Miss Bart, emerging late the next morning from her cabin, found herself alone on the deck of the Sabrina. The cushioned chairs, disposed expectantly under the wide awning1, showed no signs of recent occupancy, and she presently learned from a steward2 that Mrs. Dorset had not yet appeared, and that the gentlemen--separately--had gone ashore3 as soon as they had breakfasted. Supplied with these facts, Lily leaned awhile over the side, giving herself up to a leisurely4 enjoyment5 of the spectacle before her. Unclouded sunlight enveloped6 sea and shore in a bath of purest radiancy. The purpling waters drew a sharp white line of foam7 at the base of the shore; against its irregular eminences8, hotels and villas9 flashed from the greyish verdure of olive and eucalyptus10; and the background of bare and finely-pencilled mountains quivered in a pale intensity11 of light.
How beautiful it was--and how she loved beauty! She had always felt that her sensibility in this direction made up for certain obtusenesses of feeling of which she was less proud; and during the last three months she had indulged it passionately12. The Dorsets' invitation to go abroad with them had come as an almost miraculous13 release from crushing difficulties; and her faculty14 for renewing herself in new scenes, and casting off problems of conduct as easily as the surroundings in which they had arisen, made the mere15 change from one place to another seem, not merely a postponement16, but a solution of her troubles. Moral complications existed for her only in the environment that had produced them; she did not mean to slight or ignore them, but they lost their reality when they changed their background. She could not have remained in New York without repaying the money she owed to Trenor; to acquit17 herself of that odious18 debt she might even have faced a marriage with Rosedale; but the accident of placing the Atlantic between herself and her obligations made them dwindle19 out of sight as if they had been milestones20 and she had travelled past them.
Her two months on the Sabrina had been especially calculated to aid this illusion of distance. She had been plunged21 into new scenes, and had found in them a renewal22 of old hopes and ambitions. The cruise itself charmed her as a romantic adventure. She was vaguely23 touched by the names and scenes amid which she moved, and had listened to Ned Silverton reading Theocritus by moonlight, as the yacht rounded the Sicilian promontories24, with a thrill of the nerves that confirmed her belief in her intellectual superiority. But the weeks at Cannes and Nice had really given her more pleasure. The gratification of being welcomed in high company, and of making her own ascendency felt there, so that she found herself figuring once more as the "beautiful Miss Bart" in the interesting journal devoted25 to recording26 the least movements of her cosmopolitan27 companions--all these experiences tended to throw into the extreme background of memory the prosaic28 and sordid29 difficulties from which she had escaped.
If she was faintly aware of fresh difficulties ahead, she was sure of her ability to meet them: it was characteristic of her to feel that the only problems she could not solve were those with which she was familiar. Meanwhile she could honestly be proud of the skill with which she had adapted herself to somewhat delicate conditions. She had reason to think that she had made herself equally necessary to her host and hostess; and if only she had seen any perfectly30 irreproachable31 means of drawing a financial profit from the situation, there would have been no cloud on her horizon. The truth was that her funds, as usual, were inconveniently32 low; and to neither Dorset nor his wife could this vulgar embarrassment33 be safely hinted. Still, the need was not a pressing one; she could worry along, as she had so often done before, with the hope of some happy change of fortune to sustain her; and meanwhile life was gay and beautiful and easy, and she was conscious of figuring not unworthily in such a setting.
She was engaged to breakfast that morning with the Duchess of Beltshire, and at twelve o'clock she asked to be set ashore in the gig. Before this she had sent her maid to enquire34 if she might see Mrs. Dorset; but the reply came back that the latter was tired, and trying to sleep. Lily thought she understood the reason of the rebuff. Her hostess had not been included in the Duchess's invitation, though she herself had made the most loyal efforts in that direction. But her grace was impervious35 to hints, and invited or omitted as she chose. It was not Lily's fault if Mrs. Dorset's complicated attitudes did not fall in with the Duchess's easy gait. The Duchess, who seldom explained herself, had not formulated36 her objection beyond saying: "She's rather a bore, you know. The only one of your friends I like is that little Mr. Bry--HE'S funny--" but Lily knew enough not to press the point, and was not altogether sorry to be thus distinguished37 at her friend's expense. Bertha certainly HAD grown tiresome38 since she had taken to poetry and Ned Silverton.
