The future, then, meant the Isle21 of Man. Anna dreamed of an enchanted22 isle and hours of unimaginable rapture23. For a whole week after Mrs. Sutton had won Ephraim's consent, her vision never stooped to practical details. Then Beatrice called to see her; it was the morning after the treat, and Anna was brushing her muddy frock; she wore a large white apron24, and held a cloth-brush in her hand as she opened the door.
'You're busy?' said Beatrice.
'Yes,' said Anna, 'but come in. Come into the kitchen—do you mind?'
Beatrice was covered from neck to heel with a long mackintosh, which she threw off when entering the kitchen.
'Anyone else in the house?' she asked.
'No,' said Anna, smiling, as Beatrice seated herself, with a sigh of content, on the table.
'Well, let's talk, then.' Beatrice drew from her pocket the indispensable chocolates and offered them to Anna. 'I say, wasn't last night perfectly26 awful? Henry got wet through in the end, and mother made him stop at our house, as he was at the trouble to take me home. Did you see him go down this morning?'
'No; why?' said Anna, stiffly.
'Oh—no reason. Only I thought perhaps you did. I simply can't tell you how glad I am that you're coming with us to the Isle of Man; we shall have rare fun. We go every year, you know—to Port Erin, a lovely little fishing village. All the fishermen know us there. Last year Henry hired a yacht for the fortnight, and we all went mackerel-fishing, every day; except sometimes Pa. Now and then Pa had a tendency to go fiddling27 in caves and things. I do hope it will be fine weather again by then, don't you?'
'I'm looking forward to it, I can tell you,' Anna said. 'What day are we supposed to start?'
'Saturday week.'
'Yes; and quite late enough, too. We should start earlier, only the Dad always makes out he can't. Men always pretend to be so frightfully busy, and I believe it's all put on.' Beatrice continued to chat about the holiday, and then of a sudden she asked: 'What are you going to wear?'
'Wear!' Anna repeated; and added, with hesitation29: 'I suppose one will want some new clothes?'
'Well, just a few! Now let me advise you. Take a blue serge skirt. Sea-water won't harm it, and if it's dark enough it will look well to any mortal blouse. Secondly30, you can't have too many blouses; they're always useful at the seaside. Plain straw-hats are my tip. A coat for nights, and thick boots. There! Of course no one ever dresses at Port Erin. It isn't like Llandudno, and all that sort of thing. You don't have to meet your young man on the pier31, because there isn't a pier.'
There was a pause. Anna did not know what to say. At length she ventured: 'I'm not much for clothes, as I dare say you've noticed.'
'I think you always look nice, my dear,' Beatrice responded. Nothing was said as to Anna's wealth, no reference made as to the discrepancy32 between that and the style of her garments. By a fiction, there was supposed to be no discrepancy.
'Do you make your own frocks?' Beatrice asked, later.
'Yes.'
'Do you know I thought you did. But they do you great credit. There's few people can make a plain frock look decent.'
This conversation brought Anna with a shock to the level of earth. She perceived—only too well—a point which she had not hitherto fairly faced in her idyllic33 meditations34: that her father was still a factor in the case. Since Mrs. Sutton's visit both Anna and the miser avoided the subject of the holiday. 'You can't have too many blouses.' Did Beatrice, then, have blouses by the dozen? A coat, a serge skirt, straw hats (how many?)—the catalogue frightened her. She began to suspect that she would not be able to go to the Isle of Man.
'About me going with Suttons to the Isle of Man?' she accosted35 her father, in the afternoon, outwardly calm, but with secret trembling.
'I shall want some money—a little.' She would have given much not to have added that 'little,' but it came out of itself.
'It's a waste o' time and money—that's what I call it. I can't think why Suttons asked ye. Ye aren't ill, are ye?' His savagery37 changed to sullenness38.
'No, father; but as it's arranged, I suppose I shall have to go.'
'Well, I'm none so set up with the idea mysen.'
'Shan't you be all right with Agnes?'
'Oh, yes. I shall be all right. I don't want much. I've no fads39 and fal-lals. How long art going to be away?'
'I don't know. Didn't Mrs. Sutton tell you? You arranged it.'
'That I didna'. Her said nowt to me.'
'Well, anyhow I shall want some clothes.'
'What for? Art naked?'
'I must have some money.' Her voice shook. She was getting near tears.
'Well, thou's gotten thy own money, hast na'?'
'All I want is that you shall let me have some of my own money. There's forty odd pounds now in the bank.'
'Oh!' he repeated, sneering40, 'all ye want is as I shall let thee have some o' thy own money. And there's forty odd pound i' the bank. Oh!'
'Will you give me my cheque-book out of the bureau? And I'll draw a cheque; I know how to.' She had conquered the instinct to cry, and unwillingly41 her tones became somewhat peremptory42. Ephraim seized the chance.
'No, I won't give ye the cheque-book out o' th' bureau,' he said flatly. 'And I'll thank ye for less sauce.'
That finished the episode. Proudly she took an oath with herself not to re-open the question, and resolved to write a note to Mrs. Sutton saying that on consideration she found it impossible to go to the Isle of Man.
The next morning there came to Anna a letter from the secretary of a limited company enclosing a post-office order for ten pounds. Some weeks previously43 her father had discovered an error of that amount in the deduction44 of income-tax from the dividend45 paid by this company, and had instructed Anna to demand the sum. She had obeyed, and then forgotten the affair. Here was the answer. Desperate at the thought of missing the holiday, she cashed the order, bought and made her clothes in secret, and then, two days before the arranged date of departure told her father what she had done. He was enraged46; but since his anger was too illogical to be rendered effectively coherent in words, he had the wit to keep silence. With bitterness Anna reflected that she owed her holiday to the merest accident—for if the remittance48 had arrived a little earlier or a little later, or in the form of a cheque, she could not have utilised it.
It was an incredible day, the following Saturday, a warm and benign49 day of earliest autumn. The Suttons, in a hired cab, called for Anna at half-past eight, on the way to the main line station at Shawport. Anna's tin box was flung on to the roof of the cab amid the trunks and portmanteaux already there.
'Why should not Agnes ride with us to the station?' Beatrice suggested.
'Nay50, nay; there's no room,' said Tellwright, who stood at the door, impelled51 by an unacknowledged awe52 of Mrs. Sutton thus to give official sanction to Anna's departure.
'Yes, yes,' Mrs. Sutton exclaimed. 'Let the little thing come, Mr. Tellwright.'
Agnes, far more excited than any of the rest, seized her straw hat, and slipping the elastic53 under her small chin, sprang into the cab, and found a haven54 between Mr. Sutton's short, fat legs. The driver drew his whip smartly across the aged47 neck of the cream mare55. They were off. What a rumbling56, jolting57, delicious journey, down the first hill, up Duck Bank, through the market-place, and down the steep declivity58 of Oldcastle Street! Silent and shy, Agnes smiled ecstatically at the others. Anna answered remarks in a dream. She was conscious only of present happiness and happy expectation. All bitterness had disappeared. At least thirty thousand Bursley folk were not going to the Isle of Man that day—their preoccupied59 and cheerless faces swam in a continuous stream past the cab window—and Anna sympathised with every unit of them. Her spirit overflowed60 with universal compassion61. What haste and exquisite62 confusion at the station! The train was signalled, and the porter, crossing the line with the luggage, ran his truck perilously64 under the very buffers65 of the incoming engine. Mynors was awaiting them, admirably attired66 as a tourist. He had got the tickets, and secured a private compartment67 in the through-coach for Liverpool; and he found time to arrange with the cabman to drive Agnes home on the box-seat. Certainly there was none like Mynors. From the footboard of the carriage Anna bent68 down to kiss Agnes. The child had been laughing and chattering69. Suddenly, as Anna's lips touched hers, she burst into tears, sobbed70 passionately71 as though overtaken by some terrible and unexpected misfortune. Tears stood also in Anna's eyes. The sisters had never been parted before.
'Poor little thing!' Mrs. Sutton murmured; and Beatrice told her father to give Agnes a shilling to buy chocolates at Stevenson's in St. Luke's Square, that being the best shop. The shilling fell between the footboard and the platform. A scream from Beatrice! The attendant porter promised to rescue the shilling in due course. The engine whistled, the silver-mounted guard asserted his authority, Mynors leaped in, and amid laughter and tears the brief and unique joy of Anna's life began.
In a moment, so it seemed, the train was thundering through the mile of solid rock which ends at Lime Street Station, Liverpool. Thenceforward, till she fell asleep that night, Anna existed in a state of blissful bewilderment, stupefied by an overdose of novel and wondrous73 sensations. They lunched in amazing magnificence at the Bear's Paw, and then walked through the crowded and prodigious74 streets to Prince's landing-stage. The luggage had disappeared by some mysterious agency—Mynors said that they would find it safe at Douglas; but Anna could not banish75 the fear that her tin box had gone for ever.
