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CHAPTER 20 A LOVE-LETTER
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 Some beautiful days followed, so beautiful to Grizel that as they passed away she kissed her hand to them. Do you see her standing1 on tiptoe to see the last of them? They lit a fire in the chamber2 of her soul which is the home of all pure maids, and the fagots that warmed Grizel were every fond look that had been on her lover's face and every sweet word he had let fall. She counted and fondled them, and pretended that one was lost that she might hug it more than all the others when it was found. To sit by that fire was almost better than having the days that lit it; sometimes she could scarcely wait for the day to go.
 
Tommy's fond looks and sweet words! There was also a letter in those days, and, now that I remember, a little garnet ring; and there were a few other fagots, but all so trifling3 it must seem incredible to you that they could have made so great a blaze—nothing else in it, on my honour, except a girl's heart added by herself that the fire might burn a moment longer.
 
And now, what so chilly4 as the fire that has gone out! Gone out long ago, dear Grizel, while you crouched5 over it. You may put your hand in the ashes; they will not burn you now. Ah, Grizel, why do you sit there in the cold?
 
The day of the letter! It began in dread6, but ended so joyfully7, do you think Grizel grudged8 the dread? It became dear to her; she loved to return to it and gaze at the joy it glorified9, as one sees the sunshine from a murky10 room. When she heard the postman's knock she was not even curious; so few letters came to her, she thought this must be Maggy Ann's monthly one from Aberdeen, and went on placidly11 dusting. At last she lifted it from the floor, for it had been slipped beneath the door, and then Grizel was standing in her little lobby, panting as if at the end of a race. The letter lay in both her hands, and they rose slowly until they were pressed against her breast.
 
She uttered some faint cries (it was the only moment in which I have known Grizel to be hysterical), and then she ran to her room and locked herself in—herself and it. Do you know why that look of elation12 had come suddenly to her face? It was because he had not even written the address in a disguised hand to deceive the postmistress. So much of the old Grizel was gone that the pathos13 of her elation over this was lost to her.
 
Several times she almost opened it. Why did she pause? why had that frightened look come into her eyes? She put the letter on her table and drew away from it. If she took a step nearer, her hands went behind her back as if saying, "Grizel, don't ask us to open it; we are afraid."
 
Perhaps it really did say the dear things that love writes. Perhaps it was aghast at the way she was treating it. Dear letter! Her mouth smiled to it, but her hands remained afraid. As she stood irresolute14, smiling, and afraid, she was a little like her mother. I have put off as long as possible saying that Grizel was ever like her mother. The Painted Lady had never got any letters while she was in Thrums, but she looked wistfully at those of other people. "They are so pretty," she had said; "but don't open them: when you open them they break your heart." Grizel remembered what her mother had said.
 
Had the old Grizel feared what might be inside, it would have made her open the letter more quickly. Two minds to one person were unendurable to her. But she seemed to be a coward now. It was pitiable.
 
Perhaps it was quite a common little letter, beginning "Dear Grizel," and saying nothing more delicious or more terrible than that he wanted her to lend him one of the doctor's books. She thought of a score of trivialities it might be about; but the letter was still unopened when David Gemmell called to talk over some cases in which he required her counsel. He found her sitting listlessly, something in her lap which she at once concealed15. She failed to follow his arguments, and he went away puckering16 his brows, some of the old doctor's sayings about her ringing loud in his ears.
 
One of them was: "Things will be far wrong with Grizel when she is able to sit idle with her hands in her lap."
 
Another: "She is almost pitifully straightforward17, man. Everything that is in Grizel must out. She can hide nothing."
 
Yet how cunningly she had concealed what was in her hands. Cunning applied18 to Grizel! David shuddered19. He thought of Tommy, and shut his mouth tight. He could do this easily. Tommy could not do it without feeling breathless. They were types of two kinds of men.
 
David also remembered a promise he had given McQueen, and wondered, as he had wondered a good deal of late, whether the time had come to keep it.
 
But Grizel sat on with her unopened letter. She was to meet Tommy presently on the croquet lawn of the Dovecot, when Ailie was to play Mr. James (the champion), and she decided20 that she must wait till then. She would know what sort of letter it was the moment she saw his face. And then! She pressed her hands together.
 
Oh, how base of her to doubt him! She said it to herself then and often afterwards. She looked mournfully in her mother's long mirror at this disloyal Grizel, as if the capacity to doubt him was the saddest of all the changes that had come to her. He had been so true yesterday; oh, how could she tremble to-day? Beautiful yesterday! but yesterday may seem so long ago. How little a time had passed between the moment when she was greeting him joyously21 in Caddam Wood and that cry of the heart, "How could you hurt your Grizel so!" No, she could not open her letter. She could kiss it, but she could not open it.
 
Foolish fears! for before she had shaken hands with Tommy in Mrs. McLean's garden she knew he loved her still, and that the letter proved it. She was properly punished, yet surely in excess, for when she might have been reading her first love-letter, she had to join in discussions with various ladies about Berlin wool and the like, and to applaud the prowess of Mr. James with the loathly croquet mallet23. It seemed quite a long time before Tommy could get a private word with her. Then he began about the letter at once.
 
"You are not angry with me for writing it?" he asked anxiously. "I should not have done it; I had no right: but such a desire to do it came over me, I had to; it was such a glory to me to say in writing what you are to me."
 
She smiled happily. Oh, exquisite24 day! "I have so long wanted to have a letter from you," she said. "I have almost wished you would go away for a little time, so that I might have a letter from you."
 
He had guessed this. He had written to give her delight.
 
"Did you like the first words of it, Grizel?" he asked eagerly.
 
The lover and the artist spoke25 together.
 
Could she admit that the letter was unopened, and why? Oh, the pain to him! She nodded assent26. It was not really an untruth, she told herself. She did like them—oh, how she liked them, though she did not know what they were!
 
"I nearly began 'My beloved,'" he said solemnly.
 
