"Nobles and commoners, behold5 our king hanged like a dog by infamous6 traitors7. God will soon make known to us the names of all the guilty: let those who desire that justice may be done hold up their hands and swear against murderers bloody8 persecution9, implacable hatred10, everlasting11 vengeance12."
It was this one man's cry that brought death and desolation to the murderers' hearts, and the people dispersed13 about the town, shrieking14, "Vengeance, vengeance!"
Divine justice, which knows naught15 of privilege and respects no crown, struck Joan first of all in her love. When the two lovers first met, both were seized alike with terror and disgust; they recoiled16 trembling, the queen seeing in Bertrand her husband's executioner, and he in her the cause of his crime, possibly of his speedy punishment. Bertrand's looks were disordered, his cheeks hollow, his eyes encircled with black rings, his mouth horribly distorted; his arm and forefinger17 extended towards his accomplice18, he seemed to behold a frightful19 vision rising before him. The same cord he had used when he strangled Andre, he now saw round the queen's neck, so tight that it made its way into her flesh: an invisible force, a Satanic impulse, urged him to strangle with his own hands the woman he had loved so dearly, had at one time adored on his knees. The count rushed out of the room with gestures of desperation, muttering incoherent words; and as he shewed plain signs of mental aberration20, his father, Charles of Artois, took him away, and they went that same evening to their palace of St. Agatha, and there prepared a defence in case they should be attacked.
But Joan's punishment, which was destined21 to be slow as well as dreadful, to last thirty-seven years and end in a ghastly death, was now only beginning. All the wretched beings who were stained with Andre's death came in turn to her to demand the price of blood. The Catanese and her son, who held in their hands not only the queen's honour but her life, now became doubly greedy and exacting23. Dona Cancha no longer put any bridle24 on her licentiousness25, and the Empress of Constantinople ordered her niece to marry her eldest26 son, Robert, Prince of Tarentum. Joan, consumed by remorse27, full of indignation and shame at the arrogant28 conduct of her subjects, dared scarcely lift her head, and stooped to entreaties29, only stipulating30 for a few days' delay before giving her answer: the empress consented, on condition that her son should come to reside at Castel Nuovo, with permission to see the queen once a day. Joan bowed her head in silence, and Robert of Tarentum was installed at the castle.
Charles of Durazzo, who by the death of Andre had practically become the head of the family, and, would, by the terms of his grandfather's will, inherit the kingdom by right of his wife Marie in the case of Joan's dying without lawful31 issue, sent to the queen two commands: first, that she should not dream of contracting a new marriage without first consulting him in the choice of a husband; secondly32, that she should invest him at once with the title of Duke of Calabria. To compel his cousin to make these two concessions33, he added that if she should be so ill advised as to refuse either of them, he should hand over to justice the proofs of the crime and the names of the murderers. Joan, bending beneath the weight of this new difficulty, could think of no way to avoid it; but Catherine, who alone was stout34 enough to fight this nephew of hers, insisted that they must strike at the Duke of Durazzo in his ambition and hopes, and tell him, to begin with—what was the fact—that the queen was pregnant. If, in spite of this news, he persisted in his plans, she would find some means or other, she said, of causing trouble and discord35 in her nephew's family, and wounding him in his most intimate affections or closest interests, by publicly dishonouring36 him through his wife or his mother.
Charles smiled coldly when his aunt came to tell him from the queen that she was about to bring into the world an infant, Andre's posthumous37 child. What importance could a babe yet unborn possibly have—as a fact, it lived only a few months—in the eyes of a man who with such admirable coolness got rid of people who stood in his wary38, and that moreover by the hand of his own enemies? He told the empress that the happy news she had condescended39 to bring him in person, far from diminishing his kindness towards his cousin, inspired him rather with more interest and goodwill40; that consequently he reiterated41 his suggestion, and renewed his promise not to seek vengeance for his dear Andre, since in a certain sense the crime was not complete should a child be destined to survive; but in case of a refusal he declared himself inexorable. He cleverly gave Catherine to understand that, as she had some interest herself in the prince's death, she ought for her own sake to persuade the queen to stop legal proceedings42.
