Strange, inconceivable as it may appear to people of the great world and readers of newspapers, Mr. Prohack, C.B., had never in his life before been inside the Grand Babylon Hotel. Such may be the narrow and mean existence forced by circumstances upon secretly powerful servants of the Crown. He arrived late, owing to the intricate preparations of his wife and daughter for Charlie's luncheon1. These two were unsuccessfully pretending not to be nervous, and their nervousness reacted upon Mr. Prohack, who perceived with disgust that his gay and mischievous2 mood of the morning was slipping away from him despite his efforts to retain it. He knew now definitely that his health had taken the right turn, and yet he could not prod3 the youthful Sissie as he had prodded4 the youthful Mimi Winstock. Moreover Mimi was a secret which would have to be divulged5, and this secret not only weighed heavy within him, but seemed disturbingly to counterbalance the secrets that Charlie was withholding6.
On the present occasion he saw little of the Grand Babylon, for as soon as he mentioned his son's name to the nonchalant official behind the enquiry counter the official changed like lightning into an obsequious7 courtier, and Charles's family was put in charge of a hovering8 attendant boy, who escorted it in a lift and along a mile of corridors, and Charlie's family was kept waiting at a door until the voice of Charlie permitted the boy to open the door. A rather large parlour set with a table for five; a magnificent view from the window of a huge white-bricked wall and scores of chimney pots and electric wires, and a moving grey sky above! Charlie, too, was unsuccessfully pretending not to be nervous.
"Hullo, kid!" he greeted his sister.
"Hullo yourself," responded Sissie.
They shook hands. (They very rarely kissed. However, Charlie kissed his mother. Even he would not have dared not to kiss her.)
"Mater," said he, "let me introduce you to Lady Massulam."
Lady Massulam had been standing10 in the window. She came forward with a pleasant, restrained smile and made the acquaintance of Charlie's family; but she was not talkative. Her presence, coming as a terrific surprise to the ladies of the Prohack family, and as a fairly powerful surprise to Mr. Prohack, completed the general constraint11. Mrs. Prohack indeed was somewhat intimidated12 by it. Mrs. Prohack's knowledge of Lady Massulam was derived13 exclusively from The Daily Picture, where her portrait was constantly appearing, on all sorts of pretexts14, and where she was described as a leader of London society. Mr. Prohack knew of her as a woman credited with great feats15 of war-work, and also with a certain real talent for organisation16; further, he had heard that she had a gift for high finance, and exercised it not without profit. As she happened to be French by birth, no steady English person was seriously upset by the fact that her matrimonial career was obscure, and as she happened to be very rich everybody raised sceptical eyebrows17 at the assertion that her husband (a knight) was dead; for The Daily Picture implanted daily in the minds of millions of readers the grand truth that to the very rich nothing can happen simply. The whole Daily Picture world was aware that of late she had lived at the Grand Babylon Hotel in permanence. That world would not have recognised her from her published portraits, which were more historical than actual. Although conspicuously18 anti-Victorian she had a Victorian beauty of the impressive kind; she had it still. Her hair was of a dark lustrous19 brown and showed no grey. In figure she was tall, and rather more than plump and rather less than fat. Her perfect and perfectly20 worn clothes proved that she knew just how to deal with herself. She would look forty in a theatre, fifty in a garden, and sixty to her maid at dawn.
This important person spoke21, when she did speak, with a scarcely perceptible French accent in a fine clear voice. But she spoke little and said practically nothing: which was a shock to Marian Prohack, who had imagined that in the circles graced by Lady Massulam conversation varied22 from badinage23 to profundity24 and never halted. It was not that Lady Massulam was tongue-tied, nor that she was impolite; it was merely that with excellent calmness she did not talk. If anybody handed her a subject, she just dropped it; the floor around her was strewn with subjects.
The lunch was dreadful, socially. It might have been better if Charlie's family had not been tormented25 by the tremendous question: what had Charlie to do with Lady Massulam? Already Charlie's situation was sufficient of a mystery, without this arch-mystery being spread all over it. And inexperienced Charlie was a poor host; as a host he was positively26 pathetic, rivalling Lady Massulam in taciturnity.
"Have you dropped that silly dance-scheme of yours, kid?"
Sissie was obliged to admit that she had.
"Then I tell you what you might do. You might come and live here with me for a bit. I want a hostess, you know."
"I will," said Sissie, straight. No consultation29 of parents!