Somehow she had expected it to be this. "Why didn't you?" she asked, a little disappointed.
 
"I like the other so much better," he replied. "To write it was so delicious to me, I thought you would not mind."
 
"I don't mind," she said hastily. (What could it be?)
 
"But you would have preferred 'beloved'?"
 
"It is such a sweet name."
 
"Surely not so sweet as the other, Grizel?"
 
"No," she said, "no." (Oh, what could it be!)
 
"Have you destroyed it?" he asked, and the question was a shock to her. Her hand rose instinctively27 to defend something that lay near her heart.
 
"I could not," she whispered.
 
"Do you mean you wanted to?" he asked dolefully.
 
"I thought you wanted it," she murmured.
 
"I!" he cried, aghast, and she was joyous22 again.
 
"Can't you guess where it is?" she said.
 
He understood. "Grizel! You carry my letter there!"
 
She was full of glee; but she puzzled him presently.
 
"Do you think I could go now?" she inquired eagerly.
 
"And leave me?"
 
It was dreadful of her, but she nodded.
 
"I want to go home."
 
"Is it not home, Grizel, when you are with me?"
 
"I want to go away from home, then." She said it as if she loved to tantalize28 him.
 
"But why?"
 
"I won't tell you." She was looking wistfully at the door. "I have something to do."
 
"It can wait."
 
"It has waited too long." He might have heard an assenting29 rustle30 from beneath her bodice.
 
"Do let me go," she said coaxingly31, as if he held her.
 
"I can't understand——" he began, and broke off. She was facing him demurely32 but exultantly33, challenging him, he could see, to read her now. "Just when I am flattering myself that I know everything about you, Grizel," he said, with a long face, "I suddenly wonder whether I know anything."
 
She would have liked to clap her hands. "You must remember that we have changed places," she told him. "It is I who understand you now."
 
"And I am devoutly34 glad," he made answer, with humble35 thankfulness. "And I must ask you, Grizel, why you want to run away from me."
 
"But you think you know," she retorted smartly. "You think I want to read my letter again!"
 
Her cleverness staggered him. "But I am right, am I not, Grizel?"
 
"No," she said triumphantly36, "you are quite wrong. Oh, if you knew how wrong you are!" And having thus again unhorsed him, she made her excuses to Ailie and slipped away. Dr. Gemmell, who was present and had been watching her narrowly, misread the flush on her face and her restless desire to be gone.
 
"Is there anything between those two, do you think?" Mrs. McLean had said in a twitter to him while Tommy and Grizel were talking, and he had answered No almost sharply.
 
"People are beginning to think there is," she said in self-defence.
 
"They are mistaken," he told her curtly37, and it was about this time that Grizel left. David followed her to her home soon afterwards, and Maggy Ann, who answered his summons, did not accompany him upstairs. He was in the house daily, and she left him to find Grizel for himself. He opened the parlour door almost as he knocked, and she was there, but had not heard him. He stopped short, like one who had blundered unawares on what was not for him.
 
She was on her knees on the hearth-rug, with her head buried in what had been Dr. McQueen's chair. Ragged38 had been the seat of it on the day when she first went to live with him, but very early on the following morning, or, to be precise, five minutes after daybreak, he had risen to see if there were burglars in the parlour, and behold39, it was his grateful little maid repadding the old arm-chair. How a situation repeats itself! Without disturbing her, the old doctor had slipped away with a full heart. It was what the young doctor did now.
 
But the situation was not quite the same. She had been bubbling over with glee then; she was sobbing40 now. David could not know that it was a sob41 of joy; he knew only that he had never seen her crying before, and that it was the letter in her hands that had brought tears at last to those once tranquil42 and steadfast43 eyes.
 
In an odd conversation which had once taken place in that room between the two doctors, Gemmell had said: "But the time may come without my knowing it." And McQueen's reply was: "I don't think so, for she is so open; but I'll tell you this, David, as a guide. I never saw her eyes wet. It is one of the touching44 things about her that she has the eyes of a man, to whom it is a shame to cry. If you ever see her greeting, David, I'm sore doubting that the time will have come."
 
As David Gemmell let himself softly out of the house, to return to it presently, he thought the time had come. What he conceived he had to do was a hard thing, but he never thought of not doing it. He had kept himself in readiness to do it for many days now, and he walked to it as firmly as if he were on his professional rounds. He did not know that the skin round his eyes had contracted, giving them the look of pain which always came there when he was sorry or pitiful or indignant. He was not well acquainted with his eyes, and, had he glanced at them now in a glass, would have presumed that this was their usual expression.
 
Grizel herself opened the door to him this time, and "Maggy Ann, he is found!" she cried victoriously45. Evidently she had heard of his previous visit. "We have searched every room in the house for you," she said gaily46, "and had you disappeared for much longer, Maggy Ann would have had the carpets up."
 
He excused himself on the ground that he had forgotten something, and she chided him merrily for being forgetful. As he sat with her David could have groaned47 aloud. How vivacious48 she had become! but she was sparkling in false colours. After what he knew had been her distress49 of a few minutes ago, it was a painted face to him. She was trying to deceive him. Perhaps she suspected that he had seen her crying, and now, attired50 in all a woman's wiles51, she was defying him to believe his eyes.
 
Grizel garbed52 in wiles! Alack the day! She was shielding the man, and Gemmell could have driven her away roughly to get at him. But she was also standing over her own pride, lest anyone should see that it had fallen; and do you think that David would have made her budge53 an inch?
 
Of course she saw that he had something on his mind. She knew those puckered54 eyes so well, and had so often smoothed them for him.
 
"What is it, David?" she asked sympathetically. "I see you have come as a patient to-night."
 
"As one of those patients," he rejoined, "who feel better at mere55 sight of the doctor."
 
"Fear of the prescription56?" said she.
 
"Not if you prescribe yourself, Grizel."
 
"David!" she cried. He had been paying compliments!
 
