The weeks went on and Passover drew nigh. The recurrence1 of the feast brought no thrill to Esther now. It was no longer a charmed time, with strange things to eat and drink, and a comparative plenty of them--stranger still. Lack of appetite was the chief dietary want now. Nobody had any best clothes to put on in a world where everything was for the best in the way of clothes. Except for the speckled Passover cakes, there was hardly any external symptom of the sacred Festival. While the Ghetto2 was turning itself inside out, the Kensington Terrace was calm in the dignity of continuous cleanliness. Nor did Henry Goldsmith himself go prowling about the house in quest of vagrant3 crumbs4. Mary O'Reilly attended to all that, and the Goldsmiths had implicit5 confidence in her fidelity6 to the traditions of their faith. Wherefore, the evening of the day before Passover, instead of being devoted7 to frying fish and provisioning, was free for more secular8 occupations; Esther, for example, had arranged to go to see the _debut_ of a new Hamlet with Addie. Addie had asked her to go, mentioned that Raphael, who was taking her, had suggested that she should bring her friend. For they had become great friends, had Addie and Esther, ever since Esther had gone to take that cup of tea, with the chat that is more essential than milk or sugar.
The girls met or wrote every week. Raphael, Esther never met nor heard from directly. She found Addie a sweet, lovable girl, full of frank simplicity9 and unquestioning piety10. Though dazzlingly beautiful, she had none of the coquetry which Esther, with a touch of jealousy11, had been accustomed to associate with beauty, and she had little of the petty malice12 of girlish gossip. Esther summed her up as Raphael's heart without his head. It was unfair, for Addie's own head was by no means despicable. But Esther was not alone in taking eccentric opinions as the touchstone of intellectual vigor13. Anyhow, she was distinctly happier since Addie had come into her life, and she admired her as a mountain torrent14 might admire a crystal pool--half envying her happier temperament15.
The Goldsmiths were just finishing dinner, when the expected ring came. To their surprise, the ringer was Sidney. He was shown into the dining-room.
"Good evening, all," he said. "I've come as a substitute for Raphael."
Esther grew white. "Why, what has happened to him?" she asked.
"Nothing, I had a telegram to say he was unexpectedly detained in the city, and asking me to take Addie and to call for you."
Esther turned from white to red. How rude of Raphael! How disappointing not to meet him, after all! And did he think she could thus unceremoniously be handed over to somebody else? She was about to beg to be excused, when it struck her a refusal would look too pointed16. Besides, she did not fear Sidney now. It would be a test of her indifference17. So she murmured instead, "What can detain him?"
"Charity, doubtless. Do you know, that after he is fagged out with upholding the _Flag_ from early morning till late eve, he devotes the later eve to gratuitous18 tuition, lecturing and the like."
"No," said Esther, softened19. "I knew he came home late, but I thought he had to report communal20 meetings."
"That, too. But Addie tells me he never came home at all one night last week. He was sitting up with some wretched dying pauper21."
"He'll kill himself," said Esther, anxiously.
"People are right about him. He is quite hopeless," said Percy Saville, the solitary22 guest, tapping his forehead significantly.
"Perhaps it is we who are hopeless," said Esther, sharply.
"I wish we were all as sensible," said Mrs. Henry Goldsmith, turning on the unhappy stockbroker23 with her most superior air. "Mr. Leon always reminds me of Judas Maccabaeus."
He shrank before the blaze of her mature beauty, the fulness of her charms revealed by her rich evening dress, her hair radiating strange, subtle perfume. His eye sought Mr. Goldsmith's for refuge and consolation24.
"That is so," said Mr. Goldsmith, rubbing his red chin. "He is an excellent young man."
"May I trouble you to put on your things at once, Miss Ansell?" said Sidney. "I have left Addie in the carriage, and we are rather late. I believe it is usual for ladies to put on 'things,' even when in evening dress. I may mention that there is a bouquet25 for you in the carriage, and, however unworthy a substitute I may be for Raphael, I may at least claim he would have forgotten to bring you that."
Esther smiled despite herself as she left the room to get her cloak. She was chagrined26 and disappointed, but she resolved not to inflict27 her ill-humor on her companions.
She had long since got used to carriages, and when they arrived at the theatre, she took her seat in the box without heart-fluttering. It was an old discovery now that boxes had no connection with oranges nor stalls with costers' barrows.
"I wish Mr. Shakspeare would write a new play," grumbled29 Sidney. "All these revivals30 make him lazy. Heavens! what his fees must tot up to! If I were not sustained by the presence of you two girls, I should no more survive the fifth act than most of the characters. Why don't they brighten the piece up with ballet-girls?"
"Yes, I suppose you blessed Mr. Leon when you got his telegram," said Esther. "What a bore it must be to you to be saddled with his duties!"
"Awful!" admitted Sidney gravely. "Besides, it interferes32 with my work."
"Work?" said Addie. "You know you only work by sunlight."
"Yes, that's the best of my profession--in England. It gives you such opportunities of working--at other professions."
"Why, what do you work at?" inquired Esther, laughing.
"Well, there's amusement, the most difficult of all things to achieve! Then there's poetry. You don't know what a dab33 I am at rondeaux and barcarolles. And I write music, too, lovely little serenades to my lady-loves and reveries that are like dainty pastels."
"All the talents!" said Addie, looking at him with a fond smile. "But if you have any time to spare from the curling of your lovely silken moustache, which is entirely34 like a delicate pastel, will you kindly35 tell me what celebrities36 are present?"
"Yes, do," added Esther, "I have only been to two first nights, and then I had nobody to point out the lions."
"Well, first of all I see a very celebrated37 painter in a box--a man who has improved considerably38 on the weak draughtsmanship displayed by Nature in her human figures, and the amateurishness39 of her glaring sunsets."
"Who's that?" inquired Addie and Esther eagerly.
"I think he calls himself Sidney Graham--but that of course is only a _nom de pinceau_."
"Oh!" said, the girls, with a reproachful smile.
"Do be serious!" said Esther. "Who is that stout40 gentleman with the bald head?" She peered down curiously41 at the stalls through her opera-glass.
"What, the lion without the mane? That's Tom Day, the dramatic critic of a dozen papers. A terrible Philistine42. Lucky for Shakspeare he didn't flourish in Elizabethan times."
He rattled43 on till the curtain rose and the hushed audience settled down to the enjoyment45 of the tragedy.
"This looks as if it is going to be the true Hamlet," said Esther, after the first act.
"The Hamlet for whom life is at once too big and too little," said Esther.
"And who was at once mad and sane," laughed Sidney. "The plain truth is that Shakspeare followed the old tale, and what you take for subtlety48 is but the blur49 of uncertain handling. Aha! You look shocked. Have I found your religion at last?"
