"If she had hoped for it, Providence would not have granted it," interpolated the Honorary Trier.
"Pardon me. The moment for jesting is surely when you have received a blow. In a happy crisis jesting is a waste of good jokes. The retiring candidate does not state what Providence has granted, does she?"
"No," said Lillie savagely3. "She was extremely reticent4 about her history—reticent almost to the point of indiscretion. But I daresay it's a husband."
"Ah, then it can hardly be Providence that has granted it," said Silverdale.
"Providence is not always kindly," said Lillie laughing. The gibe5 at Benedicts restored her good-humor and when the millionaire strolled into the Club she did not immediately expel him.
"Well, Lillie," he said, "when are you going to give the soirée to celebrate the foundation of the Club? I am staying in town expressly for it."
"As soon as possible, father. I am only waiting for some more members."
"Why, have you any difficulty about getting enough? I seem always to be meeting young ladies on the staircases."
"We are so exclusive."
"So it seems. You exclude even me," grumbled7 the millionaire. "I can't make out why you are so hard to please. A more desirable lot of young ladies I never wish to see. I should never have believed it possible that such a number of pretty girls would be anxious to remain single merely for the sake of a principle."
"You see!" said Lillie eagerly, "we shall be a standing9 proof to men of how little they have understood our sex."
"Men do not need any proof of that," remarked Lord Silverdale dryly.
This time it was Lillie whom Turple the magnificent prevented from making the retort which was not on the tip of her tongue.
"A gentleman who gives his name as a lady is waiting in the ante-room," he announced.
They all stared hard at Turple the magnificent, almost tempted11 to believe he was joking and that the end of the world was at hand.
But the countenance12 of Turple the magnificent was as stolid13 and expressionless as a Bath bun. He might have been beaming behind his face, possibly even the Old Maids' Club tickled14 him vastly, so that his mental midriff was agitated15 convulsively; but this could not be known by outsiders.
Lillie took the card he tendered her and read aloud: "Nelly Nimrod."
"Nelly Nimrod!" cried the Honorary Trier. "Why, that's the famous girl who travelled from Charing16 Cross to China-Tartary on an elephant and wrote a book about it under the pen-name of Wee Winnie."
"Shall I show him in?" interposed Turple the magnificent.
"Certainly," said Lillie eagerly. "Father, you must go."
"Oh, no! Not if it's only a gentleman."
"It may be only no lady," murmured Silverdale. Lillie caught the words and turned upon him the dusky splendors17 of her fulminant eyes.
"Et tu, Brute18!" she said. "Do you too hold that false theory that womanliness consists in childishness?"
"No, nor that other false theory that it consists in manliness," retorted the Honorary Trier.
The entry of Nelly Nimrod put an end to the dispute. In the excitement of the moment no one noticed that the millionaire was still leaning against an epigram.
"Good-morning, Miss Dulcimer. I am charmed to make your acquaintance," said Wee Winnie, gripping the President's soft hand with painful cordiality. She was elegantly attired19 in a white double-breasted waistcoat, a zouave jacket, a check-tweed skirt, gaiters, a three inch collar, a tricorner hat, a pair of tanned gloves and an eyeglass. In her hand she carried an ebony stick. Her hair was parted at the side. Nelly was nothing if not original, so that when the spectator looked down for the divided skirt he was astonished not to find it. Wee Winnie in fact considered it ungraceful and Divide et Impera a contradiction in terms. She was a tall girl, and looked handsome even under the most masculine conditions.
"I am happy to make yours," returned the President. "Is it to join the Old Maids' Club that you have called?"
"It is. Wherever there is a crusade you will always find me in the van. I don't precisely22 know your objects yet, but any woman who strikes out anything new commands my warmest sympathies."
"Be seated, Miss Nimrod. Allow me to introduce Lord Silverdale—an old friend of mine."
"And of mine," replied Nelly, bowing with a sweet smile.
"Indeed!" cried Lillie flushing.
"In the spirit, only in the spirit," said Nelly. "His lordship's 'Poems of Passion' formed my sole reading in the deserts of China-Tartary."
"In the letter, you should say then," said the peer. "By the way, you are confusing me with a minor23 poet, Silverplume, and his book is not called Poems of Passion but Poems of Compassion24."
"Ah well, there isn't much difference," said Nelly.
