CHAPTER XX

 During the journey to town Adeline would talk of nothing but her intention to taste all the amusements which London had to offer. She asked numberless questions with the persistency¹ of an inquisitive² child, while Lottie modestly hid herself behind a copy of "Tit Bits," which had been bought for her.

 

"Now I will read out the names of the plays advertised in the 'Telegraph,'" she said, "and you must tell me what each is like, and whether the actors are good, and the actresses pretty, and things of that kind."

 

Richard entered with zest³ into the conversation. He was in a boisterous⁴ mood, and found her very willing to be diverted. Once, when he used a technical term, she stopped him: "Remember, I have never been to a theatre." On Sunday she had made the same remark several times. It seemed as if she liked to insist on the point.

 

The morning was delicious, full of light and freshness, and the torpid⁵ countryside through which the train swept at full speed suggested a gentle yet piquant⁶ contrast to the urban, gaslight themes which they were discussing. Though the sun shone with power, Adeline would not have the blinds drawn⁷, but sometimes she used the newspaper for a shade, or bent⁸ her head so that the broad brim of her hat might come between her eyes and the sunshine. After an hour the talk slackened somewhat. As Richard, from his seat opposite, looked now at Adeline and now at the landscape, a perfect content stole over him. He wished that the distance to London could have been multiplied tenfold, and rejoiced in every delay. Then he began to miss the purport⁹ of her questions, and she had to repeat them. He was examining his heart. "Is this love?" his thoughts ran. "Do I actually love her now,—now?"

 

When the train stopped at New Cross, and Richard said that they would be at London Bridge in a few minutes, she asked when he would go down to Carteret Street.

 

"Any time," he said.

 

"To-morrow night?"

 

He had hoped she would fix the same evening. "When is the theatre-going to commence?" he queried¹⁰.

 

She laughed vaguely¹¹: "Soon."

 

"Suppose I book seats for the Comedy?"

 

 

"We will talk about it to-morrow night."

 

It appeared that her desire for the relaxations¹² of town life had suddenly lost its instancy.

 

Immediately he reached the office he wrote a note to Mr. Clayton Vernon. Some three hundred pounds was coming to him under the will of William Vernon, and he had purposed to let Mr. Clayton Vernon invest this sum for him; but the letter asked that a cheque for £25 should be sent by return of post. Later in the afternoon he went to a tailor in Holborn, and ordered two suits of clothes.

 

He grew restless and introspective, vainly endeavouring to analyse his feeling towards Adeline. He wished that he had himself suggested that he should call on her that night, instead of allowing her to name Tuesday. When he got home, he looked at the letter which he had received from her a fortnight before, and then, enclosing it in a clean envelope, put it away carefully in his writing-case. He felt that he must preserve all her letters. The evening dragged itself out with desolating¹³ tedium¹⁴. Once he went downstairs intending to go to the theatre, but returned before he had unlatched the front door.

 

Mrs. Rowbotham laid his supper that evening, and he began to tell her about his holiday, mentioning, with fictitious¹⁵ naïveté, that he had spent it in the company of a young lady. Soon he gave the whole history of his acquaintance with the Akeds. She warmly praised his kindness towards Adeline.

 

"My Lily is keeping company with a young man," she said, after a pause; "a respectable young chap he is, a bus-conductor. This is his night off, and they're gone to the Promenade¹⁶ Concert. I didn't like her going at first, but, bless you, you have to give in. Young folk are young folk, all the world over.... But I must be getting downstairs again. I have to do everything myself to-night. Ah! when a girl falls in love, she forgets her mother. It's natural, I suppose. Well, Mr. Larch¹⁷, it will be your turn soon, I hope." With that she left the room quickly, missing Richard's hurried disclaimer.

 

"So you're engaged, Lily," he said to the girl next morning.

 

Lily blushed and nodded; and as he looked at her eyes, he poignantly¹⁸ longed for the evening.