The great, wavy76 river, churned by thousands of keels; the monstrous77 steamer—the 'Mona's Isle'—whose side rose like solid wall out of the water; the vistas78 of its decks; its vast saloons, story under story, solid and palatial79 (could all this float?); its high bridge; its hawsers80 as thick as trees; its funnels81 like sloping towers; the multitudes of passengers; the whistles, hoots82, cries; the far-stretching panorama83 of wharves84 and docks; the squat85 ferry-craft carrying horses and carts, and no one looking twice at the feat—it was all too much, too astonishing, too lovely. She had not guessed at this.
'They call Liverpool the slum of Europe,' said Mynors.
'How can you!' she exclaimed, shocked.
Beatrice, seeing her radiant and rapt face, walked to and fro with Anna, proud of the effect produced on her friend's inexperience by these sights. One might have thought that Beatrice had built Liverpool and created its trade by her own efforts.
Suddenly the landing-stage and all the people on it moved away bodily from the ship; there was green water between; a tremor86 like that of an earthquake ran along the deck; handkerchiefs were waved. The voyage had commenced. Mynors found chairs for all the Suttons, and tucked them up on the lee-side of a deck-house; but Anna did not stir. They passed New Brighton, Seaforth, and the Crosby and Formby lightships.
'Come and view the ship,' said Mynors, at her side. 'Suppose we go round and inspect things a bit?'
'It's a very big one, isn't it?' she asked.
'Pretty big,' he said; 'of course not as big as the Atlantic liners—I wonder we didn't meet one in the river—but still pretty big. Three hundred and twenty feet over all. I sailed on her last year on her maiden88 voyage. She was packed, and the weather very bad.'
'Will it be rough to-day?' Anna inquired timidly.
'Not if it keeps like this,' he laughed. 'You don't feel queer, do you?'
'Oh, no. It's as firm as a house. No one could be ill with this?'
'Couldn't they?' he exclaimed. 'Beatrice could be.'
They descended90 into the ship, and he explained all its internal economy, with a knowledge that seemed to her encyclopædic. They stayed a long time watching the engines, so Titanic91, ruthless, and deliberate; even the smell of the oil was pleasant to Anna. When they came on deck again the ship was at sea. For the first time Anna beheld92 the ocean. A strong breeze blew from prow93 to stern, yet the sea was absolutely calm, the unruffled mirror of effulgent94 sunlight. The steamer moved alone on the waters, exultantly96, leaving behind it an endless track of white froth in the green, and the shadow of its smoke. The sun, the salt breeze, the living water, the proud gaiety of the ship, produced a feeling of intense, inexplicable97 joy, a profound satisfaction with the present, and a negligence98 of past and future. To exist was enough, then. As Anna and Henry leaned over the starboard quarter and watched the torrent99 of foam100 rush madly and ceaselessly from under the paddle-box to be swallowed up in the white wake, the spectacle of the wild torrent almost hypnotised them, destroying thought and reason, and all sense of their relation to other things. With difficulty Anna raised her eyes, and perceived the dim receding101 line of the Lancashire coast.
'Shall we get quite out of sight of land?' she asked.
'Yes, for a little while, about half an hour or so. Just as much out of sight of land as if we were in the middle of the Atlantic.'
'I can scarcely believe it.'
'Believe what?'
'Oh! The idea of that—of being out of sight of land—nothing but sea.'
When at last it occurred to them to reconnoitre the Suttons, they found all three still in their deck-chairs, enwrapped and languid. Mr. Sutton and Beatrice were apparently102 dozing103. This part of the deck was occupied by somnolent104, basking105 figures.
'Don't wake them,' Mrs. Sutton enjoined106, whispering out of her hood107. Anna glanced curiously108 at Beatrice's yellow face.
'Go away, do,' Beatrice exclaimed, opening her eyes and shutting them again, wearily.
So they went away, and discovered two empty deck-chairs on the fore-deck. Anna was innocently vain of her immunity109 from malaise. Mynors appeared to appoint himself little errands about the deck, returning frequently to his chair. 'Look over there. Can you see anything?'
Anna ran to the rail, with the infantile idea of getting nearer, and Mynors followed, laughing. What looked like a small slate110-coloured cloud lay on the horizon.
'I seem to see something,' she said.
'That is the Isle of Man.'
'How far are we off now?'
'Perhaps twenty miles.'
Twenty miles of uninterrupted flatness, and the ship steadily112 invading that separating solitude, yard by yard, furlong by furlong! The conception awed113 her. There, a morsel114 in the waste of the deep, a speck115 under the infinite sunlight, lay the island, mysterious, enticing116, enchanted, a glinting jewel on, the sea's bosom117, a remote entity118 fraught119 with strange secrets. It was all unspeakable.
'Anna, you have covered yourself with glory,' said Mrs. Sutton, when they were in the diminutive120 and absurd train which by breathless plunges122 annihilates123 the sixteen miles between Douglas and Port Erin in sixty-five minutes.
'Have I?' she answered. 'How?'
'By not being ill.'
'That's always the beginner's luck,' said Beatrice, pale and dishevelled. They all relapsed into the silence of fatigue124. It was growing dusk when the train stopped at the tiny terminus. The station was a hive of bustling125 activity, the arrival of this train being the daily event at that end of the world. Mynors and the Suttons were greeted familiarly by several sailors, and one of these, Tom Kelly, a tall, middle-aged126 man, with grey beard, small grey eyes, a wrinkled skin of red mahogany, and an enormous fist, was introduced to Anna. He raised his cap, and shook hands. She was touched by the sad, kind look on his face, the melancholy127 impress of the sea. Then they drove to their lodging128, and here again the party was welcomed as being old and tried friends. A fire was burning in the parlour. Throwing herself down in front of it, Mrs. Sutton breathed, 'At last! Oh, for some tea.' Through the window, Anna had a glimpse of a deeply indented129 bay at the foot of cliffs below them, with a bold headland to the right. Fishing vessels130 with flat red sails seemed to hang undecided just outside the bay. From cottage chimneys beneath the road blue smoke softly ascended132.
All went early to bed, for the weariness of Mr. and Mrs. Sutton seemed to communicate itself to the three young people, who might otherwise have gone forth87 into the village in search of adventures. Anna and Beatrice shared a room. Each inspected the other's clothes, and Beatrice made Anna try on the new serge skirt. Through the thin wall came the sound of Mr. and Mrs. Sutton talking, a high voice, then a bass134 reply, in continual alternation. Beatrice said that these two always discussed the day's doings in such manner. In a few moments Beatrice was snoring; she had the subdued135 but steady and serious snore characteristic of some muscular men. Anna felt no inclination136 to sleep. She lived again hour by hour through the day, and beneath Beatrice's snore her ear caught the undertone of the sea.
The next morning was as lovely as the last. It was Sunday, and every activity of the village was stilled. Sea and land were equally folded in a sunlit calm. During breakfast—a meal abundant in fresh herrings, fresh eggs and fresh rolls, eaten with the window wide open—Anna was puzzled by the singular amenity137 of her friends to one another and to her. They were as polite as though they had been strangers; they chatted amiably138, were full of goodwill139, and as anxious to give happiness as to enjoy it. She thought at first, so unusual was it to her as a feature of domestic privacy, that this demeanour was affected140, or at any rate a somewhat exaggerated punctilio due to her presence; but she soon came to see that she was mistaken. After breakfast Mr. Sutton suggested that they should attend the Wesleyan Chapel on the hill leading to the Chasms141. Here they met the sailors of the night before, arrayed now in marvellous blue Melton coats with velveteen collars. Tom Kelly walked back with them to the beach, and showed them the yacht 'Fay' which Mynors had arranged to hire for mackerel-fishing; it lay on the sands speckless142 in new white paint. All the afternoon they dozed143 on the cliffs, doing nothing whatever, for this Sunday was tacitly regarded, not as part of the holiday, but as a preparation for the holiday; all felt that the holiday, with its proper exertions144 and appointed delights, would really begin on Monday morning.
'Let us go for a walk,' said Mynors, after tea, to Beatrice and Anna. They stood at the gate of the lodging-house. The old people were resting within.
'You two go,' Beatrice replied, looking at Anna. 'You know I hate walking, Henry. I'll stop with mother and dad.'
Throughout the day Anna had been conscious of the fact that all the Suttons showed a tendency, slight but perceptible, to treat Henry and herself as a pair desirous of opportunities for being alone together. She did not like it. She flushed under the passing glance with which Beatrice accompanied the words: 'You two go.' Nevertheless, when Mynors placidly145 remarked: 'Very well,' and his eyes sought hers for a consent, she could not refuse it. One part of her nature would have preferred to find an excuse for staying at home; but another, and a stronger, part insisted on seizing this offered joy.
They walked straight up out of the village toward the high coast-range which stretches peak after peak from Port Erin to Peel. The stony146 and devious147 lanes wound about the bleak148 hillside, passing here and there small, solitary149 cottages of whitewashed150 stone, with children, fowls152, and dogs at the doors, all embowered in huge fuchsia trees. Presently they had surmounted153 the limit of habitation and were on the naked flank of Bradda, following a narrow track which crept upwards154 amid short mossy turf of the most vivid green. Nothing seemed to flourish on this exposed height except bracken, sheep, and boulders155 that, from a distance, resembled sheep; there was no tree, scarcely a shrub156; the immense contours, stark157, grim, and unrelieved, rose in melancholy and defiant158 majesty159 against the sky: the hand of man could coax160 no harvest from these smooth but obdurate161 slopes; they had never relented, and they would never relent. The spirit was braced162 by the thought that here, to the furthest eternity163 of civilisation164 more and more intricate, simple and strong souls would always find solace165 and repose166.