"I mean it."
 
"So I can see by your face. Oh, David, how stern you look!"
 
"Dr. McQueen and I," he retorted, "used to hold private meetings after you had gone to bed, at which we agreed that you should no longer be allowed to make fun of us. They came to nothing. Do you know why?"
 
"Because I continued to do it?"
 
"No; but because we missed it so much if you stopped."
 
"You are nice to-night, David," she said, dropping him a courtesy.
 
"We liked all your bullying57 ways," he went on. "We were children in your masterful hands."
 
"I was a tyrant59, David," she said, looking properly ashamed. "I wonder you did not marry, just to get rid of me."
 
"Have you ever seriously wondered why I don't marry?" he asked quickly.
 
"Oh, David," she exclaimed, "what else do you think your patients and I talk of when I am trying to nurse them? It has agitated60 the town ever since you first walked up the Marrywellbrae, and we can't get on with our work for thinking of it."
 
"Seriously, Grizel?"
 
She became grave at once. "If you could find the right woman," she said wistfully.
 
"I have found her," he answered; and then she pressed her hands together, too excited to speak.
 
"If she would only care a little for me," he said.
 
Grizel rocked her arms. "I am sure she does," she cried. "David, I am so glad!"
 
He saw what her mistake was, but pretended not to know that she had made one. "Are you really glad that I love you, Grizel?" he asked.
 
It seemed to daze61 her for a moment. "Not me, David," she said softly, as if correcting him. "You don't mean that it is me?" she said coaxingly. "David," she cried, "say it is not me!"
 
He drooped62 his head, but not before he had seen all the brightness die out of her face. "Is it so painful to you even to hear me say it?" he asked gravely.
 
Her joy had been selfish as her sorrow was. For nigh a minute she had been thinking of herself alone, it meant so much to her; but now she jumped up and took his hand in hers.
 
"Poor David!" she said, making much of his hand as if she had hurt it. But David Gemmell's was too simple a face to oppose to her pitying eyes, and presently she let his hand slip from her and stood regarding him curiously63. He had to look another way, and then she even smiled, a little forlornly.
 
"Do you mind talking it over with me, Grizel?" he asked. "I have always been well aware that you did not care for me in that way, but nevertheless I believe you might do worse."
 
"No woman could do better," she answered gravely. "I should like you to talk it over, David, if you begin at the beginning"; and she sat down with her hands crossed.
 
"I won't say what a good thing it would be for me," was his beginning; "we may take that for granted."
 
"I don't think we can," she remarked; "but it scarcely matters at present. That is not the beginning, David."
 
He was very anxious to make it the beginning.
 
"I am weary of living in lodgings," he said. "The practice suffers by my not being married. Many patients dislike being attended by a single man. I ought to be in McQueen's house; it has been so long known as the doctor's house. And you should be a doctor's wife—you who could almost be the doctor. It would be a shame, Grizel, if you who are so much to patients were to marry out of the profession. Don't you follow me?"
 
"I follow you," she replied; "but what does it matter? You have not begun at the beginning." He looked at her inquiringly. "You must begin," she informed him, "by saying why you ask me to marry you when you don't love me." She added, in answer to another look from him: "You know you don't." There was a little reproach in it. "Oh, David, what made you think I could be so easily taken in!"
 
He looked so miserable64 that by and by she smiled, not so tremulously as before.
 
"How bad at it you are, David!" she said.
 
And how good at it she was! he thought gloomily.
 
"Shall I help you out?" she asked gently, but speaking with dignity. "You think I am unhappy; you believe I am in the position in which you placed yourself, of caring for someone who does not care for me."
 
"Grizel, I mistrust him."
 
She flushed; she was not quite so gentle now. "And so you offer me your hand to save me! It was a great self-sacrifice, David, but you used not to be fond of doing showy things."
 
"I did not mean it to be showy," he answered.
 
She was well aware of that, but—"Oh, David," she cried, "that you should believe I needed it! How little you must think of me!"
 
"Does it look as if I thought little of you?" he said.
 
"Little of my strength, David, little of my pride."
 
"I think so much of them that how could I stand by silently and watch them go?"
 
"You think you have seen that!" She was agitated now.
 
He hesitated. "Yes," he said courageously65.
 
Her eyes cried, "David, how could you be so cruel!" but they did not daunt66 him.
 
"Have you not seen it yourself, Grizel?" he said.
 
She pressed her hands together. "I was so happy," she said, "until you came!"
 
"Have you not seen it yourself?" he asked again.
 
"There may be better things," she retorted, "than those you rate so highly."
 
"Not for you," he said.
 
"If they are gone," she told him, with a flush of resentment67, "it is not you who can bring them back."
 
"But let me try, Grizel," said he.
 
"David, can I not even make you angry with me?"
 
"No, Grizel, you can't. I am very sorry that I can make you angry with me."
 
"I am not," she said dispiritedly. "It would be contemptible68 in me." And then, eagerly: "But, David, you have made a great mistake, indeed you have. You—you are a dreadful bungler69, sir!" She was trying to make his face relax, with a tremulous smile from herself to encourage him; but the effort was not successful. "You see, I can't even bully58 you now!" she said. "Did that capacity go with the others, David?"
 
"Try a little harder," he replied. "I think you will find that I submit to it still"
 
"Very well." She forced some gaiety to her aid. After all, how could she let his monstrous70 stupidity wound a heart protected by such a letter?
 
"You have been a very foolish and presumptuous71 boy," she began. She was standing up, smiling, wagging a reproachful but nervous finger at him. "If it were not that I have a weakness for seeing medical men making themselves ridiculous so that I may put them right, I should be very indignant with you, sir."
 
"Put me right, Grizel," he said. He was sure she was trying to blind him again.
 
