"See here, Mr. Smart," he began austerely8. "I've got something to say to you, and I'm not the sort to put it off. I appreciate what you've done for Aline and all that sort of thing, but your manner to-day has been intolerable, and we've got to come to an understanding."
I eyed him closely. "I suppose you're about to suggest that one or the other of us must—evacuate—get out, so to speak," said I.
"Don't talk rubbish. You've got my mother bawling9 her eyes out upstairs, and wishing she were dead. You've got to come off this high horse of yours. You've got to apologise to her, and damned quick, at that. Understand?"
"Nothing will give me greater joy than to offer her my most abject10 apology, Mr. Titus, unless it would be her unqualified forgiveness."
"You'll have to withdraw everything you said."
"I'll withdraw everything except my ultimatum12 in respect to her putting a foot outside these walls. That still stands."
"I beg to differ with you."
"You may beg till you're black in the face," said I coolly.
"You are pretty much of a mucker, Mr. Smart," he said, between his teeth. "I'm sorry my sister has fallen into your hands. The worst of it is, she seems satisfied with everything you do. Good Lord! What she can see in you is beyond my comprehension. Protection! Why you couldn't protect her from the assault of a chicken."
"Are you trying to insult me, Mr. Titus?"
"Wait! You are her brother. I don't want to have trouble with you. But if you keep on in this strain, Mr. Titus, I shall be compelled to thresh you soundly."
Much to his surprise—and, strangely enough, not to my own—I failed to retreat. Instead, I extended my left fist with considerable abruptness17 and precision and he landed on his back.
I experienced a sensation of unholy joy. Up to that moment I had wondered whether I could do it with my left hand.
I looked at Jasper, Jr. He was staring at me in utter bewilderment.
"Good Lord! You—you've knocked him down!"
"Left," I corrected him.
Colingraft gazed about him in a stupid, vacant fashion for a moment, and then allowed his glazed22 eyes to rest upon me. He sat rather limply, I thought.
"Are you hurt, Colly?" cried Jasper, Jr.
A sickly grin, more of surprise than shame, stole over Colingraft's face. He put his hand to his jaw; then to the back of his head.
"By Jove!" he murmured. "I—I didn't think he had it in him. Let me get up!"
"I intend to," said Colingraft, as he struggled to his feet.
For a moment he faced me, uncertainly.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Titus," said I calmly.
"You—you are a wonder!" fell from his lips. "I'm not a coward, Mr. Smart. I've boxed a good deal in my time, but—by Jove, I never had a jolt24 like that."
He turned abruptly25 and left us. We followed him slowly toward the steps. At the bottom he stopped and faced me again.
"You're a better man than I thought," he said. "If you'll bury the hatchet26, so will I. I take back what I said to you, not because I'm afraid of you, but because I respect you. What say? Will you shake hands?"
The surly, arrogant27 expression was gone from his face. In its place was a puzzled, somewhat inquiring look.
"No hard feeling on my part," I cried gladly. We shook hands. Jasper, Jr. slapped me on the back. "It's a most distressing28, atavistic habit I'm getting into, knocking people down without rhyme or reason."
"I daresay you had reason," muttered Colingraft. "I got what was coming to me." An eager light crept into his handsome eyes. "By Jove, we can get in some corking29 work with the gloves while I'm here. I box quite a bit at home, and I miss it travelling about like this. What say to a half-hour or so every day? I have the gloves in one of my trunks. I'm getting horribly seedy. I need stirring up."
"Charmed, I'm sure," I said, assuming an enthusiasm I did not feel. Put on the gloves with this strapping30, skillful boxer31? Not I! I was firmly resolved to stop while my record was good. In a scientific clash with the gloves he would soon find out what a miserable32 duffer I was.
"And Jappy, here, is no slouch. He's as shifty as the dickens."
"The shiftier the better," said I, with great aplomb33. Jasper, Jr., stuck out his chest modestly, and said: "Oh, piffle, Colly." But just the same I hadn't the least doubt in my mind that Jasper could "put it all over me." It was a rather sickening admission, though strictly34 private.
