In his first rage against all the house of Moore, Mr. Sympson had so conducted himself towards Mr. Louis that that gentleman—patient of labour or suffering, but intolerant of coarse insolence6—had promptly7 resigned his post, and could now be induced to resume and retain it only till such time as the family should quit Yorkshire. Mrs. Sympson's entreaties8 prevailed with him thus far; his own attachment9 to his pupil constituted an additional motive10 for concession11; and probably he had a third motive, stronger than either of the other two. Probably he would have found it very hard indeed to leave Fieldhead just now.
Things went on for some time pretty smoothly12. Miss Keeldar's health was re-established; her spirits resumed their flow. Moore had found means to relieve her from every nervous apprehension13; and, indeed, from the moment of giving him her confidence, every fear seemed to have taken wing. Her heart became as lightsome, her manner as careless, as those of a little child, that, thoughtless of its own life or death, trusts all responsibility to its parents. He535 and William Farren—through whose medium he made inquiries14 concerning the state of Phœbe—agreed in asserting that the dog was not mad, that it was only ill-usage which had driven her from home; for it was proved that her master was in the frequent habit of chastising15 her violently. Their assertion might or might not be true. The groom16 and gamekeeper affirmed to the contrary—both asserting that, if hers was not a clear case of hydrophobia, there was no such disease. But to this evidence Louis Moore turned an incredulous ear. He reported to Shirley only what was encouraging. She believed him; and, right or wrong, it is certain that in her case the bite proved innocuous.
November passed; December came. The Sympsons were now really departing. It was incumbent17 on them to be at home by Christmas. Their packages were preparing; they were to leave in a few days. One winter evening, during the last week of their stay, Louis Moore again took out his little blank book, and discoursed19 with it as follows:—
"She is lovelier than ever. Since that little cloud was dispelled20 all the temporary waste and wanness21 have vanished. It was marvellous to see how soon the magical energy of youth raised her elastic22 and revived her blooming.
"After breakfast this morning, when I had seen her, and listened to her, and, so to speak, felt her, in every sentient23 atom of my frame, I passed from her sunny presence into the chill drawing-room. Taking up a little gilt26 volume, I found it to contain a selection of lyrics27. I read a poem or two; whether the spell was in me or in the verse I know not, but my heart filled genially28, my pulse rose. I glowed, notwithstanding the frost air. I, too, am young as yet. Though she said she never considered me young, I am barely thirty. There are moments when life, for no other reason than my own youth, beams with sweet hues30 upon me.
"It was time to go to the schoolroom. I went. That same schoolroom is rather pleasant in a morning. The sun then shines through the low lattice; the books are in order; there are no papers strewn about; the fire is clear and clean; no cinders31 have fallen, no ashes accumulated. I found Henry there, and he had brought with him Miss Keeldar. They were together.
"I said she was lovelier than ever. She is. A fine536 rose, not deep but delicate, opens on her cheek. Her eye, always dark, clear, and speaking, utters now a language I cannot render; it is the utterance32, seen not heard, through which angels must have communed when there was 'silence in heaven.' Her hair was always dusk as night and fine as silk, her neck was always fair, flexible, polished; but both have now a new charm. The tresses are soft as shadow, the shoulders they fall on wear a goddess grace. Once I only saw her beauty, now I feel it.
"Henry was repeating his lesson to her before bringing it to me. One of her hands was occupied with the book; he held the other. That boy gets more than his share of privileges; he dares caress34 and is caressed35. What indulgence and compassion36 she shows him! Too much. If this went on, Henry in a few years, when his soul was formed, would offer it on her altar, as I have offered mine.
"I saw her eyelid37 flitter when I came in, but she did not look up; now she hardly ever gives me a glance. She seems to grow silent too; to me she rarely speaks, and when I am present, she says little to others. In my gloomy moments I attribute this change to indifference38, aversion, what not? In my sunny intervals39 I give it another meaning. I say, were I her equal, I could find in this shyness coyness, and in that coyness love. As it is, dare I look for it? What could I do with it if found?
"This morning I dared at least contrive40 an hour's communion for her and me; I dared not only wish but will an interview with her. I dared summon solitude41 to guard us. Very decidedly I called Henry to the door. Without hesitation42 I said, 'Go where you will, my boy; but, till I call you, return not here.'
"Henry, I could see, did not like his dismissal. That boy is young, but a thinker; his meditative43 eye shines on me strangely sometimes. He half feels what links me to Shirley; he half guesses that there is a dearer delight in the reserve with which I am treated than in all the endearments44 he is allowed. The young, lame45, half-grown lion would growl46 at me now and then, because I have tamed his lioness and am her keeper, did not the habit of discipline and the instinct of affection hold him subdued48. Go, Henry; you must learn to take your share of the bitter of life with all of Adam's race that have gone before or will come after you. Your destiny can be no exception to the common lot; be grateful that your love is overlooked537 thus early, before it can claim any affinity49 to passion. An hour's fret50, a pang51 of envy, suffice to express what you feel. Jealousy52 hot as the sun above the line, rage destructive as the tropic storm, the clime of your sensations ignores—as yet.
"I took my usual seat at the desk, quite in my usual way. I am blessed in that power to cover all inward ebullition with outward calm. No one who looks at my slow face can guess the vortex sometimes whirling in my heart, and engulfing53 thought and wrecking54 prudence55. Pleasant is it to have the gift to proceed peacefully and powerfully in your course without alarming by one eccentric movement. It was not my present intention to utter one word of love to her, or to reveal one glimpse of the fire in which I wasted. Presumptuous56 I never have been; presumptuous I never will be. Rather than even seem selfish and interested, I would resolutely57 rise, gird my loins, part and leave her, and seek, on the other side of the globe, a new life, cold and barren as the rock the salt tide daily washes. My design this morning was to take of her a near scrutiny—to read a line in the page of her heart. Before I left I determined58 to know what I was leaving.
"I had some quills59 to make into pens. Most men's hands would have trembled when their hearts were so stirred; mine went to work steadily60, and my voice, when I called it into exercise, was firm.