"Know, then, David, that I am not the poor-spirited, humble creature you seem to have come here in search of—"
 
"But you admitted—"
 
"How dare you interrupt me, sir! Yes, I admit that I am not quite as I was, but I glory in it. I used to be ostentatiously independent; now I am only independent enough. My pride made me walk on air; now I walk on the earth, where there is less chance of falling. I have still confidence in myself; but I begin to see that ways are not necessarily right because they are my ways. In short, David, I am evidently on the road to being a model character!"
 
They were gay words, but she ended somewhat faintly.
 
"I was satisfied with you as you were," was the doctor's comment.
 
"I wanted to excel!"
 
"You explain nothing, Grizel," he said reproachfully. "Why have you changed so?"
 
"Because I am so happy. Do you remember how, in the old days, I sometimes danced for joy? I could do it now."
 
"Are you engaged to be married, Grizel?"
 
She took a quiet breath. "You have no right to question me in this way," she said. "I think I have been very good in bearing with you so long."
 
But she laid aside her indignation at once; he was so old a friend, the sincerity72 of him had been so often tried. "If you must know, David," she said, with a girlish frankness that became her better, "I am not engaged to be married. And I must tell you nothing more," she added, shutting her mouth decisively. She must be faithful to her promise.
 
"He forbids it?" Gemmell asked mercilessly.
 
She stamped her foot, not in rage, but in hopelessness. "How incapable73 you are of doing him justice!" she cried. "If you only knew——"
 
"Tell me. I want to do him justice."
 
She sat down again, sighing. "My attempt to regain74 my old power over you has not been very successful, has it, David? We must not quarrel, though"—holding out her hand, which he grasped. "And you won't question me any more?" She said it appealingly.
 
"Never again," he answered. "I never wanted to question you, Grizel. I wanted only to marry you."
 
"And that can't be."
 
"I don't see it," he said, so stoutly75 that she was almost amused. But he would not be pushed aside. He had something more to say.
 
"Dr. McQueen wished it," he said; "above all else in the world he wished it. He often told me so."
 
"He never said that to me," Grizel replied quickly.
 
"Because he thought that to press you was no way to make you care for me. He hoped that it would come about."
 
"It has not come about, David, with either of us," she said gently. "I am sure that would have been sufficient answer to him."
 
"No, Grizel, it would not, not now."
 
He had risen, and his face was whiter than she had ever seen it.
 
"I am going to hurt you, Grizel," he said, and every word was a pang76 to him. "I see no other way. It has got to be done. Dr. McQueen often talked to me about the things that troubled you when you were a little girl—the morbid77 fears you had then, and that had all been swept away years before I knew you. But though they had been long gone, you were so much to him that he tried to think of everything that might happen to you in the future, and he foresaw that they might possibly come back. 'If she were ever to care for some false loon78!' he has said to me, and then, Grizel, he could not go on."
 
Grizel beat her hands. "If he could not go on," she said, "it was not because he feared what I should do."
 
"No, no," David answered eagerly, "he never feared for that, but for your happiness. He told me of a boy who used to torment79 you, oh, all so long ago, and of such little account that he had forgotten his name. But that boy has come back, and you care for him, and he is a false loon, Grizel."
 
She had risen too, and was flashing fire on David; but he went on.
 
"'If the time ever comes,' he said to me, 'when you see her in torture from such a cause, speak to her openly about it. Tell her it is I who am speaking through you. It will be a hard task to you, but wrestle80 through with it, David, in memory of any little kindness I may have done you, and the great love I bore my Grizel.'"
 
She was standing rigid81 now. "Is there any more, David?" she said in a low voice.
 
"Only this. I admired you then as I admire you now. I may not love you, Grizel, but of this I am very sure"—he was speaking steadily82, he was forgetting no one—"that you are the noblest and bravest woman I have ever known, and I promised—he did not draw the promise from me, I gave it to him—that if I was a free man and could help you in any way without paining you by telling you these things, I would try that way first."
 
"And this is the way?"
 
"I could think of no other. Is it of no avail?"
 
She shook her head. "You have made such a dreadful mistake," she cried miserably83, "and you won't see it. Oh, how you wrong him! I am the happiest girl in the world, and it is he who makes me so happy. But I can't explain. You need not ask me; I promised, and I won't."
 
"You used not to be so fond of mystery, Grizel."
 
"I am not fond of it now."
 
"Ah, it is he," David said bitterly, and he lifted his hat. "Is there nothing you will let me do for you, Grizel?" he cried.
 
"I thought you were to do so much for me when you came into this room," she admitted wistfully, "and said that you were in love. I thought it was with another woman."
 
He remembered that her face had brightened. "How could that have helped you?" he asked.
 
She saw that she had but to tell him, and for her sake he would do it at once. But she could not be so selfish.
 
"We need not speak of that now," she said.
 
"We must speak of it," he answered. "Grizel, it is but fair to me. It may be so important to me."
 
"You have shown that you don't care for her, David, and that ends it."
 
"Who is it?" He was much stirred.
 
"If you don't know——"
 
"Is it Elspeth?"
 
The question came out of him like a confession84, and hope turned Grizel giddy.
 
"Do you love her, David?" she cried.
 
But he hesitated. "Is what you have told me true, that it would help you?" he asked, looking her full in the eyes.
 
"Do you love her?" she implored85, but he was determined86 to have her answer first.
 
"Is it, Grizel?"
 
"Yes, yes. Do you, David?"
 
And then he admitted that he did, and she rocked her arms in joy.
 
"But oh, David, to say such things to me when you were not a free man! How badly you have treated Elspeth to-day!"
 
"She does not care for me," he said.
 
"Have you asked her?"—in alarm.
 
"No; but could she?"
 
"How could she help it?" She would not tell him what Tommy thought. Oh, she must do everything to encourage David.
 
"And still," said he, puzzling, "I don't see how it can affect you."
 
"And I can't tell you," she moaned. "Oh, David, do, do find out. Why are you so blind?" She could have shaken him. "Don't you see that once Elspeth was willing to be taken care of by some other person——I must not tell you!"
 