This brief episode overset Mrs. Prohack. The lunch worsened, to such a point that Mr. Prohack began to grow light-hearted, and chaffed Charlie in his turn. He found material for chaff27 in the large number of newly bought books that were lying about the room. There was even the Encyclopaedia30 of Religion and Ethics31 in eleven volumes. Queer possessions for a youth who at home had never read aught but the periodical literature of automobilism! Could this be the influence of Lady Massulam? Then the telephone bell rang, and it was like a signal of salvation32. Charlie sprang at the instrument.
"For you," he said, indicating Lady Massulam, who rose.
"Oh!" said she. "It's Ozzie."
"Who's Ozzie?" Charlie demanded, without thought.
"No doubt Oswald Morfey," said Mr. Prohack, scoring over his son.
"He wants to see me. May I ask him to come up for coffee?"
"Oh! Do!" said Sissie, also without thought. She then blushed.
Mr. Prohack thought suspiciously and apprehensively33:
"I bet anything he's found out that my daughter is here."
Ozzie transformed the final act of the luncheon. An adept34 conversationalist, he created conversationalists on every side. Mrs. Prohack liked him at once. Sissie could not keep her eyes off him. Charlie was impressed by him. Lady Massulam treated him with the familiarity of an intimate. Mr. Prohack alone was sinister35 in attitude. Ozzie brought the great world into the room with him. In his simpering voice he was ready to discuss all the phenomena36 of the universe; but after ten minutes Mr. Prohack noticed that the fellow had one sole subject on his mind. Namely, a theatrical37 first-night, fixed38 for that very evening; a first-night of the highest eminence39; one of Mr. Asprey Chown's first-nights, boomed by the marvellous showmanship of Mr. Asprey Chown into a mighty40 event. The competition for seats was prodigious41, but of course Lady Massulam had obtained her usual stall.
"What a pity we can't go!" said Sissie simply.
"Will you all come in my box?" astonishingly replied Mr. Oswald Morfey, embracing in his weak glance the entire Prohack family.
"The fellow came here on purpose to fix this," said Mr. Prohack to himself as the matter was being effusively42 clinched43.
"I must go," said he aloud, looking at his watch. "I have a very important appointment."
"But I wanted to have a word with you, dad," said Charlie, in quite a new tone across the table.
"Possibly," answered the superior ironic44 father in Mr. Prohack, who besides being sick of the luncheon party was determined45 that nothing should interfere46 with his Median and Persian programme. "Possibly. But that will be for another time."
"Well, to-night then," said Charlie, dashed somewhat.
"Perhaps," said Mr. Prohack. Yet he was burning to hear his son's word.
II
However, Mr. Prohack did not succeed in loosing himself from the embraces of the Grand Babylon Hotel for another thirty minutes. He offered to abandon the car, to abandon everything to his wife and daughter, and to reach his next important appointment by the common methods of conveyance47 employed by common people; but the ladies would permit no such thing; they announced their firm intention of personally escorting him to his destination. The party seemed to be unable to break up. There was a considerable confabulation between Eve and Lady Massulam at the entrance to the lift.
Mr. Prohack noticed anew that Eve's attitude to Lady Massulam was still a flattering one. Indeed Eve showed that in her opinion the meeting with so great a personage as Lady Massulam was not quite an ordinary episode in her simple existence. And Lady Massulam was now talking with a free flow to Eve. As soon as the colloquy48 had closed and Eve had at length joined her simmering husband in the lift, Charlie must have a private chat with Lady Massulam, apart, mysterious, concerning their affairs, whatever their affairs might be! In spite of himself, Mr. Prohack was impressed by the demeanour of the young man and the mature blossom of womanhood to each other. They exhibited a mutual49 trust; they understood each other; they liked each other. She was more than old enough to be his mamma, and yet as she talked to him she somehow became a dignified50 girl. Mr. Prohack was disturbed in a manner which he would never have admitted,—how absurd to fancy that Lady Massulam had in her impressive head a notion of marrying the boy! Still, such unions had occurred!—but he was pleasantly touched, too.
Then Oswald Morfey and Sissie made another couple, very different, more animated51, and equally touching52. Ozzie seemed to grow more likeable, and less despicable, under the honest and frankly53 ardent54 gaze of Miss Prohack; and Mr. Prohack was again visited by a doubt whether the fellow was after all the perfectly silly ass9 which he was reputed to be.