On the whole, it was a relief to break away now and then from the Sabrina; and the Duchess's little breakfast, organized by Lord Hubert with all his usual virtuosity39, was the pleasanter to Lily for not including her travelling-companions. Dorset, of late, had grown more than usually morose40 and incalculable, and Ned Silverton went about with an air that seemed to challenge the universe. The freedom and lightness of the ducal intercourse41 made an agreeable change from these complications, and Lily was tempted42, after luncheon43, to adjourn44 in the wake of her companions to the hectic45 atmosphere of the Casino. She did not mean to play; her diminished pocket-money offered small scope for the adventure; but it amused her to sit on a divan46, under the doubtful protection of the Duchess's back, while the latter hung above her stakes at a neighbouring table.
The rooms were packed with the gazing throng47 which, in the afternoon hours, trickles48 heavily between the tables, like the Sunday crowd in a lion-house. In the stagnant49 flow of the mass, identities were hardly distinguishable; but Lily presently saw Mrs. Bry cleaving50 her determined51 way through the doors, and, in the broad wake she left, the light figure of Mrs. Fisher bobbing after her like a row-boat at the stern of a tug52. Mrs. Bry pressed on, evidently animated53 by the resolve to reach a certain point in the rooms; but Mrs. Fisher, as she passed Lily, broke from her towing-line, and let herself float to the girl's side.
"Lose her?" she echoed the latter's query54, with an indifferent glance at Mrs. Bry's retreating back. "I daresay--it doesn't matter: I HAVE lost her already." And, as Lily exclaimed, she added: "We had an awful row this morning. You know, of course, that the Duchess chucked her at dinner last night, and she thinks it was my fault--my want of management. The worst of it is, the message--just a mere word by telephone--came so late that the dinner HAD to be paid for; and Becassin HAD run it up--it had been so drummed into him that the Duchess was coming!" Mrs. Fisher indulged in a faint laugh at the remembrance. "Paying for what she doesn't get rankles55 so dreadfully with Louisa: I can't make her see that it's one of the preliminary steps to getting what you haven't paid for--and as I was the nearest thing to smash, she smashed me to atoms, poor dear!"
Lily murmured her commiseration58. Impulses of sympathy came naturally to her, and it was instinctive59 to proffer60 her help to Mrs. Fisher.
"If there's anything I can do--if it's only a question of meeting the Duchess! I heard her say she thought Mr. Bry amusing---"
But Mrs. Fisher interposed with a decisive gesture. "My dear, I have my pride: the pride of my trade. I couldn't manage the Duchess, and I can't palm off your arts on Louisa Bry as mine. I've taken the final step: I go to Paris tonight with the Sam Gormers. THEY'RE still in the elementary stage; an Italian Prince is a great deal more than a Prince to them, and they're always on the brink61 of taking a courier for one. To save them from that is my present mission." She laughed again at the picture. "But before I go I want to make my last will and testament--I want to leave you the Brys."
"Me?" Miss Bart joined in her amusement. "It's charming of you to remember me, dear; but really---"
"You're already so well provided for?" Mrs. Fisher flashed a sharp glance at her. "ARE you, though, Lily--to the point of rejecting my offer?"
Miss Bart coloured slowly. "What I really meant was, that the Brys wouldn't in the least care to be so disposed of."
Mrs. Fisher continued to probe her embarrassment with an unflinching eye. "What you really meant was that you've snubbed the Brys horribly; and you know that they know---"
"Carry!"
"Oh, on certain sides Louisa bristles62 with perceptions. If you'd even managed to have them asked once on the Sabrina--especially when royalties63 were coming! But it's not too late," she ended earnestly, "it's not too late for either of you."
Lily smiled. "Stay over, and I'll get the Duchess to dine with them."
"I shan't stay over--the Gormers have paid for my SALON-LIT," said Mrs. Fisher with simplicity64. "But get the Duchess to dine with them all the same."
Lily's smile again flowed into a slight laugh: her friend's importunity65 was beginning to strike her as irrelevant66. "I'm sorry I have been negligent67 about the Brys---" she began.
"Oh, as to the Brys--it's you I'm thinking of," said Mrs. Fisher abruptly69. She paused, and then, bending forward, with a lowered voice: "You know we all went on to Nice last night when the Duchess chucked us. It was Louisa's idea--I told her what I thought of it."
Miss Bart assented70. "Yes--I caught sight of you on the way back, at the station."
