When Mrs. Tams brought in his early cup of tea that Easter Saturday afternoon, Louis had no project whatever in his head, and he was excessively, exasperatingly1 bored. A quarter of an hour earlier he had finished reading the novel which had been mitigating2 the worst tedium3 of his shamed convalescence4, and the state of his mind was not improved by the fact that in his opinion the author of the novel had failed to fulfil clear promises—had, in fact, abused his trust. On the other hand, he felt very appreciably5 stronger, and his self-esteem was heightened by the complete correctness of his toilet. On that morning he had dressed himself with art and care for the first time since the accident. He enjoyed a little dandyism; dandified, he was a better man; the "fall" of a pair of trousers over the knee, the gloss6 of white wristbands, just showing beneath the new cloth of a well-cut sleeve—these phenomena7 not only pleased him but gave him confidence. And herein was the sole bright spot of his universe when Mrs. Tams entered.
He was rather curt8 with Mrs. Tams because she was two minutes late; for two endless minutes he had been cultivating the resentment9 of a man neglected and forgotten by every one of those whose business in life it is to succour, humour, and soothe10 him.
Mrs. Tams comprehended his mood with precision, and instantly. She hovered11 round him like a hen, indeed like a whole flock of hens, and when he savagely12 rebuffed her she developed from a flock of hens into a flight of angels.
"Missis said as I was to tell you as she'd gone to see Mr. Julian Maldon, sir," said Mrs. Tams, in the way of general gossip.
Louis made no sign.
"Her didna say how soon her'd be back. I was for going out, sir, but I'll stop in, sir, and willing—"
"What time are you supposed to go out?" Louis demanded, in a tone less inimical than his countenance13.
"By rights, now, sir," said Mrs. Tams, looking backward through the open door at the lobby clock.
"Well," Louis remarked with liveliness, "if you aren't outside this house in one minute, in sixty seconds, I shall put you out, neck and crop."
Mrs. Tams smiled. His amiability14 was returning, he had done her the honour to tease her. She departed, all her "things" being ready in the kitchen. Even before she had gone Louis went quickly upstairs, having drunk less than half a cup of tea, and with extraordinary eagerness plunged15 into the bedroom and unlocked his private drawer. He both hoped and feared that the money which he had bestowed16 there after Julian's historic visit would have vanished. It had vanished.
The shock was unpleasant, but the discovery itself had a pleasant side, because it justified17 the theory which had sprung complete into his mind when he learnt where Rachel had gone, and also because it denuded18 Rachel of all reasonable claim to consideration. He had said to himself: "She has gone off to return half of that money to Julian—that's what it is. And she's capable of returning all of it to him!" ... And she had done so. And she had not consulted him, Louis. He, then, was a nobody—zero in the house! She had deliberately19 filched20 the money from him, and to accomplish her purpose she had abstracted his keys, which he had left in his pocket. She must have stolen the notes several days before, perhaps a week before, when he was really seriously ill. She had used the keys and restored them to his pocket. Astounding21 baseness!
He murmured: "This finishes it. This really does finish it."
He was immensely righteous as he stood alone in the bedroom in front of the rifled drawer. He was more than righteous—he was a martyr22. He had done absolutely nothing that was wrong. He had not stolen money; he had not meant to steal; the more he examined his conduct, the more he was convinced that it had been throughout unexceptionable, whereas the conduct of Rachel ...! At every point she had sinned. It was she, not he, who had burnt Mrs. Maldon's hoard23. Was it not monstrous24 that a woman should be so careless as to light a fire without noticing that a bundle of notes lay on the top of the coal? Besides, what affair was it of hers, anyway? It concerned himself, Mrs. Maldon, and Julian, alone. But she must needs interfere25. She had not a penny to bless herself with, but he had magnanimously married her; and his reward was her inexcusable interference in his private business.
His accident was due solely26 to his benevolence27 for her. If he had not been wheeling a bicycle procured28 for her, and on his way to buy her a new bicycle, the accident would never have occurred. But had she shown any gratitude29? None. It was true that he had vaguely30 authorized31 her to return half of the money replaced by the contrite32 Julian; but no date for doing so had been fixed33, and assuredly she had no pretext34 whatever for dealing35 with all of it. That she should go to Julian Maldon with either the half or the whole of the money without previously36 informing him and obtaining the ratification37 of his permission was simply scandalous. And that she should sneakingly search his pockets for keys, commit a burglary in his drawer, and sneakingly put the keys back was outrageous38, infamous39, utterly40 intolerable.