In the lift, Lady Massulam having offered her final adieux, Ozzie opened up to Mrs. Prohack the subject of an organisation called the United League of all the Arts. Mr. Prohack would not listen to this. He hated leagues, and especially leagues of arts. He knew in the marrow55 of his spine56 that they were preposterous57; but Mrs. Prohack and Sissie listened with unfeigned eagerness to the wonderful tale of the future of the United League of all the Arts. And when, emerging from the lift, Mr. Prohack strolled impatiently on ahead, the three stood calmly moveless to converse59, until Mr. Prohack had to stroll impatiently back again. As for Charlie, he stood by himself; there was leisure for the desired word with his father, but Mr. Prohack had bluntly postponed60 that, and thus the leisure was wasted.
Without consulting Mr. Prohack's wishes, Ozzie drew the ladies towards the great lounge, and Mr. Prohack at a distance unwillingly61 after them. In the lounge so abundantly enlarged and enriched since the days of the celebrated62 Felix Babylon, the founder63 of the hotel, post-lunch coffee was merging58 into afternoon tea. The number of idle persons in the world, and the number of busy persons who ministered to them, and the number of artistic64 persons who played voluptuous65 music to their idleness, struck Mr. Prohack as merely prodigious. He had not dreamed that idleness on so grandiose66 a scale flourished in the city which to him had always been a city of hard work and limited meal-hours. He saw that he had a great deal to learn before he could hope to be as skilled in idleness as the lowest of these experts in the lounge. He tapped his foot warningly. No effect on his women. He tapped more loudly, as the hatred67 of being in a hurry took possession of him. Eve looked round with a delightful68 placatory69 smile which conjured70 an answering smile into the face of her husband.
He tried to be irritated after smiling, and advancing said in a would-be fierce tone:
"If this lunch lasts much longer I shall barely have time to dress for dinner."
But the effort was a failure—so complete that Sissie laughed at him.
He had expected that in the car his women would relate to him the sayings and doings of Ozzie Morfey in relation to the United League of all the Arts. But they said not a syllable71 on the matter. He knew they were hiding something formidable from him. He might have put a question, but he was too proud to do so. Further, he despised them because they essayed to discuss Lady Massulam impartially72, as though she was just a plain body, or nobody at all. A nauseating73 pretence74 on their part.
Crossing a street, the car was held up by a procession of unemployed75, with guardian76 policemen, a band consisting chiefly of drums, and a number of collarless powerful young men who shook white boxes of coppers77 menacingly in the faces of passers-by.
"Instead of encouraging them, the police ought to forbid these processions of unemployed," said Eve gravely. "They're becoming a perfect nuisance."
"Why!" said Mr. Prohack, "this car of yours is a procession of unemployed."
This sardonic78 pleasantry pleased Mr. Prohack as much as it displeased79 Mrs. Prohack. It seemed to alleviate80 his various worries, and the process of alleviation81 went further when he remembered that, though he would be late for his important appointment, he had really lost no time because Dr. Veiga had forbidden him to keep this particular appointment earlier than two full hours after a meal.
"Don't take cold, darling," Eve urged with loving solicitude82 as he left the car to enter the place of rendezvous83. Sissie grinned at him mockingly. They both knew that he had never kept such an appointment before.
III
Solemnity, and hush84, and antique menials stiff with tradition, surrounded him. As soon as he had paid the entrance fee and deposited all his valuables in a drawer of which the key was formally delivered to him, he was motioned through a turnstile and requested to permit his boots to be removed. He consented. White linens85 were then handed to him.
"See here," he said with singular courage to the attendant. "I've never been into one of these resorts before. Where do I go?"
The attendant, who was a bare-footed mild child dressed in the Moorish87 mode, reassuringly88 charged himself with Mr. Prohack's well-being89, and led the aspirant90 into a vast mosque91 with a roof of domes92 and little glowing windows of coloured glass. In the midst of the mosque was a pale green pool. White figures reclined in alcoves93, round the walls. A fountain played—the only orchestra. There was an eastern sound of hands clapped, and another attendant glided95 across the carpeted warm floor. Mr. Prohack understood that, in this immense seclusion96, when you desired no matter what you clapped your hands and were served. A beautiful peace descended97 upon him and enveloped98 him; and he thought: "This is the most wonderful place in the world. I have been waiting for this place for twenty years."
He yielded without reserve to its unique invitation. But some time elapsed before he could recover from the unquestionable fact that he was still within a quarter of a mile of Piccadilly Circus.