"Then he would marry you?"
 
She cried in anxiety: "Have I told you, or did you find out?"
 
"I found out," he said. "Is it possible he is so fond of her as that?"
 
"There never was such a brother," she answered. She could not help adding, "But he is still fonder of me."
 
The doctor pulled his arm over his eyes and sat down again. Presently he was saying with a long face: "I came here to denounce the cause of your unhappiness, and I begin to see it is myself."
 
"Of course it is, you stupid David," she said gleefully. She was very kind to the man who had been willing to do so much for her; but as the door closed on him she forgot him. She even ceased to hear the warning voice he had brought with him from the dead. She was re-reading the letter that began by calling her wife.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 standing 2hCzgo     
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
参考例句:
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
2 chamber wnky9     
n.房间,寝室;会议厅;议院;会所
参考例句:
  • For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说,牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
  • The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。
3 trifling SJwzX     
adj.微不足道的;没什么价值的
参考例句:
  • They quarreled over a trifling matter.他们为这种微不足道的事情争吵。
  • So far Europe has no doubt, gained a real conveniency,though surely a very trifling one.直到现在为止,欧洲无疑地已经获得了实在的便利,不过那确是一种微不足道的便利。
4 chilly pOfzl     
adj.凉快的,寒冷的
参考例句:
  • I feel chilly without a coat.我由于没有穿大衣而感到凉飕飕的。
  • I grew chilly when the fire went out.炉火熄灭后,寒气逼人。
5 crouched 62634c7e8c15b8a61068e36aaed563ab     
v.屈膝,蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He crouched down beside her. 他在她的旁边蹲了下来。
  • The lion crouched ready to pounce. 狮子蹲下身,准备猛扑。
6 dread Ekpz8     
vt.担忧,忧虑;惧怕,不敢;n.担忧,畏惧
参考例句:
  • We all dread to think what will happen if the company closes.我们都不敢去想一旦公司关门我们该怎么办。
  • Her heart was relieved of its blankest dread.她极度恐惧的心理消除了。
7 joyfully joyfully     
adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地
参考例句:
  • She tripped along joyfully as if treading on air. 她高兴地走着,脚底下轻飘飘的。
  • During these first weeks she slaved joyfully. 在最初的几周里,她干得很高兴。
8 grudged 497ff7797c8f8bc24299e4af22d743da     
怀恨(grudge的过去式与过去分词形式)
参考例句:
  • The mean man grudged the food his horse ate. 那个吝啬鬼舍不得喂马。
  • He grudged the food his horse ate. 他吝惜马料。
9 glorified 74d607c2a7eb7a7ef55bda91627eda5a     
美其名的,变荣耀的
参考例句:
  • The restaurant was no more than a glorified fast-food cafe. 这地方美其名曰餐馆,其实只不过是个快餐店而已。
  • The author glorified the life of the peasants. 那个作者赞美了农民的生活。
10 murky J1GyJ     
adj.黑暗的,朦胧的;adv.阴暗地,混浊地;n.阴暗;昏暗
参考例句:
  • She threw it into the river's murky depths.她把它扔进了混浊的河水深处。
  • She had a decidedly murky past.她的历史背景令人捉摸不透。
11 placidly c0c28951cb36e0d70b9b64b1d177906e     
adv.平稳地,平静地
参考例句:
  • Hurstwood stood placidly by, while the car rolled back into the yard. 当车子开回场地时,赫斯渥沉着地站在一边。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
  • The water chestnut floated placidly there, where it would grow. 那棵菱角就又安安稳稳浮在水面上生长去了。 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说
12 elation 0q9x7     
n.兴高采烈,洋洋得意
参考例句:
  • She showed her elation at having finally achieved her ambition.最终实现了抱负,她显得十分高兴。
  • His supporters have reacted to the news with elation.他的支持者听到那条消息后兴高采烈。
13 pathos dLkx2     
n.哀婉,悲怆
参考例句:
  • The pathos of the situation brought tears to our eyes.情况令人怜悯,看得我们不禁流泪。
  • There is abundant pathos in her words.她的话里富有动人哀怜的力量。
14 irresolute X3Vyy     
adj.无决断的,优柔寡断的,踌躇不定的
参考例句:
  • Irresolute persons make poor victors.优柔寡断的人不会成为胜利者。
  • His opponents were too irresolute to call his bluff.他的对手太优柔寡断,不敢接受挑战。
15 concealed 0v3zxG     
a.隐藏的,隐蔽的
参考例句:
  • The paintings were concealed beneath a thick layer of plaster. 那些画被隐藏在厚厚的灰泥层下面。
  • I think he had a gun concealed about his person. 我认为他当时身上藏有一支枪。
16 puckering 0b75daee4ccf3224413b39d80f0b1fd7     
v.(使某物)起褶子或皱纹( pucker的现在分词 );小褶纹;小褶皱
参考例句:
  • Puckering her lips, she replied, "You really are being silly! 苏小姐努嘴道:“你真不爽气! 来自汉英文学 - 围城
  • Astringent: Mouth-puckering sensation; the result of tannin being present in the wine. 麻辣:由于丹宁在葡萄酒中的作用而使喉间受到强烈刺激的感觉。 来自互联网
17 straightforward fFfyA     
adj.正直的,坦率的;易懂的,简单的
参考例句:
  • A straightforward talk is better than a flowery speech.巧言不如直说。
  • I must insist on your giving me a straightforward answer.我一定要你给我一个直截了当的回答。
18 applied Tz2zXA     
adj.应用的;v.应用,适用
参考例句:
  • She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
  • This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。