We made our way to my study, where I mildly suggested that we refrain from mentioning our little encounter to Mrs. Titus or the Countess. I thought Colingraft was especially pleased with the idea. We swore secrecy35.
"I've always been regarded as a peaceful, harmless grub," I explained, still somewhat bewildered by the feat36 I had performed, and considerably shaken by the fear that I was degenerating37 into a positive ruffian. "You will believe me, I hope, when I declare that I was merely acting39 in self-defence when I—"
He actually laughed. "Don't apologise." He could not resist the impulse to blurt40 out once more: "By Jove, I didn't think you could do it."
A little later on, as Colingraft left the room, slyly feeling of his jaw, Jasper, Jr. whispered to me excitedly: "You've got him eating out of your hand, old top."
Things were coming to a pretty pass, said I to myself when I was all alone. It certainly is a pretty pass when one knocks down the ex-husband and the brother of the woman he loves, and quite without the least suspicion of an inherited pugnacity42.
I had a little note from the Countess that afternoon, ceremoniously delivered by Helene Marie Louise Antoinette. It read as follows:
"You did Colingraft a very good turn when you laid him low this morning. He is tiresomely43 interested in his prowess as a box-maker, or a boxster, or whatever it is in athletic45 parlance46. He has been like a lamb all afternoon and he really can't get over the way you whacked48 him. (Is whack47 the word?) At first he was as mum as could be about it, but I think he really felt relieved when I told him I had seen the whole affair from a window in my hall. You see it gave him a chance to explain how you got in the whack, and I have been obliged to listen to intermittent49 lectures on the manly50 art of self-defence all afternoon, first from him, then from Jappy. I have a headache, and no means of defence. He admits that he deserved it, but I am not surprised. Colly is a sporting chap. He hasn't a mean drop of blood in his body. You have made a friend of him. So please don't feel that I hold a grudge51 against you for what you did. The funny part of it all is that mamma quite agrees with him. She says he deserved it! Mamma is wonderful, really, when it comes to a pinch. She has given up all thought of 'putting a foot outside the castle.' Can you have luncheon with us to-morrow? Would it be too much trouble if we were to have it in the loggia? I am just mad to get out-of-doors if only for an hour or two in that walled-in spot. Mr. Poopendyke has been perfectly52 lovely. He came up this morning to tell me that you haven't sneezed at all and there isn't the remotest chance now that you will have a cold. It seems he was afraid you might. You must have a very rugged53 constitution. Britton told Blake that most men would have died from exposure if they had been put in your place. How good you are to me.
I shall skip over the rather uninteresting events of the next two or three days. Nothing of consequence happened, unless you are willing to consider important two perfectly blissful nights of sleep on my part. Also, I had the pleasure of taking the Countess "out walking" in my courtyard, to use a colloquialism54: once in the warm, sweet sunshine, again 'neath the glow of a radiant moon. She had not been outside the castle walls, literally55, in more than five weeks, and the colour leaped back into her cheeks with a rush that delighted me. I may mention in passing that I paid particular attention to her suggestion concerning my dilapidated, gone-to-seed garden, although I had been bored to extinction56 by Jasper, Jr. when he undertook to enlighten me horticulturally. She agreed to come forth57 every day and assist me in building the poor thing up; propping58 it, so to speak.
As for Mrs. Titus, that really engaging lady made life so easy for me that I wondered why I had ever been apprehensive59. She was quite wonderful when "it came to a pinch." I began to understand a good many things about her, chief among them being her unvoiced theories on matrimony. While she did not actually commit herself, I had no difficulty in ascertaining60 that, from her point of view, marriages are not made in heaven, and that a properly arranged divorce is a great deal less terrestrial than it is commonly supposed to be. She believed in matrimony as a trial and divorce as a reward, or something to that effect.
My opinion seemed to carry considerable weight with her. For a day or two after our somewhat sanguinary encounter, she was prone61 to start—even to jump slightly—when I addressed myself to her with unintentional directness. She soon got over that, however.