From the explanations of the attendant and from the precise orders which he had received from Dr. Veiga regarding the right method of conduct in a Turkish bath, Mr. Prohack, being a man of quick mind, soon devised the order of the ceremonial suited to his case, and began to put it into execution. At first he found the ceremonial exacting99. To part from all his clothes and to parade through the mosque in attire100 of which the principal items were a towel and the key of his valuables (adorning his wrist) was ever so slightly an ordeal101 to one of his temperament102 and upbringing. To sit unsheltered in blinding steam was not amusing, though it was exciting. But the steam-chapel103 (as it might be called) of the mosque was a delight compared to the second next chapel further on, where the woodwork of the chairs was too hot to touch and where a gigantic thermometer informed Mr. Prohack that with only another fifty degrees of heat he would have achieved boiling point.
He remembered that it was in this chamber104 he must drink iced tonic105 water in quantity. He clapped his streaming hands clammily, and a tall, thin, old man whose whole life must have been lived near boiling point, immediately brought the draught106. Short of the melting of the key of his valuables everything possible happened in this extraordinary chamber. But Mr. Prohack was determined to shrink from naught107 in the pursuit of idleness.
And at length, after he had sat in a less ardent chapel, and in still another chapel been laid out on a marble slab108 as for an autopsy109 and, defenceless, attacked for a quarter of an hour by a prize-fighter, and had jumped desperately110 into the ice-cold lake and been dragged out and smothered111 in thick folds of linen86, and finally reposed112 horizontal in his original alcove94,—then he was conscious of an inward and profound conviction that true, perfect, complete and supreme113 idleness had been attained114. He had no care in the world; he was cut off from the world; he had no family; he existed beatifically115 and individually in a sublime116 and satisfied egotism.
But, such is the insecurity of human organisms and institutions, in less than two minutes he grew aware of a strange sensation within him, which sensation he ultimately diagnosed as hunger. To clap his hands was the work of an instant. The oncoming attendant recited a catalogue of the foods at his disposal; and the phrase "welsh rarebit" caught his attention. He must have a welsh rarebit; he had not had a welsh rarebit since he was at school. It magically arrived, on an oriental tray, set on a low Moorish table.
Eating the most wonderful food of his life and drinking tea, he looked about and saw that two of the unoccupied sofas in his alcove were strewn with garments; the owners of the garments had doubtlessly arrived during his absence in the chapels117 and were now in the chapels themselves. He lay back; earthly phenomena lost their hard reality....
When he woke up the mosque was a pit of darkness glimmering118 with sharp points of electric light. He heard voices, the voices of two men who occupied the neighbouring sofas. They were discoursing119 to each other upon the difficulties of getting good whiskey in Afghanistan and in Rio de Janeiro respectively. From whiskey they passed to even more interesting matters, and Mr. Prohack, for the first time, began to learn how the other half lives, to such an extent that he thought he had better turn on the lamp over his head. Whereupon the conversation on the neighbouring sofas curved off to the English weather in late autumn.
Then Mr. Prohack noticed a deep snore. He perceived that the snore originated in a considerable figure that, wrapped in white and showing to the mosque only a venerable head, was seated in one of the huge armchairs which were placed near the entrance to every alcove. It seemed to him that he recognised the snore, and he was not mistaken, for he had twice before heard it on Sunday afternoons at his chief club. The head was the head of Sir Paul Spinner. Mr. Prohack recalled that old Paul was a devotee of the Turkish bath.
Now Mr. Prohack was exceedingly anxious to have speech with old Paul, for he had heard very interesting rumours120 of Paul's activities. He arose softly and approached the easy-chair and surveyed Sir Paul, who in his then state looked less like a high financier and more like something chipped off the roof of a cathedral than anything that Mr. Prohack had ever seen.
But Paul did not waken. A bather plunged121 into the pool with a tremendous splash, but Paul did not waken. And Mr. Prohack felt that it would be contrary to the spirit of the ritual of the mosque to waken him. But he decided122 that if he waited all night he would wait until old Paul regained123 consciousness.
At that moment an attendant asked Mr. Prohack if he desired the attentions of the barber, the chiropodist, or the manicurist. New vistas124 opened out before Mr. Prohack. He said yes. After the barber, he padded down the stairs from the barber's chapel (which was in the upper story of the mosque), to observe if there was any change in old Paul's condition. Paul still slept. Mr. Prohack did similarly after the chiropodist. Paul still slept. Then again after the manicurist. Paul still slept. Then a boyish attendant hurried forward and in a very daring manner shook the monumental Paul by the shoulder.
"You told me to wake you at six, Sir Paul." And Paul woke.
