Wonderful things happen. If anybody had foretold1 to Mrs. Tams that in her fifty-eighth year she would accede2 to the honourable3 order of the starched4 white cap, Mrs. Tams could not have credited the prophecy. But there she stood, in the lobby of the house at Bycars, frocked in black, with the strings5 of a plain but fine white apron6 stretched round her stoutness7, and the cap crowning her grey hair. It was Louis who had insisted on the cap, which Rachel had thought unnecessary and even snobbish8, and which Mrs. Tams had nervously9 deprecated. Not without pleasure, however, had both women yielded to his indeed unanswerable argument: "You can't possibly have a servant opening the door without a cap. It's unthinkable."
Thus in her latter years of grandmotherhood had Mrs. Tams cast off the sackcloth of the charwoman and become a glorious domestic servant, with a room of her own in the house, and no responsibilities beyond the house, and no right to leave the house save once a week, when she visited younger generations, who still took from her and gave nothing back. She owed the advancement10 to Rachel, who, quite unused to engaging servants, and alarmed by harrowing stories of the futility11 of registry offices and advertisements, had seen in Mrs. Tams the comfortable solution of a fearful problem. Louis would have preferred a younger, slimmer, nattier12, fluffier13 creature than Mrs. Tams, but was ready to be convinced that such as he wanted lived only in his fancy. Moreover, he liked Mrs. Tams, and would occasionally flatter her by a smack14 on the shoulder.
So in the April dusk Mrs. Tams stood in the windy lobby, and was full of vanity and the pride of life. She gazed forth15 in disdain16 at the little crowd of inquisitive17 idlers and infants that remained obstinately18 on the pavement hoping against hope that the afternoon's marvellous series of social phenomena19 was not over. She scorned the slatternly, stupid little crowd for its lack of manners. Yet she ought to have known, and she did know as well as any one, that though in Bursley itself people will pretend out of politeness that nothing unusual is afoot when something unusual most obviously is afoot, in the small suburbs of Bursley, such as Bycars, no human or divine power can prevent the populace from loosing its starved curiosity openly upon no matter what spectacle that may differ from the ordinary. Alas20! Mrs. Tams in the past had often behaved even as the simple members of that crowd. Nevertheless, all ceremonies being over, she shut the front door with haughtiness21, feeling glad that she was not as others are. And further, she was swollen22 and consequential23 because, without counting persons named Batchgrew, two visitors had come in a motor, and because at one supreme25 moment no less than two motors (including a Batchgrew motor) had been waiting together at the curb26 in front of her cleaned steps. Who could have foreseen this arrant27 snobbishness28 in the excellent child of nature, Mrs. Tams?
A far worse example of spiritual iniquity29 sat lolling on the Chesterfield in the parlour. Ignorance and simplicity30 and a menial imitativeness might be an excuse for Mrs. Tams; but not for Rachel, the mistress, the omniscient31, the all-powerful, the giver of good, who could make and unmake with a nod. Rachel sitting gorgeous on the Chesterfield amid an enormous twilit welter and litter of disarranged chairs and tables; empty teapots, cups, jugs32, and glasses; dishes of fragmentary remains33 of cake and chocolate; plates smeared34 with roseate ham, sticky teaspoons35, loaded ash-trays, and a large general crumby mess—Rachel, the downright, the contemner36 of silly social prejudices and all nonsense, was actually puffed37 up because she had a servant in a cap and because automobiles38 had deposited elegant girls at her door and whirled them off again. And she would have denied it and yet was not ashamed.
The sole extenuation40 of Rachel's base worldliness was that during the previous six months she had almost continuously had the sensations of a person crossing Niagara on a tight-rope, and that now, on this very day, she had leaped to firm ground and was accordingly exultant41. After Mrs. Maldon's death she had felt somehow guilty of disloyalty; she passionately43 regretted having had no opportunity to assure the old lady that her suspicions about Louis were wrong and cruel, and to prove to her in some mysterious way the deep rightness of the betrothal44. She blushed only for the moment of her betrothal. She had solemnly bound Louis to keep the betrothal secret until Christmas. She had laid upon both of them a self-denying ordinance45 as to meeting. The funeral over, she was without a home. She wished to find another situation; Louis would not hear of it. She contemplated46 a visit to her father and brother in America. In response to a letter, her brother sent her the exact amount of the steerage fare, and, ready to accept it, she was astounded48 at Louis' fury against her brother and at the accent with which he had spit out the word "steerage." Her brother and father had gone steerage. However, she gave way to Louis, chiefly because she could not bear to leave him even for a couple of months. She was lodging49 at Knype, at a total normal expense of ten shillings a week. She possessed50 over fifty pounds—enough to keep her for six months and to purchase a trousseau, and not one penny would she deign51 to receive from her affianced.