"'This day week you will be alone at Fieldhead, Miss Keeldar.'
"'Yes: I rather think my uncle's intention to go is a settled one now.'
"'He leaves you dissatisfied.'
"'He is not pleased with me.'
"'He departs as he came—no better for his journey. This is mortifying61.'
"'I trust the failure of his plans will take from him all inclination62 to lay new ones.'
"'In his way Mr. Sympson honestly wished you well. All he has done or intended to do he believed to be for the best.'
"'You are kind to undertake the defence of a man who has permitted himself to treat you with so much insolence.'
"'I never feel shocked at, or bear malice63 for, what is spoken in character; and most perfectly in character538 was that vulgar and violent onset65 against me, when he had quitted you worsted.'
"'You cease now to be Henry's tutor?'
"'I shall be parted from Henry for a while (if he and I live we shall meet again somehow, for we love each other) and be ousted66 from the bosom67 of the Sympson family for ever. Happily this change does not leave me stranded68; it but hurries into premature69 execution designs long formed.'
"'No change finds you off your guard. I was sure, in your calm way, you would be prepared for sudden mutation70. I always think you stand in the world like a solitary71 but watchful72, thoughtful archer73 in a wood. And the quiver on your shoulder holds more arrows than one; your bow is provided with a second string. Such too is your brother's wont74. You two might go forth75 homeless hunters to the loneliest western wilds; all would be well with you. The hewn tree would make you a hut, the cleared forest yield you fields from its stripped bosom, the buffalo76 would feel your rifle-shot, and with lowered horns and hump pay homage77 at your feet.'
"'And any Indian tribe of Blackfeet or Flatheads would afford us a bride, perhaps?'
"'No' (hesitating), 'I think not. The savage78 is sordid79. I think—that is, I hope—you would neither of you share your hearth80 with that to which you could not give your heart.'
"'What suggested the wild West to your mind, Miss Keeldar? Have you been with me in spirit when I did not see you? Have you entered into my day-dreams, and beheld81 my brain labouring at its scheme of a future?'
"She had separated a slip of paper for lighting82 tapers—a spill, as it is called—into fragments. She threw morsel83 by morsel into the fire, and stood pensively85 watching them consume. She did not speak.
"'How did you learn what you seem to know about my intentions?'
"'Your hazard sounds like divination86. A tutor I will never be again; never take a pupil after Henry and yourself; not again will I sit habitually87 at another man's table—no more be the appendage88 of a family. I am now a man of thirty; I have never been free since I was a boy of ten. I have such a thirst for freedom, such a deep passion to539 know her and call her mine, such a day-desire and night-longing to win her and possess her, I will not refuse to cross the Atlantic for her sake; her I will follow deep into virgin89 woods. Mine it shall not be to accept a savage girl as a slave—she could not be a wife. I know no white woman whom I love that would accompany me; but I am certain Liberty will await me, sitting under a pine. When I call her she will come to my loghouse, and she shall fill my arms.'
"She could not hear me speak so unmoved, and she was moved. It was right—I meant to move her. She could not answer me, nor could she look at me. I should have been sorry if she could have done either. Her cheek glowed as if a crimson90 flower through whose petals91 the sun shone had cast its light upon it. On the white lid and dark lashes92 of her downcast eye trembled all that is graceful93 in the sense of half-painful, half-pleasing shame.
"Soon she controlled her emotion, and took all her feelings under command. I saw she had felt insurrection, and was waking to empire. She sat down. There was that in her face which I could read. It said, I see the line which is my limit; nothing shall make me pass it. I feel—I know how far I may reveal my feelings, and when I must clasp the volume. I have advanced to a certain distance, as far as the true and sovereign and undegraded nature of my kind permits; now here I stand rooted. My heart may break if it is baffled; let it break. It shall never dishonour94 me; it shall never dishonour my sisterhood in me. Suffering before degradation95! death before treachery!
"I, for my part, said, 'If she were poor, I would be at her feet; if she were lowly, I would take her in my arms. Her gold and her station are two griffins that guard her on each side. Love looks and longs, and dares not; Passion hovers96 round, and is kept at bay; Truth and Devotion are scared. There is nothing to lose in winning her, no sacrifice to make. It is all clear gain, and therefore unimaginably difficult.'
"Difficult or not, something must be done, something must be said. I could not, and would not, sit silent with all that beauty modestly mute in my presence. I spoke thus, and still I spoke with calm. Quiet as my words were, I could hear they fell in a tone distinct, round, and deep.
"'Still, I know I shall be strangely placed with that mountain nymph Liberty. She is, I suspect, akin24 to that Solitude which I once wooed, and from which I now seek540 a divorce. These Oreads are peculiar97. They come upon you with an unearthly charm, like some starlight evening; they inspire a wild but not warm delight; their beauty is the beauty of spirits; their grace is not the grace of life, but of seasons or scenes in nature. Theirs is the dewy bloom of morning, the languid flush of evening, the peace of the moon, the changefulness of clouds. I want and will have something different. This elfish splendour looks chill to my vision, and feels frozen to my touch. I am not a poet; I cannot live with abstractions. You, Miss Keeldar, have sometimes, in your laughing satire98, called me a material philosopher, and implied that I live sufficiently99 for the substantial. Certainly I feel material from head to foot; and glorious as Nature is, and deeply as I worship her with the solid powers of a solid heart, I would rather behold100 her through the soft human eyes of a loved and lovely wife than through the wild orbs101 of the highest goddess of Olympus.'
"'Juno could not cook a buffalo steak as you like it,' said she.
"'She could not; but I will tell you who could—some young, penniless, friendless orphan102 girl. I wish I could find such a one—pretty enough for me to love, with something of the mind and heart suited to my taste; not uneducated—honest and modest. I care nothing for attainments103, but I would fain have the germ of those sweet natural powers which nothing acquired can rival; any temper Fate wills—I can manage the hottest. To such a creature as this I should like to be first tutor and then husband. I would teach her my language, my habits and my principles, and then I would reward her with my love.'