"Well, Miss Nimrod," put in Lillie, "our object is easily defined. We are an association of young and beautiful girls devoted25 to celibacy26 in order to modify the meaning of the term 'Old Maid.'"
Nelly Nimrod started up enthusiastically.
"Bravo, old girl!" she cried, slapping the President on the back. "Put me down for a flag. I catch the conception of the campaign. It is magnificent."
"But it is not war," said Lillie. "Our methods are peaceful, unaggressive. Our platform is merely metaphorical27. Our lesson is the self-sufficiency of spinsterhood. We preach it by existing."
"Not exist by preaching it," added Silverdale. "This is not one of the cliques28 of the shrieking29 sisterhood?"
"What do you mean by the term shrieking sisterhood," said Nelly. "I use it to denote the mice-fearing classes."
"Hear, hear," said Lillie. "It is true, Miss Nimrod, that our members are required not to exhibit in public, but only because that is a part of the old unhappy signification of 'Old Maid.'"
"I quite understand. You would not call a book a public exhibition of oneself, I suppose."
"Certainly not—if it is an autobiography30," said Silverdale.
"That's all right then. My book is autobiographical."
"I knew a celebrity31 once," said Silverdale, "a dreadfully shy person. All his life he lived retired32 from the world, and even after his death he concealed33 himself behind an autobiography."
"I have not concealed myself," she said simply. "All I thought and did is written in my book."
"What's that? Didn't catch that," said Nelly, looking round in the direction of the voice.
"Good gracious, father, haven't you gone?" cried Lillie, no less startled. "It's too bad. You are spoiling one of my best epigrams. Couldn't you lean against something else?"
Before the millionaire could be got rid of, Turple the magnificent reappeared.
"A lady who gives the name of a gentleman," he said.
"What name?" asked Lillie.
"That's her surname," said Lillie, in a disappointed tone.
Turple the magnificent stood reproved a moment, then he went out to fetch the lady. The gathering39 was already so large that Lillie thought there was nothing to be gained by keeping her waiting.
Miss Jack proved to be an extremely eligible40 candidate so far as appearances went. She bowed stiffly on being introduced to Miss Nimrod.
"May I ask if that is to be the uniform of the Old Maids' Club?" she inquired of the President. "Because if so I am afraid I have made a mistaken journey. It is as a protest against unconventional females that I designed to join you."
"Is that the uniform of the Old Maids' Club?"
"Certainly," replied Miss Jack, with exquisite42 politeness. "I lay stress upon your sex, merely because it is not obvious."
"Well, I am an unconventional female, and I glory in it," said Nelly Nimrod, seating herself astride the sofa. "I did not expect to hear the provincial43 suburban44 note struck within these walls. I claim the right of every woman to lead her own life in her own toilettes."
"And a pretty life you have led!"
"I have, indeed!" cried Miss Nimrod, goaded45 almost to oratory46 by Miss Jack's taunts47. "Not the ugly, unlovely life of the average woman. I have exhausted48 all the sensations which are the common guerdon of youth and health and high spirits, and which have for the most part been selfishly monopolized49 by man. The splendid audacity51 of youth has burnt in my veins52 and fired me to burst my swaddling clothes and strike for the emancipation53 of my sex. I have not merely played cricket in a white shirt and lawn tennis in a blue serge skirt, I have not only skated in low-heeled boots and fenced in corduroy knickerbockers, but I have sailed the seas in an oil-skin jacket and a sou'-wester and swum them in nothing and walked beneath them in the diver's mail. I have waded54 after salmon55 in long boots and caught trout56 in tweed knickerbockers and spats57. Nay58, more! I have proclaimed the dignity of womanhood upon the moors59, and have shot grouse60 in brown leather gaiters and a sweet Norfolk jacket with half-inch tucks. But this is not the climax61, I have——"
Wee Winnie on her Travels.
"Yes, I know. You are Wee Winnie. You travelled alone from Charing Cross to China-Tartary. I have not read your book, but I have heard of it."
"And what have you heard of it?"
"That it is in bad taste."
"Ladies, ladies!" murmured Silverdale. "This is the first time we have had two of them in the room together," he thought. "I suppose when the thing is once started we shall change the name to the Kilkenny Cats' Club."