The disclosure of Mrs. Maldon's will increased the delicacy52 of her situation. Mrs. Maldon had left the whole of her property in equal shares to Louis and Julian absolutely. There were others who by blood had an equal claim upon her with these two, but the rest had been mere53 names to her, and she had characteristically risen above the conventionalism of heredity. Mr. Batchgrew, the executor, was able to announce that in spite of losses the heirs would get over three thousand five hundred pounds apiece. Hence it followed that Rachel would be marrying for money as well as for position! She trembled when the engagement was at length announced. And when Louis, after consultation54 with Mr. Batchgrew, pointed55 out that it would be advantageous56 not merely to the estate as a whole, but to himself and to her, if he took over the house at Bycars and its contents at a valuation and made it their married home, she at first declined utterly57. The scheme seemed sacrilegious to her. How could she dare to be happy in that house where Mrs. Maldon had died, in that house which was so intimately Mrs. Maldon's? But the manifold excellences58 of the scheme, appealing strongly to her common sense, overcame her scruples59. The dead are dead; the living must live, and the living must not be morbid60; it would be absurd to turn into a pious61 monument every house which death has emptied; Mrs. Maldon, had she known all the circumstances, would have been only too pleased, etc., etc. The affair was settled, and grew into public knowledge.
Rachel had to emerge upon the world as an engaged girl. Left to herself she would have shunned62 all formalities; but Louis, bred up in Barnes, knew what was due to society. Naught63 was omitted. Louis' persuasiveness65 could not be withstood. Withal, he was so right. And though Rachel in one part of her mind had a contempt for "fuss," in another she liked it and was half ashamed of liking66 it. Further, her common sense, of which she was still proud, told her that the delicacy of her situation demanded "fuss," and would be much assuaged67 thereby68. And finally, the whole thing, being miraculous69, romantic, and incredible, had the quality of a dream through which she lived in a dazed nonchalance70. Could it be true that she had resided with Mrs. Maldon only for a month? Could it be true that her courtship had lasted only two days—or at most, three? Never, she thought, had a sensible, quiet girl ridden such a whirlwind before in the entire history of the world. Could Louis be as foolishly fond of her as he seemed? Was she truly to be married? "I shan't have a single wedding-present," she had said. Then wedding-presents began to come. "Are we married?" she had said, when they were married and in the conventional clothes in the conventional vehicle. After that she soon did realize that the wondrous71 and the unutterable had happened to her too. And she swung over to the other extreme: instead of doubting the reality of her own experiences, she was convinced that her experiences were more real than those of any other created girl, and hence she felt a slight condescension72 towards all the rest. "I am a married woman," she reflected at intervals73, with intense momentary74 pride. And her fits of confusion in public would end in recurrences75 of this strange, proud feeling.
Then she had to face the return to Bursley, and, later, the At Home which Louis propounded76 as a matter of course, and which she knew to be inevitable77. The house was her toy, and Mrs. Tams was her toy. But the glee of playing with toys had been overshadowed for days by the delicious dread78 of the At Home. "It will be the first caller that will kill me," she had said. "But will anybody really come?" And the first caller had called. And, finding herself still alive, she had become radiant, and often during the afternoon had forgotten to be clumsy. The success of the At Home was prodigious79, startling. Now and then when the room was full, and people without chairs perched on the end of the Chesterfield, she had whispered to her secret heart in a tiny, tiny voice: "These are my guests. They all treat me with special deference80. I am the hostess. I am Mrs. Fores." The Batchgrew clan81 was well represented, no doubt by order from authority, Mrs. Yardley came, in surprising stylishness82. Visitors arrived from Knype. Miss Malkin came and atoned83 for her historic glance in the shop. But the dazzlers were sundry84 male friends of Louis, with Kensingtonian accents, strange phrases, and assurance in the handling of teacups and the choosing of cake.... One by one and two by two they had departed, and at last Rachel, with a mind as it were breathless from rapid flittings to and fro, was seated alone on the sofa.
She was richly dressed in a dark blue taffeta dress that gave brilliance85 to her tawny86 hair. Perhaps she was over-richly dressed, for, like many girls who as a rule are not very interested in clothes, she was too interested in them at times, and inexperienced taste was apt to mislead her into an unfitness. Also her figure was too stiff and sturdy to favour elegance87. But on this occasion the general effect of her was notably88 picturesque89, and her face and hair, and the expression of her pose, atoned in their charm for the shortcomings and the luxuriance of the frock. She was no more the Rachel that Mrs. Maldon had known and that Louis had first kissed. Her glance had altered, and her gestures. She would ask herself, could it be true that she was a married woman? But her glance and gestures announced it true at every instant. A new languor90 and a new confidence had transformed the girl. Her body had been modified and her soul at once chastened and fired. Fresh in her memory was endless matter for meditation92. And on the sofa, in a negligent93 attitude of repose94, with shameless eyes gazing far into the caverns95 of the fire, and an unreadable faint smile on her face, she meditated96. And she was the most seductive, tantalizing97, self-contradictory object for study in the whole of Bursley. She had never been so interesting as in this brief period, and she might never be so interesting again.
Mrs. Tams entered. With her voice Mrs. Tams said, "Shall I begin to clear all these things away, mam?" But with her self-conscious eyes Mrs. Tams said to the self-conscious eyes of Rachel, "What a staggering world we live in, don't we?"