"No; my reverence50 for our national bard51 is based on reason," rejoined Esther seriously. "To conceive Hamlet, the typical nineteenth-century intellect, in that bustling52 picturesque53 Elizabethan time was a creative feat54 bordering on the miraculous55. And then, look at the solemn inexorable march of destiny in his tragedies, awful as its advance in the Greek dramas. Just as the marvels56 of the old fairy-tales were an instinctive57 prevision of the miracles of modern science, so this idea of destiny seems to me an instinctive anticipation58 of the formulas of modern science. What we want to-day is a dramatist who shall show us the great natural silent forces, working the weal and woe59 of human life through the illusions of consciousness and free will."
"What you want to-night, Miss Ansell, is black coffee," said Sidney, "and I'll tell the attendant to get you a cup, for I dragged you away from dinner before the crown and climax60 of the meal; I have always noticed myself that when I am interrupted in my meals, all sorts of bugbears, scientific or otherwise, take possession of my mind."
He called the attendant.
"Esther has the most nonsensical opinions," said Addie gravely. "As if people weren't responsible for their actions! Do good and all shall be well with thee, is sound Bible teaching and sound common sense."
"Yes, but isn't it the Bible that says, 'The fathers have eaten a sour grape and the teeth of the children are set on edge'?" Esther retorted.
"Not at all, Addie," said Esther. "The Bible is a literature, not a book. If you choose to bind62 Tennyson and Milton in one volume that doesn't make them a book. And you can't complain if you find contradictions in the text. Don't you think the sour grape text the truer, Mr. Graham?"
"Don't ask me, please. I'm prejudiced against anything that appears in the Bible."
In his flippant way Sidney spoke63 the truth. He had an almost physical repugnance64 for his fathers' ways of looking at things.
"I think you're the two most wicked people in the world," exclaimed Addie gravely.
"We are," said Sidney lightly. "I wonder you consent to sit in the same box with us. How you can find my company endurable I can never make out."
Addie's lovely face flushed and her lip quivered a little.
"It's your friend who's the wickeder of the two," pursued Sidney. "For she's in earnest and I'm not. Life's too short for us to take the world's troubles on our shoulders, not to speak of the unborn millions. A little light and joy, the flush of sunset or of a lovely woman's face, a fleeting65 strain of melody, the scent66 of a rose, the flavor of old wine, the flash of a jest, and ah, yes, a cup of coffee--here's yours, Miss Ansell--that's the most we can hope for in life. Let us start a religion with one commandment: 'Enjoy thyself.'"
"Then why not start it if you wish to reform the world," asked Sidney. "All religions survive merely by being broken. With only one commandment to break, everybody would jump at the chance. But so long as you tell people they mustn't enjoy themselves, they will, it's human nature, and you can't alter that by Act of Parliament or Confession69 of Faith. Christ ran amuck70 at human nature, and human nature celebrates his birthday with pantomimes."
"Christ understood human nature better than the modern young man," said Esther scathingly, "and the proof lies in the almost limitless impress he has left on history."
"Oh, that was a fluke," said Sidney lightly. "His real influence is only superficial. Scratch the Christian71 and you find the Pagan--spoiled."
"He divined by genius what science is slowly finding out," said Esther, "when he said, 'Forgive them for they know not what they do'!--"
Sidney laughed heartily72. "That seems to be your King Charles's head--seeing divinations of modern science in all the old ideas. Personally I honor him for discovering that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. Strange he should have stopped half-way to the truth!"
"What is the truth?" asked Addie curiously.
"Why, that morality was made for man, not man for morality," said Sidney. "That chimera73 of meaningless virtue74 which the Hebrew has brought into the world is the last monster left to slay75. The Hebrew view of life is too one-sided. The Bible is a literature without a laugh in it. Even Raphael thinks the great Radical76 of Galilee carried spirituality too far."
"Yes, he thinks he would have been reconciled to the Jewish doctors and would have understood them better," said Addie, "only he died so young."
"That's a good way of putting it!" said Sidney admiringly. "One can see Raphael is my cousin despite his religious aberrations77. It opens up new historical vistas78. Only it is just like Raphael to find excuses for everybody, and Judaism in everything. I am sure he considers the devil a good Jew at heart; if he admits any moral obliquity79 in him, he puts it down to the climate."
This made Esther laugh outright80, even while there were tears for Raphael in the laugh. Sidney's intellectual fascination81 reasserted itself over her; there seemed something inspiring in standing82 with him on the free heights that left all the clogging83 vapors84 and fogs of moral problems somewhere below; where the sun shone and the clear wind blew and talk was a game of bowls with Puritan ideals for ninepins. He went on amusing her till the curtain rose, with a pretended theory of Mohammedology which he was working at. Just as for the Christian Apologist the Old Testament85 was full of hints of the New, so he contended was the New Testament full of foreshadowings of the Koran, and he cited as a most convincing text, "In Heaven, there shall be no marrying, nor giving in marriage." He professed86 to think that Mohammedanism was the dark horse that would come to the front in the race of religions and win in the west as it had won in the east.
"There's a man staring dreadfully at you, Esther," said Addie, when the curtain fell on the second act.
"Nonsense!" said Esther, reluctantly returning from the realities of the play to the insipidities of actual life. "Whoever it is, it must be at you."
She looked affectionately at the great glorious creature at her side, tall and stately, with that winning gentleness of expression which spiritualizes the most voluptuous88 beauty. Addie wore pale sea-green, and there were lilies of the valley at her bosom89, and a diamond star in her hair. No man could admire her more than Esther, who felt quite vain of her friend's beauty and happy to bask90 in its reflected sunshine. Sidney followed her glance and his cousin's charms struck him with almost novel freshness. He was so much with Addie that he always took her for granted. The semi-unconscious liking91 he had for her society was based on other than physical traits. He let his eyes rest upon her for a moment in half-surprised appreciation92, figuring her as half-bud, half-blossom. Really, if Addie had not been his cousin and a Jewess! She was not much of a cousin, when he came to cipher93 it out, but then she was a good deal of a Jewess!
"I'm sure it's you he's staring at," persisted Addie.
"Don't be ridiculous," persisted Esther. "Which man do you mean?"
"There! The fifth row of stalls, the one, two, four, seven, the seventh man from the end! He's been looking at you all through, but now he's gone in for a good long stare. There! next to that pretty girl in pink."
"Do you mean the young man with the dyed carnation94 in his buttonhole and the crimson95 handkerchief in his bosom?"
"Yes, that's the one. Do you know him?"
"No," said Esther, lowering her eyes and looking away. But when Addie informed her that the young man had renewed his attentions to the girl in pink, she levelled her opera-glass at him. Then she shook her head.
"There seems something familiar about his face, but I cannot for the life of me recall who it is."
"The something familiar about his face is his nose," said Addie laughing, "for it is emphatically Jewish."
"At that rate," said Sidney, "nearly half the theatre would be familiar, including a goodly proportion of the critics, and Hamlet and Ophelia themselves. But I know the fellow."
"You do? Who is he?" asked the girls eagerly.