19 shuddered 70137c95ff493fbfede89987ee46ab86     
v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 );发抖;(机器、车辆等)突然震动;颤动
参考例句:
  • He slammed on the brakes and the car shuddered to a halt. 他猛踩刹车,车颤抖着停住了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • I shuddered at the sight of the dead body. 我一看见那尸体就战栗。 来自《简明英汉词典》
20 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
21 joyously 1p4zu0     
ad.快乐地, 高兴地
参考例句:
  • She opened the door for me and threw herself in my arms, screaming joyously and demanding that we decorate the tree immediately. 她打开门,直扑我的怀抱,欣喜地喊叫着要马上装饰圣诞树。
  • They came running, crying out joyously in trilling girlish voices. 她们边跑边喊,那少女的颤音好不欢快。 来自名作英译部分
22 joyous d3sxB     
adj.充满快乐的;令人高兴的
参考例句:
  • The lively dance heightened the joyous atmosphere of the scene.轻快的舞蹈给这场戏渲染了欢乐气氛。
  • They conveyed the joyous news to us soon.他们把这一佳音很快地传递给我们。
23 mallet t7Mzz     
n.槌棒
参考例句:
  • He hit the peg mightily on the top with a mallet.他用木槌猛敲木栓顶。
  • The chairman rapped on the table twice with his mallet.主席用他的小木槌在桌上重敲了两下。
24 exquisite zhez1     
adj.精美的;敏锐的;剧烈的,感觉强烈的
参考例句:
  • I was admiring the exquisite workmanship in the mosaic.我当时正在欣赏镶嵌画的精致做工。
  • I still remember the exquisite pleasure I experienced in Bali.我依然记得在巴厘岛所经历的那种剧烈的快感。
25 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
26 assent Hv6zL     
v.批准,认可;n.批准,认可
参考例句:
  • I cannot assent to what you ask.我不能应允你的要求。
  • The new bill passed by Parliament has received Royal Assent.议会所通过的新方案已获国王批准。
27 instinctively 2qezD2     
adv.本能地
参考例句:
  • As he leaned towards her she instinctively recoiled. 他向她靠近,她本能地往后缩。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He knew instinctively where he would find her. 他本能地知道在哪儿能找到她。 来自《简明英汉词典》
28 tantalize iGHyp     
vt.使干着急,逗弄
参考例句:
  • The boy would come into the room and tantalize the dog with his feed.那个男孩会到房间里拿狗食逗弄狗。
  • He tried to tantalize me by revealing that the Soviet Union was prepared to discuss a package deal.他想要逗弄我,于是就露出口风说,苏联愿意讨论一揽子交易。
29 assenting 461d03db6506f9bf18aaabe10522b2ee     
同意,赞成( assent的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • In an assembly, every thing must be done by speaking and assenting. 在一个群集中,任何事情都必须通过发言和同意来进行。
  • Assenting to this demands. 对这个要求让步。
30 rustle thPyl     
v.沙沙作响;偷盗(牛、马等);n.沙沙声声
参考例句:
  • She heard a rustle in the bushes.她听到灌木丛中一阵沙沙声。
  • He heard a rustle of leaves in the breeze.他听到树叶在微风中发出的沙沙声。
31 coaxingly 2424e5a5134f6694a518ab5be2fcb7d5     
adv. 以巧言诱哄,以甘言哄骗
参考例句:
32 demurely demurely     
adv.装成端庄地,认真地
参考例句:
  • "On the forehead, like a good brother,'she answered demurely. "吻前额,像个好哥哥那样,"她故作正经地回答说。 来自飘(部分)
  • Punctuation is the way one bats one's eyes, lowers one's voice or blushes demurely. 标点就像人眨眨眼睛,低声细语,或伍犯作态。 来自名作英译部分
33 exultantly 9cbf83813434799a9ce89021def7ac29     
adv.狂欢地,欢欣鼓舞地
参考例句:
  • They listened exultantly to the sounds from outside. 她们欢欣鼓舞地倾听着外面的声音。 来自辞典例句
  • He rose exultantly from their profane surprise. 他得意非凡地站起身来,也不管众人怎样惊奇诅咒。 来自辞典例句
34 devoutly b33f384e23a3148a94d9de5213bd205f     
adv.虔诚地,虔敬地,衷心地
参考例句:
  • She was a devoutly Catholic. 她是一个虔诚地天主教徒。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • This was not a boast, but a hope, at once bold and devoutly humble. 这不是夸夸其谈,而是一个即大胆而又诚心、谦虚的希望。 来自辞典例句
35 humble ddjzU     
adj.谦卑的,恭顺的;地位低下的;v.降低,贬低
参考例句:
  • In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见,他将在选举中获胜。
  • Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。
36 triumphantly 9fhzuv     
ad.得意洋洋地;得胜地;成功地
参考例句:
  • The lion was roaring triumphantly. 狮子正在发出胜利的吼叫。
  • Robert was looking at me triumphantly. 罗伯特正得意扬扬地看着我。
37 curtly 4vMzJh     
adv.简短地
参考例句:
  • He nodded curtly and walked away. 他匆忙点了一下头就走了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The request was curtly refused. 这个请求被毫不客气地拒绝了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
38 ragged KC0y8     
adj.衣衫褴褛的,粗糙的,刺耳的
参考例句:
  • A ragged shout went up from the small crowd.这一小群人发出了刺耳的喊叫。
  • Ragged clothing infers poverty.破衣烂衫意味着贫穷。
39 behold jQKy9     
v.看,注视,看到
参考例句:
  • The industry of these little ants is wonderful to behold.这些小蚂蚁辛勤劳动的样子看上去真令人惊叹。
  • The sunrise at the seaside was quite a sight to behold.海滨日出真是个奇景。
40 sobbing df75b14f92e64fc9e1d7eaf6dcfc083a     
<主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的
参考例句:
  • I heard a child sobbing loudly. 我听见有个孩子在呜呜地哭。
  • Her eyes were red with recent sobbing. 她的眼睛因刚哭过而发红。
41 sob HwMwx     
n.空间轨道的轰炸机;呜咽,哭泣
参考例句:
  • The child started to sob when he couldn't find his mother.孩子因找不到他妈妈哭了起来。
  • The girl didn't answer,but continued to sob with her head on the table.那个女孩不回答,也不抬起头来。她只顾低声哭着。