He said, "I'll teach you a lesson, my lady, once for all."
Then he went downstairs. The kitchen was empty; Mrs. Tams had gone. But between the kitchen and the parlour he changed his course, and ran upstairs again to the drawer, which he pulled wide open. At the back of it there ought to have been an envelope containing twenty pounds in notes, balance of an advance payment from old Batchgrew. The envelope was there with its contents. Rachel had left the envelope. "Good of her!" he ejaculated with sarcasm41. He put the money in his pocket-book, and descended42 to finish his tea, which he drank up excitedly.
A dubious43 scheme was hypnotizing him. He was a man well acquainted with the hypnotism of dubious schemes. He knew all the symptoms. He fought against the magic influence, and then, as always, yielded himself deliberately and voluptuously44 to it. He would go away. He would not wait; he would go at once, in a moment. She deserved as much, if not more. He knew not where he should go; a thousand reasons against going assailed45 him; but he would go. He must go. He could no longer stand, even for a single hour, her harshness, her air of moral superiority, her adamantine obstinacy46. He missed terribly her candid47 worship of him, to which he had grown accustomed and which had become nearly a necessity of his existence. He could not live with an eternal critic; the prospect48 was totally inconceivable. He wanted love, and he wanted admiring love, and without it marriage was meaningless to him, a mere49 imprisonment50.
So he would go. He could not and would not pack; to pack would distress51 him and bore him; he would go as he was. He could buy what he needed. The shops—his kind of shops—were closed, and would remain closed until Tuesday. Nevertheless, he would go. He could buy the indispensable at Faulkner's establishment on the platform at Knype railway-station, conveniently opposite the Five Towns Hotel. He had determined52 to go to the Five Towns Hotel that night. He had no immediate53 resources beyond the twenty pounds, but he would telegraph to Batchgrew, who ad not yet transferred to him the inheritance, to pay money into his bank early on Tuesday; if he were compelled to draw a cheque he would cross it, and then it could not possibly be presented before Wednesday morning.
At all costs he would go. His face was still plastered; but he would go, and he would go far, no matter where! The chief thing was to go. The world was calling him. The magic of the dubious scheme held him fast. And in all other respects he was free—free as impulse. He would go. He was not yet quite recovered, not quite strong.... Yes, he was all right; he was very strong! And he would go.
He put on his hat and his spring overcoat. Then he thought of the propriety54 of leaving a letter behind him—not for Rachel's sake, but to insist on his own dignity and to spoil hers. He wrote the letter, read it through with satisfaction, and quitted the house, shutting the door cheerfully, but with a trembling hand. Lest he might meet Rachel on her way home he went up the lane instead of down, and, finding himself near the station, took a train to Knype—travelling first class. The glorious estate of a bachelor was his once more.
II
The Five Towns Hotel stood theoretically in the borough55 of Hanbridge, but in fact it was in neither Hanbridge nor Knype, but "opposite Knype station," on the quiet side of Knype station, far away from any urban traffic; the gross roar of the electric trams running between Knype and Hanbridge could not be heard from the great portico56 of the hotel. It is true that the hotel primarily existed on its proximity57 to the railway centre of the Five Towns. But it had outgrown58 its historic origin, and would have moderately flourished even had the North Staffordshire railway been annihilated59. By its sober grandeur60 and its excellent cooking it had taken its place as the first hotel in the district. It had actually no rival. Heroic, sublime61 efforts had been made in the centre of Hanbridge to overthrow62 the pre-eminence of the Five Towns Hotel. The forlorn result of one of these efforts—so immense was it!—had been bought by the municipality and turned into a Town Hall—supreme instance of the Five Towns' habit of "making things do!" No effort succeeded. Men would still travel from the ends of the Five Towns to the bar, the billiard-rooms, the banqueting-halls of the Five Towns Hotel, where every public or semi-public ceremonial that included conviviality63 was obliged to happen if it truly respected itself.