II
Rachel sprang from the Chesterfield, smoothed down her frock, shook her hair, and then ran upstairs to the large front bedroom, where Louis, to whom the house was just as much a toy as to Rachel, was about to knock a nail into a wall. Out of breath, she stood close to him very happily. The At Home was over. She was now definitely received as a married woman in a town full of married women and girls waiting to be married women. She had passed successfully through a trying and exhausting experience; the nervous tension was slackened. And therefore it might be expected that she would have a sense of reaction, the vague melancholy98 which is produced when that which has long been seen before is suddenly seen behind. But it was not so in the smallest degree. Every moment of her existence equally was thrilling and happy. One piquant99 joy was succeeded immediately by another as piquant. To Rachel it was not in essence more exciting to officiate at an At Home than to watch Louis drive a nail into a wall.
The man winked100 at her in the dusk; she winked back, and put her hand intimately on his shoulder. She thought, "I am safe with him now in the house." The feeling of solitude101 with him, of being barricaded102 against the world and at the mercy of Louis alone, was exquisite103 to her. Then Louis raised himself on his toes, and raised his left arm with the nail as high as he could, and stuck the point of the nail against a pencil-mark on the wall. Then he raised the right hand with the hammer; but the mark was just too high to be efficiently104 reached by both hands simultaneously105. Louis might have stood on a chair. This simple device, however, was too simple for them.
Rachel said—
"Shall I stand on a chair and hold the nail for you?" Louis murmured—
"Brainy little thing! Never at a loss!"
She skipped on to a chair and held the nail. Towering thus above him, she looked down on her husband and thought: "This man is mine alone, and he is all mine." And in Rachel's fancy the thought itself seemed to caress106 Louis from head to foot.
"Supposing I catch you one?" said Louis, as he prepared to strike.
"I don't care," said Rachel.
And the fact was that really she would have liked him to hit her finger instead of the nail—not too hard, but still smartly. She would have taken pleasure in the pain: such was the perversity107 of the young wife. But Louis hit the nail infallibly every time.
He took up a picture which had been lying against the wall in a dark corner, and thrust the twisting wire of it over the nail.
Rachel, when in the deepening darkness she had peered into the frame, exclaimed, pouting—
"Oh, darling, you aren't going to hang that here, are you? It's so old-fashioned. You said it was old-fashioned yourself. I did want that thing that came this morning to be put somewhere here. Why can't you stick this in the spare room?... Unless, of course, you prefer...." She was being deferential108 to the art-expert in him, as well as to the husband.
"Not in the least!" said Louis, acquiescent109, and unhooked the picture.
Taste changes. The rejected of Rachel was a water-colour by the late Athelstan Maldon, adored by Mrs. Maldon. Already it had been degraded from the parlour to the bedroom, and now it was to be pushed away like a shame into obscurity. It was a view of the celebrated110 Vale of Llangollen, finicking, tight, and hard in manner, but with a certain sentiment and modest skill. The way in which the initials "A.M." had been hidden amid the foreground foliage111 in the left-hand corner disclosed enough of the painter's quiet and proud temperament112 to show that he "took after" his mother. Yet a few more years, and the careless observer would miss those initials altogether and would be contemptuously inquiring, "Who did this old daub, I wonder?" And nobody would know who did the old daub, or that the old daub for thirty years had been an altar for undying affection, and also a distinguished113 specimen—admired by a whole generation of townsfolk—of the art of water-colour.
And the fate of Athelstan's sketch114 was symptomatic. Mrs. Maiden's house had been considered perfect, up to the time of her death. Rachel had at first been even intimidated115 by it; Louis had sincerely praised it. And indeed its perfection was an axiom of drawing-room conversation. But as soon as Louis and Rachel began to look on the house with the eye of inhabitants, the axiom fell to a dogma, and the dogma was exploded. The dreadful truth came out that Mrs. Maldon had shown a strange indifference116 to certain aspects of convenience, and that, in short, she must have been a peculiar117 old lady with ideas of her own. Louis proved unanswerably that in the hitherto faultless parlour the furniture was ill arranged, and suddenly the sideboard and the Chesterfield had changed places, and all concerned had marvelled118 that Mrs. Maldon had for so long kept the Chesterfield where so obviously the sideboard ought to have been, and the sideboard where so obviously the Chesterfield ought to have been.
And still graver matters had come to light. The house had an attic119 floor, which was unused and the scene of no activity except spring cleaning. A previous owner, infected by the virus of modernity, had put a bath into one of the attics120. Now Mrs. Maldon, as experiments disclosed, had actually had the water cut off from the bath. Eyebrows121 were lifted at the revelation of this caprice. The restoration of the supply of water and the installing of a geyser were the only expenditures122 which thrifty123 Rachel had sanctioned in the way of rejuvenating124 the house. Rachel had decided125 that the house must, at any rate for the present, be "made to do." That such a decision should be necessary astonished Rachel; and Mrs. Maldon would have been more than astonished to learn that the lady help, by fortitude126 and determination, was making her perfect house "do." As regards the household inventory127, Rachel had been obliged to admit exceptions to her rule of endurance. Perhaps her main reason for agreeing to live in the house had been that there would be no linen128 to buy. But truly Mrs. Maldon's notion of what constituted a sufficiency of—for example—towels, was quite too inadequate129. Louis protested that he could comfortably use all Mrs. Maldon's towels in half a day. More towels had to be obtained. There were other shortages, but some of them were set right by means of veiled indications to prospective130 givers of gifts.