Mynors bore to the left for a while, striking across the moor167 in the direction of the sea. Then he said:
'Look down, now.'
The little bay lay like an oblong swimming-bath five hundred feet below them. The surface of the water was like glass; the strand168, with its phalanx of boats drawn169 up in Sabbath tidiness, glittered like marble in the living light, and over this marble black dots moved slowly to and fro; behind the boats were the houses—dolls' houses—each with a curling wisp of smoke; further away the railway and the high road ran out in a black and white line to Port St. Mary; the sea, a pale grey, encompassed170 all; the southern sky had a faint sapphire171 tinge172, rising to delicate azure173. The sight of this haven at rest, shut in by the restful sea and by great moveless hills, a calm within a calm, aroused profound emotion.
'It's lovely,' said Anna, as they stood gazing. Tears came to her eyes and hung there. She wondered that scenery should cause tears, felt ashamed, and turned her face so that Mynors should not see. But he had seen.
'Shall we go on to the top?' he suggested, and they set their faces northwards to climb still higher. At length they stood on the rocky summit of Bradda, seven hundred feet from the sea. The Hill of the Night Watch lifted above them to the north, but on east, south, and west, the prospect174 was bounded only by the ocean. The coast-line was revealed for thirty miles, from Peel to Castletown. Far to the east was Castletown Bay, large, shallow and inhospitable, its floor strewn with a thousand unseen wrecks175; the lighthouse at Scarlet176 Point flashed dimly in the dusk; thence the beach curved nearer in an immense arc, without a sign of life, to the little cove25 of Port St. Mary, and jutted177 out again into a tongue of land at the end of which lay the Calf178 of Man with its single white cottage and cart-track. The dangerous Calf Sound, where the vexed179 tide is forced to run nine hours one way and three the other, seemed like a grey ribbon, and the Chicken Rock like a tiny pencil on a vast slate. Port Erin was hidden under their feet. They looked westward180. The darkening sky was a labyrinth181 of purple and crimson182 scarves drawn pellucid183, as though by the finger of God, across a sheet of pure saffron. These decadent184 tints185 of the sunset faded in every direction to the same soft azure which filled the south, and one star twinkled in the illimitable field. Thirty miles off, on the horizon, could be discerned the Mourne Mountains of Ireland.
The huge disc of the moon was rising in the east, and as this mild lamp passed up the sky, the sense of universal quiescence187 increased. Lovely, Anna had said. It was the loveliest sight her eyes had ever beheld, a panorama of pure beauty transcending188 all imagined visions. It overwhelmed her, thrilled her to the heart, this revelation of the loveliness of the world. Her thoughts went back to Hanbridge and Bursley and her life there; and all the remembered scenes, bathed in the glow of a new ideal, seemed to lose their pain. It was as if she had never been really unhappy, as if there was no real unhappiness on the whole earth. She perceived that the monotony, the austerity, the melancholy of her existence had been sweet and beautiful of its kind, and she recalled, with a sort of rapture, hours of companionship with the beloved Agnes, when her father was equable and pacific. Nothing was ugly nor mean. Beauty was everywhere, in everything.
In silence they began to descend89, perforce walking quickly because of the steep gradient. At the first cottage they saw a little girl in a mob-cap playing with two kittens.
'How like Agnes!' Mynors said.
'Yes. I was just thinking so,' Anna answered.
'I thought of her up on the hill,' he continued. 'She will miss you, won't she?'
'I know she cried herself to sleep last night. You mightn't guess it, but she is extremely sensitive.'
'Not guess it? Why not? I am sure she is. Do you know—I am very fond of your sister. She's a simply delightful189 child. And there's a lot in her, too. She's so quick and bright, and somehow like a little woman.'
'She's exactly like a woman sometimes,' Anna agreed. 'Sometimes I fancy she's a great deal older than I am.'
'Older than any of us,' he corrected.
'I'm glad you like her,' Anna said, content. 'She thinks all the world of you.' And she added: 'My word, wouldn't she be vexed if she knew I had told you that!'
This appreciation190 of Agnes brought them into closer intimacy191, and they talked the more easily of other things.
'It will freeze to-night,' Mynors said; and then, suddenly looking at her in the twilight192: 'You are feeling chill.'
'Oh, no!' she protested.
'But you are. Put this muffler round your neck.' He took a muffler from his pocket.
'Oh, no, really! You will need it yourself.' She drew a little away from him, as if to avoid the muffler.
'Please take it.'
She did so, and thanked him, tying it loosely and untidily round her throat. That feeling of the untidiness of the muffler, of its being something strange to her skin, something with the rough virtue193 of masculinity, which no one could detect in the gloom, was in itself pleasant.
She thought with joyous195 anticipation196 of the warm, bright, sitting-room197, the supper, and the vivacious198 good-natured conversation. Though the walk was nearly at an end, other delights were in store. Of the holiday, thirteen complete days yet remained, each to be as happy as the one now closing. It was an age! At last they entered the human cosiness199 of the village. As they walked up the steps of their lodging and he opened the door for her, she quickly drew off the muffler and returned it to him with a word of thanks.
On Monday morning, when Beatrice and Anna came downstairs, they found the breakfast odorously cooling on the table, and nobody in the room.
'Where are they all, I wonder. Any letters?' Beatrice said.
'There's your mother, out on the front—and Mr. Mynors too.'
Beatrice threw up the window, and called: 'Come along, Henry; come along, mother. Everything's going cold.'
'Is it?' Mynors cheerfully replied. 'Come out here, both of you, and begin the day properly with a dose of ozone200.'
'I loathe201 cold bacon,' said Beatrice, glancing at the table, and they went out into the road, where Mrs. Sutton kissed them with as much fervour as if they had arrived from a long journey.
'You look pale, Anna,' she remarked.
'Do I?' said Anna, 'I don't feel pale.'
'It's that long walk last night,' Beatrice put in. 'Henry always goes too far.'
'I don't——' Anna began; but at that moment Mr. Sutton, lumbering202 and ponderous203, joined the party.
'Henry,' he said, without greeting anyone, 'hast noticed those half-finished houses down the road yonder by the "Falcon204"? I've been having a chat with Kelly, and he tells me the fellow that was building them has gone bankrupt, and they're at a stand-still. The Receiver wants to sell 'em. In fact Kelly says they're going cheap. I believe they'd be a good spec.'
'Eh, dear!' Mrs. Sutton interrupted him. 'Father, I wish you would leave your specs alone when you're on your holiday.'
'Now, missis!' he affectionately protested, and continued: 'They're fairly well built, seemingly, and the rafters are on the roof. Anna,' he turned to her quickly, as if counting on her sympathy, 'you must come with me and look at 'em after breakfast. Happen they might suit your father—or you. I know your father's fond of a good spec.'
She assented205 with a ready smile. This was the beginning of a fancy which the Alderman always afterwards showed for Anna.
After breakfast Mrs. Sutton, Beatrice, and Anna arranged to go shopping:
'Father—brass,' Mrs. Sutton ejaculated in two monosyllables to her husband.
'How much will content ye?' he asked mildly.
'Give me five or ten pounds to go on with.'
He opened the left-hand front pocket of his trousers—a pocket which fastened with a button; and leaning back in his chair drew out a fat purse, and passed it to his wife with a preoccupied air. She helped herself, and then Beatrice intercepted206 the purse and lightened it of half a sovereign.
'Pocket-money,' Beatrice said; 'I'm ruined.'
The Alderman's eyes requested Anna to observe how he was robbed. At last the purse was safely buttoned up again.
Mrs. Sutton's purchases of food at the three principal shops of the village seemed startlingly profuse207 to Anna, but gradually she became accustomed to the scale, and to the amazing habit of always buying the very best of everything, from beefsteak to grapes. Anna calculated that the housekeeping could not cost less than six pounds a week for the five. At Manor Terrace three people existed on a pound. With her half-sovereign Beatrice bought a belt and a pair of sand-shoes, and some cigarettes for Henry. Mrs. Sutton bought a pipe with a nickel cap, such as is used by sailors. When they returned to the house, Mr. Sutton and Henry were smoking on the front. All five walked in a row down to the harbour, the Alderman giving an arm each to Beatrice and Anna. Near the 'Falcon' the procession had to be stopped in order to view the unfinished houses. Tom Kelly had a cabin partly excavated208 out of the rock behind the little quay209. Here they found him entangled210 amid nets, sails, and oars211. All crowded into the cabin and shook hands with its owner, who remarked with severity on their pallid212 faces, and insisted that a change of complexion213 must be brought about. Mynors offered him his tobacco-pouch, but on seeing the light colour of the tobacco he shook his head and refused it, at the same time taking from within his jersey214 a lump of something that resembled leather.