"I don't know. He's one of the mashers of the _Frivolity_. I'm another, and so we often meet. But we never speak as we pass by. To tell the truth, I resent him."
"It's wonderful how fond Jews are of the theatre," said Esther, "and how they resent other Jews going."
"Thank you," said Sidney. "But as I'm not a Jew the arrow glances off."
"Not a Jew?" repeated Esther in amaze.
"No. Not in the current sense. I always deny I'm a Jew."
"Because it would be a lie to say I was. It would be to produce a false impression. The conception of a Jew in the mind of the average Christian is a mixture of Fagin, Shylock, Rothschild and the caricatures of the American comic papers. I am certainly not like that, and I'm not going to tell a lie and say I am. In conversation always think of your audience. It takes two to make a truth. If an honest man told an old lady he was an atheist98, that would be a lie, for to her it would mean he was a dissolute reprobate99. To call myself 'Abrahams' would be to live a daily lie. I am not a bit like the picture called up by Abrahams. Graham is a far truer expression of myself."
"Extremely ingenious," said Esther smiling. "But ought you not rather to utilize100 yourself for the correction of the portrait of Abrahams?"
Sidney shrugged101 his shoulders. "Why should I subject myself to petty martyrdom for the sake of an outworn creed102 and a decaying sect103?"
"We are not decaying," said Addie indignantly.
"Personally you are blossoming," said Sidney, with a mock bow. "But nobody can deny that our recent religious history has been a series of dissolving views. Look at that young masher there, who is still ogling104 your fascinating friend; rather, I suspect, to the annoyance105 of the young lady in pink, and compare him with the old hard-shell Jew. When I was a lad named Abrahams, painfully training in the way I wasn't going to go, I got an insight into the lives of my ancestors. Think of the people who built up the Jewish prayer-book, who added line to line and precept106 to precept, and whose whole thought was intertwined with religion, and then look at that young fellow with the dyed carnation and the crimson silk handkerchief, who probably drives a drag to the Derby, and for aught I know runs a music hall. It seems almost incredible he should come of that Puritan old stock."
"Not at all," said Esther. "If you knew more of our history, you would see it is quite normal. We were always hankering after the gods of the heathen, and we always loved magnificence; remember our Temples. In every land we have produced great merchants and rulers, prime-ministers, viziers, nobles. We built castles in Spain (solid ones) and palaces in Venice. We have had saints and sinners, free livers and ascetics107, martyrs108 and money-lenders. Polarity, Graetz calls the self-contradiction which runs through our history. I figure the Jew as the eldest-born of Time, touching109 the Creation and reaching forward into the future, the true _blase_ of the Universe; the Wandering Jew who has been everywhere, seen everything, done everything, led everything, thought everything and suffered everything."
"Bravo, quite a bit of Beaconsfieldian fustian," said Sidney laughing, yet astonished. "One would think you were anxious to assert yourself against the ancient peerage of this mushroom realm."
"It is the bare historical truth," said Esther, quietly. "We are so ignorant of our own history--can we wonder at the world's ignorance of it? Think of the part the Jew has played--Moses giving the world its morality, Jesus its religion, Isaiah its millennial110 visions, Spinoza its cosmic philosophy, Ricardo its political economy, Karl Marx and Lassalle its socialism, Heine its loveliest poetry, Mendelssohn its most restful music, Rachael its supreme111 acting--and then think of the stock Jew of the American comic papers! There lies the real comedy, too deep for laughter."
"Yes, but most of the Jews you mention were outcasts or apostates," retorted Sidney. "There lies the real tragedy, too deep for tears. Ah, Heine summed it up best: 'Judaism is not a religion; it is a misfortune.' But do you wonder at the intolerance of every nation towards its Jews? It is a form of homage112. Tolerate them and they spell 'Success,' and patriotism113 is an ineradicable prejudice. Since when have you developed this extraordinary enthusiasm for Jewish history? I always thought you were an anti-Semite."
Esther blushed and meditatively114 sniffed115 at her bouquet, but fortunately the rise of the curtain relieved her of the necessity far a reply. It was only a temporary relief, however, for the quizzical young artist returned to the subject immediately the act was over.
"I know you're in charge of the aesthetic116 department of the _Flag_," he said. "I had no idea you wrote the leaders."
"Don't be absurd!" murmured Esther.
"I always told Addie Raphael could never write so eloquently117; didn't I, Addie? Ah, I see you're blushing to find it fame, Miss Ansell."
Esther laughed, though a bit annoyed. "How can you suspect me of writing orthodox leaders?" she asked.
"Well, who else _is_ there?" urged Sidney, with mock _naivete_. "I went down there once and saw the shanty118. The editorial sanctum was crowded. Poor Raphael was surrounded by the queerest looking set of creatures I ever clapped eyes on. There was a quaint119 lunatic in a check suit, describing his apocalyptic120 visions; a dragoman with sore eyes and a grievance121 against the Board of Guardians122; a venerable son of Jerusalem with a most artistic123 white beard, who had covered the editorial table with carved nick-nacks in olive and sandal-wood; an inventor who had squared the circle and the problem of perpetual motion, but could not support himself; a Roumanian exile with a scheme for fertilizing124 Palestine; and a wild-eyed hatchet-faced Hebrew poet who told me I was a famous patron of learning, and sent me his book soon after with a Hebrew inscription125 which I couldn't read, and a request for a cheque which I didn't write. I thought I just capped the company of oddities, when in came a sallow red-haired chap, with the extraordinary name of Karlkammer, and kicked up a deuce of a shine with Raphael for altering his letter. Raphael mildly hinted that the letter was written in such unintelligible126 English that he had to grapple with it for an hour before he could reduce it to the coherence127 demanded of print. But it was no use; it seems Raphael had made him say something heterodox he didn't mean, and he insisted on being allowed to reply to his own letter! He had brought the counter-blast with him; six sheets of foolscap with all the t's uncrossed, and insisted on signing it with his own name. I said, 'Why not? Set a Karlkammer to answer to a Karlkammer.' But Raphael said it would make the paper a laughing-stock, and between the dread87 of that and the consciousness of having done the man a wrong, he was quite unhappy. He treats all his visitors with angelic consideration, when in another newspaper office the very office-boy would snub them. Of course, nobody has a bit of consideration for him or his time or his purse."
"Poor Raphael!" murmured Esther, smiling sadly at the grotesque128 images conjured129 up by Sidney's description.
"I go down there now whenever I want models," concluded Sidney gravely.
"Well, it is only right to hear what those poor people have to say," Addie observed. "What is a paper for except to right wrongs?"
"Raphael's doesn't," retorted Addie.
"Of course not," laughed Sidney. "It never will, so long as there's a conscientious131 editor at the helm. Raphael flatters nobody and reserves his praises for people with no control of the communal advertisements. Why, it quite preys132 upon his mind to think that he is linked to an advertisement canvasser133 with a gorgeous imagination, who goes about representing to the unwary Christian that the _Flag_ has a circulation of fifteen hundred."