We were discussing Aline's unfortunate venture into the state of matrimony and I, feeling temporarily august and superior, managed to say the wrong thing and in doing so put myself in a position from which I could not recede62 without loss of dignity. If my memory serves me correctly I remarked, with some asperity63, that marriages of that kind never turned out well for any one except the bridegroom.
She looked at me coldly. "I am afraid, Mr. Smart, that you have been putting some very bad notions into my daughter's head," she said.
"Bad notions?" I murmured.
"She has developed certain pronounced and rather extraordinary views concerning the nobility as the result of your—ah—argument, I may say."
"I'm very sorry. I know one or two exceedingly nice noblemen, and I've no doubt there are a great many more. She must have misunderstood me. I wasn't running down the nobility, Mrs. Titus. I was merely questioning the advisability of elevating it in the way we Americans sometimes do."
"You did not put it so adroitly64 in discussing the practice with Aline," she said quickly. "Granted that her own marriage was a mistake,—a dreadful mistake,—it does not follow that all international matches are failures. I would just as soon be unhappily married to a duke as to a dry-goods merchant, Mr. Smart."
"But not at the same price, Mrs. Titus," I remarked.
She smiled. "A husband is dear at any price."
"I shouldn't put it just that way," I protested. "A good American husband is a necessity, not a luxury."
"Well, to go back to what I started to say, Aline is very bitter about matrimony as viewed from my point of view. I am sorry to say I attribute her attitude to your excellent counselling."
"You flatter me. I was under the impression she took her lessons of Tarnowsy."
"Granted. But Tarnowsy was unfit. Why tar18 all of them with the same stick? There are good noblemen, you'll admit."
"But they don't need rehabilitation66."
"Aline, I fear, will never risk another experiment. It's rather calamitous67, isn't it? When one stops to consider her youth, beauty and all the happiness there may be—"
"I beg your pardon, Mrs. Titus, but I think your fears are groundless."
"What do you mean?"
"The Countess will marry again. I am not betraying a secret, because she has intimated as much to my secretary as well as to me. I take it that as soon as this unhappy affair is settled, she will be free to reveal the true state of her feelings toward—" I stopped, somewhat dismayed by my garrulous68 turn.
"Toward whom?" she fairly snapped.
"I don't know," I replied truthfully—and, I fear, lugubriously70.
"Good heaven!" she cried, starting up from the bench on which we were sitting in the loggia. There was a queer expression in her eyes. "Hasn't—hasn't she ever hinted at—hasn't she mentioned any one at all?"
"Not to me."
Mrs. Titus was agitated71, I could see that very plainly. A thoughtful frown appeared on her smooth brow, and a gleam of anxiety sprang into her eyes.
"I am sure that she has had no opportunity to—" She did not complete the sentence, in which there was a primary note of perplexity and wonder.
"You mean since the—er—divorce?" I inquired.
"She has been in seclusion73 all of the time. She has seen no man,—that is to say, no man for whom she could possibly entertain a—But, of course, you are mistaken in your impression, Mr. Smart. There is absolutely nothing in what you say."
"A former sweetheart, antedating74 her marriage," I suggested hopelessly.
"She has no sweetheart. Of that I am positive," said she with conviction.
"She must have had an army of admirers. They were legion after her marriage, I may be pardoned for reminding you."
She started. "Has she never mentioned Lord Amberdale to you?" she asked.
"Amberdale?" I repeated, with a queer sinking of the heart. "No, Mrs. Titus. An Englishman?"
She was mistress of herself once more. In a very degage manner she informed me that his lordship, a most attractive and honourable75 young Englishman, had been one of Aline's warmest friends at the time of the divorce proceedings76. But, of course, there was nothing in that! They had been good friends for years, nothing more, and he was a perfect dear.
But she couldn't fool me. I could see that there was something working at the back of her mind, but whether she was distressed77 or gratified I was not by way of knowing.
"I've never heard her mention Lord Amberdale," said I.