'Give him this, Henry,' Mrs. Sutton whispered, handing Mynors the pipe which she had bought.
'Mrs. Sutton wishes you to accept this,' said Mynors.
'Eh, thank ye,' he exclaimed. 'There's a leddy that knows my taste.' He cut some shreds215 from his plug with a clasp-knife and charged and lighted the pipe, filling the cabin with asphyxiating216 fumes217.
He laughed condescendingly at Beatrice's petulant219 manner. 'That stuff of Henry's is boy's tobacco,' he said shortly.
It was decided131 that they should go fishing in the 'Fay.' There was a light southerly breeze, a cloudy sky, and smooth water. Under charge of young Tom Kelly, a sheepish lad of sixteen, with his father's smile, they all got into an inconceivably small dinghy, loading it down till it was almost awash. Old Tom himself helped Anna to embark220, told her where to tread, and forced her gently into a seat at the stern. No one else seemed to be disturbed, but Anna was in a state of desperate fear. She had never committed herself to a boat before, and the little waves spat221 up against the sides in a most alarming way as young Tom jerked the dinghy along with the short sculls. She went white, and clung in silence fiercely to the gunwale. In a few moments they were tied up to the 'Fay,' which seemed very big and safe in comparison with the dinghy. They clambered on board, and in the deep well of the two-ton yacht Anna contrived222 to collect her wits. She was reassured223 by the painted legend in the well, 'Licensed224 to carry eleven.' Young Tom and Henry busied themselves with ropes, and suddenly a huge white sail began to ascend133 the mast; it flapped like thunder in the gentle breeze. Tom pulled up the anchor, curling the chain round and round on the forward deck, and then Anna noticed that, although the wind was scarcely perceptible, they were gliding225 quickly past the embankment. Henry was at the tiller. The next minute Tom had set the jib, and by this time the 'Fay' was approaching the breakwater at a great pace. There was no rolling or pitching, but simply a smooth, swift progression over the calm surface. Anna thought it the ideal of locomotion226. As soon as they were beyond the breakwater and the sails caught the breeze from the Sound, the 'Fay' lay over as if shot, and a little column of green water flung itself on the lee coaming of the well. Anna screamed as she saw the water and felt the angle of the floor suddenly change, but when everyone laughed, she laughed too. Henry, noticing the whiteness of her knuckles227 as she gripped the coaming, explained the disconcerting phenomena228. Anna tried to be at ease, but she was not. She could not for a long time dismiss the suspicion that all these people were foolishly blind to a peril63 which she alone had the sagacity to perceive.
They cruised about while Tom prepared the lines. The short waves chopped cheerfully against the carvel sides of the yacht; the clouds were breaking at a hundred points; the sea grew lighter229 in tone; gaiety was in the air; no one could possibly be indisposed in that innocuous weather. At length the lines were ready, but Tom said the yacht was making at least a knot too much for serious fishing, so Henry took a reef in the mainsail, showing Anna how to tie the short strings230. The Alderman, lying on the fore-deck, was placidly smoking. The lines were thrown out astern, and Mrs. Sutton and Beatrice each took one. But they had no success; young Tom said it was because the sun had appeared.
'Suppose Anna and I have a try?'
It was agreed.
'What must I do?' asked Anna, brave now.
'You just hold the line—so. And if you feel a little jerk-jerk, that's a mackerel.' These were the instructions of Beatrice. Anna was becoming excited. She had not held the line ten seconds before she cried out:
'I've got one.'
'Nonsense,' said Beatrice. 'Everyone thinks at first that the motion of the waves against the line is a fish.'
'Well,' said Henry, giving the tiller to young Tom. 'Let's haul in and see, anyway.' Before doing so he held the line for a moment, testing it, and winked233 at Anna. While Anna and Henry were hauling in, the Alderman, dropping his pipe, began also to haul in his own line with great fury.
'Got one, father?' Mrs. Sutton asked.
'Ay!'
Both lines came in together, and on each was a pounder. Anna saw her fish gleam and flash like silver in the clear water as it neared the surface. Henry held the line short, letting the mackerel plunge121 and jerk, and then seized and unhooked the catch.
'How cruel!' Anna cried, startled at the nearness of the two fish as they sprang about in an old sugar box at her feet. Young Tom laughed loud at her exclamation234. 'They cairn't feel, miss,' he sniggered. Anna wondered that a mouth so soft and kind could utter such heartless words.
In an hour the united efforts of the party had caught nine mackerel; it was not a multitude, but the sun, in perfecting the weather, had spoilt the sport. Anna had ceased to commiserate235 the captured fish. She was obliged, however, to avert236 her head when Tom cut some skin from the side of one of the mackerel to provide fresh bait; this device seemed to her the extremest refinement237 of cruelty. Beatrice grew ominously238 silent and inert239, and Mrs. Sutton glanced first at her daughter and then at her husband; the latter nodded.
'We'd happen better be getting back, Henry,' said the Alderman.
The 'Fay' swept home like a bird. They were at the quay, and Kelly was dragging them one by one from the black dinghy on to what the Alderman called terra-firma. Henry had the fish on a string.
'How many did ye catch, Miss Tellwright?' Kelly asked benevolently240.
'I caught four,' Anna replied. Never before had she felt so proud, elated, and boisterous241. Never had the blood so wildly danced in her veins242. She looked at her short blue skirt which showed three inches of ankle, put forward her brown-shod foot like a vain coquette, and darted243 a covert244 look at Henry. When he caught it she laughed instead of blushing.
'Ye're doing well,' Tom Kelly approved. 'Ye'll make a famous mackerel-fisher.'
Five of the mackerel were given to young Tom, the other four preceded a fowl151 in the menu of dinner. They were called Anna's mackerel, and all the diners agreed that better mackerel had never been lured245 out of the Irish Sea.
In the afternoon the Alderman and his wife slept as usual, Mr. Sutton with a bandanna246 handkerchief over his face. The rest went out immediately; the invitation of the sun and the sea was far too persuasive248 to be resisted.
'I'm going to paint,' said Beatrice, with a resolute249 mien250. 'I want to paint Bradda Head frightfully. I tried last year, but I got it too dark, somehow. I've improved since then. What are you going to do?'
'We'll come and watch you,' said Henry.
'Oh, no, you won't. At least you won't; you're such a critic. Anna can if she likes.'
'What! And me be left all afternoon by myself?'
'Well, suppose you go with him, Anna, just to keep him from being bored?'
Anna hesitated. Once more she had the uncomfortable suspicion that Mynors and herself were being manoeuvred.
'Look here,' said Mynors to Beatrice. 'Have you decided absolutely to paint?'
'Absolutely.' The finality of the answer seemed to have a touch of resentment251.
'Then'—he turned to Anna—'let's go and get that dinghy and row about the bay. Eh?'
She could offer no rational objection, and they were soon putting off from the jetty, impelled seaward by a mighty252 push from Kelly's arm. It was very hot. Mynors wore white flannels253. He removed his coat, and turned up his sleeves, showing thick, hairy arms. He sculled in a manner almost dramatic, and the dinghy shot about like a water-spider on a brook254. Anna had nothing to do except to sit still and enjoy. Everything was drowned in dazzling sunlight, and both Henry and Anna could feel the process of tanning on their faces. The bay shimmered255 with a million diamond points; it was impossible to keep the eyes open without frowning, and soon Anna could see the beads256 of sweat on Henry's crimson brow.
'Warm?' she said. This was the first word of conversation. He merely smiled in reply. Presently they were at the other side of the bay, in a cave whose sandy and rock-strewn floor trembled clear under a fathom257 of blue water. They landed on a jutting258 rock; Henry pushed his straw hat back, and wiped his forehead. 'Glorious! glorious!' he exclaimed. 'Do you swim? No? You should get Beatrice to teach you. I swam out here this morning at seven o'clock. It was chilly259 enough then. Oh! I forgot, I told you at breakfast.'
She could see him in the translucent260 water, swimming with long, powerful strokes. Dozens of boats were moving lazily in the bay, each with a cargo261 of parasols.
'There's a good deal of the sunshade afloat,' he remarked. 'Why haven't you got one? You'll get as brown as Tom Kelly.'
'That's what I want,' she said.
'Look at yourself in the water there,' he said, pointing to a little pool left on the top of the rock by the tide. She did so, and saw two fiery262 cheeks, and a forehead divided by a horizontal line into halves of white and crimson; the tip of the nose was blistered263.
'Isn't it disgraceful?' he suggested.
'Why,' she exclaimed, 'they'll never know me when I get home!'
It was in such wise that they talked, endlessly exchanging trifles of comment. Anna thought to herself: 'Is this love-making?' It could not be, she decided; but she infinitely264 preferred it so. She was content. She wished for nothing better than this apparently frivolous265 and irresponsible dalliance. She felt that if Mynors were to be tender, sentimental266, and serious, she would become wretchedly self-conscious.