"In bad taste, is it?" said Miss Nimrod, promptly63 whipping a book out of her skirt pocket. "Well, here is the book. If you can find one passage in bad taste I'll—I'll delete it in the next edition. There!"
She pushed the book into the hands of Miss Jack, who took it rather reluctantly.
"That's a picture of me on my elephant, sketched65 by myself. Do you mean to say there's any bad taste about that?"
"Oh, no; I merely asked for information. I didn't know what animal it was."
"You astonish me," said the artist. "Have you never been to a circus? Yes, this is Mumbo Jumbo himself."
"Surely, Miss Jack," said Lord Silverdale gravely. "You must have heard, if you have not read, how Miss Nimrod chartered an elephant, packed up her Kodak and a few bonnet-boxes and rode him on the curb67 through Central Asia. But may I ask, Miss Nimrod, why you did not enrich the book with more sketches68? There is only this one. All the rest are Kodaks."
"Well, you see, Lord Silverdale, it's simpler to photograph."
"Perhaps, but your readers miss the artistic69 quality that pervades70 this sketch66. I am glad you made an exception in its favor."
"Oh, only because one can't Kodak oneself. Everything else I caught as I flew past."
"Did you catch any Tartars?"
"Hundreds. I destroyed most of them."
"By the way, you did not come across Mr. Fladpick in Tartary?"
"The English Shakespeare? Oh, yes! I lunched with him. He is charm——"
"Ah, here are the fleas!" interrupted Miss Jack.
The millionaire started as if he had been stung.
"I won't have them taken apart from the context, I warn you. That wouldn't be fair," said Miss Nimrod.
"Very well, I will read the whole passage," said Miss Jack.
"'Mumbo Jumbo bucked71 violently (see illustration) but I settled myself tightly on the saddle and gave myself up to meditations72 on the vanity of Life-guardsmen. Mumbo Jumbo seemed, however, determined73 to have his fling, and bounded about with the agility74 of an india-rubber ball. At last his convulsions became so terrific that I grew quite nervous about my fragile bonnet-boxes. They might easily dash one another to bits. I determined to have leather hat-boxes the next time I travelled in untrodden paths. "Steady, my beauty, steady!" I cried. Recognizing my familiar accents, my pet easied a little. To pacify75 him entirely76 I whistled 'Ba, ba, ba, boodle-dee,' to him, but his contortions77 recommenced and became quite grotesque78. First he lifted one paw high in the air, then he twirled his trunk round the corner, then the first paw came down with a thud that shook the desert, while the other three paws flew up towards the sky. It suddenly occurred to me that he was dancing to the air of 'Ba, ba, ba, boodle-dee,' and I laughed so loud and long, that any stray Mahatma who happened to be smoking at the door of his cave in the cool of the evening must have thought me mad. But while I was laughing, Mumbo Jumbo continued to stand upon his tail, so that I saw it could not be 'Ba, ba, ba, boodle-dee' he was suffering from. I wondered whether perhaps he could be teething—or should I say, tusking? I do not know whether elephants get a second set, or whether they cut their wisdom tusks79, but, as they are so sagacious, I suppose they do. Suddenly the consciousness of what was really the matter with him flashed sharply upon my brain. I looked down upon my hand, and there, poised80 lightly yet firmly, like a butterfly on a lily, was a giant flea36. Instantly, without uttering a single cry or reeling in my saddle, I grasped the situation; and coolly seizing the noxious81 insect with my other hand, I choked the life out of him, while Mumbo Jumbo cantered along in restored calm. The sensitive beast had evidently been suffering untold83 agonies.'"
"Now, Lord Silverdale," said Miss Nimrod, "I appeal to you. Is there anything in that passage in the least calculated to bring a blush to the cheek of the young person?"
"No, there is not," said his lordship emphatically. "Only I wish you had caught that flea with your Kodak."
"Why?" said Miss Nimrod.
"Because I have always longed to see him. A flea that could penetrate84 the pachydermatous hide of an elephant must have been, indeed, a monster. In England we only see that sort under microscopes. They seem to thrive nowhere else. Yours must have been one that had escaped from under the lens. He was magnified three thousand diameters and he never recovered from it. You probably took him over in your trunk."
"Oh, no, I'm sure I didn't," protested Miss Nimrod.