"Yes," said Sidney, "I think he salves his conscience by an extra hour's slumming in the evening. Most religious folks do their moral book-keeping by double entry. Probably that's why he's not here to-night."
"It's too bad!" said Addie, her face growing grave again. "He comes home so late and so tired that he always falls asleep over his books."
"I don't wonder," laughed Sidney. "Look what he reads! Once I found him nodding peacefully over Thomas a Kempis."
"Oh, he often reads that," said Addie. "When we wake him up and tell him to go to bed, he says he wasn't sleeping, but thinking, turns over a page and falls asleep again."
They all laughed.
"Oh, he's a famous sleeper," Addie continued. "It's as difficult to get him out of bed as into it. He says himself he's an awful lounger and used to idle away whole days before he invented time-tables. Now, he has every hour cut and dried--he says his salvation135 lies in regular hours."
"Addie, Addie, don't tell tales out of school," said Sidney.
"Why, what tales?" asked Addie, astonished. "Isn't it rather to his credit that he has conquered his bad habits?"
"Undoubtedly136; but it dissipates the poetry in which I am sure Miss Ansell was enshrouding him. It shears137 a man of his heroic proportions, to hear he has to be dragged out of bed. These things should be kept in the family."
Esther stared hard at the house. Her cheeks glowed as if the limelight man had turned his red rays on them. Sidney chuckled138 mentally over his insight. Addie smiled.
"Oh, nonsense. I'm sure Esther doesn't think less of him because he keeps a time-table."
"You forget your friend has what you haven't--artistic instinct. It's ugly. A man should be a man, not a railway system. If I were you, Addie, I'd capture that time-table, erase139 lecturing and substitute 'cricketing.' Raphael would never know, and every afternoon, say at 2 P.M., he'd consult his time-table, and seeing he had to cricket, he'd take up his stumps140 and walk to Regent's Park."
"Yes, but he can't play cricket," said Esther, laughing and glad of the opportunity.
"Oh, can't he?" Sidney whistled. "Don't insult him by telling him that. Why, he was in the Harrow eleven and scored his century in the match with Eton; those long arms of his send the ball flying as if it were a drawing-room ornament141."
"Oh yes," affirmed Addie. "Even now, cricket is his one temptation."
Esther was silent. Her Raphael seemed toppling to pieces. The silence seemed to communicate itself to her companions. Addie broke it by sending Sidney to smoke a cigarette in the lobby. "Or else I shall feel quite too selfish," she said. "I know you're just dying to talk to some sensible people. Oh, I beg your pardon, Esther."
"Yes, do go," said Esther. "There's six or seven minutes more interval144. This is the longest wait."
"Ladies' will is my law," said Sidney, gallantly145, and, taking a cigarette case from his cloak, which was hung on a peg146 at the back of a box, he strolled out. "Perhaps," he said, "I shall skip some Shakspeare if I meet a congenial intellectual soul to gossip with."
He had scarce been gone two minutes when there came a gentle tapping at the door and, the visitor being invited to come in, the girls were astonished to behold147 the young gentleman with the dyed carnation and the crimson silk handkerchief. He looked at Esther with an affable smile.
"Don't you remember me?" he said. The ring of his voice woke some far-off echo in her brain. But no recollection came to her.
"I remembered you almost at once," he went on, in a half-reproachful tone, "though I didn't care about coming up while you had another fellow in the box. Look at me carefully, Esther."
The sound of her name on the stranger's lips set all the chords of memory vibrating--she looked again at the dark oval face with the aquiline148 nose, the glittering eyes, the neat black moustache, the close-shaved cheeks and chin, and in a flash the past resurged and she murmured almost incredulously, "Levi!"
The young man got rather red. "Ye-e-s!" he stammered149. "Allow me to present you my card." He took it out of a little ivory case and handed it to her. It read, "Mr. Leonard James."
An amused smile flitted over Esther's face, passing into one of welcome. She was not at all displeased150 to see him.
"Addie," she said. "This is Mr. Leonard James, a friend I used to know in my girlhood."
"Yes, we were boys together, as the song says," said Leonard James, smiling facetiously151.
Addie inclined her head in the stately fashion which accorded so well with her beauty and resumed her investigation152 of the stalls. Presently she became absorbed in a tender reverie induced by the passionate153 waltz music and she forgot all about Esther's strange visitor, whose words fell as insensibly on her ears as the ticking of a familiar clock. But to Esther, Leonard James's conversation was full of interest. The two ugly ducklings of the back-pond had become to all appearance swans of the ornamental154 water, and it was natural that they should gabble of auld155 lang syne156 and the devious157 routes by which they had come together again.
"You see, I'm like you, Esther," explained the young man. "I'm not fitted for the narrow life that suits my father and mother and my sister. They've got no ideas beyond the house, and religion, and all that sort of thing. What do you think my father wanted me to be? A minister! Think of it! Ha! ha! ha! Me a minister! I actually did go for a couple of terms to Jews' College. Oh, yes, you remember! Why, I was there when you were a school-teacher and got taken up by the swells159. But our stroke of fortune came soon after yours. Did you never hear of it? My, you must have dropped all your old acquaintances if no one ever told you that! Why, father came in for a couple of thousand pounds! I thought I'd make you stare. Guess who from?"
"I give it up," said Esther.
"Thank you. It was never yours to give," said Leonard, laughing jovially160 at his wit. "Old Steinwein--you remember his death. It was in all the papers; the eccentric old buffer161, who was touched in the upper story, and used to give so much time and money to Jewish affairs, setting up lazy old rabbis in Jerusalem to shake themselves over their Talmuds. You remember his gifts to the poor--six shillings sevenpence each because he was seventy-nine years old and all that. Well, he used to send the pater a basket of fruit every _Yomtov_. But he used to do that to every Rabbi, all around, and my old man had not the least idea he was the object of special regard till the old chap pegged162 out. Ah, there's nothing like Torah, after all."
"You don't know what you may have lost through not becoming a minister," suggested Esther slily.
"Ah, but I know what I've gained. Do you think I could stand having my hands and feet tied with phylacteries?" asked Leonard, becoming vividly163 metaphoric164 in the intensity165 of his repugnance to the galling166 bonds of orthodoxy. "Now, I do as I like, go where I please, eat what I please. Just fancy not being able to join fellows at supper, because you mustn't eat oysters167 or steak? Might as well go into a monastery168 at once. All very well in ancient Jerusalem, where everybody was rowing in the same boat. Have you ever tasted pork, Esther?"
"No," said Esther, with a faint smile.
"I have," said Leonard. "I don't say it to boast, but I have had it times without number. I didn't like it the first time--thought it would choke me, you know, but that soon wears off. Now I breakfast off ham and eggs regularly. I go the whole hog169, you see. Ha! ha! ha!"
"If I didn't see from your card you're not living at home, that would have apprised170 me of it," said Esther.