Her eyes narrowed slightly. Had I but known, the mere38 fact that the Countess had not spoken of his lordship provided her experienced mother with an excellent reason for believing that there was something between them. She abruptly brought the conversation to a close and left me, saying that she was off for her beauty nap.
Alone, I soon became a prey78 to certain disquieting79 thoughts. Summed up, they resolved themselves into a condition of certainty which admitted of but one aspect: the charming Countess was in love with Amberdale. And the shocking part of it all was that she was in love with him prior to her separation from Tarnowsy! I felt a cold perspiration80 start out all over my body as this condition forced itself upon me. He was the man; he had been the man from the beginning. My heart was like lead for the rest of the day, and, very curiously81, for a leaden thing it was subject to pain.
Just before dinner, Britton, after inspecting me out of the corner of his eye for some time, advised me to try a little brandy.
"You look seedy, sir," he said with concern in his voice. "A cold setting in perhaps, sir."
I tried the brandy, but not because I thought I was taking a cold. Somehow it warmed me up. There is virtue82 in good spirits.
The Countess was abroad very early the next morning. I discovered her in the courtyard, giving directions to Max and Rudolph who were doing some spading in the garden. She looked very bright and fresh and enticing83 in the light of an early moon, and I was not only pleased but astonished, having been led to believe all my life that a woman, no matter how pretty she may be, appears at her worst when the day is young.
I joined her at once. She gave me a gay, accusing smile.
"What have you been saying to mother?" she demanded, as she shook hands with me. "I thought you were to be trusted."
I flushed uncomfortably. "I'm sorry, Countess. I—I didn't know it was a secret."
She looked at me somewhat quizzically for a moment. Then she laughed softly. "It is a secret."
"I hope I haven't got you into bad odour with your—"
"Oh, dear me, no! I'm not in the least worried over what mother may think. I shall do as I please, so there's the end of it."
I swallowed something that seemed to be sticking in my throat. "Then it is true that you are going to marry?"
"Quite," she said succinctly84.
I was silent for a moment. "Well, I'm—I'm glad to know it in time," I said, rather more gruffly than was necessary.
She smiled too merrily, I thought. "You must not tell any one else about it, however."
"I can promise that," I said, a sullen85 rage in my soul. "Devils could not drag it out of me. Rest easy."
It occurred to me afterwards that she laughed rather jerkily, you might say uneasily. At any rate, she turned away and began speaking to Max.
"Have you had your breakfast?" I asked stupidly.
"No."
"Neither have I. Will you join me?"
"Isn't it getting to be a habit?"
"Breakfast or—you?"
"Breakfast and me."
"That is a real tribute," she said demurely87, and took her place beside me. Together we crossed the courtyard.
On the steps Colingraft Titus was standing. I uttered an audible groan88 and winced89 as if in dire6 pain.
"What is it?" she cried quickly.
"Rheumatism90," I announced, carefully raising my right arm and affecting an expression of torture. I am not a physical coward, kind reader. The fact that young Mr. Titus carried in his hands a set of formidable looking boxing-gloves did not frighten me. Heaven knows, if it would give him any pleasure to slam me about with a pair of gloves, I am not without manliness91 and pluck enough to endure physical pain and mental humiliation92. It was diplomacy93, cunning, astuteness,—whatever you may choose to call it,—that stood between me and a friendly encounter with him. Two minutes' time would serve to convince him that he was my master, and then where would I be? Where would be the prestige I had gained? Where my record as a conqueror94? "I must have caught cold in my arms and shoulders," I went on, making worse faces than before as I moved the afflicted95 parts experimentally.
"There!" she exclaimed ruefully. "I knew you would catch cold. Men always do. I'm so sorry."
"It's nothing," I made haste to explain:—"that is, nothing serious. I'll get rid of it in no time at all." I calculated for a minute. "A week or ten days at the most. Good morning, Colingraft."
My disappointment was quite pathetic. "Tell him," I said to the Countess.