The empress seemed to be deeply impressed by her nephew's threatening attitude, and promised to do her best to persuade the queen to grant all he asked, on condition, however, that Charles should allow the necessary time for carrying through so delicate a business. But Catherine profited by this delay to think out her own plan of revenge, and ensure the means of certain success. After starting several projects eagerly and then regretfully abandoning them, she fixed43 upon an infernal and unheard-of scheme, which the mind would refuse to believe but for the unanimous testimony44 of historians. Poor Agnes of Duras, Charles's mother, had for some few days been suffering with an inexplicable45 weariness, a slow painful malady46 with which her son's restlessness and violence may have had not a little to do. The empress resolved that the first effect of her hatred was to fall upon this unhappy mother. She summoned the Count of Terlizzi and Dona Cancha, his mistress, who by the queen's orders had been attending Agnes since her illness began. Catherine suggested to the young chamberwoman, who was at that time with child, that she should deceive the doctor by representing that certain signs of her own condition really belonged to the sick woman, so that he, deceived by the false indications, should be compelled to admit to Charles of Durazzo that his mother was guilty and dishonoured. The Count of Terlizzi, who ever since he had taken part in the regicide trembled in fear of discovery, had nothing to oppose to the empress's desire, and Dona Cancha, whose head was as light as her heart was corrupt47, seized with a foolish gaiety on any chance of taking her revenge on the prudery of the only princess of the blood who led a pure life at a court that was renowned48 for its depravity. Once assured that her accomplices49 would be prudent50 and obedient, Catherine began to spread abroad certain vague and dubious51 but terribly serious rumours52, only needing proof, and soon after the cruel accusation53 was started it was repeated again and again in confidence, until it reached the ears of Charles.
At this amazing revelation the duke was seized with a fit of trembling. He sent instantly for the doctor, and asked imperiously what was the cause of his mother's malady. The doctor turned pale and stammered54; but when Charles grew threatening he admitted that he had certain grounds for suspecting that the duchess was enceinte, but as he might easily have been deceived the first time, he would make a second investigation55 before pronouncing his opinion in so serious a matter. The next day, as the doctor came out of the bedroom, the duke met him, and interrogating56 him with an agonised gesture, could only judge by the silence that his fears were too well confirmed. But the doctor, with excess of caution, declared that he would make a third trial. Condemned57 criminals can suffer no worse than Charles in the long hours that passed before that fatal moment when he learned that his mother was indeed guilty. On the third day the doctor stated on his soul and conscience that Agnes of Durazzo was pregnant.
"Very good," said Charles, dismissing the doctor with no sign of emotion.
That evening the duchess took a medicine ordered by the doctor; and when, half an hour later, she was assailed58 with violent pains, the duke was warned that perhaps other physicians ought to be consulted, as the prescription59 of the ordinary doctor, instead of bringing about an improvement in her state, had only made her worse.
Charles slowly went up to the duchess's room, and sending away all the people who were standing60 round her bed, on the pretext61 that they were clumsy and made his mother worse, he shut the door, and they were alone. Then poor Agnes, forgetting her internal agony when she saw her son, pressed his hand tenderly and smiled through her tears.
Charles, pale beneath his bronzed complexion62, his forehead moist with a cold sweat, and his eyes horribly dilated63, bent64 over the sick woman and asked her gloomily—
"Are you a little better, mother?"
"Ah, I am in pain, in frightful pain, my poor Charles. I feel as though I have molten lead in my veins65. O my son, call your brothers, so that I may give you all my blessing66 for the last time, for I cannot hold out long against this pain. I am burning. Mercy! Call a doctor: I know I have been poisoned."
Charles did not stir from the bedside.
"Water!" cried the dying woman in a broken voice,—"water! A doctor, a confessor! My children—I want my children!"
And as the duke paid no heed67, but stood moodily68 silent, the poor mother, prostrated69 by pain, fancied that grief had robbed her son of all power of speech or movement, and so, by a desperate effort, sat up, and seizing him by the arm, cried with all the strength she could muster—
"Charles, my son, what is it? My poor boy, courage; it is nothing, I hope. But quick, call for help, call a doctor. Ah, you have no idea of what I suffer."
"Your doctor," said Charles slowly and coldly, each word piercing his mother's heart like a dagger,—"your doctor cannot come."
"Oh why?" asked Agnes, stupefied.
"Because no one ought to live who knows the secret of our shame."