"Of course, I couldn't live at home. Why the guvnor couldn't bear to let me shave. Ha! ha! ha! Fancy a religion that makes you keep your hair on unless you use a depilatory. I was articled to a swell158 solicitor171. The old man resisted a long time, but he gave in at last, and let me live near the office."
"Ah, then I presume you came in for some of the two thousand, despite your non-connection with Torah?"
"There isn't much left of it now," said Leonard, laughing. "What's two thousand in seven years in London? There were over four hundred guineas swallowed up by the premium172, and the fees, and all that."
"Well, let us hope it'll all come back in costs."
"Well, between you and me," said Leonard, seriously, "I should be surprised if it does. You see, I haven't yet scraped through the Final; they're making the beastly exam. stiffer every year. No, it isn't to that quarter I look to recoup myself for the outlay173 on my education."
"No?" said Esther.
"No. Fact is--between you and me--I'm going to be an actor."
"Oh!" said Esther.
"Yes. I've played several times in private theatricals174; you know we Jews have a knack175 for the stage; you'd be surprised to know how many pros176 are Jews. There's heaps of money to be made now-a-days on the boards. I'm in with lots of 'em, and ought to know. It's the only profession where you don't want any training, and these law books are as dry as the Mishna the old man used to make me study. Why, they say to-night's 'Hamlet' was in a counting-house four years ago."
"I wish you success," said Esther, somewhat dubiously177. "And how is your sister Hannah? Is she married yet?"
"Married! Not she! She's got no money, and you know what our Jewish young men are. Mother wanted her to have the two thousand pounds for a dowry, but fortunately Hannah had the sense to see that it's the man that's got to make his way in the world. Hannah is always certain of her bread and butter, which is a good deal in these hard times. Besides, she's naturally grumpy, and she doesn't go out of her way to make herself agreeable to young men. It's my belief she'll die an old maid. Well, there's no accounting178 for tastes."
"And your father and mother?"
"They're all right, I believe. I shall see them to-morrow night--Passover, you know. I haven't missed a single _Seder_ at home," he said, with conscious virtue. "It's an awful bore, you know. I often laugh to think of the chappies' faces if they could see me leaning on a pillow and gravely asking the old man why we eat Passover cakes." He laughed now to think of it. "But I never miss; they'd cut up rough, I expect, if I did."
"Well, that's something in your favor," murmured Esther gravely.
He looked at her sharply; suddenly suspecting that his auditor179 was not perfectly180 sympathetic. She smiled a little at the images passing through her mind, and Leonard, taking her remark for badinage181, allowed his own features to relax to their original amiability182.
"You're not married, either, I suppose," he remarked.
"No," said Esther. "I'm like your sister Hannah."
He shook his head sceptically.
"Ah, I expect you'll be looking very high," he said.
"Nonsense," murmured Esther, playing with her bouquet.
A flash passed across his face, but he went on in the same tone. "Ah, don't tell me. Why shouldn't you? Why, you're looking perfectly charming to-night."
"Please, don't," said Esther, "Every girl looks perfectly charming when she's nicely dressed. Who and what am I? Nothing. Let us drop the subject."
"All right; but you _must_ have grand ideas, else you'd have sometimes gone to see my people as in the old days."
"When did I visit your people? You used to come and see me sometimes." A shadow of a smile hovered183 about the tremulous lips. "Believe me, I didn't consciously drop any of my old acquaintances. My life changed; my family went to America; later on I travelled. It is the currents of life, not their wills, that bear old acquaintances asunder184."
He seemed pleased with her sentiments and was about to say something, but she added: "The curtain's going up. Hadn't you better go down to your friend? She's been looking up at us impatiently."
"Oh, no, don't bother about her." said Leonard, reddening a little. "She--she won't mind. She's only--only an actress, you know, I have to keep in with the profession in case any opening should turn up. You never know. An actress may become a lessee185 at any moment. Hark! The orchestra is striking up again; the scene isn't set yet. Of course I'll go if you want me to!"
"No, stay by all means if you want to," murmured Esther. "We have a chair unoccupied."
"Do you expect that fellow Sidney Graham back?"
"Yes, sooner or later. But how do you know his name?" queried Esther in surprise.
"Everybody about town knows Sidney Graham, the artist. Why, we belong to the same club--the Flamingo--though he only turns up for the great glove-fights. Beastly cad, with all due respect to your friends, Esther. I was introduced to him once, but he stared at me next time so haughtily186 that I cut him dead. Do you know, ever since then I've suspected he's one of us; perhaps you can tell me, Esther? I dare say he's no more Sidney Graham than I am."
"Hush44!" said Esther, glancing warningly towards Addie, who, however, betrayed no sign of attention.
"Sister?" asked Leonard, lowering his voice to a whisper.
Esther shook her head. "Cousin; but Mr. Graham is a friend of mine as well and you mustn't talk of him like that."
"Ripping fine girl!" murmured Leonard irrelevantly187. "Wonder at his taste." He took a long stare at the abstracted Addie.
"What do you mean?" said Esther, her annoyance increasing. Her old friend's tone jarred upon her.
"Well, I don't know what he could see in the girl he's engaged to."
Esther's face became white. She looked anxiously towards the unconscious Addie.
"You are talking nonsense," she said, in a low cautious tone. "Mr. Graham is too fond of his liberty to engage himself to any girl."
Esther gave an impatient gesture of denial. She resented Leonard's rapid resumption of his olden familiarity.
"Then take care not to be," he said. "He's engaged privately189 to Miss Hannibal, a daughter of the M.P. Tom Sledge190, the sub-editor of the _Cormorant_, told me. You know they collect items about everybody and publish them at what they call the psychological moment. Graham goes to the Hannibals' every Saturday afternoon. They're very strict people; the father, you know, is a prominent Wesleyan and she's not the sort of girl to be played with."
"For Heaven's sake speak more softly," said Esther, though the orchestra was playing _fortissimo_ now and they had spoken so quietly all along that Addie could scarcely have heard without a special effort. "It can't be true; you are repeating mere68 idle gossip."
"Why, they know everything at the _Cormorant_," said Leonard, indignantly. "Do you suppose a man can take such a step as that without its getting known? Why, I shall be chaffed--enviously--about you two to-morrow! Many a thing the world little dreams of is an open secret in Club smoking-rooms. Generally more discreditable than Graham's, which must be made public of itself sooner or later."
To Esther's relief, the curtain rose. Addie woke up and looked round, but seeing that Sidney had not returned, and that Esther was still in colloquy192 with the invader193, she gave her attention to the stage. Esther could no longer bend her eye on the mimic194 tragedy; her eyes rested pityingly upon Addie's face, and Leonard's eyes rested admiringly upon Esther's. Thus Sidney found the group, when he returned in the middle of the act, to his surprise and displeasure. He stood silently at the back of the box till the act was over. Leonard James was the first to perceive him; knowing he had been telling tales about him, he felt uneasy under his supercilious195 gaze. He bade Esther good-bye, asking and receiving permission to call upon her. When he was gone, constraint196 fell upon the party. Sidney was moody197; Addie pensive198, Esther full of stifled199 wrath200 and anxiety. At the close of the performance Sidney took down the girls' wrappings from the pegs201. He helped Esther courteously202, then hovered over his cousin with a solicitude203 that brought a look of calm happiness into Addie's face, and an expression of pain into Esther's. As they moved slowly along the crowded corridors, he allowed Addie to get a few paces in advance. It was his last opportunity of saying a word to Esther alone.