They re-embarked, and, skirting the shore, gradually came round to the beach. Up above them, on the cliffs, they could discern the industrious267 figure of Beatrice, with easel and sketching-umbrella, and all the panoply269 of the earnest amateur.
'Not I!' he said scornfully.
'Don't you believe in that sort of thing, then?'
'It's all right for professional artists,' he said; 'people who can paint. But—— Well, I suppose it's harmless for the amateurs—finds them something to do.'
'I wish I could paint, anyway,' she retorted.
'I'm glad you can't,' he insisted.
When they got back to the cliffs, towards tea-time, Beatrice was still painting, but in a new spot. She seemed entirely270 absorbed in her work, and did not hear their approach.
'Let's creep up and surprise her,' Mynors whispered. 'You go first, and put your hands over her eyes.'
'Oh!' exclaimed Beatrice, blindfolded271; 'how horrid you are, Henry! I know who it is—I know who it is.'
'You just don't, then,' said Henry, now in front of her. Anna removed her hands.
'Well, you told her to do it, I'm sure of that. And I was getting on so splendidly! I shan't do another stroke now.'
'That's right,' said Henry. 'You've wasted quite enough time as it is.'
Beatrice pouted272. She was evidently annoyed with both of them. She looked from one to the other, jealous of their mutual273 understanding and agreement. Mr. and Mrs. Sutton issued from the house, and the five stood chatting till tea was ready; but the shadow remained on Beatrice's face. Mynors made several attempts to laugh it away, and at dusk these two went for a stroll to Port St. Mary. They returned in a state of deep intimacy. During supper Beatrice was consciously and elaborately angelic, and there was that in her voice and eyes, when sometimes she addressed Mynors, which almost persuaded Anna that he might once have loved his cousin. At night, in the bedroom, Anna imagined that she could detect in Beatrice's attitude the least shade of condescension274. She felt hurt, and despised herself for feeling hurt.
So the days passed, without much variety, for the Suttons were not addicted275 to excursions. Anna was profoundly happy; she had forgotten care. She agreed to every suggestion for amusement; each moment had its pleasure, and this pleasure was quite independent of the thing done; it sprang from all activities and idlenesses. She was at special pains to fraternise with Mr. Sutton. He made an interesting companion, full of facts about strata276, outcrops, and breaks, his sole weakness being the habit of quoting extremely sentimental scraps277 of verse when walking by the sea-shore. He frankly278 enjoyed Anna's attention to him, and took pride in her society. Mrs. Sutton, that simple heart, devoted279 herself to the attainment280 of absolute quiescence. She had come for a rest, and she achieved her purpose. Her kindliness281 became for the time passive instead of active. Beatrice was a changing quantity in the domestic equation. Plainly her parents had spoiled their only child, and she had frequent fits of petulance282, particularly with Mynors; but her energy and spirits atoned283 well for these. As for Mynors, he behaved exactly as on the first Monday. He spent many hours alone with Anna—(Beatrice appeared to insist on leaving them together, even while showing a faint resentment at the loneliness thus entailed284 on herself)—and his attitude was such as Anna, ignorant of the ways of brothers, deemed a brother might adopt.
On the second Monday an incident occurred. In the afternoon Mr. Sutton had asked Beatrice to go with him to Port St. Mary, and she had refused on the plea that the light was of a suitable grey for painting. Mr. Sutton had slipped off alone, unseen by Anna and Henry, who had meant to accompany him in place of Beatrice. Before tea, while Anna, Beatrice and Henry were awaiting the meal in the parlour, Mynors referred to the matter.
'I hope you've done some decent work this afternoon,' he said to Beatrice.
'I haven't,' she replied shortly; 'I haven't done a stroke.'
'But you said you were going to paint hard!'
'Well, I didn't.'
'Then why couldn't you have gone to Port St. Mary, instead of breaking your fond father's heart by a refusal?'
'He didn't want me, really.'
Anna interjected: 'I think he did, Bee.'
'You know you're very self-willed, not to say selfish,' Mynors said.
'No, I'm not,' Beatrice protested seriously. 'Am I, Anna?'
'Well——' Anna tried to think of a diplomatic pronouncement. Beatrice took offence at the hesitation.
'Oh! You two are bound to agree, of course. You're as thick as thieves.'
She gazed steadily out of the window, and there was a silence. Mynors' lip curled.
'Oh! There's the loveliest yacht just coming into the bay,' Beatrice cried suddenly, in a tone of affected enthusiasm. 'I'm going out to sketch it.' She snatched up her hat and sketching-block, and ran hastily from the room. The other two saw her sitting on the grass, sharpening a pencil. The yacht, a large and luxurious285 craft, had evidently come to anchor for the night.
Mrs. Sutton arrived from her bedroom, and then Mr. Sutton also came in. Tea was served. Mynors called to Beatrice through the window and received no reply. Then Mrs. Sutton summoned her.
'Go on with your tea,' Beatrice shouted, without turning her head. 'Don't wait for me. I'm bound to finish this now.'
'Fetch her, Anna dear,' said Mrs. Sutton after another interval231. Anna rose to obey, half-fearful.
'Aren't you coming in, Bee?' She stood by the sketcher's side, and observed nothing but a few meaningless lines on the block.
'Didn't you hear what I said to mother?'
Tea was finished. They went out, but kept at a discreet288 distance from the artist, who continued to use her pencil until dusk had fallen. Then they returned to the sitting-room, where a fire had been lighted, and Beatrice at length followed. As the others sat in a circle round the fire, Beatrice, who occupied the sofa in solitude, gave a shiver.
'Beatrice, you've taken cold,' said her mother, sitting out there like that.'
'Oh, nonsense, mother—what a fidget you are!'
'A fidget I certainly am not, my darling, and that you know very well. As you've had no tea, you shall have some gruel289 at once, and go to bed and get warm.'
'Oh no, mother!' But Mrs. Sutton was resolved, and in half an hour she had taken Beatrice to bed and tucked her up.
When Anna went to the bedroom Beatrice was awake.
'No,' said Beatrice, in a feeble voice, 'I'm restless, somehow.'
'I wonder if it's influenza291,' said Mrs. Sutton, on the following morning, when she learnt from Anna that Beatrice had had a bad night, and would take breakfast in bed. She carried the invalid's food upstairs herself. 'I hope it isn't influenza,' she said later. 'The girl is very hot.'
'You haven't a clinical thermometer?' Mynors suggested.
'Go, see if you can buy one at the little chemist's,' she replied eagerly. In a few minutes he came back with the instrument.
'She's at over a hundred,' Mrs. Sutton reported, having used the thermometer. 'What do you say, father? Shall we send for a doctor? I'm not so set up with doctors as a general rule,' she added, as if in defence, to Anna. 'I brought Beatrice through measles292 and scarlet fever without a doctor—we never used to think of having a doctor in those days for ordinary ailments293; but influenza—that's different. Eh, I dread294 it; you never know how it will end. And poor Beatrice had such a bad attack last Martinmas.'
'If you like, I'll run for a doctor now,' said Mynors.
'Let be till to-morrow,' the Alderman decided. 'We'll see how she goes on. Happen it's nothing but a cold.'
'Yes,' assented Mrs. Sutton; 'it's no use crying out before you're hurt.'
Anna was struck by the placidity295 with which they covered their apprehension296. Towards noon, Beatrice, who said that she felt better, insisted on rising. A fire was lighted at once in the parlour, and she sat in front of it till tea-time, when she was obliged to go to bed again. On the Wednesday morning, after a night which had been almost sleepless297 for both girls, her temperature stood at 103°, and Henry fetched the doctor, who pronounced it a case of influenza, severe, demanding very careful treatment. Instantly the normal movement of the household was changed. The sickroom became a mysterious centre round which everything revolved298, and the parlour, without the alteration299 of a single chair, took on a deserted300, forlorn appearance. Meals were eaten like the passover, with loins girded for any sudden summons. Mrs. Sutton and Anna, as nurses, grew important in the eyes of the men, who instinctively301 effaced302 themselves, existing only like messenger-boys whose business it is to await a call. Yet there was no alarm, flurry, nor excitement. In the evening the doctor returned. The patient's temperature had not fallen. It was part of the treatment that a medicine should be administered every two hours with absolute regularity303, and Mrs. Sutton said that she should sit up through the night.
'I shall do that,' said Anna.
'Nay, I won't hear of it,' Mrs. Sutton replied, smiling.
But the three men (the doctor had remained to chat in the parlour), recognising Anna's capacity and reliability304, and perhaps impressed also by her business-like appearance as, arrayed in a white apron, she stood with firm lips before them, gave a unanimous decision against Mrs. Sutton.
'We'st have you ill next, lass,' said the Alderman to his wife; 'and that'll never do.'
'Well,' Mrs. Sutton surrendered, 'if I can leave her to anyone, it's Anna.'
Mynors smiled appreciatively.
On the Thursday morning there was still no sign of recovery. The temperature was 104°, and the patient slightly delirious305. Anna left the sickroom at eight o'clock to preside at breakfast, and Mrs. Sutton took her place.
'You look tired, my dear,' said the Alderman affectionately.
'I feel perfectly well,' she replied with cheerfulness.