"You mean that 'Garden of the Hesperides' affair for up here, do you?" said Louis.
Rachel gazed round the bedchamber. A memory of what it had been shot painfully through her mind. For the room was profoundly changed in character. Two narrow bedsteads given by Thomas Batchgrew, and described by Mrs. Tarns131, in a moment of daring, as "flighty," had taken the place of Mrs. Maldon's bedstead, which was now in the spare room, the spare-room bedstead having been allotted132 to Mrs. Tams, and Rachel's old bedstead sold. Bright crocheted133 and embroidered134 wedding-presents enlivened the pale tones of the room. The wardrobe, washstand, dressing-table, chairs, carpet, and ottoman remained. But there were razors on the washstand and boot-trees under it; the wardrobe had been emptied, and filled on strange principles with strange raiment; and the Maldon family Bible, instead of being on the ottoman, was in the ottoman—so as to be out of the dust.
"Perhaps we may as well keep that here, after all," said Rachel, indicating Athelsan's water-colour. Her voice was soft. She remembered that the name of Mrs. Maldon, only a little while since a major notability of Bursley and the very mirror of virtuous135 renown136, had been mentioned but once, and even then apologetically, during the afternoon.
Louis asked, sharply—
"Why, if you don't care for it? I don't."
"Well—" said Rachel. "As you like, then, dearest."
Louis walked out of the room with the water-colour, and in a moment returned with a photogravure of Lord Leighton's "The Garden of the Hesperides," in a coquettish gold frame—a gift newly arrived from Louis' connections in the United States. The marmoreal and academic work seemed wonderfully warm and original in that room at Bycars. Rachel really admired it, and admired herself for admiring it. But when Louis had hung it and flicked137 it into exact perpendicularity138, and they had both exclaimed upon its brilliant effect even in the dusk, Rachel saw it also with the eyes of Mrs. Maldon, and wondered what Mrs. Maldon would have thought of it opposite her bed, and knew what Mrs. Maldon would have thought of it.
And then, the job being done and the progress of civilization assured, Louis murmured in a new appealing voice—
"I say, Louise!"
"Louise" was perhaps his most happy invention, and the best proof that Louis was Louis. Upon hearing that her full Christian139 names were Rachel Louisa, he had instantly said—"I shall call you Louise." Rachel was ravished, Louisa is a vulgar name—at least it is vulgar in the Five Towns, where every second general servant bears it. But Louise was full of romance, distinction, and beauty. And it was the perfect complement140 to Louis. Louis and Louise—ideal coincidence! "But nobody except me is to call you Louise," he had added. And thus completed her bliss141.
"Suppose we go to Llandudno on Saturday for the week-end?"
His tone was gay, gentle, innocent, persuasive64. Yet the words stabbed her and her head swam.
"Oh, well! Be rather a lark144, wouldn't it?" It was when he talked in this strain that the inconvenient145 voice of sagacity within her would question for one agonizing146 instant whether she was more secure as the proud, splendid wife of Louis Fores than she had been as a mere lady help. And the same insistent147 voice would repeat the warnings which she had had from Mrs. Maldon and from Thomas Batchgrew, and would remind her of what she herself had said to herself when Louis first kissed her—"This is wrong. But I don't care. He is mine."
Upon hearing of his inheritance from Mrs. Maldon, Louis was for throwing up immediately his situation at Horrocleave's. Rachel had dissuaded148 him from such irresponsible madness. She had prevented him from running into a hundred expenses during their engagement and in connection with the house. And he had in the end enthusiastically praised her common sense. But that very morning at the midday meal he had surprised her by announcing that on account of the reception he should not go to the works at all in the afternoon, though he had omitted to warn Horrocleave. Ultimately she had managed, by guile149, to dispatch him to the works for two hours. And now in the evening he was alarming her afresh. Why go to Llandudno? What point was there in rushing off to Llandudno, and scattering150 in three days more money than they could save in three weeks? He frightened her ingrained prudence151, and her alarm was only increased by his obvious failure to realize the terrible defect in himself. (For to her it was terrible.) The joyous152 scheme of an excursion to Llandudno had suddenly crossed his mind, exciting the appetite for pleasure. Hence the appetite must be immediately indulged!... Rachel had been brought up otherwise. And as a direct result of Louis' irresponsible suggestion she had a vision of the house with county-court bailiffs lodged153 in the kitchen.... She had only to say—"Yes, let's go," and they would be off on the absurd and wicked expedition.
"I'd really rather not," she said, smiling, but serious.
She put her hands on his shoulders and looked close at him, knowing that she must use her power and that the heavy dusk would help her.
"Why?" she asked again. "I'd much sooner stay here at Easter. Truly I would!... With you!"
The episode ended with an embrace. She had won.