"'Reward her, lord of the creation—reward her!'" ejaculated she, with a curled lip.
"'And be repaid a thousandfold.'
"'If she willed it, monseigneur.'
"'And she should will it.'
"'You have stipulated104 for any temper Fate wills. Compulsion is flint and a blow to the metal of some souls.'
"'Who cares for the love that is but a spark—seen, flown upward, and gone?'
"'I must find my orphan girl. Tell me how, Miss Keeldar.'
"'Advertise; and be sure you add, when you describe the qualifications, she must be a good plain cook.'
541"'I must find her; and when I do find her I shall marry her.'
"'Not you!' and her voice took a sudden accent of peculiar scorn.
"I liked this. I had roused her from the pensive84 mood in which I had first found her. I would stir her further.
"'Why doubt it?'
"'You marry!'
"'Yes, of course; nothing more evident than that I can and shall.'
"'The contrary is evident, Mr. Moore.'
"She charmed me in this mood—waxing disdainful, half insulting; pride, temper, derision, blent in her large fine eye, that had just now the look of a merlin's.
"'Favour me with your reasons for such an opinion, Miss Keeldar.'
"'How will you manage to marry, I wonder?'
"'I shall manage it with ease and speed when I find the proper person.'
"'Accept celibacy106!' (and she made a gesture with her hand as if she gave me something) 'take it as your doom107!'
"'No; you cannot give what I already have. Celibacy has been mine for thirty years. If you wish to offer me a gift, a parting present, a keepsake, you must change the boon108.'
"'Take worse, then!'
"'How—what?'
"I now felt, and looked, and spoke eagerly. I was unwise to quit my sheet-anchor of calm even for an instant; it deprived me of an advantage and transferred it to her. The little spark of temper dissolved in sarcasm109, and eddied110 over her countenance111 in the ripples112 of a mocking smile.
"'Take a wife that has paid you court to save your modesty113, and thrust herself upon you to spare your scruples114.'
"'Only show me where.'
"'She must not be rich, then. Oh these riches!'
"'Never would you have gathered the produce of the gold-bearing garden. You have not courage to confront the sleepless116 dragon; you have not craft to borrow the aid of Atlas117.'
"'I am a woman; I know mine.'
"'I am poor; I must be proud.'
"We had reached a critical point now, and we halted and looked at each other. She would not give in, I felt. Beyond this I neither felt nor saw. A few moments yet were mine. The end was coming—I heard its rush—but not come. I would dally126, wait, talk, and when impulse urged I would act. I am never in a hurry; I never was in a hurry in my whole life. Hasty people drink the nectar of existence scalding hot; I taste it cool as dew. I proceeded: 'Apparently127, Miss Keeldar, you are as little likely to marry as myself. I know you have refused three—nay, four—advantageous offers, and, I believe, a fifth. Have you rejected Sir Philip Nunnely?'
"I put this question suddenly and promptly.
"'Did you think I should take him?'
"'I thought you might.'
"'On what grounds, may I ask?'
"'Conformity128 of rank, age, pleasing contrast of temper—for he is mild and amiable129—harmony of intellectual tastes.'
"'A beautiful sentence! Let us take it to pieces. "Conformity of rank." He is quite above me. Compare my grange with his palace, if you please. I am disdained130 by his kith and kin25. "Suitability of age." We were born in the same year; consequently he is still a boy, while I am a woman—ten years his senior to all intents and purposes. "Contrast of temper." Mild and amiable, is he; I—what? Tell me.'
"'And you would mate me with a kid—the millennium134 being yet millions of centuries from mankind; being yet, indeed, an archangel high in the seventh heaven, uncommissioned to descend135? Unjust barbarian136! "Harmony of intellectual tastes." He is fond of poetry, and I hate it——'
"'Do you? That is news.'
"'I absolutely shudder137 at the sight of metre or at the sound of rhyme whenever I am at the priory or Sir Philip543 at Fieldhead. Harmony, indeed! When did I whip up syllabub sonnets138 or string stanzas139 fragile as fragments of glass? and when did I betray a belief that those penny-beads were genuine brilliants?'
"'You might have the satisfaction of leading him to a higher standard, of improving his tastes.'
"'Leading and improving! teaching and tutoring! bearing and forbearing! Pah! my husband is not to be my baby. I am not to set him his daily lesson and see that he learns it, and give him a sugar-plum if he is good, and a patient, pensive, pathetic lecture if he is bad. But it is like a tutor to talk of the "satisfaction of teaching." I suppose you think it the finest employment in the world. I don't. I reject it. Improving a husband! No. I shall insist upon my husband improving me, or else we part.'
"'God knows it is needed!'
"'What do you mean by that, Mr. Moore?'
"'What I say. Improvement is imperatively140 needed.'
"'If you were a woman you would school monsieur, votre mari, charmingly. It would just suit you; schooling141 is your vocation142.'
"'May I ask whether, in your present just and gentle mood, you mean to taunt143 me with being a tutor?'
"'Yes, bitterly; and with anything else you please—any defect of which you are painfully conscious.'
"'With being poor, for instance?'
"'Of course; that will sting you. You are sore about your poverty; you brood over that.'
"'With having nothing but a very plain person to offer the woman who may master my heart?'
"'Exactly. You have a habit of calling yourself plain. You are sensitive about the cut of your features because they are not quite on an Apollo pattern. You abase144 them more than is needful, in the faint hope that others may say a word in their behalf—which won't happen. Your face is nothing to boast of, certainly—not a pretty line nor a pretty tint145 to be found therein.'
"'Compare it with your own.'
"'It looks like a god of Egypt—a great sand-buried stone head; or rather I will compare it to nothing so lofty. It looks like Tartar. You are my mastiff's cousin. I think you as much like him as a man can be like a dog.'