'Afraid?' she said; 'there's no fear of me catching it.'
'How do you know?'
'I know, that's all. I'm never ill.'
'That's the right way to keep well,' the Alderman remarked.
The quiet admiration307 of these two men was very pleasant to her. She felt that she had established herself for ever in their esteem308. After breakfast, in obedience309 to them, she slept for several hours on Mrs. Sutton's bed. In the afternoon Beatrice was worse. The doctor called, and found her temperature at 105°.
'Well, Doctor,' Mr. Sutton said, 'it's i' your hands.'
'Nay,' Mrs. Sutton murmured with a smile, 'I've left it with God. It's with Him.'
This was the first and only word of religion, except grace at table, that Anna heard from the Suttons during her stay in the Isle of Man. She had feared lest vocal311 piety312 might form a prominent feature of their daily life, but her fear had proved groundless. She, too, from reason rather than instinct, had tried to pray for Beatrice's recovery. She had, however, found much more satisfaction in the activity of nursing.
Again that night she sat up, and on the Friday morning Beatrice was better. At noon all immediate247 danger was past; the patient slept; her temperature was almost correct. Anna went to bed in the afternoon and slept soundly till supper-time, when she awoke very hungry. For the first time in three days Beatrice could be left alone. The other four had supper together, cheerful and relieved after the tension.
'She'll be as right as a trivet in a few days,' said the Alderman.
'A few weeks,' said Mrs. Sutton.
'Of course,' said Mynors, 'you'll stay on here, now?'
'We shall stay until Beatrice is quite fit to travel,' Mr. Sutton answered. 'I might have to run over to th' Five Towns for a day or two middle of next week, but I can come back immediately.'
'Well, I must go tomorrow,' Mynors sighed.
'Surely you can stay over Sunday, Henry?'
'No; I've no one to take my place at school.'
'And I must go to-morrow, too,' said Anna suddenly.
'Fiddle-de-dee, Anna!' the Alderman protested.
'I must,' she insisted. 'Father will expect me. You know I came for a fortnight. Besides, there's Agnes.'
'Agnes will be all right.'
'Won't a short walk do you good?' Mynors suggested to her, with singular gravity, after supper. 'You've not been outside for two days.'
She looked inquiringly at Mrs. Sutton.
'Yes, take her, Henry; she'll sleep better for it. Eh, Anna, but it's a shame to send you home with those rings round your eyes.'
She went upstairs for a jacket. Beatrice was awake. 'Anna,' she exclaimed in a weak voice, without any preface, 'I was awfully314 silly and cross the other afternoon, before all this business. Just now, when you came into the room, I was feeling quite ashamed.'
'Oh! Bee!' she answered, bending over her, 'what nonsense! Now go off to sleep at once.' She was very happy. Beatrice, victim of a temperament315 which had the childishness and the impulsiveness316 of the artist without his higher and sterner traits, sank back in facile content.
The night was still and very dark. When Anna and Mynors got outside they could distinguish neither the sky nor the sea; but the faint, restless murmur72 of the sea came up the cliffs. Only the lights of the houses disclosed the direction of the road.
'Suppose we go down to the jetty, and then along as far as the breakwater?' he said, and she concurred317. 'Won't you take my muffler—again?' he added, pulling this ever-present article from his pocket.
'No, thanks,' she said, almost coldly, 'it's really quite warm.' She regarded the offer of the muffler as an indiscretion—his sole indiscretion during their acquaintance. As they walked down the hill to the shore she though how Beatrice's illness had sharply interrupted their relations. If she had come to the Isle of Man with a vague idea that he would possibly propose to her, the expectation was disappointed; but she felt no disappointment. She felt that events had lifted her to a higher plane than that of love-making. She was filled with the proud satisfaction of a duty accomplished318. She did not seek to minimise to herself the fact that she had been of real value to her friends in the last few days, had probably saved Mrs. Sutton from illness, had certainly laid them all under an obligation. Their gratitude319, unexpressed, but patent on each face, gave her infinite pleasure. She had won their respect by the manner in which she had risen to the height of an emergency that demanded more than devotion. She had proved, not merely to them but to herself, that she could be calm under stress, and could exert moral force when occasion needed. Such were the joyous and exultant95 reflections which passed through her brain—unnaturally active in the factitious wakefulness caused by excessive fatigue. She was in an extremely nervous and excitable condition—and never guessed it, fancying indeed that her emotions were exceptionally tranquil10 that night. She had not begun to realise the crisis through which she had just lived.
The uneven320 road to the ruined breakwater was quite deserted. Having reached the limit of the path, they stood side by side, solitary, silent, gazing at the black and gently heaving surface of the sea. The eye was foiled by the intense gloom; the ear could make nothing of the strange night-noises of the bay and the ocean beyond; but the imagination was stimulated321 by the appeal of all this mystery and darkness. Never had the water seemed so wonderful, terrible, and austere322.
'We are going away to-morrow,' he said at length.
Anna started and shook with apprehension at the tremor in his voice. She had read that a woman was always well warned by her instincts when a man meant to propose to her. But here was the proposal imminent323, and she had not suspected. In a flash of insight she perceived that the very event which had separated them for three days had also impelled the lover forward in his course. It was the thought of her vigils, her fortitude324, her compassion, that had fanned the flame. She was not surprised, only made uncomfortable, when he took her hand.
'Anna,' he said, 'it's no use making a long story of it. I'm tremendously in love with you; you know I am.'
He stepped back, still holding her hand. She could say nothing.
'Well?' he ventured. 'Didn't you know?'
'I thought—I thought,' she murmured stupidly, 'I thought you liked me.'
'I can't tell you how I admire you. I'm not going to praise you to your face, but I simply never met anyone like you. From the very first moment I saw you, it was the same. It's something in your face, Anna—— Anna, will you be my wife?'
The actual question was put in a precise, polite, somewhat conventional tone. To Anna he was never more himself than at that moment.
She could not speak; she could not analyse her feelings; she could not even think. She was adrift. At last she stammered325: 'We've only known each other——'
'Oh, dear,' he exclaimed masterfully, 'what does that matter? If it had been a dozen years instead of one, that would have made no difference.' She drew her hand timidly away, but he took it again. She felt that he dominated her and would decide for her. 'Say yes.'
'Yes,' she said.
She saw pictures of her career as his wife, and resolved that one of the first acts of her freedom should be to release Agnes from the more ignominious326 of her father's tyrannies.
They walked home almost in silence. She was engaged, then. Yet she experienced no new sensation. She felt as she had felt on the way down, except that she was sorely perturbed327. There was no ineffable328 rapture, no ecstatic bliss7. Suddenly the prospect of happiness swept over her like a flood.
At the gate she wished to make a request to him, but hesitated, because she could not bring herself to use his Christian329 name. It was proper for her to use his Christian name, however, and she would do so, or perish.
'Henry,' she said, 'don't tell anyone here.' He merely kissed her once more. She went straight upstairs.