"Well, the man who was in the carriage with you and George Dorset--that horrid71 little Dabham who does 'Society Notes from the Riviera'--had been dining with us at Nice. And he's telling everybody that you and Dorset came back alone after midnight."
"Alone--? When he was with us?" Lily laughed, but her laugh faded into gravity under the prolonged implication of Mrs. Fisher's look. "We DID come back alone--if that's so very dreadful! But whose fault was it? The Duchess was spending the night at Cimiez with the Crown Princess; Bertha got bored with the show, and went off early, promising72 to meet us at the station. We turned up on time, but she didn't--she didn't turn up at all!"
Miss Bart made this announcement in the tone of one who presents, with careless assurance, a complete vindication73; but Mrs. Fisher received it in a manner almost inconsequent. She seemed to have lost sight of her friend's part in the incident: her inward vision had taken another slant74.
"Bertha never turned up at all? Then how on earth did she get back?"
"Oh, by the next train, I suppose; there were two extra ones for the FETE. At any rate, I know she's safe on the yacht, though I haven't yet seen her; but you see it was not my fault," Lily summed up.
"Not your fault that Bertha didn't turn up? My poor child, if only you don't have to pay for it!" Mrs. Fisher rose--she had seen Mrs. Bry surging back in her direction. "There's Louisa, and I must be off--oh, we're on the best of terms externally; we're lunching together; but at heart it's ME she's lunching on," she explained; and with a last hand-clasp and a last look, she added: "Remember, I leave her to you; she's hovering75 now, ready to take you in."
Lily carried the impression of Mrs. Fisher's leave-taking away with her from the Casino doors. She had accomplished76, before leaving, the first step toward her reinstatement in Mrs. Bry's good graces. An affable advance--a vague murmur57 that they must see more of each other--an allusive77 glance to a near future that was felt to include the Duchess as well as the Sabrina--how easily it was all done, if one possessed78 the knack79 of doing it! She wondered at herself, as she had so often wondered, that, possessing the knack, she did not more consistently exercise it. But sometimes she was forgetful--and sometimes, could it be that she was proud? Today, at any rate, she had been vaguely conscious of a reason for sinking her pride, had in fact even sunk it to the point of suggesting to Lord Hubert Dacey, whom she ran across on the Casino steps, that he might really get the Duchess to dine with the Brys, if SHE undertook to have them asked on the Sabrina. Lord Hubert had promised his help, with the readiness on which she could always count: it was his only way of ever reminding her that he had once been ready to do so much more for her. Her path, in short, seemed to smooth itself before her as she advanced; yet the faint stir of uneasiness persisted. Had it been produced, she wondered, by her chance meeting with Selden? She thought not--time and change seemed so completely to have relegated80 him to his proper distance. The sudden and exquisite81 reaction from her anxieties had had the effect of throwing the recent past so far back that even Selden, as part of it, retained a certain air of unreality. And he had made it so clear that they were not to meet again; that he had merely dropped down to Nice for a day or two, and had almost his foot on the next steamer. No--that part of the past had merely surged up for a moment on the fleeing surface of events; and now that it was submerged again, the uncertainty83, the apprehension84 persisted.
They grew to sudden acuteness as she caught sight of George Dorset descending85 the steps of the Hotel de Paris and making for her across the square. She had meant to drive down to the quay86 and regain87 the yacht; but she now had the immediate88 impression that something more was to happen first.
"Which way are you going? Shall we walk a bit?" he began, putting the second question before the first was answered, and not waiting for a reply to either before he directed her silently toward the comparative seclusion89 of the lower gardens.
She detected in him at once all the signs of extreme nervous tension. The skin was puffed90 out under his sunken eyes, and its sallowness had paled to a leaden white against which his irregular eyebrows91 and long reddish moustache were relieved with a saturnine92 effect. His appearance, in short, presented an odd mixture of the bedraggled and the ferocious93.
He walked beside her in silence, with quick precipitate94 steps, till they reached the embowered slopes to the east of the Casino; then, pulling up abruptly, he said: "Have you seen Bertha?"
"No--when I left the yacht she was not yet up."
He received this with a laugh like the whirring sound in a disabled clock. "Not yet up? Had she gone to bed? Do you know at what time she came on board? This morning at seven!" he exclaimed.
"At seven?" Lily started. "What happened--an accident to the train?"