"Unhappy man!" she cried, overwhelmed with, pain and terror, "you have murdered him! Perhaps you have poisoned your mother too! Charles, Charles, have mercy on your own soul!"
"It is your doing," said Charles, without show of emotion: "you have driven me into crime and despair; you have caused my dishonour4 in this world and my damnation in the next."
"What are you saying? My own Charles, have mercy! Do not let me die in this horrible uncertainty70; what fatal delusion71 is blinding you? Speak, my son, speak: I am not feeling the poison now. What have I done? Of what have I been accused?"
She looked with haggard eyes at her son: her maternal72 love still struggled against the awful thought of matricide; at last, seeing that Charles remained speechless in spite of her entreaties, she repeated, with a piercing cry—
"Speak, in God's name, speak before I die!"
"Mother, you are with child."
"What!" cried Agnes, with a loud cry, which broke her very heart. "O God, forgive him! Charles, your mother forgives and blesses you in death."
Charles fell upon her neck, desperately73 crying for help: he would now have gladly saved her at the cost of his life, but it was too late. He uttered one cry that came from his heart, and was found stretched out upon his mother's corpse.
Strange comments were made at the court on the death of the Duchess of Durazzo and her doctor's disappearance74; but there was no doubt at all that grief and gloom were furrowing75 wrinkles on Charles's brow, which was already sad enough. Catherine alone knew the terrible cause of her nephew's depression, for to her it was very plain that the duke at one blow had killed his mother and her physician. But she had never expected a reaction so sudden and violent in a man who shrank before no crime. She had thought Charles capable of everything except remorse. His gloomy, self absorbed silence seemed a bad augury76 for her plans. She had desired to cause trouble for him in his own family, so that he might have no time to oppose the marriage of her son with the queen; but she had shot beyond her mark, and Charles, started thus on the terrible path of crime, had now broken through the bonds of his holiest affections, and gave himself up to his bad passions with feverish77 ardour and a savage78 desire for revenge. Then Catherine had recourse to gentleness and submission79. She gave her son to understand that there was only one way of obtaining the queen's hand, and that was by flattering the ambition of Charles and in some sort submitting himself to his patronage80. Robert of Tarentum understood this, and ceased making court to Joan, who received his devotion with cool kindness, and attached himself closely to Charles, paying him much the same sort of respect and deference81 that he himself had affected82 for Andre, when the thought was first in his mind of causing his ruin. But the Duke of Durazzo was by no means deceived as to the devoted83 friendship shown towards him by the heir of the house of Tarentum, and pretending to be deeply touched by the unexpected change of feeling, he all the time kept a strict guard on Robert's actions.
An event outside all human foresight84 occurred to upset the calculations of the two cousins. One day while they were out together on horseback, as they often were since their pretended reconciliation85, Louis of Tarentum, Robert's youngest brother, who had always felt for Joan a chivalrous86, innocent love,—a love which a young man of twenty is apt to lock up in his heart as a secret treasure,—Louis, we say, who had held aloof87 from the infamous family conspiracy88 and had not soiled his hands with Andre's blood, drawn89 on by an irrepressible passion, all at once appeared at the gates of Castel Nuovo; and while his brother was wasting precious hours in asking for a promise of marriage, had the bridge raised and gave the soldiers strict orders to admit no one. Then, never troubling himself about Charles's anger or Robert's jealousy90, he hurried to the queen's room, and there, says Domenico Gravina, without any preamble91, the union was consummated92.
On returning from his ride, Robert, astonished that the bridge was not at once lowered for him, at first loudly called upon the soldiers on guard at the fortress93, threatening severe punishment for their unpardonable negligence94; but as the gates did not open and the soldiers made no sign of fear or regret, he fell into a violent fit of rage, and swore he would hang the wretches95 like dogs for hindering his return home. But the Empress of Constantinople, terrified at the bloody quarrel beginning between the two brothers, went alone and on foot to her son, and making use of her maternal authority to beg him to master his feelings, there in the presence of the crowd that had come up hastily to witness the strange scene, she related in a low voice all that had passed in his absence.