"'Tartar is your dear companion. In summer, when544 you rise early, and run out into the fields to wet your feet with the dew, and freshen your cheek and uncurl your hair with the breeze, you always call him to follow you. You call him sometimes with a whistle that you learned from me. In the solitude of your wood, when you think nobody but Tartar is listening, you whistle the very tunes146 you imitated from my lips, or sing the very songs you have caught up by ear from my voice. I do not ask whence flows the feeling which you pour into these songs, for I know it flows out of your heart, Miss Keeldar. In the winter evenings Tartar lies at your feet. You suffer him to rest his head on your perfumed lap; you let him couch on the borders of your satin raiment. His rough hide is familiar with the contact of your hand. I once saw you kiss him on that snow-white beauty spot which stars his broad forehead. It is dangerous to say I am like Tartar; it suggests to me a claim to be treated like Tartar.'
"'Perhaps, sir, you can extort148 as much from your penniless and friendless young orphan girl, when you find her.'
"'Oh could I find her such as I image her! Something to tame first, and teach afterwards; to break in, and then to fondle. To lift the destitute149 proud thing out of poverty; to establish power over and then to be indulgent to the capricious moods that never were influenced and never indulged before; to see her alternately irritated and subdued about twelve times in the twenty-four hours; and perhaps, eventually, when her training was accomplished150, to behold her the exemplary and patient mother of about a dozen children, only now and then lending little Louis a cordial cuff151 by way of paying the interest of the vast debt she owes his father. Oh' (I went on), 'my orphan girl would give me many a kiss; she would watch on the threshold for my coming home of an evening; she would run into my arms; she would keep my hearth as bright as she would make it warm. God bless the sweet idea! Find her I must.'
"Her eyes emitted an eager flash, her lips opened; but she reclosed them, and impetuously turned away.
"'Tell me, tell me where she is, Miss Keeldar!'
"Another movement, all haughtiness152 and fire and impulse.
"'I must know. You can tell me; you shall tell me.'
"'I never will.'
"She turned to leave me. Could I now let her part545 as she had always parted from me? No. I had gone too far not to finish; I had come too near the end not to drive home to it. All the encumbrance153 of doubt, all the rubbish of indecision, must be removed at once, and the plain truth must be ascertained155. She must take her part, and tell me what it was; I must take mine and adhere to it.
"'A minute, madam,' I said, keeping my hand on the door-handle before I opened it. 'We have had a long conversation this morning, but the last word has not been spoken yet. It is yours to speak it.'
"'May I pass?'
"'No; I guard the door. I would almost rather die than let you leave me just now, without speaking the word I demand.'
"'What dare you expect me to say?'
"'What I am dying and perishing to hear; what I must and will hear; what you dare not now suppress.'
"'Mr. Moore, I hardly know what you mean. You are not like yourself.'
"I suppose I hardly was like my usual self, for I scared her—that I could see. It was right: she must be scared to be won.
"'You do know what I mean, and for the first time I stand before you myself. I have flung off the tutor, and beg to introduce you to the man. And remember, he is a gentleman.'
"She trembled. She put her hand to mine as if to remove it from the lock. She might as well have tried to loosen, by her soft touch, metal welded to metal. She felt she was powerless, and receded156; and again she trembled.
"What change I underwent I cannot explain, but out of her emotion passed into me a new spirit. I neither was crushed nor elated by her lands and gold; I thought not of them, cared not for them. They were nothing—dross that could not dismay me. I saw only herself—her young beautiful form, the grace, the majesty157, the modesty of her girlhood.
"'My pupil,' I said.
"'My master,' was the low answer.
"'I have a thing to tell you.'
"'I have to tell you that for four years you have been546 growing into your tutor's heart, and that you are rooted there now. I have to declare that you have bewitched me, in spite of sense, and experience, and difference of station and estate. You have so looked, and spoken, and moved; so shown me your faults and your virtues—beauties rather, they are hardly so stern as virtues—that I love you—love you with my life and strength. It is out now.'
"She sought what to say, but could not find a word. She tried to rally, but vainly. I passionately159 repeated that I loved her.
"'Well, Mr. Moore, what then?' was the answer I got, uttered in a tone that would have been petulant160 if it had not faltered161.
"'Have you nothing to say to me? Have you no love for me?'
"'A little bit.'
"'I am not to be tortured. I will not even play at present.'
"'I don't want to play; I want to go.'
"'I wonder you dare speak of going at this moment. You go! What! with my heart in your hand, to lay it on your toilet and pierce it with your pins? From my presence you do not stir, out of my reach you do not stray, till I receive a hostage—pledge for pledge—your heart for mine.'
"'The thing you want is mislaid—lost some time since. Let me go and seek it.'
"'Declare that it is where your keys often are—in my possession.'
"'You ought to know. And where are my keys, Mr. Moore? Indeed and truly I have lost them again; and Mrs. Gill wants some money, and I have none, except this sixpence.'
"She took the coin out of her apron162 pocket, and showed it in her palm. I could have trifled with her, but it would not do; life and death were at stake. Mastering at once the sixpence and the hand that held it, I demanded, 'Am I to die without you, or am I to live for you?'
"'You shall tell me with your own lips whether you doom me to exile or call me to hope.'
"'Go; I can bear to be left.'
547"'Perhaps I too can bear to leave you. But reply, Shirley, my pupil, my sovereign—reply.'
"'Die without me if you will; live for me if you dare.'
"'I am not afraid of you, my leopardess. I dare live for and with you, from this hour till my death. Now, then, I have you. You are mine. I will never let you go. Wherever my home be, I have chosen my wife. If I stay in England, in England you will stay; if I cross the Atlantic, you will cross it also. Our lives are riveted164, our lots intertwined.'
"'And are we equal, then, sir? are we equal at last?'
"'Will you be good to me, and never tyrannize?'
"'Will you let me breathe, and not bewilder me? You must not smile at present. The world swims and changes round me. The sun is a dizzying scarlet166 blaze, the sky a violet vortex whirling over me.'
"I am a strong man, but I staggered as I spoke. All creation was exaggerated. Colour grew more vivid, motion more rapid, life itself more vital. I hardly saw her for a moment, but I heard her voice—pitilessly sweet. She would not subdue47 one of her charms in compassion. Perhaps she did not know what I felt.