He laughed again. "They missed the train--all the trains--they had to drive back."
"Well---?" She hesitated, feeling at once how little even this necessity accounted for the fatal lapse95 of hours.
"Well, they couldn't get a carriage at once--at that time of night, you know--" the explanatory note made it almost seem as though he were putting the case for his wife--"and when they finally did, it was only a one-horse cab, and the horse was lame96!"
"How tiresome! I see," she affirmed, with the more earnestness because she was so nervously97 conscious that she did not; and after a pause she added: "I'm so sorry--but ought we to have waited?"
"Waited for the one-horse cab? It would scarcely have carried the four of us, do you think?"
She took this in what seemed the only possible way, with a laugh intended to sink the question itself in his humorous treatment of it. "Well, it would have been difficult; we should have had to walk by turns. But it would have been jolly to see the sunrise."
"Yes: the sunrise WAS jolly," he agreed.
"Was it? You saw it, then?"
"I saw it, yes; from the deck. I waited up for them."
"Naturally--I suppose you were worried. Why didn't you call on me to share your vigil?"
He stood still, dragging at his moustache with a lean weak hand. "I don't think you would have cared for its DENOUEMENT," he said with sudden grimness.
Again she was disconcerted by the abrupt68 change in his tone, and as in one flash she saw the peril98 of the moment, and the need of keeping her sense of it out of her eyes.
"DENOUEMENT--isn't that too big a word for such a small incident? The worst of it, after all, is the fatigue99 which Bertha has probably slept off by this time."
She clung to the note bravely, though its futility100 was now plain to her in the glare of his miserable101 eyes.
"Don't--don't---!" he broke out, with the hurt cry of a child; and while she tried to merge82 her sympathy, and her resolve to ignore any cause for it, in one ambiguous murmur of deprecation, he dropped down on the bench near which they had paused, and poured out the wretchedness of his soul.
It was a dreadful hour--an hour from which she emerged shrinking and seared, as though her lids had been scorched102 by its actual glare. It was not that she had never had premonitory glimpses of such an outbreak; but rather because, here and there throughout the three months, the surface of life had shown such ominous103 cracks and vapours that her fears had always been on the alert for an upheaval104. There had been moments when the situation had presented itself under a homelier yet more vivid image--that of a shaky vehicle, dashed by unbroken steeds over a bumping road, while she cowered105 within, aware that the harness wanted mending, and wondering what would give way first. Well--everything had given way now; and the wonder was that the crazy outfit106 had held together so long. Her sense of being involved in the crash, instead of merely witnessing it from the road, was intensified107 by the way in which Dorset, through his furies of denunciation and wild reactions of self-contempt, made her feel the need he had of her, the place she had taken in his life. But for her, what ear would have been open to his cries? And what hand but hers could drag him up again to a footing of sanity108 and self-respect? All through the stress of the struggle with him, she had been conscious of something faintly maternal109 in her efforts to guide and uplift him. But for the present, if he clung to her, it was not in order to be dragged up, but to feel some one floundering in the depths with him: he wanted her to suffer with him, not to help him to suffer less.
Happily for both, there was little physical strength to sustain his frenzy110. It left him, collapsed111 and breathing heavily, to an apathy112 so deep and prolonged that Lily almost feared the passers-by would think it the result of a seizure113, and stop to offer their aid. But Monte Carlo is, of all places, the one where the human bond is least close, and odd sights are the least arresting. If a glance or two lingered on the couple, no intrusive114 sympathy disturbed them; and it was Lily herself who broke the silence by rising from her seat. With the clearing of her vision the sweep of peril had extended, and she saw that the post of danger was no longer at Dorset's side.
"If you won't go back, I must--don't make me leave you!" she urged.
But he remained mutely resistant115, and she added: "What are you going to do? You really can't sit here all night."
"I can go to an hotel. I can telegraph my lawyers." He sat up, roused by a new thought. "By Jove, Selden's at Nice--I'll send for Selden!"
Lily, at this, reseated herself with a cry of alarm. "No, no, NO!" she protested.
He swung round on her distrustfully. "Why not Selden? He's a lawyer isn't he? One will do as well as another in a case like this."
"As badly as another, you mean. I thought you relied on ME to help you."
"You do--by being so sweet and patient with me. If it hadn't been for you I'd have ended the thing long ago. But now it's got to end." He rose suddenly, straightening himself with an effort. "You can't want to see me ridiculous."