A roar as of a wounded tiger escaped from Robert's breast: all but blind with rage, he nearly trampled96 his mother under the feet of his horse, which seemed to feel his master's anger, and plunging97 violently, breathed blood from his nostrils98. When the prince had poured every possible execration99 on his brother's head, he turned and galloped100 away from the accursed castle, flying to the Duke of Durazzo, whom he had only just left, to tell him of this outrage101 and stir him to revenge. Charles was talking carelessly with his young wife, who was but little used to such tranquil102 conversation and expansiveness, when the Prince of Tarentum, exhausted103, out of breath, bathed in perspiration104, came up with his incredible tale. Charles made him say it twice over, so impossible did Louis's audacious enterprise appear to him. Then quickly changing from doubt to fury, he struck his brow with his iron glove, saying that as the queen defied him he would make her tremble even in her castle and in her lover's arms. He threw one withering105 look on Marie, who interceded106 tearfully for her sister, and pressing Robert's hand with warmth, vowed107 that so long as he lived Louis should never be Joan's husband.
That same evening he shut himself up in his study, and wrote letters whose effect soon appeared. A bull, dated June 2, 1346, was addressed to Bertram de Baux, chief-justice of the kingdom of Sicily and Count of Monte Scaglioso, with orders to make the most strict inquiries108 concerning Andre's murderers, whom the pope likewise laid under his anathema109, and to punish them with the utmost rigour of the law. But a secret note was appended to the bull which was quite at variance110 with the designs of Charles: the sovereign pontiff expressly bade the chief-justice not to implicate111 the queen in the proceedings or the princes of the blood, so as to avoid worse disturbances112, reserving, as supreme113 head of the Church and lord of the kingdom, the right of judging them later on, as his wisdom might dictate114.
For this imposing115 trial Bertram de Baux made great preparations. A platform was erected116 in the great hall of tribunal, and all the officers of the crown and great state dignitaries, and all the chief barons117, had a place behind the enclosure where the magistrates118 sat. Three days after Clement119 VI's bull had been published in the capital, the chief-justice was ready for a public examination of two accused persons. The two culprits who had first fallen into the hands of justice were, as one may easily suppose, those whose condition was least exalted120, whose lives were least valuable, Tommaso Pace and Nicholas of Melazzo. They were led before the tribunal to be first of all tortured, as the custom was. As they approached the judges, the notary121 passing by Charles in the street had time to say in a low voice—
"My lord, the time has come to give my life for you: I will do my duty; I commend my wife and children to you."
Encouraged by a nod from his patron, he walked on firmly and deliberately122. The chief-justice, after establishing the identity of the accused, gave them over to the executioner and his men to be tortured in the public square, so that their sufferings might serve as a show and an example to the crowd. But no sooner was Tommaso Pace tied to the rope, when to the great disappointment of all he declared that he would confess everything, and asked accordingly to be taken back before his judges. At these words, the Count of Terlizzi, who was following every movement of the two men with mortal anxiety, thought it was all over now with him and his accomplices; and so, when Tommaso Pace was turning his steps towards the great hall, led by two guards, his hands tied behind his back, and followed by the notary, he contrived123 to take him into a secluded124 house, and squeezing his throat with great force, made him thus put his tongue out, whereupon he cut it off with a sharp razor.
The yells of the poor wretch22 so cruelly mutilated fell on the ears of the Duke of Durazzo: he found his way into the room where the barbarous act had been committed just as the Count of Terlizzi was coming out, and approached the notary, who had been present at the dreadful spectacle and had not given the least sign of fear or emotion. Master Nicholas, thinking the same fate was in store for him, turned calmly to the duke, saying with a sad smile—
"My lord, the precaution is useless; there is no need for you to cut out my tongue, as the noble count has done to my poor companion. The last scrap125 of my flesh may be torn off without one word being dragged from my mouth. I have promised, my lord, and you have the life of my wife and the future of my children as guarantee for my word."
"I do not ask for silence," said the duke solemnly; "you can free me from all my enemies at once, and I order you to denounce them at the tribunal."
The notary bowed his head with mournful resignation; then raising it in affright, made one step up to the duke and murmured in a choking voice—
"And the queen?"
"No one would believe you if you ventured to denounce her; but when the Catanese and her son, the Count of Terlizzi and his wife and her most intimate friends, have been accused by you, when they fail to endure the torture, and when they denounce her unanimously—"
"I see, my lord. You do not only want my life; you would have my soul too. Very well; once more I commend to you my children."