The Five Towns Hotel had made fortunes, and still made them. It was large and imposing64 and sombre. The architect, who knew his business, had designed staircases, corridors, and accidental alcoves65 on the scale of a palace; so that privacy amid publicity66 could always be found within its walls. It was superficially old-fashioned, and in reality modern. It had a genuine chef, with sub-chefs, good waiters whose sole weakness was linguistic67, and an apartment of carven oak with a vast counterfeit68 eye that looked down on you from the ceiling. It was ready for anything—a reception to celebrate the nuptials69 of a maid, a lunch to a Cabinet Minister with an axe70 to grind in the district, or a sale by auction71 of house-property with wine ad libitum to encourage bids.
But its chief social use was perhaps as a retreat for men who were tired of a world inhabited by two sexes. Sundry72 of the great hotels of Britain have forgotten this ancient function, and are as full of frills, laces, colour, and soft giggles73 as a London restaurant, so that in Manchester, Liverpool, and Glasgow a man in these days has no safe retreat except the gloominess of a provincial74 club. The Five Towns Hotel has held fast to old tradition in this respect. Ladies were certainly now and then to be seen there, for it was a hotel and as such enjoyed much custom. But in the main it resembled a monastery75. Men breathed with a new freedom as they entered it. Commandments reigned76 there, and their authority was enforced; but they were not precisely77 the tables of Moses. The enormous pretence78 which men practise for the true benefit of women was abandoned in the Five Towns Hotel. Domestic sultans who never joked in the drawing-room would crack with laughter in the Five Towns Hotel, and make others crack, too. Old men would meet young men on equal terms, and feel rather pleased at their own ability to do so. And young men shed their youth there, displaying the huge stock of wisdom and sharp cynicism which by hard work they had acquired in an incredibly short time. Indeed, the hotel was a wonderful institution, and a source of satisfaction to half a county.
III
It was almost as one returned from the dead that Louis Fores entered the Five Towns Hotel on Easter Saturday afternoon, for in his celibate79 prime he had been a habitué of the place. He had a thrill; and he knew that he would be noticed, were it only as the hero and victim of a street accident; a few remaining plasters still drew attention to his recent history. At the same time, the thrill which affected80 him was not entirely81 pleasurable, for he was frightened by what he had done: by the letter written to Rachel, by his abandonment of her, and also by the prospect of what he meant to do. The resulting situation would certainly be scandalous in a high degree, and tongues would dwell on the extreme brevity of the period of marriage. The scandal would resound82 mightily83. And Louis hated scandal, and had always had a genuine desire for respectability.... Then he reassured84 himself. "Pooh! What do I care?" Besides, it was not his fault. He was utterly blameless; Rachel alone was the sinner. She had brought disaster upon herself. On the previous Saturday he had given her fair warning by getting up out of bed in his weakness and leaving the house—more from instinct than from any set plan. But she would not take a hint. She would not learn. Very good! The thought of his inheritance and of his freedom uplifted him till he became nearly a god.
Owing to the Easter holidays the hotel was less bright and worldly than usual. Moreover, Saturday was never one of its brilliant days of the week. In the twilight86 of a subsidiary lounge, illuminated87 by one early electric spark, a waiter stood alone amid great basket-chairs and wicker-tables. Louis knew the waiter, as did every man-about-town; but Louis imagined that he knew him better than most; the waiter gave a similar impression to all impressionable young men.
"How do you do, Krupp!" Louis greeted him, with kind familiarity.
"Good afternoon, sir."
It was perhaps the hazard of his name that had given the waiter a singular prestige in the district. Krupp is a great and an unforgettable name, wherever you go. And also it offers people a chance to be jocose88 with facility. A hundred habitué's had made the same joke to Krupp about Krupp's name, and each had supposed himself to be humorous in an original manner. Krupp received the jocularities with the enigmatic good-fellow air with which he received everything. None knew whether Krupp admired or disdained90, loved or hated, the Five Towns and the English character. He was a foreigner from some vague frontier of Switzerland, possessing no language of his own but a patois91, and speaking other languages less than perfectly92. He had been a figure in the Five Towns Hotel for over twenty years. He was an efficient waiter; yet he had never risen on the staff, and was still just the lounge or billiard-room waiter that he had always been—and apparently93 content with Destiny.
Louis asked brusquely, as one who had no time to waste, "Will Faulkner's be open?"