"'You name me leopardess. Remember, the leopardess is tameless,' said she.
"'Tame or fierce, wild or subdued, you are mine.'
"'I am glad I know my keeper and am used to him. Only his voice will I follow; only his hand shall manage me; only at his feet will I repose167.'
"I took her back to her seat, and sat down by her side. I wanted to hear her speak again. I could never have enough of her voice and her words.
"'How much do you love me?' I asked.
"'Ah! you know. I will not gratify you—I will not flatter.'
"'I don't know half enough; my heart craves168 to be fed. If you knew how hungry and ferocious169 it is, you would hasten to stay it with a kind word or two.'
"'Poor Tartar!' said she, touching170 and patting my hand—'poor fellow, stalwart friend, Shirley's pet and favourite, lie down!'
"'But I will not lie down till I am fed with one sweet word.'
548"And at last she gave it.
"'Dear Louis, be faithful to me; never leave me. I don't care for life unless I may pass it at your side.'
"'Something more.'
"She gave me a change; it was not her way to offer the same dish twice.
"'Sir,' she said, starting up, 'at your peril171 you ever again name such sordid things as money, or poverty, or inequality. It will be absolutely dangerous to torment172 me with these maddening scruples. I defy you to do it.'
"My face grew hot. I did once more wish I were not so poor or she were not so rich. She saw the transient misery173; and then, indeed, she caressed me. Blent with torment, I experienced rapture174.
"'Mr. Moore,' said she, looking up with a sweet, open, earnest countenance, 'teach me and help me to be good. I do not ask you to take off my shoulders all the cares and duties of property, but I ask you to share the burden, and to show me how to sustain my part well. Your judgment175 is well balanced, your heart is kind, your principles are sound. I know you are wise; I feel you are benevolent176; I believe you are conscientious177. Be my companion through life; be my guide where I am ignorant; be my master where I am faulty; be my friend always!'
"'So help me God, I will!'"
Yet again a passage from the blank book if you like, reader; if you don't like it, pass it over:—
"The Sympsons are gone, but not before discovery and explanation. My manner must have betrayed something, or my looks. I was quiet, but I forgot to be guarded sometimes. I stayed longer in the room than usual; I could not bear to be out of her presence; I returned to it, and basked178 in it, like Tartar in the sun. If she left the oak parlour, instinctively179 I rose and left it too. She chid180 me for this procedure more than once. I did it with a vague, blundering idea of getting a word with her in the hall or elsewhere. Yesterday towards dusk I had her to myself for five minutes by the hall fire. We stood side by side; she was railing at me, and I was enjoying the sound of her voice. The young ladies passed, and looked at us; we did not separate. Ere long they repassed, and again looked. Mrs. Sympson came; we did not move. Mr. Sympson opened the dining-room door. Shirley flashed him back549 full payment for his spying gaze. She curled her lip and tossed her tresses. The glance she gave was at once explanatory and defiant181. It said: 'I like Mr. Moore's society, and I dare you to find fault with my taste.'
"I asked, 'Do you mean him to understand how matters are?'
"'I do,' said she; 'but I leave the development to chance. There will be a scene. I neither invite it nor fear it; only, you must be present, for I am inexpressibly tired of facing him solus. I don't like to see him in a rage. He then puts off all his fine proprieties182 and conventional disguises, and the real human being below is what you would call commun, plat, bas—vilain et un peu méchant. His ideas are not clean, Mr. Moore; they want scouring183 with soft soap and fuller's earth. I think, if he could add his imagination to the contents of Mrs. Gill's bucking-basket, and let her boil it in her copper184, with rain-water and bleaching-powder (I hope you think me a tolerable laundress), it would do him incalculable good.'
"This morning, fancying I heard her descend somewhat early, I was down instantly. I had not been deceived. There she was, busy at work in the breakfast-parlour, of which the housemaid was completing the arrangement and dusting. She had risen betimes to finish some little keepsake she intended for Henry. I got only a cool reception, which I accepted till the girl was gone, taking my book to the window-seat very quietly. Even when we were alone I was slow to disturb her. To sit with her in sight was happiness, and the proper happiness, for early morning—serene, incomplete, but progressive. Had I been obtrusive185, I knew I should have encountered rebuff. 'Not at home to suitors' was written on her brow. Therefore I read on, stole now and then a look, watched her countenance soften186 and open as she felt I respected her mood, and enjoyed the gentle content of the moment.
"The distance between us shrank, and the light hoar-frost thawed187 insensibly. Ere an hour elapsed I was at her side, watching her sew, gathering188 her sweet smiles and her merry words, which fell for me abundantly. We sat, as we had a right to sit, side by side; my arm rested on her chair; I was near enough to count the stitches of her work, and to discern the eye of her needle. The door suddenly opened.
"I believe, if I had just then started from her, she would550 have despised me. Thanks to the phlegm of my nature, I rarely start. When I am well-off, bien, comfortable, I am not soon stirred. Bien I was—très bien—consequently immutable189. No muscle moved. I hardly looked to the door.
"'Good-morning, uncle,' said she, addressing that personage, who paused on the threshold in a state of petrifaction190.
"'Have you been long downstairs, Miss Keeldar, and alone with Mr. Moore?'
"'Yes, a very long time. We both came down early; it was scarcely light.'
"'The proceeding191 is improper——'
"'It was at first, I was rather cross, and not civil; but you will perceive that we are now friends.'
"'I perceive more than you would wish me to perceive.'
"'Hardly, sir,' said I; 'we have no disguises. Will you permit me to intimate that any further observations you have to make may as well be addressed to me? Henceforward I stand between Miss Keeldar and all annoyance192.'
"'You! What have you to do with Miss Keeldar?'
"'To protect, watch over, serve her.'
"'You, sir—you, the tutor?'
"'Not one word of insult, sir,' interposed she; 'not one syllable193 of disrespect to Mr. Moore in this house.'
"'Do you take his part?'
"'His part? oh yes!'
"She turned to me with a sudden fond movement, which I met by circling her with my arm. She and I both rose.