"Very well! Very well!" said Louis. "Easter in the coal-cellar if you like. I'm on for anything."
"But don't you see, dearest?" she said.
And he imitated her emphasis, full of teasing good humour—
"Yes, I see, dearest."
She breathed relief, and asked—
"Are you going to give me my bicycle lesson?"
III
Louis had borrowed a bicycle for Rachel to ruin while learning to ride. He said that a friend had lent it to him—a man in Hanbridge whose mother had given up riding on account of stoutness—but who exactly this friend was Rachel knew not, Louis' information being characteristically sketchy155 and incomplete; and with his air of candour and good humour he had a strange way of warding156 off questions; so that already Rachel had grown used to a phrase which she would utter only in her mind, "I don't like to ask him—"
It pleased Louis to ride this bicycle out of the back yard, down the sloping entry, and then steer47 it through another narrow gateway157, across the pavement, and let it solemnly bump, first with the front wheel and then with the back wheel, from the pavement into the road. During this feat158 he stood on the pedals. He turned the machine up Bycars Lane, and steadily159 climbed the steep at Rachel's walking pace. And Rachel, hurrying by his side, watched in the obscurity the play of his ankles as he put into practice the principles of pedalling which he had preached. He was a graceful160 rider; every movement was natural and elegant. Rachel considered him to be the most graceful cyclist that ever was. She was fascinated by the revolutions of his feet.
She felt ecstatically happy. The episode of his caprice for the seaside was absolutely forgotten; after all, she asked for nothing more than possession of him, and she had that, though indeed it seemed too marvellous to be true. The bicycle lesson was her hour of magic; and more so on this night than on previous nights.
"I must change my dress," she had said. "I can't go in this one."
"Quick, then!"
His impatience161 could not wait. He had helped her. He undid162 hooks, and fastened others.... The rich blue frock lay across the bed and looked lovely on the ivory-coloured counterpane. It seemed indeed to be a part of that in her which was Louise. Then she was in a short skirt which she had devised herself, and he was pushing her out of the room, his hand on her back. And she had feigned163 reluctance164, resisting his pressure, while laughing with gleeful eagerness to be gone. No delay had been allowed. As they passed through the kitchen, not one instant for parley165 with Mrs. Tams as to the domestic organization of the evening! He was still pushing her.... Thus she had had to confide91 her precious house and its innumerable treasures to Mrs. Tams. And in this surrender to Louis' whim166 there was a fearful joy.
When Louis turned at last into Park Road, and stepped from between the wheels, she exclaimed, a little breathless from quick walking level with him up the hill—
"I can't bear to see you ride so well. Oh!" She crunched167 her teeth with a loving, cruel gesture. "I should like to hurt you frightfully!"
"What for?"
"Because I shall never, never be able to ride as well as you do!"
He winked.
"Here! Take hold."
"I'm not ready! I'm not ready!" she cried.
But he loosed the machine, and she was obliged to seize it as it fell. That was his teasing.
Park Road had been the scene of the lesson for three nights. It was level, and it was unfrequented. "And the doctor's handy in case you break your neck," Louis had said. Dr. Yardley's red lamp shone amicably168 among yellow lights, and its ray with theirs was lost in the mysterious obscurities of the closed park. Not only was it socially advisable for Rachel to study the perverse169 nature of the bicycle at night—for not to know how to ride the bicycle was as shameful170 as not to know how to read and write—but she preferred the night for the romantic feeling of being alone with Louis, in the dark and above the glow of the town. She loved the sharp night wind on her cheek, and the faint clandestine171 rustling172 of the low evergreens173 within the park palisade, and the invisible and almost tangible174 soft sky, revealed round the horizon by gleams of fire. She had longed to ride the bicycle as some girls long to follow the hunt or to steer an automobile39 or a yacht. And now her ambition was being attained175 amid all circumstances of bliss.
And yet she would shrink from beginning the lesson.
"The lamp! You've forgotten to light the lamp!" she said.
"Get on," said he.
"But suppose a policeman comes?"
"Suppose you get on and start! Do you think I don't know you? Policemen are my affair. Besides, all nice policemen are in bed.... Don't be afraid. It isn't alive. I've got hold of the thing. Sit well down. No! There are only two pedals. You seem to think there are about nineteen. Right! No, no, no! Don't—do not—cling to those blooming handle-bars as if you were in a storm at sea. Be a nice little cat in front of the fire—all your muscles loose. Now! Are you ready?"
"Yes," she murmured, with teeth set and dilated176 eyes staring ahead at the hideous177 dangers of Park Road.
And in a moment Louis said, mischievously—
"I told you you'd have to go alone to-night. There you are!"
His footsteps ceased.
"Louis!" she cried, sharply and yet sadly upbraiding179 his unspeakable treason. Her fingers gripped convulsively the handle-bars. She was moving alone. It was inconceivably awful and delightful180. She was on the back of a wild pony181 in the forest. The miracle of equilibrium182 was being accomplished183. The impossible was done, and at the first attempt. She thought very clearly how wondrous was life, and how perfectly184 happy fate had made her. And then she was lying in a tangle185 amid dozens of complex wheels, chains, and bars.