"Yes, sir," said Krupp with calm certainty.
Louis, pleased, thought, "This man is a fine waiter." Somehow Krupp made it seem as if by the force of his will he had forced Faulkner's to be open—in order to oblige Mr. Fores.
"Because," said Louis casually95, "I've no luggage, not a rag, and I want to buy a few things, and no other place'll be open."
"Yes, sir," said Krupp, mysterious and quite incurious. He did not even ask, "Do you wish a room, sir?"
"Heard about my accident, I suppose?" Louis went on, a little surprised that Krupp should make no sympathetic reference to his plasters.
Krupp became instantly sympathetic, yet keeping his customary reserve.
"Yes, sir. And I am pleased to see you are recovered," he said, with the faint, indefinable foreign accent and the lack of idiom which combined to deprive his remarks of any human quality.
"Well," said Louis, not quite prepared to admit that the affair had gone so smoothly96 as Krupp appeared to imply, "I can tell you I've had a pretty bad time. I really ought not to be here now, but—" He stopped.
"Strange it should happen to you, sir. A gentleman who was in here the other day said that in his opinion you were one of the cleverest cyclists in the Five Towns."
Louis naturally inquired, "Who was that?"
"I could not say, sir. Not one of our regular customers, sir," with a touch of mild depreciation97. "A dark gentleman, with a beard, a little lame85, I fancy." As Krupp had invented the gentleman and his opinion to meet the occasion, he was right in depriving him of the rank of a regular customer.
"Oh!" murmured Louis. "By the way, has Mr. Gibbs come yet?"
"Mr. Gibbs, sir?"
"Yes, an American. I have an appointment with him this afternoon. If he comes in while I am over at Faulkner's just tell him, will you? I think he's stopping at the Majestic98."
The Majestic being the latest rival hotel at Hanbridge, Krupp raised his eyebrows99 in a peculiar100 way and nodded his head.
Just as Krupp had invented a gentleman, so now Louis was inventing one. Neither Krupp nor Louis guessed the inventive act of the other. Krupp's act was a caprice, a piece of embroidery101, charming and unnecessary. But Louis was inventing with serious intent, for he had to make his presence at the Five Towns Hotel on Easter Saturday seem natural and inevitable102.
"And also I want the Cunard list of sailings, and the White Star, too. There's a Cunard boat from Liverpool on Monday, isn't there?"
"I don't think so, sir," said Krupp, "but I'll see."
"I understood from Mr. Gibbs there was. And I'm going to Liverpool by that early train to-morrow."
"Sunday, sir?"
"Yes, I must be in Liverpool to-morrow night."
Louis went across to the station to Faulkner's. He considered that he was doing very well. And after all, why not go to America—not on Monday, for he was quite aware that no boat left on Monday—but in a few days, after he had received the whole sum that Thomas Batchgrew held for him. He could quite plausibly103 depart on urgent business connected with new capitalistic projects. He could quite plausibly remain in America as long as convenient. America beckoned104 to him. He remembered all the appetizing accounts that he had ever heard from American commercial travellers of Broadway and Fifth Avenue—incredible streets. In America he might treble, quadruple, his already vast capital. The romance of the idea intoxicated105 him.
IV
When he got back from Faulkner's with a parcel (which he threw to the cloak-room attendant to keep) he felt startlingly hungry, and, despite the early hour, he ordered a steak in the grill-room; and not a steak merely, but all the accoutrements of a steak, with beverages106 to match. And to be on the safe side he paid for the meal at once, with a cheque for ten pounds, receiving the change in gold and silver, and thus increasing his available cash to about thirty pounds. Then in the lounge, with Cuban cigar-smoke in his eyes, and Krupp discoursing107 to him of all conceivable Atlantic liners, he wrote a letter to Thomas Batchgrew and marked it "Very urgent"—which was simple prudence108 on his part, for he had drawn109 a cheque for ten pounds on a non-existent bank-balance. At last, as Mr. Gibbs had not arrived, he said he should stroll up to the Majestic. He had not yet engaged a room; he seemed to hesitate before that decisive act....
Then it was that, in the corridor immediately outside the lounge, he encountered Jim Horrocleave. The look in Jim Horrocleave's ferocious110 eye shocked him. Louis had almost forgotten his employer, and the sudden spectacle of him was disconcerting.