With a deep sigh he walked up to the tribunal. The chief-justice asked Tommaso Pace the usual questions, and a shudder127 of horror passed through the assembly when they saw the poor wretch in desperation opening his mouth, which streamed with blood. But surprise and terror reached their height when Nicholas of Melazzo slowly and firmly gave a list of Andre's murderers, all except the queen and the princes of the blood, and went on to give all details of the assassination128.
Proceedings were at once taken for the arrest of the grand seneschal, Robert of Cabane, and the Counts of Terlizzi and Morcone, who were present and had not ventured to make any movement in self-defence. An hour later, Philippa, her two daughters, and Dona Cancha joined them in prison, after vainly imploring129 the queen's protection. Charles and Bertrand of Artois, shut up in their fortress of Saint Agatha, bade defiance130 to justice, and several others, among them the Counts of Meleto and Catanzaro, escaped by flight.
As soon as Master Nicholas said he had nothing further to confess, and that he had spoken the whole truth and nothing but the truth, the chief-justice pronounced sentence amid a profound silence; and without delay Tommaso Pace and the notary were tied to the tails of two horses, dragged through the chief streets of the town, and hanged in the market place.
The other prisoners were thrown into a subterranean131 vault132, to be questioned and put to the torture on the following day. In the evening, finding themselves in the same dungeon133, they reproached one another, each pretending he had been dragged into the crime by someone else. Then Dona Cancha, whose strange character knew no inconsistencies, even face to face with death and torture, drowned with a great burst of laughter the lamentations of her companions, and joyously134 exclaimed—
"Look here, friends, why these bitter recriminations—this ill-mannered raving135? We have no excuses to make, and we are all equally guilty. I am the youngest of all, and not the ugliest, by your leave, ladies, but if I am condemned, at least I will die cheerfully. For I have never denied myself any pleasure I could get in this world, and I can boast that much will be forgiven me, for I have loved much: of that you, gentlemen, know something. You, bad old man," she continued to the Count of Terlizzi, "do you not remember lying by my side in the queen's ante-chamber? Come, no blushes before your noble family; confess, my lord, that I am with child by your Excellency; and you know how we managed to make up the story of poor Agnes of Durazzo and her pregnancy—God rest her soul! For my part, I never supposed the joke would take such a serious turn all at once. You know all this and much more; spare your lamentations, for, by my word, they are getting very tiresome136: let us prepare to die joyously, as we have lived."
With these words she yawned slightly, and, lying down on the straw, fell into a deep sleep, and dreamed as happy dreams as she had ever dreamed in her life.
On the morrow from break of day there was an immense crowd on the sea front. During the night an enormous palisade had been put up to keep the people away far enough for them to see the accused without hearing anything. Charles of Durazzo, at the head of a brilliant cortege of knights137 and pages, mounted on a magnificent horse, all in black, as a sign of mourning, waited near the enclosure. Ferocious138 joy shone in his eyes as the accused made their way through the crowd, two by two, their wrists tied with ropes; for the duke every minute expected to hear the queen's name spoken. But the chief-justice, a man of experience, had prevented indiscretion of any kind by fixing a hook in the tongue of each one. The poor creatures were tortured on a ship, so that nobody should hear the terrible confessions139 their sufferings dragged from them.
But Joan, in spite of the wrongs that most of the conspirators141 had done her, felt a renewal142 of pity for the woman she had once respected as a mother, for her childish companions and her friends, and possibly also some remains143 of love for Robert of Cabane, and sent two messengers to beg Bertram de Baux to show mercy to the culprits. But the chief-justice seized these men and had them tortured; and on their confession140 that they also were implicated144 in Andre's murder, he condemned them to the same punishment as the others. Dona Cancha alone, by reason of her situation, escaped the torture, and her sentence was deferred145 till the day of her confinement146.
As this beautiful girl was returning to prison, with many a smile for all the handsomest cavaliers she could see in the crowd, she gave a sign to Charles of Durazzo as she neared him to come forward, and since her tongue had not been pierced (for the same reason) with an iron instrument, she said some words to him a while in a low voice.
Charles turned fearfully pale, and putting his hand to his sword, cried—
"Wretched woman!"
"You forget, my lord, I am under the protection of the law."
"My mother!—oh, my poor mother!" murmured Charles in a choked voice, and he fell backward.
The next morning the people were beforehand with the executioner, loudly demanding their prey147. All the national troops and mercenaries that the judicial148 authorities could command were echelonned in the streets, opposing a sort of dam to the torrent149 of the raging crowd. The sudden insatiable cruelty that too often degrades human nature had awaked in the populace: all heads were turned with hatred and frenzy150; all imaginations inflamed151 with the passion for revenge; groups of men and women, roaring like wild beasts, threatened to knock down the walls of the prison, if the condemned were not handed over to them to take to the place of punishment: a great murmur126 arose, continuous, ever the same, like the growling152 of thunder: the queen's heart was petrified153 with terror.
But, in spite of the desire of Bertram de Baux to satisfy the popular wish, the preparations for the solemn execution were not completed till midday, when the sun's rays fell scorchingly upon the town. There went up a mighty154 cry from ten thousand palpitating breasts when a report first ran through the crowd that the prisoners were about to appear. There was a moment of silence, and the prison doors rolled slowly back on their hinges with a rusty155, grating noise. A triple row of horsemen, with lowered visor and lance in rest, started the procession, and amid yells and curses the condemned prisoners came out one by one, each tied upon a cart, gagged and naked to the waist, in charge of two executioners, whose orders were to torture them the whole length of their way. On the first cart was the former laundress of Catana, afterwards wife of the grand seneschal and governess to the queen, Philippa of Cabane: the two executioners at right and left of her scourged156 her with such fury that the blood spurting157 up from the wounds left a long track in all the streets passed by the cortege.
Immediately following their mother on separate carts came the Countesses of Terlizzi and Morcone, the elder no more than eighteen years of age. The two sisters were so marvellously beautiful that in the crowd a murmur of surprise was heard, and greedy eyes were fixed upon their naked trembling shoulders. But the men charged to torture them gazed with ferocious smiles upon their forms of seductive beauty, and, armed with sharp knives, cut off pieces of their flesh with a deliberate enjoyment158 and threw them out to the crowd, who eagerly struggled to get them, signing to the executioners to show which part of the victims' bodies they preferred.
Robert of Cabane, the grand seneschal, the Counts of Terlizzi and Morcone, Raymond Pace, brother of the old valet who had been executed the day before, and many more, were dragged on similar carts, and both scourged with ropes and slashed159 with knives; their flesh was torn out with red-hot pincers, and flung upon brazen160 chafing-dishes. No cry of pain was heard from the grand seneschal, he never stirred once in his frightful agony; yet the torturers put such fury into their work that the poor wretch was dead before the goal was reached.
In the centre of the square of Saint Eligius an immense stake was set up: there the prisoners were taken, and what was left of their mutilated bodies was thrown into the flames. The Count of Terlizzi and the grand seneschal's widow were still alive, and two tears of blood ran down the cheeks of the miserable161 mother as she saw her son's corpse and the palpitating remains of her two daughters cast upon the fire—they by their stifled162 cries showed that they had not ceased to suffer. But suddenly a fearful noise overpowered the groans163 of the victims; the enclosure was broken and overturned by the mob. Like madmen, they rushed at the burning pile,—armed with sabres, axes, and knives, and snatching the bodies dead or alive from the flames, tore them to pieces, carrying off the bones to make whistles or handles for their daggers164 as a souvenir of this horrible day.
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accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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corpse
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| n.尸体，死尸 | |
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dishonoured
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| a.不光彩的，不名誉的 | |
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dishonour
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| n./vt.拒付（支票、汇票、票据等）；vt.凌辱，使丢脸；n.不名誉，耻辱，不光彩 | |
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behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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infamous
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| adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的 | |
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traitors
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| 卖国贼( traitor的名词复数 )； 叛徒； 背叛者； 背信弃义的人 | |
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bloody
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persecution
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hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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everlasting
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| adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的 | |
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vengeance
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dispersed
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| adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的 | |
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shrieking
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naught
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| n.无，零 [=nought] | |
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recoiled
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| v.畏缩( recoil的过去式和过去分词 )；退缩；报应；返回 | |
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forefinger
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accomplice
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| n.从犯，帮凶，同谋 | |
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frightful
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aberration
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destined
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wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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23
exacting
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| adj.苛求的，要求严格的 | |
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24
bridle
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| n.笼头，束缚；vt.抑制，约束；动怒 | |
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25
licentiousness
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| n.放肆，无法无天 | |
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26
eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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27
remorse
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| n.痛恨，悔恨，自责 | |
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28
arrogant
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| adj.傲慢的，自大的 | |
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29
entreaties
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| n.恳求，乞求( entreaty的名词复数 ) | |
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30
stipulating
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| v.（尤指在协议或建议中）规定，约定，讲明（条件等）( stipulate的现在分词 )；规定，明确要求 | |
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31
lawful
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| adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的 | |
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32
secondly
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| adv.第二，其次 | |
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33
concessions
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| n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权 | |
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35
discord
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| n.不和，意见不合，争论，（音乐）不和谐 | |
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36
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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37
posthumous
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| adj.遗腹的；父亡后出生的；死后的，身后的 | |
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38
wary
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| adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的 | |
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39
condescended
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| 屈尊，俯就( condescend的过去式和过去分词 )； 故意表示和蔼可亲 | |
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40
goodwill
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| n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉 | |
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41
reiterated
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| 反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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42
proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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43
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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44
testimony
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| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
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45
inexplicable
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| adj.无法解释的，难理解的 | |
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46
malady
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| n.病，疾病(通常做比喻) | |
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47
corrupt
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| v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的 | |
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48
renowned
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| adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的 | |
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49
accomplices
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| 从犯，帮凶，同谋( accomplice的名词复数 ) | |
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50
prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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51
dubious
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| adj.怀疑的，无把握的；有问题的，靠不住的 | |
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52
rumours
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| n.传闻( rumour的名词复数 )；风闻；谣言；谣传 | |
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53
accusation
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| n.控告，指责，谴责 | |
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54
stammered
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| v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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55
investigation
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| n.调查，调查研究 | |
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56
interrogating
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| n.询问技术v.询问( interrogate的现在分词 )；审问；（在计算机或其他机器上）查询 | |
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57
condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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58
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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59
prescription
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| n.处方，开药；指示，规定 | |
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60
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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61
pretext
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| n.借口，托词 | |
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62
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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63
dilated
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| adj.加宽的，扩大的v.（使某物）扩大，膨胀，张大( dilate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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64
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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65
veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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66
blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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67
heed
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| v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心 | |
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68
moodily
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| adv.喜怒无常地；情绪多变地；心情不稳地；易生气地 | |
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69
prostrated
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| v.使俯伏，使拜倒( prostrate的过去式和过去分词 )；（指疾病、天气等）使某人无能为力 | |
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70
uncertainty
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| n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物 | |
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71
delusion
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| n.谬见，欺骗，幻觉，迷惑 | |
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72
maternal
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| adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的 | |
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73
desperately
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| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
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74
disappearance
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| n.消失，消散，失踪 | |
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75
furrowing
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| v.犁田，开沟( furrow的现在分词 ) | |
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76
augury
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| n.预言，征兆，占卦 | |
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77
feverish
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| adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的 | |
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78
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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79
submission
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| n.服从，投降；温顺，谦虚；提出 | |
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80
patronage
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| n.赞助，支援，援助；光顾，捧场 | |
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81
deference
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| n.尊重，顺从；敬意 | |
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82
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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83
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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84
foresight
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| n.先见之明，深谋远虑 | |
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85
reconciliation
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| n.和解，和谐，一致 | |
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86
chivalrous
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| adj.武士精神的；对女人彬彬有礼的 | |
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87
aloof
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| adj.远离的；冷淡的，漠不关心的 | |
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88
conspiracy
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| n.阴谋，密谋，共谋 | |
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89
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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90
jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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91
preamble
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| n.前言；序文 | |
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92
consummated
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| v.使结束( consummate的过去式和过去分词 )；使完美；完婚；（婚礼后的）圆房 | |
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93
fortress
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| n.堡垒，防御工事 | |
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94
negligence
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| n.疏忽，玩忽，粗心大意 | |
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95
wretches
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| n.不幸的人( wretch的名词复数 )；可怜的人；恶棍；坏蛋 | |
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96
trampled
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| 踩( trample的过去式和过去分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯 | |
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97
plunging
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| adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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98
nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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99
execration
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| n.诅咒，念咒，憎恶 | |
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100
galloped
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| （使马）飞奔，奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 )； 快速做[说]某事 | |
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101
outrage
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| n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒 | |
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102
tranquil
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| adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
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103
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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104
perspiration
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| n.汗水；出汗 | |
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105
withering
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| 使人畏缩的，使人害羞的，使人难堪的 | |
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106
interceded
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| v.斡旋，调解( intercede的过去式和过去分词 )；说情 | |
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107
vowed
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| 起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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108
inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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109
anathema
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| n.诅咒；被诅咒的人(物)，十分讨厌的人(物) | |
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110
variance
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| n.矛盾，不同 | |
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111
implicate
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| vt.使牵连其中，涉嫌 | |
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112
disturbances
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| n.骚乱( disturbance的名词复数 )；打扰；困扰；障碍 | |
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113
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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114
dictate
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| v.口授；(使)听写；指令，指示，命令 | |
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115
imposing
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| adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的 | |
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116
ERECTED
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| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
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117
barons
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| 男爵( baron的名词复数 )； 巨头； 大王； 大亨 | |
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118
magistrates
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| 地方法官，治安官( magistrate的名词复数 ) | |
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119
clement
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| adj.仁慈的；温和的 | |
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120
exalted
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| adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的 | |
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121
notary
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| n.公证人，公证员 | |
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122
deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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123
contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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124
secluded
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| adj.与世隔绝的；隐退的；偏僻的v.使隔开，使隐退( seclude的过去式和过去分词) | |
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125
scrap
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| n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废 | |
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126
murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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127
shudder
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| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
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128
assassination
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| n.暗杀；暗杀事件 | |
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129
imploring
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| 恳求的，哀求的 | |
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130
defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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131
subterranean
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| adj.地下的，地表下的 | |
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132
vault
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| n.拱形圆顶，地窖，地下室 | |
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133
dungeon
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| n.地牢，土牢 | |
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134
joyously
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| ad.快乐地, 高兴地 | |
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135
raving
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| adj.说胡话的；疯狂的，怒吼的；非常漂亮的；令人醉心[痴心]的v.胡言乱语(rave的现在分词)n.胡话；疯话adv.胡言乱语地；疯狂地 | |
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136
tiresome
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| adj.令人疲劳的，令人厌倦的 | |
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137
knights
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| 骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马 | |
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138
ferocious
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| adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的 | |
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139
confessions
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| n.承认( confession的名词复数 )；自首；声明；（向神父的）忏悔 | |
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140
confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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141
conspirators
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| n.共谋者，阴谋家( conspirator的名词复数 ) | |
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142
renewal
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| adj.(契约)延期，续订，更新，复活，重来 | |
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143
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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144
implicated
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| adj.密切关联的；牵涉其中的 | |
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145
deferred
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| adj.延期的，缓召的v.拖延，延缓，推迟( defer的过去式和过去分词 )；服从某人的意愿，遵从 | |
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146
confinement
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| n.幽禁，拘留，监禁；分娩；限制，局限 | |
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147
prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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148
judicial
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| adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的 | |
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149
torrent
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| n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发 | |
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150
frenzy
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| n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动 | |
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151
inflamed
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| adj.发炎的，红肿的v.（使）变红，发怒，过热( inflame的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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152
growling
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| n.吠声, 咆哮声 v.怒吠, 咆哮, 吼 | |
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153
petrified
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| adj.惊呆的；目瞪口呆的v.使吓呆，使惊呆；变僵硬；使石化(petrify的过去式和过去分词) | |
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154
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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155
rusty
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| adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的 | |
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156
scourged
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| 鞭打( scourge的过去式和过去分词 )； 惩罚，压迫 | |
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157
spurting
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| （液体，火焰等）喷出，（使）涌出( spurt的现在分词 )； （短暂地）加速前进，冲刺； 溅射 | |
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158
enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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159
slashed
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| v.挥砍( slash的过去式和过去分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减 | |
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160
brazen
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| adj.厚脸皮的，无耻的，坚硬的 | |
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161
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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162
stifled
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| （使）窒息， （使）窒闷( stifle的过去式和过去分词 )； 镇压，遏制； 堵 | |
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163
groans
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| n.呻吟，叹息( groan的名词复数 )；呻吟般的声音v.呻吟( groan的第三人称单数 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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164
daggers
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| 匕首，短剑( dagger的名词复数 ) | |
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