"Hurt?" shouted Louis, as he ran up.
She laughed and said "No," and sat up stiffly, full of secret dolours. Yet he knew and she knew that the accidents of the previous two nights had covered her limbs with blue discolorations, and that the latest fall was more severe than any previous one. Her courage enchanted186 Louis and filled him with a sense of security. She was not graceful in these exercises. Her ankles were thick and clumsy. Not merely had she no natural aptitude187 for physical feats—apparently she was not lissom188, nor elegant in motion. But what courage! What calm, bright endurance! What stoicism! Most girls would have reproached him for betraying them to destruction, would have pouted189, complained, demanded petting and apologies. But not she! She was like a man. And when he helped her to pick herself up he noticed that after all she was both lissom and agile190, and exquisitely191, disturbingly girlish in her short dusty skirt; and that she did trust him and depend on him. And he realized that he was safe for life with her. She was created for him.
Work was resumed.
"I won't," he answered. And it seemed to him that his loyalty42 to her expanded and filled all his soul.
Later, as she approached the other end of Park Road, near Moorthorne Road, a tram-car hurled193 itself suddenly down Moorthorne Road and overthrew194 her. It is true that the tram-car was never less than twenty yards away from her. But even at twenty yards it could overthrow195. Rachel sat dazed in the road, and her voice was uncertain as she told Louis to examine the bicycle. One of the pedals was bent196, and prevented the back wheel from making a complete revolution.
"It's nothing," said Louis. "I'll have it right in the morning."
"Who's that?" Rachel, who had risen, gasping197, turned to him excitedly as he was bending over the bicycle. Conscious that somebody had been standing198 at the corner of the street, he glanced up. A figure was moving quickly down Moorthorne Road in the direction of the station.
"I dun'no," said he.
"It's not Julian, is it?"
In a peculiar tone Louis replied—
"Looks like him, doesn't it?" And then impulsively199 he yelled "Hi!"
The figure kept on its way.
"Seeing that the inimitable Julian's still in South Africa, it can't very well be him. And, anyhow, I'm not going to run after him."
Presently the returning procession was re-formed. Louis pushed the bicycle on its front wheel, and Rachel tried to help him to support the weight of the suspended part. He had attempted in vain to take the pedal off the crank.
"It's perhaps a good thing you fell just then," said Louis. "Because old Batch24 is coming in to-night, and we'd better not be late."
"But you never told me!"
"Oh, Louis!... He's not coming for supper, I hope?"
"My child, if there's a chance of a free meal, old Batch will be on the spot."
The unaccustomed housewife foretold her approaching shame, and proclaimed Louis to be the author of it. She began to quicken her steps.
"You certainly ought to have let me know sooner, dearest," she said seriously. "You really are terrible."
Hard knocks had not hurt her. But she was hurt now. And Louis' smile was very constrained202. Her grave manner of saying "dearest" had disquieted203 him.
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foretold
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| v.预言，预示( foretell的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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accede
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| v.应允，同意 | |
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honourable
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| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
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starched
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| adj.浆硬的，硬挺的，拘泥刻板的v.把（衣服、床单等）浆一浆( starch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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strings
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6
apron
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| n.围裙；工作裙 | |
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7
stoutness
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| 坚固，刚毅 | |
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8
snobbish
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| adj.势利的，谄上欺下的 | |
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9
nervously
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| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
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10
advancement
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| n.前进，促进，提升 | |
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11
futility
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| n.无用 | |
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12
nattier
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| n.淡蓝色adj.整洁漂亮的( natty的比较级 )；潇洒的，灵巧的 | |
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13
fluffier
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| adj.似绒毛的( fluffy的比较级 )；有绒毛的；蓬松的；轻软状的 | |
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14
smack
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| vt.拍，打，掴；咂嘴；vi.含有…意味；n.拍 | |
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15
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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16
disdain
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| n.鄙视，轻视；v.轻视，鄙视，不屑 | |
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17
inquisitive
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| adj.求知欲强的，好奇的，好寻根究底的 | |
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18
obstinately
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| ad.固执地，顽固地 | |
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19
phenomena
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| n.现象 | |
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20
alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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21
haughtiness
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| n.傲慢；傲气 | |
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22
swollen
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| adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀 | |
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23
consequential
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| adj.作为结果的，间接的；重要的 | |
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24
batch
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| n.一批(组，群)；一批生产量 | |
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25
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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26
curb
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| n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制 | |
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27
arrant
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| adj.极端的；最大的 | |
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28
snobbishness
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| 势利； 势利眼 | |
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29
iniquity
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| n.邪恶；不公正 | |
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30
simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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31
omniscient
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| adj.无所不知的；博识的 | |
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32
jugs
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| （有柄及小口的）水壶( jug的名词复数 ) | |
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33
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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34
smeared
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| 弄脏； 玷污； 涂抹； 擦上 | |
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35
teaspoons
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| n.茶匙( teaspoon的名词复数 )；一茶匙的量 | |
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36
contemner
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| n.谴责者，宣判者，定罪者 | |
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37
puffed
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| adj.疏松的v.使喷出( puff的过去式和过去分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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38
automobiles
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| n.汽车( automobile的名词复数 ) | |
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39
automobile
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| n.汽车，机动车 | |
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40
extenuation
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| n.减轻罪孽的借口；酌情减轻；细 | |
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41
exultant
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| adj.欢腾的，狂欢的，大喜的 | |
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42
loyalty
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| n.忠诚，忠心 | |
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43
passionately
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| ad.热烈地，激烈地 | |
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44
betrothal
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| n. 婚约, 订婚 | |
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45
ordinance
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| n.法令；条令；条例 | |
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46
contemplated
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| adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式 | |
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47
steer
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| vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶 | |
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48
astounded
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| v.使震惊(astound的过去式和过去分词)；愕然；愕；惊讶 | |
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49
lodging
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| n.寄宿，住所；(大学生的)校外宿舍 | |
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50
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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51
deign
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| v. 屈尊, 惠允 ( 做某事) | |
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52
delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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53
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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54
consultation