"Well, then, Mumbo Jumbo did in his."
"Excuse me," interposed Miss Jack. "We are getting off the point. I did not say the passage was calculated to raise a blush, I said it was a grave error of taste."
"It is a mere8 flea-bite," broke in the millionaire, impatiently. "I liked it when I first read it, and I like it now I hear it again. It is a touch of nature that brings the Tartary traveller home to every fireside."
"Besides," added Lord Silverdale. "The introduction of the butterfly and the lily makes it quite poetical85."
"Ladies and gentlemen," interposed the President, at last, "we are not here to discuss entomology or æsthetics. You stated, Miss Jack, that you thought of joining us as a protest against female unconventionally."
"I said unconventional females," persisted Miss Jack.
"Even so, I do not follow you," said Lillie.
"It is extremely simple. I am unable to marry because I have a frank nature, not given to feigning86 or fawning87. I cannot bring a husband what he expects nowadays in a wife."
"A chum," answered Miss Jack. "Formerly89 a man wanted a wife, now he wants a woman to sympathize with his intellectual interests, to talk with him intelligently about his business, discuss politics with him—nay, almost to smoke with him. Tobacco for two is destined90 to be the ideal of the immediate6 future. The girls he favors are those who flatter him by imitating him. It is women like Wee Winnie who have depraved his taste. There is nothing the natural man craves91 less for than a clever, learned wife. Only he has been talked over into believing that he needs intellectual companionship, and now he won't be happy till he gets it. I have escaped politics and affairs all my life, and I am determined not to marry into them."
"What a humiliating confession92!" sneered93 Miss Nimrod. "It is a pity you don't wear doll's-clothes."
"I claim for every woman the right to live her own life in her own toilettes," retorted Miss Jack. "The sneers94 about dolls are threadbare. I have watched these intellectual camaraderies, and I say they are a worse injustice95 to woman than any you decry96."
"The man expects the woman to talk politics—but he refuses to take a reciprocal interest in the woman's sphere of work. He will not talk nursery or servants. He will preach economy, but he will not talk it."
"That is true," said Lillie impressed. "What reply would you make to that, Miss Nimrod?"
"There is no possible reply," said Miss Jack hurriedly. "So much for the mock equality which is the cant82 of the new husbandry. How stands the account with the new young womanhood? The young ladies who are clamoring for equality with men want to eat their cake and to have it too. They want to wear masculine hats, yet to [pg 236] keep them on in the presence of gentlemen; to compete with men in the market-place, yet to take their seats inside omnibuses on wet days and outside them on sunny; to be 'pals99' with men in theatres and restaurants and shirk their share of the expenses. I once knew a girl named Miss Friscoe who cultivated Platonic100 relations with young men, but never once did she pay her half of the hansom."
"Pardon me," interrupted Wee Winnie. "My whole life gives the lie to your superficial sarcasm101. In my anxiety to escape these obvious objurgations I have even, I admit it, gone to the opposite extreme. I have made it a point to do unto men as they would have done unto me, if I had not anticipated them. I always defray the bill at the restaurants, buy the stalls at the box-office and receive the curses of the cabman. If I see a young gentleman to the train, I always get his ticket for him and help him into the carriage. If I convey him to a ball, I bring him a button-hole, compliment him upon his costume and say soft nothings about his moustache, while if I go to a dance alone I stroll in about one in the morning, survey mankind through my eyeglass, loll a few minutes in the doorway102, then go downstairs to interview the supper, and having sated myself with chicken, champagne103 and trifle return to my club."
"To your club!" exclaimed the millionaire.
"Yes—do you think the Old Maids' is the only one in London? Mine is the Lady Travellers'—do you know it, Miss Dulcimer?"
"No—o," said Lillie shamefacedly. "I only know the Writers'."
"Why, are you a member of that? I'm a member, too. It's getting a great club now, what with Ellaline Rand (Andrew Dibdin, you know) and Frank Maddox and Lillie Dulcimer. I wonder we haven't met there."
"I'm so taken up with my own club," explained Lillie.
"Naturally. But you must come and dine with me some evening at the Lady Travellers'—snug little club—much cosier104 than the Junior Widows', and they give you a better bottle of wine, and then the decorations are so sweetly pretty. The only advantage the Junior Widows' has over the Lady Travellers' is the lovely smoking-room lined with mirrors, which makes it much nicer when you have men to dinner. I always ask them there."