"Hello, Fores!" said Horrocleave very sardonically111, with no other greeting. "I thought ye were too ill to move." No word of sympathy in the matter of the accident! Simply the tone of an employer somehow aggrieved112!
"I'm out to-day for the first time. Had to come down here on a matter—"
Louis looked through the fretted114 partition at the figure of Krupp alone in the lounge. And Horrocleave also looked at Krupp. And Krupp looked back with his enigmatic gaze, perhaps scornful, perhaps indifferent, perhaps secretly appreciative—but in any case profoundly foreign and aloof115 and sinister116.
"Well—" Louis began at a disadvantage. "Who says I'm off to America?"
"Don't you go!" said he. "If ye did, ye might be brought back by the scruff o' the neck. You mark my words and come down to the works to-morrow morning—to-morrow, ye understand!" He was breathing quickly. Then a malicious118 grin seemed to pass over his face as his glance rested for an instant on Louis' plasters. The next instant he walked away, and Louis heard him at the cloak-room counter barking the one word, "Mackintosh."
Louis understood, only too completely. During his absence from the works Horrocleave had amused himself by critically examining the old petty-cash book. That was all, and it was enough. Good-bye to romance, to adventure, to the freedom of the larger world! The one course to pursue was to return home, to deny (as was easy) that the notion of going to America had ever occurred to him, or even the notion of putting up at the hotel, and with such dignity as he could assume to restore to Horrocleave the total sum abstracted. With care and luck he might yet save his reputation. It was impossible that Horrocleave should prosecute119. And what was seventy odd pounds, after all? He was master of thousands.
If he could but have walked straight out of the hotel! But he could not. His dignity, the most precious of all his possessions, had to be maintained. Possibly Krupp had overheard the conversation, or divined its nature. He strolled back into the lounge.
"A benedictine," he ordered casually, and, neatly120 pulling up his trousers at the knee, sank into a basket-chair and crossed his legs, while blowing forth121 much smoke.
"Yes, sir."
When Krupp brought the tiny glass, Louis paid for it without looking at him, and gave a good tip. Ah! He would have liked to peer into Krupp's inmost mind and know exactly how Krupp had been discussing him with Jim Horrocleave. He would have liked to tell Krupp in cutting tones that waiters had no right to chatter122 to one customer about another. And then he would have liked to destroy Krupp. But he could not. His godlike dignity would not permit him to show by even the slightest gesture that he had been inconvenienced. The next moment he perceived that Providence123 had been watching over him. If he had gone to America unknown to Horrocleave, Horrocleave might indeed have proved seriously awkward.... Extradition—was there such a word, and such a thing? He finished the benedictine, went to the cloak-room and obtained his hat, coat, stick, and parcel; and the hovering124 Krupp helped him with his overcoat; and as Destiny cast him out of the dear retreat which a little earlier he had entered with such pleasurable anticipations125, he was followed down the corridor by the aloof, disinterested126 gaze of the Swiss whose enigma89 no Staffordshire man had ever penetrated127.