"'Good Ged!' was the cry from the morning-gown standing29 quivering at the door. Ged, I think, must be the cognomen194 of Mr. Sympson's Lares. When hard pressed he always invokes195 this idol196.
"'Come forward, uncle; you shall hear all.—Tell him all, Louis.'
"'I dare him to speak—the beggar! the knave197! the specious198 hypocrite! the vile33, insinuating199, infamous200 menial!—Stand apart from my niece, sir. Let her go!'
"She clung to me with energy. 'I am near my future husband,' she said. 'Who dares touch him or me?'
"'Her husband!' He raised and spread his hands. He dropped into a seat.
"'A while ago you wanted much to know whom I meant551 to marry. My intention was then formed, but not mature for communication. Now it is ripe, sun-mellowed, perfect. Take the crimson peach—take Louis Moore!'
"'But' (savagely) 'you shall not have him; he shall not have you.'
"'I would die before I would have another. I would die if I might not have him.'
"He uttered words with which this page shall never be polluted.
"She turned white as death; she shook all over; she lost her strength. I laid her down on the sofa; just looked to ascertain154 that she had not fainted—of which, with a divine smile, she assured me. I kissed her; and then, if I were to perish, I cannot give a clear account of what happened in the course of the next five minutes. She has since—through tears, laughter, and trembling—told me that I turned terrible, and gave myself to the demon201. She says I left her, made one bound across the room; that Mr. Sympson vanished through the door as if shot from a cannon202. I also vanished, and she heard Mrs. Gill scream.
"Mrs. Gill was still screaming when I came to my senses. I was then in another apartment—the oak parlour, I think. I held Sympson before me crushed into a chair, and my hand was on his cravat203. His eyes rolled in his head; I was strangling him, I think. The housekeeper204 stood wringing205 her hands, entreating206 me to desist. I desisted that moment, and felt at once as cool as stone. But I told Mrs. Gill to fetch the Red-House Inn chaise instantly, and informed Mr. Sympson he must depart from Fieldhead the instant it came. Though half frightened out of his wits, he declared he would not. Repeating the former order, I added a commission to fetch a constable207. I said, 'You shall go, by fair means or foul208.'
"He threatened prosecution209; I cared for nothing. I had stood over him once before, not quite so fiercely as now, but full as austerely210. It was one night when burglars attempted the house at Sympson Grove211, and in his wretched cowardice212 he would have given a vain alarm, without daring to offer defence. I had then been obliged to protect his family and his abode213 by mastering himself—and I had succeeded. I now remained with him till the chaise came. I marshalled him to it, he scolding all the way. He was terribly bewildered, as well as enraged214. He would have resisted me, but knew not how. He called for his wife and552 daughters to come. I said they should follow him as soon as they could prepare. The smoke, the fume147, the fret of his demeanour was inexpressible, but it was a fury incapable215 of producing a deed. That man, properly handled, must ever remain impotent. I know he will never touch me with the law. I know his wife, over whom he tyrannizes in trifles, guides him in matters of importance. I have long since earned her undying mother's gratitude216 by my devotion to her boy. In some of Henry's ailments217 I have nursed him—better, she said, than any woman could nurse. She will never forget that. She and her daughters quitted me to-day, in mute wrath218 and consternation219; but she respects me. When Henry clung to my neck as I lifted him into the carriage and placed him by her side, when I arranged her own wrapping to make her warm, though she turned her head from me, I saw the tears start to her eyes. She will but the more zealously220 advocate my cause because she has left me in anger. I am glad of this—not for my own sake, but for that of my life and idol—my Shirley."
Once again he writes, a week after:—"I am now at Stilbro'. I have taken up my temporary abode with a friend—a professional man, in whose business I can be useful. Every day I ride over to Fieldhead. How long will it be before I can call that place my home, and its mistress mine? I am not easy, not tranquil221; I am tantalized222, sometimes tortured. To see her now, one would think she had never pressed her cheek to my shoulder, or clung to me with tenderness or trust. I feel unsafe; she renders me miserable223. I am shunned224 when I visit her; she withdraws from my reach. Once this day I lifted her face, resolved to get a full look down her deep, dark eyes. Difficult to describe what I read there! Pantheress! beautiful forest-born! wily, tameless, peerless nature! She gnaws225 her chain; I see the white teeth working at the steel! She has dreams of her wild woods and pinings after virgin freedom. I wish Sympson would come again, and oblige her again to entwine her arms about me. I wish there was danger she should lose me, as there is risk I shall lose her. No; final loss I do not fear, but long delay——
"It is now night—midnight. I have spent the afternoon and evening at Fieldhead. Some hours ago she passed me, coming down the oak staircase to the hall. She did not know I was standing in the twilight226, near the staircase window, looking at the frost-bright constellations227.553 How closely she glided228 against the banisters! How shyly shone her large eyes upon me! How evanescent, fugitive229, fitful she looked—slim and swift as a northern streamer!
"I followed her into the drawing-room. Mrs. Pryor and Caroline Helstone were both there; she has summoned them to bear her company awhile. In her white evening dress, with her long hair flowing full and wavy230, with her noiseless step, her pale cheek, her eye full of night and lightning, she looked, I thought, spirit-like—a thing made of an element, the child of a breeze and a flame, the daughter of ray and raindrop—a thing never to be overtaken, arrested, fixed231. I wished I could avoid following her with my gaze as she moved here and there, but it was impossible. I talked with the other ladies as well as I could, but still I looked at her. She was very silent; I think she never spoke to me—not even when she offered me tea. It happened that she was called out a minute by Mrs. Gill. I passed into the moonlit hall, with the design of getting a word as she returned; nor in this did I fail.
"'Miss Keeldar, stay one instant,' said I, meeting her.
"'Why? the hall is too cold.'
"'It is not cold for me; at my side it should not be cold for you.'
"'But I shiver.'
"'With fear, I believe. What makes you fear me? You are quiet and distant. Why?'
"'I may well fear what looks like a great dark goblin meeting me in the moonlight.'