"If I were you, Miss Ansell, I would not allow that cad to presume on any acquaintance he may have."
All the latent irritation204 in Esther's breast burst into flame at the idea of Sidney's constituting himself a judge.
"If I had not cultivated his acquaintance I should not have had the pleasure of congratulating you on your engagement," she replied, almost in a whisper. To Sidney it sounded like a shout. His color heightened; he was visibly taken aback.
"What are you talking about?" he murmured automatically.
"About your engagement to Miss Hannibal."
"That blackguard told you!" he whispered angrily, half to himself. "Well, what of it? I am not bound to advertise it, am I? It's my private business, isn't it? You don't expect me to hang a placard round my breast like those on concert-room chairs--'Engaged'!"
"Certainly not," said Esther. "But you might have told your friends, so as to enable them to rejoice sympathetically."
"You turn your sarcasm205 prettily," he said mildly, "but the sympathetic rejoicing was just what I wanted to avoid. You know what a Jewish engagement is, how the news spreads like wildfire from Piccadilly to Petticoat Lane, and the whole house of Israel gathers together to discuss the income and the prospects206 of the happy pair. I object to sympathetic rejoicing from the slums, especially as in this case it would probably be exchanged for curses. Miss Hannibal is a Christian, and for a Jew to embrace a Christian is, I believe, the next worse thing to his embracing Christianity, even when the Jew is a pagan." His wonted flippancy207 rang hollow. He paused suddenly and stole a look at his companion's face, in search of a smile, but it was pale and sorrowful. The flush on his own face deepened; his features expressed internal conflict. He addressed a light word to Addie in front. They were nearing the portico208; it was raining outside and a cold wind blew in to meet them; he bent209 his head down to the delicate little face at his side, and his tones were changed.
"Miss Ansell," he said tremulously, "if I have in any way misled you by my reticence210, I beg you to believe it was unintentionally. The memory of the pleasant quarters of an hour we have spent together will always--"
"Good God!" said Esther hoarsely211, her cheeks flaming, her ears tingling212. "To whom are you apologising?" He looked at her perplexed. "Why have you not told Addie?" she forced herself to say.
In the press of the crowd, on the edge of the threshold, he stood still. Dazzled as by a flash of lightning, he gazed at his cousin, her beautifully poised213 head, covered with its fleecy white shawl, dominating the throng214. The shawl became an aureole to his misty215 vision.
"Have you told her?" he whispered with answering hoarseness216.
"No," said Esther.
"Then don't tell her," he whispered eagerly.
"Then let it be later. Promise me this."
"No good can come of concealment218."
"Promise me, for a little while, till I give you leave."
His pleading, handsome face was close to hers. She wondered how she could ever have cared for a creature so weak and pitiful.
"So be it," she breathed.
"Miss Leon's carriage," bawled219 the commissionaire. There was a confusion of rain-beaten umbrellas, gleaming carriage-lamps, zigzag220 rejections221 on the black pavements, and clattering222 omnibuses full inside. But the air was fresh.
"Don't go into the rain, Addie," said Sidney, pressing forwards anxiously. "You're doing all my work to-night. Hallo! where did _you_ spring from?"
It was Raphael who had elicited223 the exclamation224. He suddenly loomed225 upon the party, bearing a decrepit226 dripping umbrella. "I thought I should be in time to catch you--and to apologize," he said, turning to Esther.
"Hold the umbrella over the girls, you beggar," said Sidney.
"Oh, I beg your pardon," said Raphael, poking228 the rim96 against a policeman's helmet in his anxiety to obey.
"Don't mention it," said Addie smiling.
Sidney laughed heartily.
"Quite a general amnesty," he said. "Ah! here's the carriage. Why didn't you get inside it out of the rain or stand in the entrance--you're wringing230 wet."
"I didn't think of it," said Raphael. "Besides, I've only been here a few minutes. The 'busses are so full when it rains I had to walk all the way from Whitechapel."
"You're incorrigible," grumbled Sidney. "As if you couldn't have taken a hansom."
"Why waste money?" said Raphael. They got into the carriage.
"Well, did you enjoy yourselves?" he asked cheerfully.
"Oh yes, thoroughly," said Sidney. "Addie wasted two pocket-handkerchiefs over Ophelia; almost enough to pay for that hansom. Miss Ansell doated on the finger of destiny and I chopped logic191 and swopped cigarettes with O'Donovan. I hope you enjoyed yourself equally."
Raphael responded with a melancholy231 smile. He was seated opposite Esther, and ever and anon some flash of light from the street revealed clearly his sodden232, almost shabby, garments and the weariness of his expression. He seemed quite out of harmony with the dainty pleasure-party, but just on that account the more in harmony with Esther's old image, the heroic side of him growing only more lovable for the human alloy233. She bent towards him at last and said: "I am sorry you were deprived of your evening's amusement. I hope the reason didn't add to the unpleasantness."
"It was nothing," he murmured awkwardly. "A little unexpected work. One can always go to the theatre."
"Ah, I am afraid you overwork yourself too much. You mustn't. Think of your own health."
His look softened. He was in a harassed234, sensitive state. The sympathy of her gentle accents, the concern upon the eager little face, seemed to flood his own soul with a self-compassion new to him.
"My health doesn't matter," he faltered235. There were sweet tears in his eyes, a colossal236 sense of gratitude237 at his heart. He had always meant to pity her and help her; it was sweeter to be pitied, though of course she could not help him. He had no need of help, and on second thoughts he wondered what room there was for pity.