She looked at him kindly116. "That's just it." Then, after a moment's pondering, almost to her own surprise she broke out with a flash of inspiration: "Well, go over and see Mr. Selden. You'll have time to do it before dinner."
"Oh, DINNER---" he mocked her; but she left him with the smiling rejoinder: "Dinner on board, remember; we'll put it off till nine if you like."
It was past four already; and when a cab had dropped her at the quay, and she stood waiting for the gig to put off for her, she began to wonder what had been happening on the yacht. Of Silverton's whereabouts there had been no mention. Had he returned to the Sabrina? Or could Bertha--the dread56 alternative sprang on her suddenly--could Bertha, left to herself, have gone ashore to rejoin him? Lily's heart stood still at the thought. All her concern had hitherto been for young Silverton, not only because, in such affairs, the woman's instinct is to side with the man, but because his case made a peculiar117 appeal to her sympathies. He was so desperately118 in earnest, poor youth, and his earnestness was of so different a quality from Bertha's, though hers too was desperate enough. The difference was that Bertha was in earnest only about herself, while he was in earnest about her. But now, at the actual crisis, this difference seemed to throw the weight of destitution119 on Bertha's side, since at least he had her to suffer for, and she had only herself. At any rate, viewed less ideally, all the disadvantages of such a situation were for the woman; and it was to Bertha that Lily's sympathies now went out. She was not fond of Bertha Dorset, but neither was she without a sense of obligation, the heavier for having so little personal liking120 to sustain it. Bertha had been kind to her, they had lived together, during the last months, on terms of easy friendship, and the sense of friction121 of which Lily had recently become aware seemed to make it the more urgent that she should work undividedly in her friend's interest.
It was in Bertha's interest, certainly, that she had despatched Dorset to consult with Lawrence Selden. Once the grotesqueness122 of the situation accepted, she had seen at a glance that it was the safest in which Dorset could find himself. Who but Selden could thus miraculously123 combine the skill to save Bertha with the obligation of doing so? The consciousness that much skill would be required made Lily rest thankfully in the greatness of the obligation. Since he would HAVE to pull Bertha through she could trust him to find a way; and she put the fulness of her trust in the telegram she managed to send him on her way to the quay.
Thus far, then, Lily felt that she had done well; and the conviction strengthened her for the task that remained. She and Bertha had never been on confidential124 terms, but at such a crisis the barriers of reserve must surely fall: Dorset's wild allusions125 to the scene of the morning made Lily feel that they were down already, and that any attempt to rebuild them would be beyond Bertha's strength. She pictured the poor creature shivering behind her fallen defences and awaiting with suspense126 the moment when she could take refuge in the first shelter that offered. If only that shelter had not already offered itself elsewhere! As the gig traversed the short distance between the quay and the yacht, Lily grew more than ever alarmed at the possible consequences of her long absence. What if the wretched Bertha, finding in all the long hours no soul to turn to--but by this time Lily's eager foot was on the side-ladder, and her first step on the Sabrina showed the worst of her apprehensions127 to be unfounded; for there, in the luxurious128 shade of the after-deck, the wretched Bertha, in full command of her usual attenuated129 elegance130, sat dispensing131 tea to the Duchess of Beltshire and Lord Hubert.
The sight filled Lily with such surprise that she felt that Bertha, at least, must read its meaning in her look, and she was proportionately disconcerted by the blankness of the look returned. But in an instant she saw that Mrs. Dorset had, of necessity, to look blank before the others, and that, to mitigate132 the effect of her own surprise, she must at once produce some simple reason for it. The long habit of rapid transitions made it easy for her to exclaim to the Duchess: "Why, I thought you'd gone back to the Princess!" and this sufficed for the lady she addressed, if it was hardly enough for Lord Hubert.
At least it opened the way to a lively explanation of how the Duchess was, in fact, going back the next moment, but had first rushed out to the yacht for a word with Mrs. Dorset on the subject of tomorrow's dinner--the dinner with the Brys, to which Lord Hubert had finally insisted on dragging them.
"To save my neck, you know!" he explained, with a glance that appealed to Lily for some recognition of his promptness; and the Duchess added, with her noble candour: "Mr. Bry has promised him a tip, and he says if we go he'll pass it onto us."