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1
sublime
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| adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的 | |
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follies
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| 罪恶，时事讽刺剧； 愚蠢，蠢笨，愚蠢的行为、思想或做法( folly的名词复数 ) | |
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discretion
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| n.谨慎；随意处理 | |
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conceit
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| n.自负，自高自大 | |
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wrecked
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| adj.失事的，遇难的 | |
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ecstasy
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| n.狂喜，心醉神怡，入迷 | |
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7
bliss
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| n.狂喜，福佑，天赐的福 | |
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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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exacting
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| adj.苛求的，要求严格的 | |
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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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ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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temperate
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| adj.温和的，温带的，自我克制的，不过分的 | |
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circumspectly
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| adv.慎重地，留心地 | |
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manor
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| n.庄园，领地 | |
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miser
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| n.守财奴，吝啬鬼 (adj.miserly) | |
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chapel
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| n.小教堂，殡仪馆 | |
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precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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revival
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| n.复兴，复苏，（精力、活力等的）重振 | |
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fervent
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| adj.热的，热烈的，热情的 | |
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isle
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| n.小岛，岛 | |
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enchanted
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| adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
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23
rapture
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| n.狂喜；全神贯注；着迷；v.使狂喜 | |
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24
apron
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| n.围裙；工作裙 | |
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25
cove
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| n.小海湾，小峡谷 | |
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26
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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27
fiddling
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| 微小的 | |
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28
proximity
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| n.接近，邻近 | |
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29
hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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30
secondly
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| adv.第二，其次 | |
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31
pier
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| n.码头；桥墩，桥柱；[建]窗间壁，支柱 | |
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32
discrepancy
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| n.不同；不符；差异；矛盾 | |
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33
idyllic
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| adj.质朴宜人的，田园风光的 | |
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34
meditations
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| 默想( meditation的名词复数 )； 默念； 沉思； 冥想 | |
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35
accosted
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| v.走过去跟…讲话( accost的过去式和过去分词 )；跟…搭讪；（乞丐等）上前向…乞讨；（妓女等）勾搭 | |
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36
savagely
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| adv. 野蛮地，残酷地 | |
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37
savagery
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| n.野性 | |
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38
sullenness
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| n. 愠怒, 沉闷, 情绪消沉 | |
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39
fads
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| n.一时的流行，一时的风尚( fad的名词复数 ) | |
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40
sneering
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| 嘲笑的，轻蔑的 | |
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41
unwillingly
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| adv.不情愿地 | |
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42
peremptory
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| adj.紧急的，专横的，断然的 | |
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43
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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44
deduction
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| n.减除，扣除，减除额；推论，推理，演绎 | |
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45
dividend
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| n.红利，股息；回报，效益 | |
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46
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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47
aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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48
remittance
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| n.汇款，寄款，汇兑 | |
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49
benign
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| adj.善良的，慈祥的；良性的，无危险的 | |
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50
nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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51
impelled
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| v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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52
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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53
elastic
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| n.橡皮圈，松紧带；adj.有弹性的；灵活的 | |
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54
haven
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| n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所 | |
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55
mare
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| n.母马，母驴 | |
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56
rumbling
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| n. 隆隆声, 辘辘声 adj. 隆隆响的 动词rumble的现在分词 | |
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57
jolting
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| adj.令人震惊的 | |
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58
declivity
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| n.下坡，倾斜面 | |
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59
preoccupied
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| adj.全神贯注的，入神的；被抢先占有的；心事重重的v.占据（某人）思想，使对…全神贯注，使专心于( preoccupy的过去式) | |
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60
overflowed
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| 溢出的 | |
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61
compassion
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| n.同情，怜悯 | |
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62
exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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63
peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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64
perilously
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| adv.充满危险地，危机四伏地 | |
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65
buffers
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| 起缓冲作用的人（或物）( buffer的名词复数 )； 缓冲器； 减震器； 愚蠢老头 | |
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66
attired
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| adj.穿着整齐的v.使穿上衣服，使穿上盛装( attire的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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67
compartment
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| n.卧车包房，隔间；分隔的空间 | |
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68
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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69
chattering
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| n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式 | |
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70
sobbed
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| 哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说 | |
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71
passionately
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| ad.热烈地，激烈地 | |
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72
murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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73
wondrous
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| adj.令人惊奇的，奇妙的；adv.惊人地；异乎寻常地；令人惊叹地 | |
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74
prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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75
banish
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| vt.放逐，驱逐；消除，排除 | |
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76
wavy
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| adj.有波浪的，多浪的，波浪状的，波动的，不稳定的 | |
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77
monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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78
vistas
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| 长条形景色( vista的名词复数 )； 回顾； 展望； （未来可能发生的）一系列情景 | |
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79
palatial
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| adj.宫殿般的，宏伟的 | |
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80
hawsers
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| n.（供系船或下锚用的）缆索，锚链( hawser的名词复数 ) | |
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81
funnels
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| 漏斗( funnel的名词复数 )； （轮船，火车等的）烟囱 | |
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82
hoots
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| 咄，啐 | |
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83
panorama
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| n.全景，全景画，全景摄影，全景照片[装置] | |
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84
wharves
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| n.码头，停泊处( wharf的名词复数 ) | |
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85
squat
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| v.蹲坐，蹲下；n.蹲下；adj.矮胖的，粗矮的 | |
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86
tremor
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| n.震动，颤动，战栗，兴奋，地震 | |
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87
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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88
maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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89
descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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90
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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91
titanic
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|
| adj.巨人的，庞大的，强大的 | |
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92
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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93
prow
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| n.(飞机)机头，船头 | |
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94
effulgent
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| adj.光辉的；灿烂的 | |
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95
exultant
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| adj.欢腾的，狂欢的，大喜的 | |
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96
exultantly
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| adv.狂欢地，欢欣鼓舞地 | |
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97
inexplicable
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| adj.无法解释的，难理解的 | |
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98
negligence
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| n.疏忽，玩忽，粗心大意 | |
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99
torrent
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| n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发 | |
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100
foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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101
receding
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| v.逐渐远离( recede的现在分词 )；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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102
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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103
dozing
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| v.打瞌睡,假寐 n.瞌睡 | |
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104
somnolent
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| adj.想睡的，催眠的；adv.瞌睡地；昏昏欲睡地；使人瞌睡地 | |
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105
basking
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| v.晒太阳，取暖( bask的现在分词 )；对…感到乐趣；因他人的功绩而出名；仰仗…的余泽 | |
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106
enjoined
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| v.命令( enjoin的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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107
hood
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| n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖 | |
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108
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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109
immunity
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| n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权 | |
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110
slate
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| n.板岩，石板，石片，石板色，候选人名单；adj.暗蓝灰色的，含板岩的；vt.用石板覆盖，痛打，提名，预订 | |
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111
haze
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| n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊 | |
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112
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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113
awed
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| adj.充满敬畏的，表示敬畏的v.使敬畏，使惊惧( awe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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114
morsel
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| n.一口，一点点 | |
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115
speck
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| n.微粒，小污点，小斑点 | |
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116
enticing
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| adj.迷人的；诱人的 | |
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117
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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118
entity
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| n.实体，独立存在体，实际存在物 | |
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119
fraught
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| adj.充满…的，伴有(危险等)的；忧虑的 | |
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120
diminutive
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| adj.小巧可爱的，小的 | |
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121
plunge
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| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
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122
plunges
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| n.跳进，投入vt.使投入，使插入，使陷入vi.投入，跳进，陷入v.颠簸( plunge的第三人称单数 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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123
annihilates
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| n.（彻底）消灭( annihilate的名词复数 )；使无效；废止；彻底击溃v.（彻底）消灭( annihilate的第三人称单数 )；使无效；废止；彻底击溃 | |
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124
fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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125
bustling
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| adj.喧闹的 | |
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126
middle-aged
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| adj.中年的 | |
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127
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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128
lodging
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| n.寄宿，住所；(大学生的)校外宿舍 | |
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129
indented
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| adj.锯齿状的，高低不平的；缩进排版 | |
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130
vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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131
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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132
ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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133
ascend
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| vi.渐渐上升，升高；vt.攀登，登上 | |
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134
bass
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| n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴 | |
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135
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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136
inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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137
amenity
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| n.pl.生活福利设施，文娱康乐场所；（不可数）愉快，适意 | |
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138
amiably
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| adv.和蔼可亲地，亲切地 | |
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139
goodwill
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| n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉 | |
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140
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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141
chasms
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| 裂缝( chasm的名词复数 )； 裂口； 分歧； 差别 | |
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142
speckless
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| adj.无斑点的，无瑕疵的 | |
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143
dozed
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| v.打盹儿，打瞌睡( doze的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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144
exertions
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| n.努力( exertion的名词复数 )；费力；（能力、权力等的）运用；行使 | |
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145
placidly
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| adv.平稳地，平静地 | |
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146
stony
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| adj.石头的，多石头的，冷酷的，无情的 | |
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147
devious
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| adj.不坦率的，狡猾的；迂回的，曲折的 | |
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148
bleak
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| adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的 | |
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149
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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150
whitewashed
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| 粉饰，美化，掩饰( whitewash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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151
fowl
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| n.家禽，鸡，禽肉 | |
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152
fowls
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| 鸟( fowl的名词复数 )； 禽肉； 既不是这； 非驴非马 | |
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153
surmounted
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| 战胜( surmount的过去式和过去分词 )； 克服（困难）； 居于…之上； 在…顶上 | |
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154
upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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155
boulders
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| n.卵石( boulder的名词复数 )；巨砾；（受水或天气侵蚀而成的）巨石；漂砾 | |
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156
shrub
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| n.灌木，灌木丛 | |
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157
stark
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| adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地 | |
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158
defiant
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| adj.无礼的，挑战的 | |
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159
majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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160
coax
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| v.哄诱，劝诱，用诱哄得到，诱取 | |
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161
obdurate
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| adj.固执的，顽固的 | |
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162
braced
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|
| adj.拉牢的v.支住( brace的过去式和过去分词 )；撑牢；使自己站稳；振作起来 | |
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163
eternity
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| n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷 | |
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164
civilisation
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| n.文明，文化，开化，教化 | |
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165
solace
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| n.安慰；v.使快乐；vt.安慰(物)，缓和 | |
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166
repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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167
moor
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| n.荒野，沼泽；vt.(使)停泊；vi.停泊 | |