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exasperatingly
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mitigating
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| v.减轻，缓和( mitigate的现在分词 ) | |
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tedium
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convalescence
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appreciably
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gloss
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phenomena
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curt
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resentment
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soothe
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hovered
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savagely
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countenance
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amiability
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| n.和蔼可亲的，亲切的，友善的 | |
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plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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bestowed
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justified
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denuded
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deliberately
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filched
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astounding
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martyr
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hoard
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monstrous
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interfere
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solely
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benevolence
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procured
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gratitude
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vaguely
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authorized
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contrite
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fixed
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pretext
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dealing
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previously
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ratification
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outrageous
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infamous
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utterly
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sarcasm
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descended
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dubious
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voluptuously
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assailed
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| v.攻击( assail的过去式和过去分词 )；困扰；质问；毅然应对 | |
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46
obstinacy
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| n.顽固；（病痛等）难治 | |
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candid
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| adj.公正的，正直的；坦率的 | |
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48
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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49
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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50
imprisonment
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| n.关押，监禁，坐牢 | |
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51
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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52
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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53
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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54
propriety
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| n.正当行为；正当；适当 | |
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55
borough
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| n.享有自治权的市镇；(英)自治市镇 | |
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56
portico
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| n.柱廊，门廊 | |
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57
proximity
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| n.接近，邻近 | |
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58
outgrown
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| 长[发展] 得超过（某物）的范围( outgrow的过去分词 )； 长[发展]得不能再要（某物）； 长得比…快； 生长速度超过 | |
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59
annihilated
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| v.（彻底）消灭( annihilate的过去式和过去分词 )；使无效；废止；彻底击溃 | |
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60
grandeur
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| n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华 | |
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sublime
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| adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的 | |
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62
overthrow
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| v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆 | |
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63
conviviality
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| n.欢宴，高兴，欢乐 | |
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64
imposing
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| adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的 | |
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65
alcoves
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| n.凹室( alcove的名词复数 )；（花园）凉亭；僻静处；壁龛 | |
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66
publicity
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| n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告 | |
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67
linguistic
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| adj.语言的，语言学的 | |
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68
counterfeit
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| vt.伪造，仿造；adj.伪造的，假冒的 | |
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nuptials
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| n.婚礼；婚礼( nuptial的名词复数 ) | |
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70
axe
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| n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减 | |
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71
auction
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| n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖 | |
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72
sundry
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| adj.各式各样的，种种的 | |
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73
giggles
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| n.咯咯的笑( giggle的名词复数 )；傻笑；玩笑；the giggles 止不住的格格笑v.咯咯地笑( giggle的第三人称单数 ) | |
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74
provincial
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| adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人 | |
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75
monastery
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| n.修道院，僧院，寺院 | |
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76
reigned
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| vi.当政，统治（reign的过去式形式） | |
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precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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pretence
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| n.假装，作假；借口，口实；虚伪；虚饰 | |
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celibate
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| adj.独身的，独身主义的；n.独身者 | |
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80
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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81
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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82
resound
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| v.回响 | |
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83
mightily
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| ad.强烈地；非常地 | |
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84
reassured
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| adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词) | |
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85
lame
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| adj.跛的，(辩解、论据等)无说服力的 | |
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twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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illuminated
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| adj.被照明的；受启迪的 | |
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88
jocose
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| adj.开玩笑的，滑稽的 | |
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89
enigma
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| n.谜，谜一样的人或事 | |
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disdained
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| 鄙视( disdain的过去式和过去分词 )； 不屑于做，不愿意做 | |
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patois
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| n.方言；混合语 | |
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92
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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93
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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94
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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95
casually
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| adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地 | |
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smoothly
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| adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地 | |
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97
depreciation
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| n.价值低落，贬值，蔑视，贬低 | |
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majestic
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| adj.雄伟的，壮丽的，庄严的，威严的，崇高的 | |
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99
eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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100
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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101
embroidery
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| n.绣花，刺绣；绣制品 | |
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102
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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103
plausibly
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| 似真地 | |
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104
beckoned
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| v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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105
intoxicated
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| 喝醉的，极其兴奋的 | |
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106
beverages
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| n.饮料( beverage的名词复数 ) | |
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107
discoursing
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| 演说（discourse的现在分词形式） | |
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108
prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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109
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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110
ferocious
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| adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的 | |
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111
sardonically
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| adv.讽刺地，冷嘲地 | |
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112
aggrieved
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| adj.愤愤不平的，受委屈的；悲痛的；（在合法权利方面）受侵害的v.令委屈，令苦恼，侵害( aggrieve的过去式)；令委屈，令苦恼，侵害( aggrieve的过去式和过去分词) | |
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113
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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114
fretted
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| 焦躁的，附有弦马的，腐蚀的 | |
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115
aloof
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| adj.远离的；冷淡的，漠不关心的 | |
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116
sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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117
clenched
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| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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118
malicious
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| adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的 | |
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119
prosecute
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| vt.告发；进行；vi.告发，起诉，作检察官 | |
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120
neatly
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| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
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121
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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122
chatter
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| vi.／n.喋喋不休；短促尖叫；(牙齿)打战 | |
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123
providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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124
hovering
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| 鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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125
anticipations
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| 预期( anticipation的名词复数 )； 预测； （信托财产收益的）预支； 预期的事物 | |
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126
disinterested
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| adj.不关心的，不感兴趣的 | |
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127
penetrated
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| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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