"Why, are you allowed to have men?" asked Miss Jack.
"Certainly—in the dining and smoking rooms. Then of course there are special gentlemen's nights. We get down a lot of music-hall talent just to let them have a peep into Bohemia."
"But how can you be a member of the Junior Widows'?" asked the millionaire.
"Oh, I'm not an original member. But when they were in want of funds they let a lot of married women and girls in, without asking questions."
"I suppose, though, they all look forward to becoming widows in time," observed Silverdale cheerfully.
"Oh no," replied Miss Nimrod emphatically. "I don't say that if they hadn't let me in, the lovely smoking-room lined with mirrors mightn't have tempted me to marry so as to qualify myself. But as it is, thank Heaven, I'm an Old Maid for life. Why should I give up my freedom and the comforts of my club and saddle myself with a husband who would want to monopolize50 my society and who would be jealous of my bachelor friends and want me to cut them, who would hanker to read my letters, who would watch my comings and goings, and open my parcels of cosmetics105 marked confectionery? Doubtless in the bad old times which Miss Jack has the inaptitude to regret, marriage was the key to comparative freedom, but in these days when woman has at last emancipated106 herself from the [pg 238] thraldom107 of mothers, it would be the height of folly108 to replace them by husbands. Will you tell me, Miss Jack, what marriage has to offer to a woman like me?"
"Nothing," replied Miss Jack.
"Aha! You admit it!" cried Miss Nimrod triumphantly109. "Why should I embrace a profession to which I feel no call? Marriage has practically nothing to offer any independent woman except a trousseau, wedding presents, and the jealousy110 of her female friends. But what are these weighed against the cramping111 of her individuality? Perhaps even children come to fetter112 her life still more and she has daughters who grow up to be younger than herself. No, the future lies with the Old Maid; the woman who will retain her youth and her individuality till death; who dies, but does not surrender. The ebbing113 tide is with you, Miss Jack; the flowing tide is with us. The Old Maids' Club will be the keystone of the arch of the civilization of to-morrow, and Miss Dulcimer's name will go down to posterity114 linked with——"
"Lord Silverdale's," said the millionaire.
"I was reminding Miss Nimrod of the part his lordship has played in the movement. It is not fair posterity should give you all the credit."
"I have done nothing for the club—nothing," said the peer modestly.
"And I will do the same," said Miss Jack. "I came here under the delusion116 that I was going to associate myself with a protest against the defeminization of my sex, with a band of noble women who were resolved never to marry till the good old times were restored and marriages became true marriages once more. But instead of that I find—Wee Winnie."
"You are, indeed, fortunate beyond your deserts," replied that lady. "You may even hope to encounter a suitable husband some day."
"I do hope," said Miss Jack frankly117. "But I will never marry till I meet a thoroughly118 conventional man."
"There I have the advantage of you," said Miss Nimrod. "I shall never marry till I meet a thoroughly unconventional man."
"A thoroughly unconventional man would never want to marry at all," said Lillie.
"Of course not. That is the beauty of the situation. That is the paradox which guarantees my spinsterhood. Well, I've had a charming afternoon, Miss Dulcimer, but I must really run away now. I hate keeping men waiting, and I have an appointment with a couple of friends at the Junior Widows'. Such fun! While riding in the park before lunch, I met Guy Fledgely out for a constitutional with his father, the baronet. I asked Guy if he would have a chop with me at the club this evening, and what do you think? The baronet coughed and looked at Guy meaningly, and Guy blushed and hemmed119 and hawed and looked sheepish and at last gave me to understand he never went out to dine with a lady unless accompanied by his father. So I had to ask the old man, too. Isn't it awful? By the way, Miss Jack, I should be awfully120 delighted if you would join our party!"
"I asked them to have a chop at the club with me."
"Thank you, Wee Winnie," said Miss Jack, disdainfully.
"But think how thoroughly conventional the baronet is! He won't even let his son go out without a chaperon."
"That is true," admitted Miss Jack, visibly impressed. "He is about the most conventional man I ever heard of."
Miss Jack hesitated.
"And he dines seven sharp at the Junior Widows'."
"Ah then, there is no time to lose," said Miss Jack. They went out arm in arm.