"He's all crippled up with rheumatism, Colly," she said. "Put those ugly things away. We're going in to breakfast."
He tossed the gloves into a corner of the vestibule. I felt a little ashamed of my subterfuge97 in the face of his earnest expression of concern.
"Tell you what I'll do," he said warmly. "I know how to rub a fellow's muscles—"
"Oh, I have a treasure in Britten," said I, hastily. "Thanks, old man. He will work it out of me. Sorry we can't have a go this morning."
The worst of it all was that he insisted, as a matter of personal education, on coming to my room after breakfast to watch the expert manoeuvres of Britton in kneading the stiffness out of my muscles. He was looking for new ideas, he explained. I first consulted Britton and then resignedly consented to the demonstration98.
To my surprise, Britton was something of an expert. I confess that he almost killed me with those strong, iron-like hands of his; if I was not sore when he began with me, I certainly was when he finished. Colingraft was most enthusiastic. He said he'd never seen any one manipulate the muscles so scientifically as Britton, and ventured the opinion that he would not have to repeat the operation often. To myself I said that he wouldn't have to repeat it at all.
We began laying our plans for the fourteenth. Communications arrived from Italy, addressed to me but intended for either the Countess or the rather remote Mr. Bangs, who seemed better qualified11 to efface99 himself than any human being I've ever seen. These letters informed us that a yacht—one of three now cruising in the-Mediterranean—would call at an appointed port on such and such a day to take her out to sea. Everything was being arranged on the outside for her escape from the continent, and precision seamed to be the watchword.
Of course I couldn't do a stroke of work on my novel. How could I be expected to devote myself to fiction when fact was staring me in the face so engagingly? We led an idle, dolce far niente life in these days, with an underlying100 touch of anxiety and excitement that increased as the day for her departure drew near. I confess to a sickening sense of depression that could not be shaken off.
Half of my time was spent in playing with Rosemary. She became dearer to me with each succeeding day. I knew I should miss her tremendously. I should even miss Jinko, who didn't like me but who no longer growled101 at me. The castle would be a very gloomy, drear place after they were out of it. I found myself wondering how long I would be able to endure the loneliness. Secretly I cherished the idea of selling the place if I could find a lunatic in the market.
An unexpected diversion came one day when, without warning and figuratively out of a clear sky, the Hazzards and the Billy Smiths swooped102 down upon me. They had come up the river in the power boat for a final September run, and planned to stop over night with me!
They were the last people in the world whom I could turn away from my door. There might have been a chance to put them up for the night and still avoid disclosures, had not circumstance ordered that the Countess and I should be working in the garden at the very moment that brought them pounding at the postern gates. Old Conrad opened the gate in complete ignorance of our presence in the garden. (We happened to be in a somewhat obscure nook and seated upon a stone bench—so he must be held blameless.) The quartette brushed past the old man and I, hearing their chatter103, foolishly exposed myself.
I shall not attempt to describe the scene that followed their discovery of the Countess Tarnowsy. Be it said, however, to the credit of Elsie and Betty Billy, the startled refugee was fairly smothered104 in kisses and tears and almost deafened105 by the shrill106, delighted exclamations107 that fell from their eager lips. I doubt if there ever was such a sensation before!
* * * * * * *
They brought rather interesting news concerning the Count. It appears that he and the baron108 had quarrelled and at the time of my friends' departure from Vienna it was pretty generally understood that there would be a duel109.
"I never liked the baron," I said, with a grim smile that could not have been misinterpreted, "but I hope to heavens he isn't killed."
Mrs. Titus sighed. "Tarnowsy is regarded as a wonderful marksman."
"Worse luck!" growled Colingraft, gloomily twiddling his thumbs.
"What kind of a shot is the baron?" asked Jasper Jr., hopefully.
No one was able to enlighten him, but Billy Smith shook his head dolefully.
"Maris Tarnowsy is a dead shot. He'll pot the baron sure."