This led to some final pleasantries, in which, as it seemed to Lily, Mrs. Dorset bore her part with astounding133 bravery, and at the close of which Lord Hubert, from half way down the side-ladder, called back, with an air of numbering heads: "And of course we may count on Dorset too?"
"Oh, count on him," his wife assented gaily134. She was keeping up well to the last--but as she turned back from waving her adieux over the side, Lily said to herself that the mask must drop and the soul of fear look out.
Mrs. Dorset turned back slowly; perhaps she wanted time to steady her muscles; at any rate, they were still under perfect control when, dropping once more into her seat behind the tea-table, she remarked to Miss Bart with a faint touch of irony135: "I suppose I ought to say good morning."
If it was a cue, Lily was ready to take it, though with only the vaguest sense of what was expected of her in return. There was something unnerving in the contemplation of Mrs. Dorset's composure, and she had to force the light tone in which she answered: "I tried to see you this morning, but you were not yet up."
"No--I got to bed late. After we missed you at the station I thought we ought to wait for you till the last train." She spoke136 very gently, but with just the least tinge137 of reproach.
"You missed us? You waited for us at the station?" Now indeed Lily was too far adrift in bewilderment to measure the other's words or keep watch on her own. "But I thought you didn't get to the station till after the last train had left!"
Mrs. Dorset, examining her between lowered lids, met this with the immediate query: "Who told you that?"
"George--I saw him just now in the gardens."
"Ah, is that George's version? Poor George--he was in no state to remember what I told him. He had one of his worst attacks this morning, and I packed him off to see the doctor. Do you know if he found him?"
Lily, still lost in conjecture138, made no reply, and Mrs. Dorset settled herself indolently in her seat. "He'll wait to see him; he was horribly frightened about himself. It's very bad for him to be worried, and whenever anything upsetting happens, it always brings on an attack."
This time Lily felt sure that a cue was being pressed on her; but it was put forth139 with such startling suddenness, and with so incredible an air of ignoring what it led up to, that she could only falter140 out doubtfully: "Anything upsetting?"
"Yes--such as having you so conspicuously141 on his hands in the small hours. You know, my dear, you're rather a big responsibility in such a scandalous place after midnight."
At that--at the complete unexpectedness and the inconceivable audacity142 of it--Lily could not restrain the tribute of an astonished laugh.
"Well, really--considering it was you who burdened him with the responsibility!"
Mrs. Dorset took this with an exquisite mildness. "By not having the superhuman cleverness to discover you in that frightful143 rush for the train? Or the imagination to believe that you'd take it without us--you and he all alone--instead of waiting quietly in the station till we DID manage to meet you?"
Lily's colour rose: it was growing clear to her that Bertha was pursuing an object, following a line she had marked out for herself. Only, with such a doom144 impending145, why waste time in these childish efforts to avert146 it? The puerility147 of the attempt disarmed148 Lily's indignation: did it not prove how horribly the poor creature was frightened?
"No; by our simply all keeping together at Nice," she returned.
"Keeping together? When it was you who seized the first opportunity to rush off with the Duchess and her friends? My dear Lily, you are not a child to be led by the hand!"
"No--nor to be lectured, Bertha, really; if that's what you are doing to me now."
Mrs. Dorset smiled on her reproachfully. "Lecture you--I? Heaven forbid! I was merely trying to give you a friendly hint. But it's usually the other way round, isn't it? I'm expected to take hints, not to give them: I've positively149 lived on them all these last months."
"Hints--from me to you?" Lily repeated.
"Oh, negative ones merely--what not to be and to do and to see. And I think I've taken them to admiration150. Only, my dear, if you'll let me say so, I didn't understand that one of my negative duties was NOT to warn you when you carried your imprudence too far."
A chill of fear passed over Miss Bart: a sense of remembered treachery that was like the gleam of a knife in the dusk. But compassion151, in a moment, got the better of her instinctive recoil152. What was this outpouring of senseless bitterness but the tracked creature's attempt to cloud the medium through which it was fleeing? It was on Lily's lips to exclaim: "You poor soul, don't double and turn--come straight back to me, and we'll find a way out!" But the words died under the impenetrable insolence153 of Bertha's smile. Lily sat silent, taking the brunt of it quietly, letting it spend itself on her to the last drop of its accumulated falseness; then, without a word, she rose and went down to her cabin.