"Have you seen Patrick Boyle's poem in the Playgoers' Review?" asked Lillie, when the club was clear.
"You mean the great dramatic critic's? No, I haven't seen it, but I have seen extracts and eulogies122 in every paper."
"I have it here complete," said Lillie. "It is quite interesting to find there is a heart beneath the critic's waistcoat. Read it aloud. No, you don't want the banjo!"
Lord Silverdale obeyed. The poem was entitled.
CRITICUS IN STABULIS (?).
Rallying-point of all playgoers earnest,
Packed with incongruous types of humanity,
Easily pleased, yet of critics the sternest,
Crudely ignoring that all things are vanity.
Pit, in thee laughter and tears blend in medley—
Centre of gravity.
Florin, or shilling, or sixpence admission,
Often I've paid in my raw juvenility125,
Purchasing Banbury cakes in addition,
Ginger-beer, too, to my highest ability.
No crime can shock o' late.
Now I demand but limelight on Philosophy,
Science and Faith and a touch of Theosophy.
Nothing restores my composure but bathing
Deep in Ibsenity.
Actors were Gods to my boyish devotion,
Actresses angels—in tights and low bodices;
Syrens may sing submarine fascinations140,
Adult Ulysses remain analytical141,
Tranquilly144 critical.
Only for shirt-fronts, to faces had mounted up;
Dowagers' wills may be read on their parchment,
Each claspt by lover who passes the paper-bag;
Here I can't even, the girls are so prosy,
Yet could I sit in the pit of the Surrey,
Sadly I fear I should be in no hurry
Backward to drive my existence's chariot.
"Squeezes" are ill compensated152 by crushes—
Awfully curious!
Past things alone take a halo harmonious156;
So from illusion we wake to illusion,
Each as the rest just as true and erroneous.
Here's to the problems of sad sociology!
This is my weird,—like a man I must dree it,
Great is chronology!
Which we all play on the stage universal;
"Going behind" the "green" curtain has cured me.
Still I've played on; to old men's parts I grew from
So I'll play on till I get my last cue from
Death, the old call-boy.
"Hum! Not at all bad," concluded Lord Silverdale. "I wonder who wrote it."
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providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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pique
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| v.伤害…的自尊心，使生气 n.不满，生气 | |
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savagely
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| adv. 野蛮地，残酷地 | |
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reticent
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| adj.沉默寡言的；言不如意的 | |
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gibe
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| n.讥笑；嘲弄 | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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7
grumbled
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| 抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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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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akin
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| adj.同族的，类似的 | |
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tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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stolid
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| adj.无动于衷的，感情麻木的 | |
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tickled
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agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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charing
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| n.炭化v.把…烧成炭，把…烧焦( char的现在分词 )；烧成炭，烧焦；做杂役女佣 | |
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splendors
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| n.华丽( splendor的名词复数 )；壮丽；光辉；显赫 | |
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brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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attired
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| adj.穿着整齐的v.使穿上衣服，使穿上盛装( attire的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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fin
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| n.鳍；(飞机的)安定翼 | |
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precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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23
minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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24
compassion
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| n.同情，怜悯 | |
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25
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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26
celibacy
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| n.独身(主义) | |
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27
metaphorical
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| a.隐喻的，比喻的 | |
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28
cliques
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| n.小集团，小圈子，派系( clique的名词复数 ) | |
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29
shrieking
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| v.尖叫( shriek的现在分词 ) | |
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30
autobiography
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| n.自传 | |
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31
celebrity
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| n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望 | |
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32
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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33
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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34
ironical
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| adj.讽刺的，冷嘲的 | |
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35
impervious
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| adj.不能渗透的，不能穿过的，不易伤害的 | |
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36
flea
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| n.跳蚤 | |
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37
fleas
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| n.跳蚤( flea的名词复数 )；爱财如命；没好气地（拒绝某人的要求） | |
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38
pricked
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| 刺，扎，戳( prick的过去式和过去分词 )； 刺伤； 刺痛； 使剧痛 | |
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39
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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40
eligible
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| adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的 | |
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41
bridling
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| 给…套龙头( bridle的现在分词 )； 控制； 昂首表示轻蔑（或怨忿等）； 动怒，生气 | |
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42
exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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43
provincial
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| adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人 | |
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44
suburban
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| adj.城郊的，在郊区的 | |
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45
goaded
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| v.刺激( goad的过去式和过去分词 )；激励；（用尖棒）驱赶；驱使（或怂恿、刺激）某人 | |
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46
oratory
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| n.演讲术；词藻华丽的言辞 | |
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47
taunts
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| 嘲弄的言语，嘲笑，奚落( taunt的名词复数 ) | |
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48
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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49