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| n.咨询；商量；商议；会议 | |
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55
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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56
advantageous
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| adj.有利的；有帮助的 | |
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57
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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58
excellences
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| n.卓越( excellence的名词复数 )；（只用于所修饰的名词后）杰出的；卓越的；出类拔萃的 | |
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59
scruples
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| n.良心上的不安( scruple的名词复数 )；顾虑，顾忌v.感到于心不安，有顾忌( scruple的第三人称单数 ) | |
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60
morbid
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| adj.病的；致病的；病态的；可怕的 | |
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61
pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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62
shunned
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| v.避开，回避，避免( shun的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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63
naught
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| n.无，零 [=nought] | |
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64
persuasive
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| adj.有说服力的，能说得使人相信的 | |
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65
persuasiveness
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| 说服力 | |
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66
liking
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| n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢 | |
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67
assuaged
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| v.减轻( assuage的过去式和过去分词 )；缓和；平息；使安静 | |
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68
thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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69
miraculous
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| adj.像奇迹一样的，不可思议的 | |
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70
nonchalance
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| n.冷淡，漠不关心 | |
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71
wondrous
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|
| adj.令人惊奇的，奇妙的；adv.惊人地；异乎寻常地；令人惊叹地 | |
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72
condescension
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| n.自以为高人一等，贬低(别人) | |
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73
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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74
momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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75
recurrences
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| n.复发，反复，重现( recurrence的名词复数 ) | |
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76
propounded
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| v.提出（问题、计划等）供考虑[讨论]，提议( propound的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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77
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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78
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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79
prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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80
deference
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| n.尊重，顺从；敬意 | |
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81
clan
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| n.氏族，部落，宗族，家族，宗派 | |
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82
stylishness
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83
atoned
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| v.补偿，赎（罪）( atone的过去式和过去分词 )；补偿，弥补，赎回 | |
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84
sundry
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|
| adj.各式各样的，种种的 | |
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85
brilliance
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|
| n.光辉，辉煌，壮丽，（卓越的）才华，才智 | |
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86
tawny
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| adj.茶色的，黄褐色的；n.黄褐色 | |
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87
elegance
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| n.优雅；优美，雅致；精致，巧妙 | |
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88
notably
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|
| adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地 | |
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89
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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90
languor
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| n.无精力，倦怠 | |
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91
confide
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| v.向某人吐露秘密 | |
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92
meditation
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| n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录 | |
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93
negligent
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| adj.疏忽的；玩忽的；粗心大意的 | |
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94
repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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95
caverns
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| 大山洞，大洞穴( cavern的名词复数 ) | |
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96
meditated
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| 深思，沉思，冥想( meditate的过去式和过去分词 )； 内心策划，考虑 | |
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97
tantalizing
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|
| adj.逗人的；惹弄人的；撩人的；煽情的v.逗弄，引诱，折磨( tantalize的现在分词 ) | |
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98
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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99
piquant
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| adj.辛辣的，开胃的，令人兴奋的 | |
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100
winked
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| v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮 | |
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101
solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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102
barricaded
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| 设路障于，以障碍物阻塞( barricade的过去式和过去分词 )； 设路障[防御工事]保卫或固守 | |
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103
exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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104
efficiently
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| adv.高效率地，有能力地 | |
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105
simultaneously
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| adv.同时发生地，同时进行地 | |
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106
caress
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| vt./n.爱抚，抚摸 | |
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107
perversity
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| n.任性；刚愎自用 | |
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108
deferential
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| adj. 敬意的，恭敬的 | |
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109
acquiescent
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| adj.默许的，默认的 | |
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110
celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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111
foliage
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| n.叶子，树叶，簇叶 | |
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112
temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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113
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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114
sketch
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| n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述 | |
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115
intimidated
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| v.恐吓；威胁adj.害怕的；受到威胁的 | |
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116
indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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117
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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118
marvelled
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| v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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119
attic
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| n.顶楼，屋顶室 | |
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120
attics
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| n. 阁楼 | |
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121
eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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122
expenditures
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| n.花费( expenditure的名词复数 )；使用；（尤指金钱的）支出额；（精力、时间、材料等的）耗费 | |
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123
thrifty
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| adj.节俭的；兴旺的；健壮的 | |
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124
rejuvenating
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| 使变得年轻，使恢复活力( rejuvenate的现在分词 ) | |
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125
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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126
fortitude
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| n.坚忍不拔；刚毅 | |
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127
inventory
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| n.详细目录，存货清单 | |
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128
linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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129
inadequate
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| adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的 | |
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130
prospective
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| adj.预期的，未来的，前瞻性的 | |
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131
tarns
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| n.冰斗湖，山中小湖( tarn的名词复数 ) | |