42 tranquil UJGz0     
adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的
参考例句:
  • The boy disturbed the tranquil surface of the pond with a stick. 那男孩用棍子打破了平静的池面。
  • The tranquil beauty of the village scenery is unique. 这乡村景色的宁静是绝无仅有的。
43 steadfast 2utw7     
adj.固定的,不变的,不动摇的;忠实的;坚贞不移的
参考例句:
  • Her steadfast belief never left her for one moment.她坚定的信仰从未动摇过。
  • He succeeded in his studies by dint of steadfast application.由于坚持不懈的努力他获得了学业上的成功。
44 touching sg6zQ9     
adj.动人的,使人感伤的
参考例句:
  • It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
  • His letter was touching.他的信很感人。
45 victoriously a34d33187c38ba45813dc0a2172578f7     
adv.获胜地,胜利地
参考例句:
  • Our technical revolution is blazing its way forward through all the difficulties and advancing victoriously. 我们的技术革命正在披荆斩棘,胜利前进。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • Ignace victoriously ascended the stairs and knocked on Kessler's door. 伊格内斯踌躇满志地登上楼梯,敲响了凯斯勒的房门。 来自辞典例句
46 gaily lfPzC     
adv.欢乐地,高兴地
参考例句:
  • The children sing gaily.孩子们欢唱着。
  • She waved goodbye very gaily.她欢快地挥手告别。
47 groaned 1a076da0ddbd778a674301b2b29dff71     
v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 );发牢骚;抱怨;受苦
参考例句:
  • He groaned in anguish. 他痛苦地呻吟。
  • The cart groaned under the weight of the piano. 大车在钢琴的重压下嘎吱作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》
48 vivacious Dp7yI     
adj.活泼的,快活的
参考例句:
  • She is an artless,vivacious girl.她是一个天真活泼的女孩。
  • The picture has a vivacious artistic conception.这幅画气韵生动。
49 distress 3llzX     
n.苦恼,痛苦,不舒适;不幸;vt.使悲痛
参考例句:
  • Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
  • Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。
50 attired 1ba349e3c80620d3c58c9cc6c01a7305     
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 )
参考例句:
  • The bride was attired in white. 新娘穿一身洁白的礼服。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • It is appropriate that everyone be suitably attired. 人人穿戴得体是恰当的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
51 wiles 9e4z1U     
n.(旨在欺骗或吸引人的)诡计,花招;欺骗,欺诈( wile的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • All her wiles were to persuade them to buy the goods. 她花言巧语想打动他们买这些货物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The woman used all her wiles to tempt him into following her. 那女人用尽了自己的诱骗本领勾引着他尾随而去。 来自《用法词典》
52 garbed 444f7292bad50cd579f38d7c8c5f1345     
v.(尤指某类人穿的特定)服装,衣服,制服( garb的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The widow was garbed in black. 那寡妇穿着黑衣服。 来自辞典例句
  • He garbed himself as a sailor. 他装扮成水手。 来自辞典例句
53 budge eSRy5     
v.移动一点儿;改变立场
参考例句:
  • We tried to lift the rock but it wouldn't budge.我们试图把大石头抬起来,但它连动都没动一下。
  • She wouldn't budge on the issue.她在这个问题上不肯让步。
54 puckered 919dc557997e8559eff50805cb11f46e     
v.(使某物)起褶子或皱纹( pucker的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • His face puckered , and he was ready to cry. 他的脸一皱,像要哭了。
  • His face puckered, the tears leapt from his eyes. 他皱着脸,眼泪夺眶而出。 来自《简明英汉词典》
55 mere rC1xE     
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过
参考例句:
  • That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
  • It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。
56 prescription u1vzA     
n.处方,开药;指示,规定
参考例句:
  • The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
  • The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。
57 bullying f23dd48b95ce083d3774838a76074f5f     
v.恐吓,威逼( bully的现在分词 );豪;跋扈
参考例句:
  • Many cases of bullying go unreported . 很多恐吓案件都没有人告发。
  • All cases of bullying will be severely dealt with. 所有以大欺小的情况都将受到严肃处理。 来自《简明英汉词典》
58 bully bully     
n.恃强欺弱者,小流氓;vt.威胁,欺侮
参考例句:
  • A bully is always a coward.暴汉常是懦夫。
  • The boy gave the bully a pelt on the back with a pebble.那男孩用石子掷击小流氓的背脊。
59 tyrant vK9z9     
n.暴君,专制的君主,残暴的人
参考例句:
  • The country was ruled by a despotic tyrant.该国处在一个专制暴君的统治之下。
  • The tyrant was deaf to the entreaties of the slaves.暴君听不到奴隶们的哀鸣。
60 agitated dzgzc2     
adj.被鼓动的,不安的
参考例句:
  • His answers were all mixed up,so agitated was he.他是那样心神不定,回答全乱了。
  • She was agitated because her train was an hour late.她乘坐的火车晚点一个小时,她十分焦虑。
61 daze vnyzH     
v.(使)茫然,(使)发昏
参考例句:
  • The blow on the head dazed him for a moment.他头上受了一击后就昏眩了片刻。
  • I like dazing to sit in the cafe by myself on Sunday.星期日爱独坐人少的咖啡室发呆。
62 drooped ebf637c3f860adcaaf9c11089a322fa5     
弯曲或下垂,发蔫( droop的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • Her eyelids drooped as if she were on the verge of sleep. 她眼睑低垂好像快要睡着的样子。
  • The flowers drooped in the heat of the sun. 花儿晒蔫了。
63 curiously 3v0zIc     