When the Hazzards and Smiths departed the next morning they were in full possession of all of our plans, hopes and secrets, but they were bound by promises that would have haunted them throughout all eternity112 if they allowed them to be violated. I do not recall having seen two more intensely excited, radiant women in my life than Elsie and Betty Billy. They were in an ecstatic state of mind. Their husbands, but little less excited, offered to help us in every way possible, and, to prove their earnest, turned the prow44 of the motor-boat down-stream, abandoning the trip up the river in order to be in Vienna in case I should need them for any purpose whatsoever113.
"You may rest easy so far as I am concerned, Mrs. Titus," said the young diplomat114. "As a representative of the United States government I can't become publicly involved in this international muddle115. I've just got to keep my lips sealed. If it were discovered that I knew of all this, my head would be under the snickersnee in no time at all. Swish! Officially suicided!"
At ten o'clock the next morning I was called to the telephone. Smith had startling news to impart. Count Tarnowsy and Baron Umovitch had engaged in a duel with pistols at sunrise and the latter had gone down with a bullet through his lungs! He died an hour later. Tarnowsy, according to the rumours116 flying about official Vienna, was already on his way to Berlin, where he would probably remain in seclusion until the affair blew over or imperial forgiveness was extended to him.
There was cause for satisfaction among us, even though the baron had fallen instead of the count. The sensational117 affair would serve to keep Tarnowsy under cover for some weeks at least and minimise the dangers attending the Countess's flight from the castle. Still, I could not help feeling disappointed over the outcome of the meeting. Why couldn't Count Tarnowsy have been the one to fall?
The Countess, very pale and distrait118, gave utterance119 to her feelings in a most remarkable120 speech. She said: "This is one of the few fine things that Maris has ever done. I am glad that he killed that man. He should have done so long ago,—the beast! He was—ugh!—the most despicable creature I've ever known."
She said no more than this, but one could readily grasp all that she left unuttered.
Colingraft rather sententiously remarked to little Rosemary, who could not have comprehended the words, of course: "Well, little Rosebud121, your papa may be a spendthrift but he never wastes bullets."
Which was entirely122 uncalled for, I contend. I was struck by the swift look of dread65 that leaped into Aline's eyes and her pallor.
On top of all this came the astonishing news, by cipher123 despatch124 from old Jasper Titus's principal adviser125 in London, that his offer of one million dollars had been declined by Tarnowsy two days before, the Count having replied through his lawyers that nothing short of two millions would induce him to relinquish126 all claims to his child.
I had been ignorant of this move in the case, and expressed my surprise.
"I asked father to do it, Mr. Smart," said the Countess dejectedly. "It seemed the easiest way out of our difficulties—and the cheapest. He will never give in to this new demand, though. We must make the best of it."
"But why did you suggest such a thing to him?" I demanded with heat.
She looked hurt. "Because you seemed to think it was the right and honourable thing to do," she said patiently. "I do not forget what you said to me, days and days ago, even though it may have slipped your mind. You said that a bargain is a bargain and—well, I had Mr. Bangs write father just what you thought about it."
There was a suspicion of tears in her voice as she turned away and left me without another word. She was quite out of sight around the bend in the staircase, and her little boots were clattering127 swiftly upwards128, before I fully69 grasped the significance of her explanation—or, I might better say, her reproach. It slowly dawned upon me that I had said a great many things to her that it would pay me to remember before questioning her motives129 in any particular.
As the day for her departure drew nearer,—it was now but forty-eight hours away,—her manner seemed to undergo a complete change. She became moody130, nervous, depressed131. Of course, all this was attributable to the dread of discovery and capture when she was once outside the great walls of Schloss Rothhoefen. I could understand her feelings, and rather lamely132 attempted to bolster133 up her courage by making light of the supposed perils134.