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1
recurrence
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| n.复发，反复，重现 | |
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2
ghetto
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| n.少数民族聚居区，贫民区 | |
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3
vagrant
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| n.流浪者，游民；adj.流浪的，漂泊不定的 | |
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crumbs
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| int. (表示惊讶)哎呀 n. 碎屑 名词crumb的复数形式 | |
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5
implicit
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| a.暗示的，含蓄的，不明晰的，绝对的 | |
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6
fidelity
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| n.忠诚，忠实；精确 | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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8
secular
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| n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的 | |
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simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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10
piety
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| n.虔诚，虔敬 | |
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jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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malice
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| n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋 | |
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vigor
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| n.活力，精力，元气 | |
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torrent
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| n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发 | |
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15
temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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16
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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17
indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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18
gratuitous
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| adj.无偿的，免费的；无缘无故的，不必要的 | |
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19
softened
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| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
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20
communal
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| adj.公有的，公共的，公社的，公社制的 | |
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21
pauper
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| n.贫民，被救济者，穷人 | |
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22
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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23
stockbroker
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| n.股票（或证券），经纪人（或机构） | |
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consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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bouquet
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| n.花束，酒香 | |
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26
chagrined
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| adj.懊恼的，苦恼的v.使懊恼，使懊丧，使悔恨( chagrin的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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27
inflict
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| vt.(on)把…强加给，使遭受，使承担 | |
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28
overture
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| n.前奏曲、序曲，提议，提案，初步交涉 | |
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29
grumbled
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| 抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声 | |
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30
revivals
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| n.复活( revival的名词复数 )；再生；复兴；（老戏多年后）重新上演 | |
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addle
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| v.使腐坏，使昏乱 | |
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interferes
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| vi. 妨碍，冲突，干涉 | |
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33
dab
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| v.轻触，轻拍，轻涂；n.(颜料等的)轻涂 | |
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34
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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35
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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36
celebrities
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| n.（尤指娱乐界的）名人( celebrity的名词复数 )；名流；名声；名誉 | |
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37
celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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amateurishness
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| n.amateurish（业余的）的变形 | |
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41
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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42
philistine
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| n.庸俗的人；adj.市侩的，庸俗的 | |
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43
rattled
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| 慌乱的，恼火的 | |
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44
hush
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| int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静 | |
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45
enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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46
queried
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| v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 )；询问 | |
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47
cynically
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| adv.爱嘲笑地，冷笑地 | |
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48
subtlety
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| n.微妙，敏锐，精巧；微妙之处，细微的区别 | |
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49
blur
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| n.模糊不清的事物；vt.使模糊，使看不清楚 | |
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50
reverence
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| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
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51
bard
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| n.吟游诗人 | |
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bustling
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| adj.喧闹的 | |
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53
picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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54
feat
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| n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的 | |
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55
miraculous
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| adj.像奇迹一样的，不可思议的 | |
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56
marvels
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| n.奇迹( marvel的名词复数 )；令人惊奇的事物（或事例）；不平凡的成果；成就v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的第三人称单数 ) | |
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57
instinctive
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| adj.(出于)本能的；直觉的；(出于)天性的 | |
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58
anticipation
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| n.预期，预料，期望 | |
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59
woe
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| n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
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60
climax
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| n.顶点；高潮；v.(使)达到顶点 | |
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61
perplexed
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| adj.不知所措的 | |
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62
bind
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| vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬 | |
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63
spoke
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| 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 | |
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64
repugnance
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| n.嫌恶 | |
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65
fleeting
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| adj.短暂的，飞逝的 | |
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66
scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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67
disciples
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| n.信徒( disciple的名词复数 )；门徒；耶稣的信徒；（尤指）耶稣十二门徒之一 | |
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68
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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69
confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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70
amuck
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| ad.狂乱地 | |
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71
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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72
heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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73
chimera
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| n.神话怪物；梦幻 | |
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74
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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75
slay
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| v.杀死，宰杀，杀戮 | |
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76
radical
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| n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的 | |
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77
aberrations
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| n.偏差( aberration的名词复数 )；差错；脱离常规；心理失常 | |
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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
obliquity
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| n.倾斜度 | |
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80
outright
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| adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的 | |
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81
fascination
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| n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋 | |
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82
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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83
clogging
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| 堵塞，闭合 | |
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84
vapors
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| n.水汽，水蒸气，无实质之物( vapor的名词复数 )；自夸者；幻想 [药]吸入剂 [古]忧郁（症）v.自夸，（使）蒸发( vapor的第三人称单数 ) | |
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85
testament
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| n.遗嘱；证明 | |
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86
professed
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| 公开声称的，伪称的，已立誓信教的 | |
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87
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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88
voluptuous
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| adj.肉欲的，骄奢淫逸的 | |
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89
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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90
bask
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| vt.取暖，晒太阳，沐浴于 | |
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91
liking
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| n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢 | |
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92
appreciation
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| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
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93
cipher
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| n.零；无影响力的人；密码 | |
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94
carnation
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| n.康乃馨（一种花） | |
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95
crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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96
rim
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| n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界 | |
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97
justify
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| vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护 | |
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98
atheist
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| n.无神论者 | |
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99
reprobate
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| n.无赖汉；堕落的人 | |
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100
utilize
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| vt.使用，利用 | |
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101
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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102
creed
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| n.信条；信念，纲领 | |
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103
sect
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| n.派别，宗教，学派，派系 | |
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104
ogling
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| v.（向…）抛媚眼，送秋波( ogle的现在分词 ) | |
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105
annoyance
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| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
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106
precept
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| n.戒律；格言 | |
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107
ascetics
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| n.苦行者，禁欲者，禁欲主义者( ascetic的名词复数 ) | |
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108
martyrs
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| n.martyr的复数形式；烈士( martyr的名词复数 )；殉道者；殉教者；乞怜者（向人诉苦以博取同情） | |
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109
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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110
millennial
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| 一千年的，千福年的 | |
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111
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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112
homage
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| n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬 | |
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113
patriotism
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| n.爱国精神，爱国心，爱国主义 | |
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114
meditatively
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| adv.冥想地 | |
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115
sniffed
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| v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说 | |
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116
aesthetic
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| adj.美学的，审美的，有美感 | |
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117
eloquently
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| adv. 雄辩地(有口才地, 富于表情地) | |
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118
shanty
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| n.小屋，棚屋；船工号子 | |
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119
quaint
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| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
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120
apocalyptic
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| adj.预示灾祸的，启示的 | |
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121
grievance
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| n.怨愤，气恼，委屈 | |
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122
guardians