adv.有求知欲地;好问地;奇特地
参考例句:
  • He looked curiously at the people.他好奇地看着那些人。
  • He took long stealthy strides. His hands were curiously cold.他迈着悄没声息的大步。他的双手出奇地冷。
64 miserable g18yk     
adj.悲惨的,痛苦的;可怜的,糟糕的
参考例句:
  • It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他,这是可耻的。
  • Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。
65 courageously wvzz8b     
ad.勇敢地,无畏地
参考例句:
  • Under the correct leadership of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, the army and civilians in flooded areas fought the floods courageously, reducing the losses to the minimum. 在中共中央、国务院的正确领导下,灾区广大军民奋勇抗洪,把灾害的损失减少到了最低限度。
  • He fought death courageously though his life was draining away. 他虽然生命垂危,但仍然勇敢地与死亡作斗争。
66 daunt 8ybxL     
vt.使胆怯,使气馁
参考例句:
  • Danger did not daunt the hero.危险并没有吓倒这位英雄。
  • Even a greater natural calamity cannot daunt us.再大的自然灾害也压不垮我们。
67 resentment 4sgyv     
n.怨愤,忿恨
参考例句:
  • All her feelings of resentment just came pouring out.她一股脑儿倾吐出所有的怨恨。
  • She cherished a deep resentment under the rose towards her employer.她暗中对她的雇主怀恨在心。
68 contemptible DpRzO     
adj.可鄙的,可轻视的,卑劣的
参考例句:
  • His personal presence is unimpressive and his speech contemptible.他气貌不扬,言语粗俗。
  • That was a contemptible trick to play on a friend.那是对朋友玩弄的一出可鄙的把戏。
69 Bungler ad1b18bae4f5409f0ce16d6ab9c6c306     
n.笨拙者,经验不够的人
参考例句:
  • The critics were down on the author as an absurd bungler. 评论家把那位作家攻击为荒谬的拙劣作者。 来自互联网
  • Compared with him, I am a bungler. 与他相比,我只能算是一个笨拙的人。 来自互联网
70 monstrous vwFyM     
adj.巨大的;恐怖的;可耻的,丢脸的
参考例句:
  • The smoke began to whirl and grew into a monstrous column.浓烟开始盘旋上升,形成了一个巨大的烟柱。
  • Your behaviour in class is monstrous!你在课堂上的行为真是丢人!
71 presumptuous 6Q3xk     
adj.胆大妄为的,放肆的,冒昧的,冒失的
参考例句:
  • It would be presumptuous for anybody to offer such a view.任何人提出这种观点都是太放肆了。
  • It was presumptuous of him to take charge.他自拿主张,太放肆了。
72 sincerity zyZwY     
n.真诚,诚意;真实
参考例句:
  • His sincerity added much more authority to the story.他的真诚更增加了故事的说服力。
  • He tried hard to satisfy me of his sincerity.他竭力让我了解他的诚意。
73 incapable w9ZxK     
adj.无能力的,不能做某事的
参考例句:
  • He would be incapable of committing such a cruel deed.他不会做出这么残忍的事。
  • Computers are incapable of creative thought.计算机不会创造性地思维。
74 regain YkYzPd     
vt.重新获得,收复,恢复
参考例句:
  • He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
  • The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。
75 stoutly Xhpz3l     
adv.牢固地,粗壮的
参考例句:
  • He stoutly denied his guilt.他断然否认自己有罪。
  • Burgess was taxed with this and stoutly denied it.伯杰斯为此受到了责难,但是他自己坚决否认有这回事。
76 pang OKixL     
n.剧痛,悲痛,苦闷
参考例句:
  • She experienced a sharp pang of disappointment.她经历了失望的巨大痛苦。
  • She was beginning to know the pang of disappointed love.她开始尝到了失恋的痛苦。
77 morbid u6qz3     
adj.病的;致病的;病态的;可怕的
参考例句:
  • Some people have a morbid fascination with crime.一些人对犯罪有一种病态的痴迷。
  • It's morbid to dwell on cemeteries and such like.不厌其烦地谈论墓地以及诸如此类的事是一种病态。
78 loon UkPyS     
n.狂人
参考例句:
  • That guy's a real loon.那个人是个真正的疯子。
  • Everyone thought he was a loon.每个人都骂他神经。
79 torment gJXzd     
n.折磨;令人痛苦的东西(人);vt.折磨;纠缠
参考例句:
  • He has never suffered the torment of rejection.他从未经受过遭人拒绝的痛苦。
  • Now nothing aggravates me more than when people torment each other.没有什么东西比人们的互相折磨更使我愤怒。
80 wrestle XfLwD     
vi.摔跤,角力;搏斗;全力对付
参考例句:
  • He taught his little brother how to wrestle.他教他小弟弟如何摔跤。
  • We have to wrestle with difficulties.我们必须同困难作斗争。
81 rigid jDPyf     
adj.严格的,死板的;刚硬的,僵硬的
参考例句:
  • She became as rigid as adamant.她变得如顽石般的固执。
  • The examination was so rigid that nearly all aspirants were ruled out.考试很严,几乎所有的考生都被淘汰了。
82 steadily Qukw6     
adv.稳定地;不变地;持续地
参考例句:
  • The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
  • Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。
83 miserably zDtxL     
adv.痛苦地;悲惨地;糟糕地;极度地
参考例句:
  • The little girl was wailing miserably. 那小女孩难过得号啕大哭。
  • It was drizzling, and miserably cold and damp. 外面下着毛毛细雨,天气又冷又湿,令人难受。 来自《简明英汉词典》
84 confession 8Ygye     
n.自白,供认,承认
参考例句:
  • Her confession was simply tantamount to a casual explanation.她的自白简直等于一篇即席说明。
  • The police used torture to extort a confession from him.警察对他用刑逼供。
85 implored 0b089ebf3591e554caa381773b194ff1     
恳求或乞求(某人)( implore的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • She implored him to stay. 她恳求他留下。
  • She implored him with tears in her eyes to forgive her. 她含泪哀求他原谅她。
86 determined duszmP     
adj.坚定的;有决心的
参考例句:
  • I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
  • He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。


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