"How simple," reflected Mr. Prohack, "are the problems of existence when they are tackled with decision! Here have I been ineffectively trying to waken the fellow for the past hour. But I forgot that he who wishes the end must wish the means, and my regard for the ritual of the mosque was absurd."
He retired125 into the alcove to dress, keeping a watchful126 eye upon old Paul. He felt himself to be in the highest state of physical efficiency. From head to foot he was beyond criticism. When Mr. Prohack had got as far as his waistcoat Sir Paul uprose ponderously127 from the easy-chair.
"Hi, Paul!"
The encounter between the two friends was one of those affectionate and ecstatic affairs that can only happen in a Turkish Bath.
"I've been trying to get you on the 'phone half the day," grunted128 Paul Spinner, subsiding129 on to Mr. Prohack's sofa.
"I've been out all day. Horribly busy," said Mr. Prohack. "What's wrong? Anything wrong?"
"Oh, no! Only I thought you'd like to know I've finished that deal."
"I did hear some tall stories, but not a word from you, old thing." Mr. Prohack tried to assume a tranquillity130 which he certainly did not feel.
"Well, I never sing until I'm out of the wood. But this time I'm out sooner than I expected."
"Any luck?"
"I suppose you can't remember what there was in it."
"I shall get the securities next week."
"What securities?"
"Well, you'll receive"—here Paul dropped his voice—"three thousand short of a quarter of a million in return for what you put in, my boy."
"Then I'm worth over two hundred and fifty thousand pounds!" murmured Mr. Prohack feebly. And he added, still more feebly: "Something will have to be done about this soon." His heart was beating against his waistcoat like an engine.
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1
luncheon
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| n.午宴，午餐，便宴 | |
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mischievous
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| adj.调皮的，恶作剧的，有害的，伤人的 | |
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prod
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| vt.戳，刺；刺激，激励 | |
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prodded
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| v.刺，戳( prod的过去式和过去分词 )；刺激；促使；（用手指或尖物）戳 | |
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divulged
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| v.吐露，泄露( divulge的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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withholding
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| 扣缴税款 | |
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obsequious
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| adj.谄媚的，奉承的，顺从的 | |
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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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ass
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| n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人 | |
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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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constraint
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| n.(on)约束，限制；限制(或约束)性的事物 | |
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intimidated
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| v.恐吓；威胁adj.害怕的；受到威胁的 | |
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derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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pretexts
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| n.借口，托辞( pretext的名词复数 ) | |
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feats
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| 功绩，伟业，技艺( feat的名词复数 ) | |
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organisation
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| n.组织，安排，团体，有机休 | |
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eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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conspicuously
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| ad.明显地，惹人注目地 | |
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lustrous
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| adj.有光泽的；光辉的 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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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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varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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badinage
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| n.开玩笑，打趣 | |
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profundity
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| n.渊博；深奥，深刻 | |
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tormented
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| 饱受折磨的 | |
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positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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chaff
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| v.取笑，嘲笑；n.谷壳 | |
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curtness
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| n.简短；草率；简略 | |
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consultation
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| n.咨询；商量；商议；会议 | |
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encyclopaedia
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| n.百科全书 | |
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ethics
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| n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准 | |
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salvation
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| n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困 | |
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apprehensively
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| adv.担心地 | |
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adept
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| adj.老练的，精通的 | |
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sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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phenomena
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| n.现象 | |
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theatrical
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| adj.剧场的，演戏的；做戏似的，做作的 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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eminence
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| n.卓越，显赫；高地，高处；名家 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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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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effusively
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| adv.变溢地，热情洋溢地 | |
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43
clinched
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| v.（尤指两人）互相紧紧抱[扭]住( clinch的过去式和过去分词 )；解决（争端、交易），达成（协议） | |
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ironic
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| adj.讽刺的，有讽刺意味的，出乎意料的 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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46
interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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47
conveyance
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| n.(不动产等的)转让，让与；转让证书；传送；运送；表达；（正）运输工具 | |
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48
colloquy
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| n.谈话，自由讨论 | |
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49
mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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50
dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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51
animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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52
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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53
frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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54
ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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55
marrow
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| n.骨髓；精华；活力 | |
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56
spine
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| n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊 | |
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57
preposterous
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| adj.荒谬的，可笑的 | |
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58
merging
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| 合并（分类） | |
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59
converse
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| vi.谈话，谈天，闲聊；adv.相反的，相反 | |
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60
postponed
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| vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发） | |
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61
unwillingly
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| adv.不情愿地 | |
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62
celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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63
Founder
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| n.创始者，缔造者 | |
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64
