| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
utilitarian
|
|
| adj.实用的，功利的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
inhuman
|
|
| adj.残忍的，不人道的，无人性的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
tuxedo
|
|
| n.礼服，无尾礼服 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
horrid
|
|
| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
disapprove
|
|
| v.不赞成，不同意，不批准 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
overdoes
|
|
| v.做得过分( overdo的第三人称单数 )；太夸张；把…煮得太久；（工作等）过度 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
appendicitis
|
|
| n.阑尾炎，盲肠炎 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
specialty
|
|
| n.(speciality)特性，特质；专业，专长 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
unravel
|
|
| v.弄清楚（秘密）；拆开，解开，松开 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
tangled
|
|
| adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
lament
|
|
| n.悲叹，悔恨，恸哭；v.哀悼，悔恨，悲叹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
awfully
|
|
| adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
jack
|
|
| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
impudence
|
|
| n.厚颜无耻；冒失；无礼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
missionary
|
|
| adj.教会的，传教(士)的；n.传教士 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
jewelry
|
|
| n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
crescendo
|
|
| n.(音乐)渐强，高潮 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
tracts
|
|
| 大片土地( tract的名词复数 )； 地带； （体内的）道； （尤指宣扬宗教、伦理或政治的）短文 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
bishop
|
|
| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
misery
|
|
| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
enquired
|
|
| 打听( enquire的过去式和过去分词 )； 询问； 问问题； 查问 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
exult
|
|
| v.狂喜，欢腾；欢欣鼓舞 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
perfectly
|
|
| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
lamented
|
|
| adj.被哀悼的，令人遗憾的v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
unreasonable
|
|
| adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
countenance
|
|
| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
affected
|
|
| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
mischief
|
|
| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
miserable
|
|
| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
dismal
|
|
| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
intensity
|
|
| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
suffusion
|
|
| n.充满 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
benevolent
|
|
| adj.仁慈的，乐善好施的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
exclamation
|
|
| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
fixed
|
|
| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
adjured
|
|
| v.（以起誓或诅咒等形式）命令要求( adjure的过去式和过去分词 )；祈求；恳求 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
annoyance
|
|
| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
candid
|
|
| adj.公正的，正直的；坦率的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
scarlet
|
|
| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
enveloped
|
|
| v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
solicitously
|
|
| adv.热心地，热切地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
extricated
|
|
| v.使摆脱困难，脱身( extricate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
extraneous
|
|
| adj.体外的；外来的；外部的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
elusively
|
|
| adv.巧妙逃避地，易忘记地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
77
luring
|
|
| 吸引，引诱（lure的现在分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
intimacy
|
|
| n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
propitious
|
|
| adj.吉利的；顺利的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
solicitude
|
|
| n.焦虑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
81
envelops
|
|
| v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
82
solitude
|
|
| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
83
adorned
|
|
| [计]被修饰的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
84
motives
|
|
| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
85
esteem
|
|
| n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
86
sentimental
|
|
| adj.多愁善感的，感伤的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
87
animated
|
|
| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
88
mazes
|
|
| 迷宫( maze的名词复数 )； 纷繁复杂的规则； 复杂难懂的细节； 迷宫图 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
89
utterance
|
|
| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
90
tranquil
|
|
| adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
91
blessings
|
|
| n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
92
embodied
|
|
| v.表现( embody的过去式和过去分词 )；象征；包括；包含 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
93
nervously
|
|
| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
94
zeal
|
|
| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
95
Christian
|
|
| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
96
fiery
|
|
| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
97
vice
|
|
| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
98
espouse
|
|
| v.支持，赞成，嫁娶 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
99
enthusiasts
|
|
| n.热心人，热衷者( enthusiast的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
100
mused
|
|
| v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
101
dread
|
|
| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
102
catching
|
|
| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
103
toils
|
|
| 网 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
104
agonized
|
|
| v.使（极度）痛苦，折磨( agonize的过去式和过去分词 )；苦斗；苦苦思索；感到极度痛苦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
105
graceful
|
|
| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
106
repose
|
|
| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
107
contemplating
|
|
| 深思，细想，仔细考虑( contemplate的现在分词 )； 注视，凝视； 考虑接受（发生某事的可能性）； 深思熟虑，沉思，苦思冥想 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
108
palatable
|
|
| adj.可口的，美味的；惬意的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
109
boredom
|
|
| n.厌烦，厌倦，乏味，无聊 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
110
veneer
|
|
| n.(墙上的)饰面，虚饰 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
111
contrive
|
|
| vt.谋划，策划；设法做到；设计，想出 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
112
likeness
|
|
| n.相像，相似（之处） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
113
negation
|
|
| n.否定；否认 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
114
amenities
|
|
| n.令人愉快的事物；礼仪；礼节；便利设施；礼仪( amenity的名词复数 )；便利设施；（环境等的）舒适；（性情等的）愉快 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
115
fragrance
|
|
| n.芬芳，香味，香气 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
116
tints
|
|
| 色彩( tint的名词复数 )； 带白的颜色； （淡色）染发剂； 痕迹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
117
maples
|
|
| 槭树，枫树( maple的名词复数 )； 槭木 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
118
velvety
|
|
| adj. 像天鹅绒的, 轻软光滑的, 柔软的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
119
glade
|
|
| n.林间空地，一片表面有草的沼泽低地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
120
creditors
|
|
| n.债权人，债主( creditor的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
121
penetrate
|
|
| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
122
expedients
|
|
| n.应急有效的，权宜之计的( expedient的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
123
relatively
|
|
| adv.比较...地，相对地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
124
chary
|
|
| adj.谨慎的，细心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
125
inaccessible
|
|
| adj.达不到的，难接近的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
126
prudence
|
|
| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
127
nourishment
|
|
| n.食物，营养品；营养情况 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
128
outlet
|
|
| n.出口/路；销路；批发商店；通风口；发泄 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
129
determined
|
|
| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
130
generosity
|
|
| n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
131
exquisite
|
|
| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
132
necessitate
|
|
| v.使成为必要，需要 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
133
ridiculed
|
|
| v.嘲笑，嘲弄，奚落( ridicule的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
134
revolved
|
|
| v.（使）旋转( revolve的过去式和过去分词 )；细想 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
135
brutal
|
|
| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
136
conspicuous
|
|
| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
137
revolving
|
|
| adj.旋转的，轮转式的；循环的v.（使）旋转( revolve的现在分词 )；细想 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
138
illuminated
|
|
| adj.被照明的；受启迪的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
139
diffused
|
|
| 散布的，普及的，扩散的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
140
amiable
|
|
| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
141
obtuseness
|
|
| 感觉迟钝 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
142
slanting
|
|
| 倾斜的，歪斜的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
143
scattering
|
|
| n.[物]散射；散乱，分散；在媒介质中的散播adj.散乱的；分散在不同范围的；广泛扩散的；（选票）数量分散的v.散射(scatter的ing形式)；散布；驱散 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
144
colloquy
|
|
| n.谈话，自由讨论 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
145
appropriation
|
|
| n.拨款，批准支出 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |