CHAPTER III

 Captain Utterbourne, with faint petulance¹, his lips twitching² to a smile of finely etched satire³, scrupulously⁴ withdrew; but[31] he turned back a moment and faced King with the most affectionate and least complex expression of which he was capable.

 

“By the way, would you mind dropping in at my office tomorrow? You know where we are—Hyde’s. There’s something I’d like to go into—h’m?” His mere⁵ look subtly completed the sentence; for Captain Utterbourne had perfected the art of intelligible⁶ suspension. Mr. King agreed eagerly, though he kept his monocle spinning in a thoroughly⁷ sophisticated and idle fashion. Utterbourne had been but glancingly arrested in his departure—all this was very high art. With a faint bow to Stella, which delicately rebuked⁸ her for having been the means of interrupting him at a moment when he had cryptically⁹ begun to open his mind to his new favourite, the Captain was gone; and they saw him pause, in passing, to banter¹⁰ his sister Flora¹¹, just glancingly, as she sat in a little whirl of gentle gossip near the punch bowl.

 

“May I sit down here?” suggested Mr. King gracefully¹²; and found her looking up at him almost coyly, as though having tête-à-têtes with men of his calibre were indeed an established phase of her life. But naturally her heart was fluttering very much.

 

He talked easily and in a conventionally flirtatious¹³ manner: had been noticing her all evening, he said—though as a matter of fact, he was but recently arrived. And she, almost painfully excited, played back in quite the same spirit, though it privately¹⁴ cost a greater effort. Mr. King was so bewilderingly nice that she used every instinctive¹⁵ gift in an effort to please and impress him: yes, just giddily let herself go.

 

They talked of pleasant immediacies. When she dropped her handkerchief, he stooped to pick it up; and when he handed it to her something—something vaguely¹⁶ reminiscent—made her feel as she had felt when the introduction was taking place. Certainly no one had ever before treated her with such a wealth of worldly chivalry¹⁷.

 

“Oh, thank you!” she fluttered; and he returned a deft¹⁸ little[32] gesture. Then another flash of reminiscence brought a gay cry to her lips. “Oh, now I know! We’ve met before—though I’m sure you’ll never remember!” And as she spoke¹⁹ of the episode of the rescued fashion page, Stella saw again a handsome stranger emerging from the travel bureau, his hand full of alluring²⁰ pamphlets, and in his buttonhole a single violet. Surely she hadn’t been mistaken?

 

Just at first he didn’t seem to remember, but in an instant he chivalrously²¹ remembered it all with the utmost vividness. They discussed the curious little coincidence. It was quite wonderful. Her romantic nature made the lavish²² most of a circumstance which to another might seem casual in the extreme. Such things really happen pretty often, but her mood insisted upon the most rosy²³ values; and indeed, the tiny episode, from the moment he did remember, seemed to carry them swiftly along toward an intimacy²⁴ undreamed of a moment since.

 

He looked at her, she felt, almost consumingly with his magnetic round blue eyes.

 

Presently he asked whether she wouldn’t like some punch, and she said she would, so they got up and he gave her his worldly arm. She had never before been so satisfyingly thrilled.

 

Mr. King handed her a glass of punch, making a minute ceremony of it; and she fluttered again, and smiled across at him quite archly over the rim²⁵ as she sipped²⁶.

 

He asked her: “I suppose you spend about all your time dancing, Miss Meade? It seems to be the rage nowadays.”

 

And while she ought, of course, to have laughed it off, or been at least flirtingly evasive, she looked at him instead with an impulse of wistfulness out of her meagre life, and a wave of unassuming candour brought out the admission: “I really don’t very much, but I enjoy it immensely. Don’t you think this is a very nice party?”

 

He seemed to regard her with subtly keener interest; and, curiously²⁷ enough, it was just that impulsive²⁸ little flash of[33] candour in Stella, to begin with, that stimulated²⁹ in Mr. King a sentiment destined³⁰ at last to involve her most surprisingly. She had a very definite picture, however, of the sort of impression she wanted to make on this man—the impression he seemed irresistibly³¹ to invite—and it would have bewildered her to think he might be getting another picture altogether.

 

He asked her if she wouldn’t like to dance, and without even glancing at her card she said yes she would; and then half wished she had said no, because she was hazy³² about the new steps, and was desperately³³ afraid Mr. King would find her, after all, disappointing.

 

But they danced, and everything went splendidly, and he didn’t find her so disappointing, although himself so immaculately proficient³⁴ in the new steps.

1 petulance   

n.发脾气，生气，易怒，暴躁，性急

参考例句：

• His petulance made her impatient.他的任性让她无法忍受。
• He tore up the manuscript in a fit of petulance.他一怒之下把手稿撕碎了。

2 twitching   

n.颤搐

参考例句：

• The child in a spasm kept twitching his arms and legs. 那个害痉挛的孩子四肢不断地抽搐。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• My eyelids keep twitching all the time. 我眼皮老是跳。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 satire   

n.讽刺，讽刺文学，讽刺作品

参考例句：

• The movie is a clever satire on the advertising industry.那部影片是关于广告业的一部巧妙的讽刺作品。
• Satire is often a form of protest against injustice.讽刺往往是一种对不公正的抗议形式。

4 scrupulously   

adv.一丝不苟地；小心翼翼地，多顾虑地

参考例句：

• She toed scrupulously into the room. 她小心翼翼地踮着脚走进房间。 来自辞典例句
• To others he would be scrupulously fair. 对待别人，他力求公正。 来自英汉非文学 - 文明史

5 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

6 intelligible   

adj.可理解的，明白易懂的，清楚的

参考例句：

• This report would be intelligible only to an expert in computing.只有计算机运算专家才能看懂这份报告。
• His argument was barely intelligible.他的论点不易理解。

7 thoroughly   

adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地

参考例句：

• The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
• The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。

8 rebuked   

责难或指责( rebuke的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The company was publicly rebuked for having neglected safety procedures. 公司因忽略了安全规程而受到公开批评。
• The teacher rebuked the boy for throwing paper on the floor. 老师指责这个男孩将纸丢在地板上。

9 cryptically   

参考例句：

• Less cryptically, he said the arms race was still on. 他又说，军备竞赛仍然在继续。 来自互联网
• The amending of A-Key must be processed cryptically in OTA authentication. 在OTA鉴权中，A-Key的修改必须以保密的方式进行。 来自互联网

10 banter   

n.嘲弄，戏谑；v.取笑，逗弄，开玩笑

参考例句：

• The actress exchanged banter with reporters.女演员与记者相互开玩笑。
• She engages in friendly banter with her customers.她常和顾客逗乐。

11 flora   

n.(某一地区的)植物群

参考例句：

• The subtropical island has a remarkably rich native flora.这个亚热带岛屿有相当丰富的乡土植物种类。
• All flora need water and light.一切草木都需要水和阳光。

12 gracefully   

ad.大大方方地；优美地

参考例句：

• She sank gracefully down onto a cushion at his feet. 她优雅地坐到他脚旁的垫子上。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line. 新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

13 flirtatious   

adj.爱调情的，调情的，卖俏的

参考例句：

• a flirtatious young woman 卖弄风情的年轻女子
• Her flirtatious manners are intended to attract. 她的轻浮举止是想引人注意。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

15 instinctive   

adj.(出于)本能的；直觉的；(出于)天性的

参考例句：

• He tried to conceal his instinctive revulsion at the idea.他试图饰盖自己对这一想法本能的厌恶。
• Animals have an instinctive fear of fire.动物本能地怕火。

16 vaguely   

adv.含糊地，暖昧地

参考例句：

• He had talked vaguely of going to work abroad.他含糊其词地说了到国外工作的事。
• He looked vaguely before him with unseeing eyes.他迷迷糊糊的望着前面，对一切都视而不见。