"'Do not—do not pass! Stay with me awhile. Let us exchange a few quiet words. It is three days since I spoke to you alone. Such changes are cruel.'
"'I have no wish to be cruel,' she responded, softly enough. Indeed there was softness in her whole deportment—in her face, in her voice; but there was also reserve, and an air fleeting232, evanishing, intangible.
"'You certainly give me pain,' said I. 'It is hardly a week since you called me your future husband and treated me as such. Now I am once more the tutor for you. I am addressed as Mr. Moore and sir. Your lips have forgotten Louis.'
"'No, Louis, no. It is an easy, liquid name—not soon forgotten.'
"'Be cordial to Louis, then; approach him—let him approach.'
"'Your voice is very sweet and very low,' I answered, quietly advancing. 'You seem subdued, but still startled.'
"'No—quite calm, and afraid of nothing,' she assured me.
"'You see I am in a new world, Mr. Moore. I don't know myself; I don't know you. But rise. When you do so I feel troubled and disturbed.'
"I obeyed. It would not have suited me to retain that attitude long. I courted serenity236 and confidence for her, and not vainly. She trusted and clung to me again.
"'Now, Shirley,' I said, 'you can conceive I am far from happy in my present uncertain, unsettled state.'
"'Oh yes, you are happy!' she cried hastily. 'You don't know how happy you are. Any change will be for the worse.'
"'Happy or not, I cannot bear to go on so much longer. You are too generous to require it.'
"'Be reasonable, Louis; be patient! I like you because you are patient.'
"'Like me no longer, then; love me instead. Fix our marriage day; think of it to-night, and decide.'
"She breathed a murmur237, inarticulate yet expressive238; darted239, or melted, from my arms—and I lost her."
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pretensions
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| 自称( pretension的名词复数 )； 自命不凡； 要求； 权力 | |
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compassion
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| n.同情，怜悯 | |
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passionately
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| ad.热烈地，激烈地 | |
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abase
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| v.降低，贬抑 | |
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incumbent
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| adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的 | |
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stipulated
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| vt.& vi.规定；约定adj.[法]合同规定的 | |
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fleeting
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| adj.短暂的，飞逝的 | |
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engulfing
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| adj.吞噬的v.吞没，包住( engulf的现在分词 ) | |
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syllable
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| n.音节；vt.分音节 | |
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genially
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| adv.亲切地，和蔼地；快活地 | |
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ferocious
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| adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的 | |
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reconciliation
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| n.和解，和谐，一致 | |
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copper
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| n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的 | |
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piously
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| adv.虔诚地 | |
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annoyance
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| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
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intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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attachment
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| n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附 | |
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leopard
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| n.豹 | |
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tranquil
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| adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
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growl
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| v.（狗等）嗥叫，（炮等）轰鸣；n.嗥叫，轰鸣 | |
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scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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homage
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| n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬 | |
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sleepless
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| adj.不睡眠的，睡不著的，不休息的 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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benevolent
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| adj.仁慈的，乐善好施的 | |
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misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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watchful
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| adj.注意的，警惕的 | |
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caressed
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| 爱抚或抚摸…( caress的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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ordinances
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| n.条例，法令( ordinance的名词复数 ) | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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spotted
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| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
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drooped
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| 弯曲或下垂，发蔫( droop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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frailer
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| 脆弱的( frail的比较级 )； 易损的； 易碎的 | |
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expressive
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| adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的 | |
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proprieties
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| n.礼仪，礼节；礼貌( propriety的名词复数 )；规矩；正当；合适 | |
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conscientious
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| adj.审慎正直的，认真的，本着良心的 | |
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pensively
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| adv.沉思地，焦虑地 | |
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affinity
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| n.亲和力，密切关系 | |
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inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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stringent
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| adj.严厉的；令人信服的；银根紧的 | |
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apron
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| n.围裙；工作裙 | |
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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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thawed
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| 解冻 | |
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graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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riveted
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| 铆接( rivet的过去式和过去分词 )； 把…固定住； 吸引； 引起某人的注意 | |
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cowardice
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| n.胆小，怯懦 | |
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demon
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| n.魔鬼，恶魔 | |
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barbarian
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| n.野蛮人；adj.野蛮(人)的；未开化的 | |
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majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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vile
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| adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的 | |
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haughtiness
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| n.傲慢；傲气 | |
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scruples
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| n.良心上的不安( scruple的名词复数 )；顾虑，顾忌v.感到于心不安，有顾忌( scruple的第三人称单数 ) | |
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wringing
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| 淋湿的，湿透的 | |
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hovers
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| 鸟( hover的第三人称单数 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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disdained
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| 鄙视( disdain的过去式和过去分词 )； 不屑于做，不愿意做 | |
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bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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cinders
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| n.煤渣( cinder的名词复数 )；炭渣；煤渣路；煤渣跑道 | |
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pang
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| n.剧痛，悲痛，苦闷 | |
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inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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elicits
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| 引出，探出( elicit的第三人称单数 ) | |
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sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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faltered
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| （嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃 | |
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receded
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| v.逐渐远离( recede的过去式和过去分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题 | |
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contrive
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| vt.谋划，策划；设法做到；设计，想出 | |
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petals
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| n.花瓣( petal的名词复数 ) | |
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amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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atlas
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| n.地图册，图表集 | |
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lashes
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| n.鞭挞( lash的名词复数 )；鞭子；突然猛烈的一击；急速挥动v.鞭打( lash的第三人称单数 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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grove
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| n.林子，小树林，园林 | |
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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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cuff
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| n.袖口；手铐；护腕；vt.用手铐铐；上袖口 | |
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shunned
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| v.避开，回避，避免( shun的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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destitute
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| adj.缺乏的；穷困的 | |
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behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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wanness
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| n.虚弱 | |
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hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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onset
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| n.进攻，袭击，开始，突然开始 | |
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idol
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| n.偶像，红人，宠儿 | |
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sordid
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| adj.肮脏的，不干净的，卑鄙的，暗淡的 | |
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doom
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| n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定 | |
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caress
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| vt./n.爱抚，抚摸 | |
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entreating
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| 恳求，乞求( entreat的现在分词 ) | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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conformity
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| n.一致，遵从，顺从 | |
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pensive
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| a.沉思的,哀思的,忧沉的 | |
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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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infamous
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| adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的 | |
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stranded