monopolized
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| v.垄断( monopolize的过去式和过去分词 )；独占；专卖；专营 | |
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50
monopolize
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| v.垄断，独占，专营 | |
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51
audacity
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| n.大胆，卤莽，无礼 | |
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52
veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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53
emancipation
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| n.（从束缚、支配下）解放 | |
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54
waded
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| （从水、泥等）蹚，走过，跋( wade的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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55
salmon
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| n.鲑，大马哈鱼，橙红色的 | |
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56
trout
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| n.鳟鱼；鲑鱼(属) | |
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57
spats
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| n.口角( spat的名词复数 )；小争吵；鞋罩；鞋套v.spit的过去式和过去分词( spat的第三人称单数 )；口角；小争吵；鞋罩 | |
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58
nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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59
moors
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| v.停泊，系泊（船只）( moor的第三人称单数 ) | |
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60
grouse
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| n.松鸡；v.牢骚，诉苦 | |
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61
climax
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| n.顶点；高潮；v.(使)达到顶点 | |
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62
severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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63
promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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64
weird
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|
| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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65
sketched
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| v.草拟（sketch的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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66
sketch
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| n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述 | |
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67
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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68
sketches
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| n.草图( sketch的名词复数 )；素描；速写；梗概 | |
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69
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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70
pervades
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| v.遍及，弥漫( pervade的第三人称单数 ) | |
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71
bucked
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| adj.快v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的过去式和过去分词 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃 | |
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72
meditations
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| 默想( meditation的名词复数 )； 默念； 沉思； 冥想 | |
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73
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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74
agility
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| n.敏捷，活泼 | |
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75
pacify
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| vt.使(某人)平静(或息怒)；抚慰 | |
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76
entirely
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|
| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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77
contortions
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| n.扭歪，弯曲；扭曲，弄歪，歪曲( contortion的名词复数 ) | |
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78
grotesque
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|
| adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物） | |
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79
tusks
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| n.（象等动物的）长牙( tusk的名词复数 )；獠牙；尖形物；尖头 | |
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80
poised
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| a.摆好姿势不动的 | |
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81
noxious
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|
| adj.有害的，有毒的；使道德败坏的，讨厌的 | |
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82
cant
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| n.斜穿，黑话，猛扔 | |
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83
untold
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|
| adj.数不清的，无数的 | |
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84
penetrate
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| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
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85
poetical
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| adj.似诗人的；诗一般的；韵文的；富有诗意的 | |
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86
feigning
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| 假装，伪装( feign的现在分词 )； 捏造（借口、理由等） | |
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87
fawning
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| adj.乞怜的，奉承的v.（尤指狗等）跳过来往人身上蹭以示亲热( fawn的现在分词 )；巴结；讨好 | |
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88
curiously
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|
| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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89
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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90
destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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91
craves
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| 渴望，热望( crave的第三人称单数 )； 恳求，请求 | |
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92
confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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93
sneered
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| 讥笑，冷笑( sneer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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94
sneers
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| 讥笑的表情（言语）( sneer的名词复数 ) | |
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95
injustice
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| n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利 | |
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96
decry
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| v.危难，谴责 | |
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97
promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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98
paradox
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| n.似乎矛盾却正确的说法；自相矛盾的人(物) | |
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99
pals
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| n.朋友( pal的名词复数 )；老兄；小子；（对男子的不友好的称呼）家伙 | |
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100
platonic
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|
| adj.精神的；柏拉图（哲学）的 | |
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101
sarcasm
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| n.讥讽，讽刺，嘲弄，反话 （adj.sarcastic） | |
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102
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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103
champagne
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| n.香槟酒；微黄色 | |
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104
cosier
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| adj.温暖舒适的( cosy的比较级 )；亲切友好的 | |