收听单词发音 |
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awning
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| n.遮阳篷；雨篷 | |
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steward
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| n.乘务员，服务员；看管人；膳食管理员 | |
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ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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leisurely
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| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
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enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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enveloped
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| v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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eminences
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| 卓越( eminence的名词复数 )； 著名； 高地； 山丘 | |
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villas
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| 别墅，公馆( villa的名词复数 )； （城郊）住宅 | |
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eucalyptus
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| n.桉树，桉属植物 | |
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intensity
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| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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passionately
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miraculous
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| adj.像奇迹一样的，不可思议的 | |
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faculty
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| n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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16
postponement
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| n.推迟 | |
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17
acquit
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| vt.宣判无罪；(oneself)使(自己)表现出 | |
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18
odious
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| adj.可憎的，讨厌的 | |
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19
dwindle
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| v.逐渐变小（或减少） | |
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milestones
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| n.重要事件( milestone的名词复数 )；重要阶段；转折点；里程碑 | |
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21
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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22
renewal
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| adj.(契约)延期，续订，更新，复活，重来 | |
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23
vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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24
promontories
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| n.岬，隆起，海角( promontory的名词复数 ) | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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26
recording
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| n.录音，记录 | |
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27
cosmopolitan
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| adj.世界性的，全世界的，四海为家的，全球的 | |
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28
prosaic
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| adj.单调的，无趣的 | |
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29
sordid
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| adj.肮脏的，不干净的，卑鄙的，暗淡的 | |
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30
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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31
irreproachable
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| adj.不可指责的，无过失的 | |
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32
inconveniently
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| ad.不方便地 | |
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33
embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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34
enquire
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| v.打听，询问；调查，查问 | |
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35
impervious
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| adj.不能渗透的，不能穿过的，不易伤害的 | |
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36
formulated
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| v.构想出( formulate的过去式和过去分词 )；规划；确切地阐述；用公式表示 | |
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37
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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38
tiresome
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| adj.令人疲劳的，令人厌倦的 | |
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39
virtuosity
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| n.精湛技巧 | |
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40
morose
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| adj.脾气坏的，不高兴的 | |
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41
intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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42
tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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43
luncheon
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| n.午宴，午餐，便宴 | |
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44
adjourn
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| v.（使）休会，（使）休庭 | |
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45
hectic
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| adj.肺病的；消耗热的；发热的；闹哄哄的 | |
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46
divan
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| n.长沙发；（波斯或其他东方诗人的）诗集 | |
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47
throng
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| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
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48
trickles
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| n.细流( trickle的名词复数 )；稀稀疏疏缓慢来往的东西v.滴( trickle的第三人称单数 )；淌；使)慢慢走；缓慢移动 | |
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49
stagnant
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| adj.不流动的，停滞的，不景气的 | |
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50
cleaving
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| v.劈开，剁开，割开( cleave的现在分词 ) | |
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51
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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52
tug
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| v.用力拖(或拉)；苦干；n.拖；苦干；拖船 | |
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53
animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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54
query
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| n.疑问，问号，质问；vt.询问，表示怀疑 | |
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55
rankles
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| v.（使）痛苦不已，（使）怨恨不已( rankle的第三人称单数 ) | |
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56
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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57
murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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58
commiseration
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| n.怜悯，同情 | |
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59
instinctive
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| adj.(出于)本能的；直觉的；(出于)天性的 | |
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60
proffer
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| v.献出，赠送；n.提议，建议 | |
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61
brink
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| n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿 | |
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62
bristles
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| 短而硬的毛发，刷子毛( bristle的名词复数 ) | |
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63
royalties
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| 特许权使用费 | |
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64
simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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65
importunity
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| n.硬要，强求 | |
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66
irrelevant
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| adj.不恰当的，无关系的，不相干的 | |
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67
negligent
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| adj.疏忽的；玩忽的；粗心大意的 | |
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68
abrupt
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| adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的 | |
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69
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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70
assented
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| 同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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71
horrid
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|
| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
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72
promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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73
vindication
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| n.洗冤，证实 | |
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74
slant
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| v.倾斜，倾向性地编写或报道；n.斜面，倾向 | |
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75
hovering
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| 鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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76
accomplished
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|
| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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77
allusive
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| adj.暗示的；引用典故的 | |
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78
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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79
knack
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| n.诀窍，做事情的灵巧的，便利的方法 | |
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80
relegated
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|
| v.使降级( relegate的过去式和过去分词 )；使降职；转移；把…归类 | |