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| 监护人( guardian的名词复数 )； 保护者，维护者 | |
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123
artistic
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| adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的 | |
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124
fertilizing
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| v.施肥( fertilize的现在分词 ) | |
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125
inscription
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| n.（尤指石块上的）刻印文字，铭文，碑文 | |
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126
unintelligible
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| adj.无法了解的，难解的，莫明其妙的 | |
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127
coherence
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| n.紧凑；连贯；一致性 | |
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128
grotesque
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| adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物） | |
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129
conjured
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| 用魔术变出( conjure的过去式和过去分词 )； 祈求，恳求； 变戏法； （变魔术般地） 使…出现 | |
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130
primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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131
conscientious
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| adj.审慎正直的，认真的，本着良心的 | |
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132
preys
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| v.掠食( prey的第三人称单数 )；掠食；折磨；（人）靠欺诈为生 | |
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133
canvasser
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| n.挨户推销商品的推销员 | |
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134
lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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135
salvation
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| n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困 | |
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136
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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137
shears
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| n.大剪刀 | |
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138
chuckled
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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139
erase
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| v.擦掉；消除某事物的痕迹 | |
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140
stumps
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| （被砍下的树的）树桩( stump的名词复数 )； 残肢； （板球三柱门的）柱； 残余部分 | |
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141
ornament
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| v.装饰，美化；n.装饰，装饰物 | |
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142
squire
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| n.护卫, 侍从, 乡绅 | |
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143
dames
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| n.（在英国）夫人（一种封号），夫人（爵士妻子的称号）( dame的名词复数 )；女人 | |
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144
interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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145
gallantly
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| adv. 漂亮地，勇敢地，献殷勤地 | |
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146
peg
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| n.木栓，木钉；vt.用木钉钉，用短桩固定 | |
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147
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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148
aquiline
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| adj.钩状的，鹰的 | |
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149
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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150
displeased
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| a.不快的 | |
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151
facetiously
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| adv.爱开玩笑地；滑稽地，爱开玩笑地 | |
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152
investigation
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| n.调查，调查研究 | |
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153
passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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154
ornamental
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| adj.装饰的；作装饰用的；n.装饰品；观赏植物 | |
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155
auld
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| adj.老的，旧的 | |
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156
syne
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| adv.自彼时至此时，曾经 | |
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157
devious
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| adj.不坦率的，狡猾的；迂回的，曲折的 | |
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158
swell
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| vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强 | |
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159
swells
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| 增强( swell的第三人称单数 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情） | |
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160
jovially
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| adv.愉快地，高兴地 | |
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161
buffer
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| n.起缓冲作用的人(或物)，缓冲器；vt.缓冲 | |
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162
pegged
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| v.用夹子或钉子固定( peg的过去式和过去分词 )；使固定在某水平 | |
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163
vividly
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| adv.清楚地，鲜明地，生动地 | |
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164
metaphoric
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| adj. 使用隐喻的；比喻的；比喻意义的 | |
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165
intensity
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| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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166
galling
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| adj.难堪的,使烦恼的,使焦躁的 | |
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167
oysters
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| 牡蛎( oyster的名词复数 ) | |
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168
monastery
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| n.修道院，僧院，寺院 | |
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169
hog
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| n.猪；馋嘴贪吃的人；vt.把…占为己有，独占 | |
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170
apprised
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| v.告知，通知( apprise的过去式和过去分词 )；评价 | |
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171
solicitor
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| n.初级律师，事务律师 | |
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172
premium
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| n.加付款；赠品；adj.高级的；售价高的 | |
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173
outlay
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| n.费用，经费，支出；v.花费 | |
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174
theatricals
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| n.（业余性的）戏剧演出，舞台表演艺术；职业演员；戏剧的( theatrical的名词复数 )；剧场的；炫耀的；戏剧性的 | |
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175
knack
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| n.诀窍，做事情的灵巧的，便利的方法 | |
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176
pros
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| abbr.prosecuting 起诉；prosecutor 起诉人；professionals 自由职业者；proscenium （舞台）前部n.赞成的意见( pro的名词复数 )；赞成的理由；抵偿物；交换物 | |
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177
dubiously
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| adv.可疑地，怀疑地 | |
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178
accounting
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| n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表 | |
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179
auditor
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| n.审计员，旁听着 | |
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180
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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181
badinage
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| n.开玩笑，打趣 | |
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182
amiability
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| n.和蔼可亲的，亲切的，友善的 | |
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183
hovered
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| 鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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184
asunder
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| adj.分离的，化为碎片 | |
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185
lessee
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| n.（房地产的）租户 | |
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186
haughtily
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| adv. 傲慢地, 高傲地 | |
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187
irrelevantly
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| adv.不恰当地，不合适地；不相关地 | |
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188
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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189
privately
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| adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地 | |
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190
sledge
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| n.雪橇，大锤；v.用雪橇搬运，坐雪橇往 | |
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191
logic
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| n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性 | |
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192
colloquy
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| n.谈话，自由讨论 | |
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193
invader
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| n.侵略者，侵犯者，入侵者 | |
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194
mimic
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| v.模仿，戏弄；n.模仿他人言行的人 | |
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195
supercilious
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| adj.目中无人的，高傲的；adv.高傲地；n.高傲 | |
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196
constraint
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| n.(on)约束，限制；限制(或约束)性的事物 | |
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197
moody
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| adj.心情不稳的，易怒的，喜怒无常的 | |
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198
pensive
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| a.沉思的,哀思的,忧沉的 | |
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199
stifled
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|
| （使）窒息， （使）窒闷( stifle的过去式和过去分词 )； 镇压，遏制； 堵 | |
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200
wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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201
pegs
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| n.衣夹( peg的名词复数 )；挂钉；系帐篷的桩；弦钮v.用夹子或钉子固定( peg的第三人称单数 )；使固定在某水平 | |
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202
courteously
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| adv.有礼貌地，亲切地 | |
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203
solicitude
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| n.焦虑 | |
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204
irritation
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| n.激怒，恼怒，生气 | |
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205
sarcasm
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| n.讥讽，讽刺，嘲弄，反话 （adj.sarcastic） | |
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206
prospects
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| n.希望，前途(恒为复数) | |
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207
flippancy
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| n.轻率；浮躁；无礼的行动 | |
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208
portico
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| n.柱廊，门廊 | |
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209
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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210
reticence
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| n.沉默，含蓄 | |
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211
hoarsely
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| adv.嘶哑地 | |
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212
tingling
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| v.有刺痛感( tingle的现在分词 ) | |
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poised
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| a.摆好姿势不动的 | |
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214
throng
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| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
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misty
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| adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的 | |
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216
hoarseness
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| n.嘶哑， 刺耳 | |
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217
ooze
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| n.软泥，渗出物；vi.渗出，泄漏；vt.慢慢渗出，流露 | |
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218
concealment
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| n.隐藏, 掩盖，隐瞒 | |
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219
bawled
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| v.大叫，大喊( bawl的过去式和过去分词 )；放声大哭；大声叫出；叫卖（货物） | |
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zigzag
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| n.曲折，之字形；adj.曲折的，锯齿形的；adv.曲折地，成锯齿形地；vt.使曲折；vi.曲折前行 | |
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221
rejections
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| 拒绝( rejection的名词复数 )； 摒弃； 剔除物； 排斥 | |
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222
clattering
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| 发出咔哒声（clatter的现在分词形式） | |
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elicited
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| 引出，探出( elicit的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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224
exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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225
loomed
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| v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近 | |
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226
decrepit
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| adj.衰老的，破旧的 | |
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227
agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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228
poking
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| n. 刺，戳，袋 vt. 拨开，刺，戳 vi. 戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢 | |
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229
growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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230
wringing
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| 淋湿的，湿透的 | |
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231
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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sodden
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| adj.浑身湿透的；v.使浸透；使呆头呆脑 | |
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alloy
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| n.合金，(金属的)成色 | |
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234
harassed
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| adj. 疲倦的，厌烦的 动词harass的过去式和过去分词 | |
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235
faltered
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| （嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃 | |
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236
colossal
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| adj.异常的，庞大的 | |
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237
gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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