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105
cosmetics
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| n.化妆品 | |
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106
emancipated
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|
| adj.被解放的，不受约束的v.解放某人（尤指摆脱政治、法律或社会的束缚）( emancipate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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107
thraldom
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| n.奴隶的身份，奴役，束缚 | |
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108
folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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109
triumphantly
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| ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地 | |
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110
jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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111
cramping
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| 图像压缩 | |
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112
fetter
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| n./vt.脚镣，束缚 | |
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113
ebbing
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| （指潮水）退( ebb的现在分词 )； 落； 减少； 衰落 | |
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114
posterity
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| n.后裔，子孙，后代 | |
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115
abashed
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| adj.窘迫的，尴尬的v.使羞愧，使局促，使窘迫( abash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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116
delusion
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| n.谬见，欺骗，幻觉，迷惑 | |
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117
frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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118
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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119
hemmed
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| 缝…的褶边( hem的过去式和过去分词 )； 包围 | |
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120
awfully
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| adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地 | |
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121
widower
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| n.鳏夫 | |
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122
eulogies
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| n.颂词，颂文( eulogy的名词复数 ) | |
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123
cozy
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| adj.亲如手足的，密切的，暖和舒服的 | |
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124
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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125
juvenility
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| n.年轻，不成熟 | |
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126
villains
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| n.恶棍( villain的名词复数 )；罪犯；（小说、戏剧等中的）反面人物；淘气鬼 | |
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127
hissed
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| 发嘶嘶声( hiss的过去式和过去分词 )； 发嘘声表示反对 | |
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128
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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129
atrocity
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| n.残暴，暴行 | |
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130
melodrama
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| n.音乐剧；情节剧 | |
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131
allusions
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| 暗指，间接提到( allusion的名词复数 ) | |
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132
Buddha
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| n.佛；佛像；佛陀 | |
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133
farces
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| n.笑剧( farce的名词复数 )；闹剧；笑剧剧目；作假的可笑场面 | |
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134
slate
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| n.板岩，石板，石片，石板色，候选人名单；adj.暗蓝灰色的，含板岩的；vt.用石板覆盖，痛打，提名，预订 | |
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135
burlesque
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| v.嘲弄，戏仿；n.嘲弄，取笑，滑稽模仿 | |
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136
scathing
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| adj.（言词、文章）严厉的，尖刻的；不留情的adv.严厉地，尖刻地v.伤害，损害（尤指使之枯萎）( scathe的现在分词) | |
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137
serenity
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| n.宁静，沉着，晴朗 | |
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138
puerile
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| adj.幼稚的，儿童的 | |
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139
odysseys
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| n.长途的冒险行程( odyssey的名词复数 ) | |
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140
fascinations
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| n.魅力( fascination的名词复数 )；有魅力的东西；迷恋；陶醉 | |
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141
analytical
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| adj.分析的；用分析法的 | |
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142
recording
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| n.录音，记录 | |
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143
vibrations
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| n.摆动( vibration的名词复数 )；震动；感受；（偏离平衡位置的）一次性往复振动 | |
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144
tranquilly
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| adv. 宁静地 | |
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145
starch
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| n.淀粉；vt.给...上浆 | |
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146
busts
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| 半身雕塑像( bust的名词复数 )； 妇女的胸部； 胸围； 突击搜捕 | |
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147
remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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148
rosy
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| adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的 | |
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149
digit
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| n.零到九的阿拉伯数字，手指，脚趾 | |
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150
taper
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| n.小蜡烛，尖细，渐弱；adj.尖细的；v.逐渐变小 | |
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151
munching
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| v.用力咀嚼（某物），大嚼( munch的现在分词 ) | |
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152
compensated
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| 补偿，报酬( compensate的过去式和过去分词 )； 给（某人）赔偿（或赔款） | |
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153
luxurious
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| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
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154
gush
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| v.喷，涌；滔滔不绝(说话)；n.喷，涌流；迸发 | |
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155
chaos
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| n.混乱，无秩序 | |
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156
harmonious
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| adj.和睦的，调和的，和谐的，协调的 | |
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157
allured
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| 诱引，吸引( allure的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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158
rehearsal
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| n.排练，排演；练习 | |
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159
juvenile
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| n.青少年，少年读物；adj.青少年的，幼稚的 | |
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