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168
strand
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| vt.使（船）搁浅，使（某人）困于（某地） | |
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169
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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170
encompassed
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| v.围绕( encompass的过去式和过去分词 )；包围；包含；包括 | |
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171
sapphire
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| n.青玉，蓝宝石；adj.天蓝色的 | |
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172
tinge
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| vt.(较淡)着色于，染色；使带有…气息；n.淡淡色彩，些微的气息 | |
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173
azure
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| adj.天蓝色的，蔚蓝色的 | |
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174
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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175
wrecks
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| n.沉船( wreck的名词复数 )；（事故中）遭严重毁坏的汽车（或飞机等）；（身体或精神上）受到严重损伤的人；状况非常糟糕的车辆（或建筑物等）v.毁坏[毁灭]某物( wreck的第三人称单数 )；使（船舶）失事，使遇难，使下沉 | |
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176
scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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177
jutted
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| v.（使）突出( jut的过去式和过去分词 )；伸出；（从…）突出；高出 | |
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178
calf
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| n.小牛，犊，幼仔，小牛皮 | |
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179
vexed
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|
| adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论 | |
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180
westward
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| n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西 | |
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181
labyrinth
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| n.迷宫；难解的事物；迷路 | |
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182
crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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183
pellucid
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| adj.透明的，简单的 | |
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184
decadent
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| adj.颓废的，衰落的，堕落的 | |
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185
tints
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| 色彩( tint的名词复数 )； 带白的颜色； （淡色）染发剂； 痕迹 | |
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186
touching
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|
| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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187
quiescence
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| n.静止 | |
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188
transcending
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| 超出或超越（经验、信念、描写能力等）的范围( transcend的现在分词 )； 优于或胜过… | |
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189
delightful
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|
| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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190
appreciation
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| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
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191
intimacy
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| n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行 | |
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192
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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193
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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194
wager
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| n.赌注；vt.押注，打赌 | |
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195
joyous
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| adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的 | |
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196
anticipation
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| n.预期，预料，期望 | |
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197
sitting-room
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| n.（BrE）客厅，起居室 | |
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198
vivacious
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| adj.活泼的，快活的 | |
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199
cosiness
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| n.舒适，安逸 | |
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200
ozone
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|
| n.臭氧，新鲜空气 | |
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201
loathe
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| v.厌恶，嫌恶 | |
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202
lumbering
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| n.采伐林木 | |
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203
ponderous
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|
| adj.沉重的，笨重的，(文章)冗长的 | |
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204
falcon
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| n.隼，猎鹰 | |
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205
assented
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| 同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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206
intercepted
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|
| 拦截( intercept的过去式和过去分词 )； 截住； 截击； 拦阻 | |
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207
profuse
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| adj.很多的，大量的，极其丰富的 | |
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208
excavated
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| v.挖掘( excavate的过去式和过去分词 )；开凿；挖出；发掘 | |
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209
quay
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| n.码头，靠岸处 | |
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210
entangled
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|
| adj.卷入的；陷入的；被缠住的；缠在一起的v.使某人（某物/自己）缠绕，纠缠于（某物中），使某人（自己）陷入（困难或复杂的环境中）( entangle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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211
oars
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| n.桨，橹( oar的名词复数 )；划手v.划（行）( oar的第三人称单数 ) | |
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212
pallid
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| adj.苍白的，呆板的 | |
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213
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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214
jersey
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| n.运动衫 | |
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215
shreds
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| v.撕碎，切碎( shred的第三人称单数 )；用撕毁机撕毁（文件） | |
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216
asphyxiating
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|
| v.渴望的，有抱负的，追求名誉或地位的( aspirant的现在分词 )；有志向或渴望获得…的人 | |
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217
fumes
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| n.(强烈而刺激的)气味，气体 | |
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218
horrid
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| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
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219
petulant
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|
| adj.性急的，暴躁的 | |
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220
embark
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| vi.乘船，着手，从事，上飞机 | |
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221
spat
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| n.口角，掌击；v.发出呼噜呼噜声 | |
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222
contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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223
reassured
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|
| adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词) | |
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224
licensed
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| adj.得到许可的v.许可，颁发执照(license的过去式和过去分词) | |
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225
gliding
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| v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的 | |
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226
locomotion
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| n.运动，移动 | |
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227
knuckles
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| n.（指人）指关节( knuckle的名词复数 )；（指动物）膝关节，踝v.（指人）指关节( knuckle的第三人称单数 )；（指动物）膝关节，踝 | |
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228
phenomena
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| n.现象 | |
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229
lighter
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| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
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230
strings
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| n.弦 | |
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231
interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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232
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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233
winked
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| v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮 | |
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234
exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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235
commiserate
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| v.怜悯，同情 | |
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236
avert
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| v.防止，避免；转移(目光、注意力等) | |
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237
refinement
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| n.文雅；高尚；精美；精制；精炼 | |
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238
ominously
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| adv.恶兆地，不吉利地；预示地 | |
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239
inert
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| adj.无活动能力的，惰性的；迟钝的 | |
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240
benevolently
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| adv.仁慈地，行善地 | |
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241
boisterous
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|
| adj.喧闹的，欢闹的 | |
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242
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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243
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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244
covert
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| adj.隐藏的；暗地里的 | |
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245
lured
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| 吸引，引诱（lure的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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246
bandanna
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| n.大手帕 | |
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247
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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248
persuasive
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| adj.有说服力的，能说得使人相信的 | |
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249
resolute
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| adj.坚决的，果敢的 | |
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250
mien
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| n.风采；态度 | |
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251
resentment
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| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
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252
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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253
flannels
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| 法兰绒男裤； 法兰绒( flannel的名词复数 ) | |
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254
brook
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| n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让 | |
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255
shimmered
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| v.闪闪发光，发微光( shimmer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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256
beads
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| n.（空心）小珠子( bead的名词复数 )；水珠；珠子项链 | |
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257
fathom
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| v.领悟，彻底了解 | |
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258
jutting
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| v.（使）突出( jut的现在分词 )；伸出；（从…）突出；高出 | |
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259
chilly
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| adj.凉快的，寒冷的 | |
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260
translucent
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| adj.半透明的；透明的 | |
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261
cargo
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| n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物 | |
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262
fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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263
blistered
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|
| adj.水疮状的，泡状的v.（使）起水泡( blister的过去式和过去分词 )；（使表皮等）涨破，爆裂 | |
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264
infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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265
frivolous
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| adj.轻薄的；轻率的 | |
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266
sentimental
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| adj.多愁善感的，感伤的 | |
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267
industrious
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| adj.勤劳的，刻苦的，奋发的 | |
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268
sketch
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| n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述 | |
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269
panoply
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| n.全副甲胄，礼服 | |
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270
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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271
blindfolded
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| v.（尤指用布）挡住（某人）的视线( blindfold的过去式 )；蒙住（某人）的眼睛；使不理解；蒙骗 | |
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272
pouted
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| v.撅（嘴）( pout的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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273
mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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274
condescension
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| n.自以为高人一等，贬低(别人) | |
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275
addicted
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| adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的 | |
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276
strata
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| n.地层（复数）；社会阶层 | |
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277
scraps
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| 油渣 | |
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278
frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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279
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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280
attainment
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| n.达到，到达；［常pl.］成就，造诣 | |
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281
kindliness
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| n.厚道，亲切，友好的行为 | |
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282
petulance
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| n.发脾气，生气，易怒，暴躁，性急 | |
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283
atoned
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| v.补偿，赎（罪）( atone的过去式和过去分词 )；补偿，弥补，赎回 | |
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284
entailed
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| 使…成为必要( entail的过去式和过去分词 )； 需要； 限定继承； 使必需 | |
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285
luxurious
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| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
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286
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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287
discomfiture
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| n.崩溃；大败；挫败；困惑 | |
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288
discreet
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| adj.(言行)谨慎的；慎重的；有判断力的 | |
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289
gruel
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| n.稀饭，粥 | |
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290
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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291
influenza
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| n.流行性感冒，流感 | |
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292
measles
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| n.麻疹，风疹，包虫病，痧子 | |
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293
ailments
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| 疾病（尤指慢性病），不适( ailment的名词复数 ) | |
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294
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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295
placidity
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| n.平静，安静，温和 | |
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296
apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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297
sleepless
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| adj.不睡眠的，睡不著的，不休息的 | |
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298
revolved
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| v.（使）旋转( revolve的过去式和过去分词 )；细想 | |
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299
alteration
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| n.变更，改变；蚀变 | |
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300
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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301
instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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302
effaced
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| v.擦掉( efface的过去式和过去分词 )；抹去；超越；使黯然失色 | |
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303
regularity
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| n.规律性，规则性；匀称，整齐 | |
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304
reliability
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| n.可靠性，确实性 | |
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305
delirious
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| adj.不省人事的，神智昏迷的 | |
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306
catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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307
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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308
esteem
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| n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作 | |
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309
obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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310
briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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311
vocal
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| adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目 | |
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312
piety
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| n.虔诚，虔敬 | |
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313
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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314
awfully
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| adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地 | |
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315
temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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316
impulsiveness
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| n.冲动 | |
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317
concurred
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| 同意（concur的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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318
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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319
gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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320
uneven
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| adj.不平坦的，不规则的，不均匀的 | |
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321
stimulated
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| a.刺激的 | |
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322
austere
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| adj.艰苦的；朴素的，朴实无华的；严峻的 | |
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323
imminent
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| adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的 | |
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324
fortitude
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| n.坚忍不拔；刚毅 | |
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325
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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326
ignominious
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| adj.可鄙的，不光彩的，耻辱的 | |
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327
perturbed
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| adj.烦燥不安的v.使（某人）烦恼，不安( perturb的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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328
ineffable
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| adj.无法表达的，不可言喻的 | |
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329
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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