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81
exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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82
merge
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| v.(使)结合，(使)合并，(使)合为一体 | |
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83
uncertainty
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|
| n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物 | |
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84
apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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85
descending
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|
| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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86
quay
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| n.码头，靠岸处 | |
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87
regain
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|
| vt.重新获得，收复，恢复 | |
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88
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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89
seclusion
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| n.隐遁，隔离 | |
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90
puffed
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|
| adj.疏松的v.使喷出( puff的过去式和过去分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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91
eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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92
saturnine
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| adj.忧郁的，沉默寡言的，阴沉的，感染铅毒的 | |
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93
ferocious
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| adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的 | |
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94
precipitate
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| adj.突如其来的；vt.使突然发生；n.沉淀物 | |
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95
lapse
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| n.过失，流逝，失效，抛弃信仰，间隔；vi.堕落，停止，失效，流逝；vt.使失效 | |
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96
lame
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| adj.跛的，(辩解、论据等)无说服力的 | |
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97
nervously
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| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
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98
peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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99
fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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100
futility
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| n.无用 | |
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101
miserable
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|
| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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102
scorched
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| 烧焦，烤焦( scorch的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（植物）枯萎，把…晒枯； 高速行驶； 枯焦 | |
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103
ominous
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| adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的 | |
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104
upheaval
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| n.胀起，(地壳)的隆起；剧变，动乱 | |
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105
cowered
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| v.畏缩，抖缩( cower的过去式 ) | |
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106
outfit
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| n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装 | |
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107
intensified
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| v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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108
sanity
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| n.心智健全，神智正常，判断正确 | |
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109
maternal
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| adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的 | |
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110
frenzy
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| n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动 | |
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111
collapsed
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| adj.倒塌的 | |
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112
apathy
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| n.漠不关心，无动于衷；冷淡 | |
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113
seizure
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| n.没收；占有；抵押 | |
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114
intrusive
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| adj.打搅的；侵扰的 | |
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115
resistant
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| adj.(to)抵抗的，有抵抗力的 | |
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116
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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117
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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118
desperately
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| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
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119
destitution
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| n.穷困，缺乏，贫穷 | |
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120
liking
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| n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢 | |
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121
friction
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| n.摩擦，摩擦力 | |
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122
grotesqueness
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123
miraculously
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| ad.奇迹般地 | |
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124
confidential
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| adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的 | |
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125
allusions
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| 暗指，间接提到( allusion的名词复数 ) | |
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126
suspense
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| n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑 | |
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127
apprehensions
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| 疑惧 | |
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128
luxurious
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| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
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129
attenuated
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| v.（使）变细( attenuate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）变薄；（使）变小；减弱 | |
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130
elegance
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| n.优雅；优美，雅致；精致，巧妙 | |
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131
dispensing
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| v.分配( dispense的现在分词 )；施与；配（药） | |
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132
mitigate
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| vt.（使）减轻，（使）缓和 | |
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133
astounding
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| adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊，使大吃一惊astound的现在分词) | |
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134
gaily
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| adv.欢乐地，高兴地 | |
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135
irony
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| n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄 | |
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136
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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137
tinge
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| vt.(较淡)着色于，染色；使带有…气息；n.淡淡色彩，些微的气息 | |
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138
conjecture
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| n./v.推测，猜测 | |
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139
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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140
falter
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| vi.(嗓音)颤抖，结巴地说；犹豫；蹒跚 | |
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141
conspicuously
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| ad.明显地，惹人注目地 | |
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142
audacity
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| n.大胆，卤莽，无礼 | |
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143
frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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144
doom
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| n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定 | |
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145
impending
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| a.imminent, about to come or happen | |
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146
avert
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| v.防止，避免；转移(目光、注意力等) | |
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147
puerility
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| n.幼稚，愚蠢；幼稚、愚蠢的行为、想法等 | |
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148
disarmed
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| v.裁军( disarm的过去式和过去分词 )；使息怒 | |
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149
positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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150
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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151
compassion
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| n.同情，怜悯 | |
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152
recoil
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| vi.退却，退缩，畏缩 | |
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153
insolence
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| n.傲慢；无礼；厚颜；傲慢的态度 | |
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