artistic
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| adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的 | |
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65
voluptuous
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| adj.肉欲的，骄奢淫逸的 | |
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66
grandiose
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| adj.宏伟的，宏大的，堂皇的，铺张的 | |
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67
hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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68
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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69
placatory
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| adj.安抚的，抚慰的 | |
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70
conjured
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| 用魔术变出( conjure的过去式和过去分词 )； 祈求，恳求； 变戏法； （变魔术般地） 使…出现 | |
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71
syllable
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| n.音节；vt.分音节 | |
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72
impartially
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| adv.公平地，无私地 | |
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73
nauseating
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| adj.令人恶心的，使人厌恶的v.使恶心，作呕( nauseate的现在分词 ) | |
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74
pretence
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| n.假装，作假；借口，口实；虚伪；虚饰 | |
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75
unemployed
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| adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的 | |
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76
guardian
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| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
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77
coppers
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| 铜( copper的名词复数 )； 铜币 | |
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78
sardonic
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| adj.嘲笑的，冷笑的，讥讽的 | |
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79
displeased
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| a.不快的 | |
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80
alleviate
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| v.减轻，缓和，缓解(痛苦等) | |
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81
alleviation
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| n. 减轻，缓和，解痛物 | |
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82
solicitude
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| n.焦虑 | |
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83
rendezvous
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| n.约会，约会地点，汇合点；vi.汇合，集合；vt.使汇合，使在汇合地点相遇 | |
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84
hush
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| int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静 | |
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85
linens
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| n.亚麻布( linen的名词复数 )；家庭日用织品 | |
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86
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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87
moorish
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| adj.沼地的，荒野的，生[住]在沼地的 | |
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88
reassuringly
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| ad.安心，可靠 | |
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89
well-being
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| n.安康，安乐，幸福 | |
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90
aspirant
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| n.热望者；adj.渴望的 | |
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91
mosque
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| n.清真寺 | |
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92
domes
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| n.圆屋顶( dome的名词复数 )；像圆屋顶一样的东西；圆顶体育场 | |
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93
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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94
alcove
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| n.凹室 | |
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95
glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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96
seclusion
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| n.隐遁，隔离 | |
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97
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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98
enveloped
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| v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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99
exacting
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| adj.苛求的，要求严格的 | |
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100
attire
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| v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装 | |
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101
ordeal
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| n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验 | |
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102
temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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103
chapel
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| n.小教堂，殡仪馆 | |
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104
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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105
tonic
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| n./adj.滋补品，补药，强身的，健体的 | |
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106
draught
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| n.拉，牵引，拖；一网（饮，吸，阵)；顿服药量，通风；v.起草，设计 | |
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107
naught
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| n.无，零 [=nought] | |
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108
slab
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| n.平板，厚的切片；v.切成厚板，以平板盖上 | |
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109
autopsy
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| n.尸体解剖；尸检 | |
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110
desperately
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| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
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111
smothered
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| （使）窒息， （使）透不过气( smother的过去式和过去分词 )； 覆盖； 忍住； 抑制 | |
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112
reposed
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| v.将（手臂等）靠在某人（某物）上( repose的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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113
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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114
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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115
beatifically
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| adj. 祝福的, 幸福的, 快乐的, 慈祥的 | |
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116
sublime
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| adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的 | |
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117
chapels
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| n.小教堂， （医院、监狱等的）附属礼拜堂( chapel的名词复数 )；（在小教堂和附属礼拜堂举行的）礼拜仪式 | |
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118
glimmering
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| n.微光，隐约的一瞥adj.薄弱地发光的v.发闪光，发微光( glimmer的现在分词 ) | |
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119
discoursing
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| 演说（discourse的现在分词形式） | |
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120
rumours
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| n.传闻( rumour的名词复数 )；风闻；谣言；谣传 | |
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121
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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122
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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123
regained
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| 复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地 | |
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124
vistas
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| 长条形景色( vista的名词复数 )； 回顾； 展望； （未来可能发生的）一系列情景 | |
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125
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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126
watchful
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| adj.注意的，警惕的 | |
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127
ponderously
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128
grunted
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| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说 | |
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129
subsiding
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| v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的现在分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
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130
tranquillity
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| n. 平静, 安静 | |
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131
dictated
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| v.大声讲或读( dictate的过去式和过去分词 )；口授；支配；摆布 | |
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