该作者的其它作品
《老妇人的故事 The Old Wives' Tale》
《Clayhanger克雷亨格》

1 persistency   

n. 坚持(余辉, 时间常数)

参考例句：

• I was nettled by her persistency. 我被她的固执惹恼了。
• We should stick to and develop the heritage of persistency. 我们应坚持和发扬坚忍不拔的传统。

2 inquisitive   

adj.求知欲强的，好奇的，好寻根究底的

参考例句：

• Children are usually inquisitive.小孩通常很好问。
• A pat answer is not going to satisfy an inquisitive audience.陈腔烂调的答案不能满足好奇的听众。

3 zest   

n.乐趣；滋味，风味；兴趣

参考例句：

• He dived into his new job with great zest.他充满热情地投入了新的工作。
• He wrote his novel about his trip to Asia with zest.他兴趣浓厚的写了一本关于他亚洲之行的小说。

4 boisterous   

adj.喧闹的，欢闹的

参考例句：

• I don't condescend to boisterous displays of it.我并不屈就于它热热闹闹的外表。
• The children tended to gather together quietly for a while before they broke into boisterous play.孩子们经常是先静静地聚集在一起，不一会就开始吵吵嚷嚷戏耍开了。

5 torpid   

adj.麻痹的，麻木的，迟钝的

参考例句：

• He just walked and his mind drifted slowly like a torpid stream.他只是埋头走，脑袋里思想都凝滞了，有如一汪流不动的溪水。
• Even when he was awake he was completely torpid.他醒着的时候也完全麻木不动。

6 piquant   

adj.辛辣的，开胃的，令人兴奋的

参考例句：

• Bland vegetables are often served with a piquant sauce.清淡的蔬菜常以辛辣的沙司调味。
• He heard of a piquant bit of news.他听到了一则令人兴奋的消息。

7 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

8 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

9 purport   

n.意义，要旨，大要；v.意味著，做为...要旨，要领是...

参考例句：

• Many theories purport to explain growth in terms of a single cause.许多理论都标榜以单一的原因解释生长。
• Her letter may purport her forthcoming arrival.她的来信可能意味着她快要到了。

10 queried   

v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 )；询问

参考例句：

• She queried what he said. 她对他说的话表示怀疑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• \"What does he have to do?\" queried Chin dubiously. “他有什么心事？”琴向觉民问道，她的脸上现出疑惑不解的神情。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

11 vaguely   

adv.含糊地，暖昧地

参考例句：

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

12 relaxations   

n.消遣( relaxation的名词复数 )；松懈；松弛；放松

参考例句：

• Playing the piano is one of his favourite relaxations. 弹钢琴是他喜爱的一种消遣。 来自互联网
• Playing the paino is one of his favourite relaxations. 弹钢琴是他最喜爱的消遣之一。 来自互联网

13 desolating   

毁坏( desolate的现在分词 )； 极大地破坏； 使沮丧； 使痛苦

参考例句：

• Most desolating were those evenings the belle-mere had envisaged for them. 最最凄凉的要数婆婆给她们设计的夜晚。

14 tedium   

n.单调；烦闷

参考例句：

• We played games to relieve the tedium of the journey.我们玩游戏，来解除旅行的沉闷。
• In myself I could observe the following sources of tedium. 从我自己身上，我所观察到的烦闷的根源有下列一些。

15 fictitious   

adj.虚构的，假设的；空头的

参考例句：

• She invented a fictitious boyfriend to put him off.她虚构出一个男朋友来拒绝他。
• The story my mother told me when I was young is fictitious.小时候妈妈对我讲的那个故事是虚构的。

16 promenade   

n./v.散步

参考例句：

• People came out in smarter clothes to promenade along the front.人们穿上更加时髦漂亮的衣服，沿着海滨散步。
• We took a promenade along the canal after Sunday dinner.星期天晚饭后我们沿着运河散步。

17 larch   

n.落叶松

参考例句：

• This pine is called the larch.这棵松树是落叶松。
• I shall be under those larch trees.我将在那些落叶松下面。

18 poignantly   

参考例句：

• His story is told poignantly in the film, A Beautiful Mind, now showing here. 以他的故事拍成的电影《美丽境界》，正在本地上映。