17 chivalry   

n.骑士气概，侠义；（男人）对女人彬彬有礼，献殷勤

参考例句：

• The Middle Ages were also the great age of chivalry.中世纪也是骑士制度盛行的时代。
• He looked up at them with great chivalry.他非常有礼貌地抬头瞧她们。

18 deft   

adj.灵巧的，熟练的（a deft hand 能手）

参考例句：

• The pianist has deft fingers.钢琴家有灵巧的双手。
• This bird,sharp of eye and deft of beak,can accurately peck the flying insects in the air.这只鸟眼疾嘴快，能准确地把空中的飞虫啄住。

19 spoke   

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

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

20 alluring   

adj.吸引人的，迷人的

参考例句：

• The life in a big city is alluring for the young people. 大都市的生活对年轻人颇具诱惑力。
• Lisette's large red mouth broke into a most alluring smile. 莉莎特的鲜红的大嘴露出了一副极为诱人的微笑。

21 chivalrously   

adv.象骑士一样地

参考例句：

22 lavish   

adj.无节制的；浪费的；vt.慷慨地给予，挥霍

参考例句：

• He despised people who were lavish with their praises.他看不起那些阿谀奉承的人。
• The sets and costumes are lavish.布景和服装极尽奢华。

23 rosy   

adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的

参考例句：

• She got a new job and her life looks rosy.她找到一份新工作，生活看上去很美好。
• She always takes a rosy view of life.她总是对生活持乐观态度。

24 intimacy   

n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行

参考例句：

• His claims to an intimacy with the President are somewhat exaggerated.他声称自己与总统关系密切，这有点言过其实。
• I wish there were a rule book for intimacy.我希望能有个关于亲密的规则。

25 rim   

n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界

参考例句：

• The water was even with the rim of the basin.盆里的水与盆边平齐了。
• She looked at him over the rim of her glass.她的目光越过玻璃杯的边沿看着他。

26 sipped   

v.小口喝，呷，抿( sip的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He sipped his coffee pleasurably. 他怡然地品味着咖啡。
• I sipped the hot chocolate she had made. 我小口喝着她调制的巧克力热饮。 来自辞典例句

27 curiously   

adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地

参考例句：

• He looked curiously at the people.他好奇地看着那些人。
• He took long stealthy strides. His hands were curiously cold.他迈着悄没声息的大步。他的双手出奇地冷。

28 impulsive   

adj.冲动的，刺激的；有推动力的

参考例句：

• She is impulsive in her actions.她的行为常出于冲动。
• He was neither an impulsive nor an emotional man,but a very honest and sincere one.他不是个一冲动就鲁莽行事的人，也不多愁善感.他为人十分正直、诚恳。

29 stimulated   

a.刺激的

参考例句：

• The exhibition has stimulated interest in her work. 展览增进了人们对她作品的兴趣。
• The award has stimulated her into working still harder. 奖金促使她更加努力地工作。

30 destined   

adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的

参考例句：

• It was destined that they would marry.他们结婚是缘分。
• The shipment is destined for America.这批货物将运往美国。

31 irresistibly   

adv.无法抵抗地，不能自持地；极为诱惑人地

参考例句：

• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside. 她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He was irresistibly attracted by her charm. 他不能自已地被她的魅力所吸引。 来自《简明英汉词典》

32 hazy   

adj.有薄雾的，朦胧的；不肯定的，模糊的

参考例句：

• We couldn't see far because it was so hazy.雾气蒙蒙妨碍了我们的视线。
• I have a hazy memory of those early years.对那些早先的岁月我有着朦胧的记忆。

33 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

34 proficient   

adj.熟练的，精通的；n.能手，专家

参考例句：

• She is proficient at swimming.她精通游泳。
• I think I'm quite proficient in both written and spoken English.我认为我在英语读写方面相当熟练。