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132
allotted
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| 分配，拨给，摊派( allot的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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133
crocheted
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| v.用钩针编织( crochet的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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134
embroidered
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| adj．绣花的 | |
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135
virtuous
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| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 | |
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136
renown
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| n.声誉，名望 | |
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137
flicked
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| （尤指用手指或手快速地）轻击( flick的过去式和过去分词 )； （用…）轻挥； （快速地）按开关； 向…笑了一下（或瞥了一眼等） | |
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138
perpendicularity
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| n.垂直，直立；垂直度 | |
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139
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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140
complement
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| n.补足物，船上的定员；补语；vt.补充，补足 | |
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141
bliss
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| n.狂喜，福佑，天赐的福 | |
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142
amorously
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| adv.好色地，妖艳地；脉；脉脉；眽眽 | |
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143
utterance
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| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
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144
lark
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| n.云雀，百灵鸟；n.嬉戏，玩笑；vi.嬉戏 | |
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145
inconvenient
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| adj.不方便的，令人感到麻烦的 | |
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146
agonizing
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| adj.痛苦难忍的；使人苦恼的v.使极度痛苦；折磨(agonize的ing形式) | |
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147
insistent
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| adj.迫切的，坚持的 | |
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148
dissuaded
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| 劝（某人）勿做某事，劝阻( dissuade的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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149
guile
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| n.诈术 | |
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150
scattering
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| n.[物]散射；散乱，分散；在媒介质中的散播adj.散乱的；分散在不同范围的；广泛扩散的；（选票）数量分散的v.散射(scatter的ing形式)；散布；驱散 | |
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151
prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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152
joyous
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| adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的 | |
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153
lodged
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| v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属 | |
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154
serene
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| adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的 | |
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155
sketchy
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| adj.写生的，写生风格的，概略的 | |
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156
warding
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| 监护，守护（ward的现在分词形式） | |
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157
gateway
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| n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法 | |
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158
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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159
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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160
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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161
impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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162
Undid
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| v. 解开, 复原 | |
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163
feigned
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| a.假装的，不真诚的 | |
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164
reluctance
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| n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿 | |
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165
parley
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| n.谈判 | |
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166
whim
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| n.一时的兴致，突然的念头；奇想，幻想 | |
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167
crunched
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| v.嘎吱嘎吱地咬嚼( crunch的过去式和过去分词 )；嘎吱作响；（快速大量地）处理信息；数字捣弄 | |
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168
amicably
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| adv.友善地 | |
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169
perverse
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| adj.刚愎的；坚持错误的，行为反常的 | |
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170
shameful
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| adj.可耻的，不道德的 | |
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171
clandestine
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| adj.秘密的，暗中从事的 | |
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172
rustling
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| n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的 | |
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173
evergreens
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| n.常青树，常绿植物，万年青( evergreen的名词复数 ) | |
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174
tangible
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| adj.有形的，可触摸的，确凿的，实际的 | |
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175
attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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176
dilated
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| adj.加宽的，扩大的v.（使某物）扩大，膨胀，张大( dilate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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177
hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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178
impelled
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| v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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179
upbraiding
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| adj.& n.谴责（的）v.责备，申斥，谴责( upbraid的现在分词 ) | |
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180
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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181
pony
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| adj.小型的；n.小马 | |
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182
equilibrium
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| n.平衡，均衡，相称，均势，平静 | |
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183
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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184
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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185
tangle
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| n.纠缠；缠结；混乱；v.(使)缠绕；变乱 | |
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186
enchanted
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| adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
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187
aptitude
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| n.(学习方面的)才能，资质，天资 | |
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188
lissom
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| adj.柔软的，轻快而优雅的 | |
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189
pouted
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| v.撅（嘴）( pout的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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190
agile
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| adj.敏捷的，灵活的 | |
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191
exquisitely
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| adv.精致地；强烈地；剧烈地；异常地 | |
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192
enjoined
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| v.命令( enjoin的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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193
hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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194
overthrew
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| overthrow的过去式 | |
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195
overthrow
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| v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆 | |
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196
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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197
gasping
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| adj. 气喘的, 痉挛的 动词gasp的现在分词 | |
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198
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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199
impulsively
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| adv.冲动地 | |
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200
assented
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| 同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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201
blandly
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| adv.温和地，殷勤地 | |
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202
constrained
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| adj.束缚的,节制的 | |
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203
disquieted
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| v.使不安，使忧虑，使烦恼( disquiet的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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