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| a.搁浅的，进退两难的 | |
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foul
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| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
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jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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taunt
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| n.辱骂，嘲弄；v.嘲弄 | |
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gnaws
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| 咬( gnaw的第三人称单数 )； （长时间） 折磨某人； （使）苦恼； （长时间）危害某事物 | |
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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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ripples
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| 逐渐扩散的感觉( ripple的名词复数 ) | |
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counterfeits
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| v.仿制，造假( counterfeit的第三人称单数 ) | |
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presumptuous
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| adj.胆大妄为的，放肆的，冒昧的，冒失的 | |
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apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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degradation
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| n.降级；低落；退化；陵削；降解；衰变 | |
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austerely
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| adv.严格地，朴质地 | |
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lyrics
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| n.歌词 | |
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twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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haughtier
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| haughty（傲慢的，骄傲的）的比较级形式 | |
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scouring
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| 擦[洗]净，冲刷，洗涤 | |
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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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soften
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| v.(使)变柔软；(使)变柔和 | |
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discoursed
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| 演说（discourse的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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boon
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| n.恩赐，恩物，恩惠 | |
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monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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wrecking
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| 破坏 | |
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chid
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| v.责骂，责备( chide的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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ousted
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| 驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺 | |
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incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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stanzas
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| 节，段( stanza的名词复数 ) | |
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elastic
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| n.橡皮圈，松紧带；adj.有弹性的；灵活的 | |
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fume
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| n.(usu pl.)(浓烈或难闻的)烟，气，汽 | |
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eyelid
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| n.眼睑，眼皮 | |
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rapture
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| n.狂喜；全神贯注；着迷；v.使狂喜 | |
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constellations
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| n.星座( constellation的名词复数 )；一群杰出人物；一系列（相关的想法、事物）；一群（相关的人） | |
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peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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aloof
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| adj.远离的；冷淡的，漠不关心的 | |
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insolence
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| n.傲慢；无礼；厚颜；傲慢的态度 | |
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subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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ascertained
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| v.弄清，确定，查明( ascertain的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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lame
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| adj.跛的，(辩解、论据等)无说服力的 | |
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torment
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| n.折磨；令人痛苦的东西(人)；vt.折磨；纠缠 | |
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groom
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| vt.给（马、狗等）梳毛，照料，使...整洁 | |
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satire
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| n.讽刺，讽刺文学，讽刺作品 | |
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crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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shudder
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| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
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descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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millennium
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| n.一千年，千禧年；太平盛世 | |
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vocation
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| n.职业，行业 | |
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hearth
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| n.壁炉炉床，壁炉地面 | |
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humility
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| n.谦逊，谦恭 | |
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sonnets
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| n.十四行诗( sonnet的名词复数 ) | |
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dispelled
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| v.驱散，赶跑( dispel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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mutation
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| n.变化，变异，转变 | |
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proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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concession
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| n.让步，妥协；特许(权) | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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enraged
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| 使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 )； 歜； 激愤 | |
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invokes
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| v.援引( invoke的第三人称单数 )；行使（权利等）；祈求救助；恳求 | |
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tantalized
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| v.逗弄，引诱，折磨( tantalize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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resolutely
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| adj.坚决地，果断地 | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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premature
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| adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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defiant
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| adj.无礼的，挑战的 | |
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attainments
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| 成就，造诣； 获得( attainment的名词复数 )； 达到； 造诣； 成就 | |
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lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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tunes
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| n.曲调，曲子( tune的名词复数 )v.调音( tune的第三人称单数 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调 | |
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habitually
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| ad.习惯地，通常地 | |
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schooling
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| n.教育；正规学校教育 | |
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housekeeper
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| n.管理家务的主妇，女管家 | |
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smoothly
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| adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地 | |
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dictate
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| v.口授；(使)听写；指令，指示，命令 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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modesty
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| n.谦逊，虚心，端庄，稳重，羞怯，朴素 | |
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wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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chastising
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| v.严惩（某人）（尤指责打）( chastise的现在分词 ) | |
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orphan
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| n.孤儿；adj.无父母的 | |
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imperatively
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| adv.命令式地 | |
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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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eddied
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| 起漩涡，旋转( eddy的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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fret
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| v.(使)烦恼；(使)焦急；(使)腐蚀，(使)磨损 | |
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extort
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| v.勒索，敲诈，强要 | |
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prosecution
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| n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营 | |
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constable
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| n.(英国)警察，警官 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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ailments
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| 疾病（尤指慢性病），不适( ailment的名词复数 ) | |
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insinuating
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| adj.曲意巴结的，暗示的v.暗示( insinuate的现在分词 )；巧妙或迂回地潜入；（使）缓慢进入；慢慢伸入 | |
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subdue
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| vt.制服，使顺从，征服；抑制，克制 | |
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ascertain
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| vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清 | |
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kin
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| n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的 | |
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tint
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| n.淡色，浅色；染发剂；vt.着以淡淡的颜色 | |
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gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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sarcasm
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| n.讥讽，讽刺，嘲弄，反话 （adj.sarcastic） | |
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craves
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| 渴望，热望( crave的第三人称单数 )； 恳求，请求 | |
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dependant
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| n.依靠的，依赖的，依赖他人生活者 | |
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basked
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| v.晒太阳，取暖( bask的过去式和过去分词 )；对…感到乐趣；因他人的功绩而出名；仰仗…的余泽 | |
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malice
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| n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋 | |
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virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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serenity
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| n.宁静，沉着，晴朗 | |
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zealously
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| adv.热心地；热情地；积极地；狂热地 | |
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hues
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| 色彩( hue的名词复数 )； 色调； 信仰； 观点 | |
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solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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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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buffalo
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| n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛 | |
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murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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