She looked at me with a certain pathetic sombreness in her eyes that caused my heart to ache. All of her joyous135 raillery was gone, all of her gentle arrogance136. Her sole interest in life in these last days seemed to be of a sacrificial nature. She was sweet and gentle with every one,—with me in particular, I may say,—and there was something positively137 humble138 in her attitude of self-abnegation. Where she had once been wilful139 and ironic140, she was now gentle and considerate. Nor was I the only one to note these subtle changes in her. I doubt, however, if the others were less puzzled than I. In fact, Mrs. Titus was palpably perplexed141, and there were times when I caught her eyeing me with distinct disapproval142, as if she were seeking in me the cause of her daughter's weaknesses; as much as to say: "What other nonsense have you been putting into the poor child's head, you wretch143?"
I went up to have a parting romp144 with Rosemary on the last night of her stay with me, to have my last sip145 of honey from her delectable146 neck. The Countess paid but little attention to us. She sat over in the window and stared out into the dusky shadows of the falling night. My heart was sore. I was miserable. The last romp!
Blake finally snatched Rosemary off to bed. It was then that the Countess aroused herself and came over to me with a sad little smile on her lips.
"Good night," she said, rather wistfully, holding out her hand to me.
I deliberately147 glanced at my watch. "It's only ten minutes past eight," I said, reproachfully.
"I know," she said, quietly. "Good night."
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luncheon
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| n.午宴，午餐，便宴 | |
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facade
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| n.(建筑物的)正面，临街正面；外表 | |
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considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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ingenuous
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| adj.纯朴的，单纯的；天真的；坦率的 | |
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joint
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dire
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| adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的 | |
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standing
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austerely
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| adv.严格地，朴质地 | |
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bawling
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| v.大叫，大喊( bawl的现在分词 )；放声大哭；大声叫出；叫卖（货物） | |
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abject
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qualified
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| adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的 | |
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ultimatum
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twitched
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| vt.& vi.（使）抽动，（使）颤动（twitch的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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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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backbone
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| n.脊骨，脊柱，骨干；刚毅，骨气 | |
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16
gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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17
abruptness
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| n. 突然，唐突 | |
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18
tar
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| n.柏油，焦油；vt.涂或浇柏油/焦油于 | |
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19
hazily
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| ad. vaguely, not clear | |
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20
posture
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| n.姿势，姿态，心态，态度；v.作出某种姿势 | |
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21
jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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22
glazed
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| adj.光滑的，像玻璃的；上过釉的；呆滞无神的v.装玻璃( glaze的过去式)；上釉于，上光；（目光）变得呆滞无神 | |
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23
discreet
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| adj.(言行)谨慎的；慎重的；有判断力的 | |
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24
jolt
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| v.（使）摇动，（使）震动，（使）颠簸 | |
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25
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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26
hatchet
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| n.短柄小斧；v.扼杀 | |
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27
arrogant
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| adj.傲慢的，自大的 | |
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28
distressing
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| a.使人痛苦的 | |
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29
corking
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| adj.很好的adv.非常地v.用瓶塞塞住( cork的现在分词 ) | |
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30
strapping
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| adj. 魁伟的, 身材高大健壮的 n. 皮绳或皮带的材料, 裹伤胶带, 皮鞭 动词strap的现在分词形式 | |
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31
boxer
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| n.制箱者，拳击手 | |
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32
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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33
aplomb
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| n.沉着，镇静 | |
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34
strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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35
secrecy
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| n.秘密，保密，隐蔽 | |
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36
feat
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| n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的 | |
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37
degenerating
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| 衰退，堕落，退化( degenerate的现在分词 ) | |
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38
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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39
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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40
blurt
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| vt.突然说出，脱口说出 | |
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41
catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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42
pugnacity
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| n.好斗，好战 | |
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43
tiresomely
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| adj. 令人厌倦的，讨厌的 | |
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44
prow
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| n.(飞机)机头，船头 | |
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45
athletic
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| adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的 | |
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46
parlance
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| n.说法；语调 | |
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47
whack
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| v.敲击，重打，瓜分；n.重击，重打，尝试，一份 | |
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48
whacked
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| a.精疲力尽的 | |
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49
intermittent
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| adj.间歇的，断断续续的 | |
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50
manly
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| adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地 | |
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51
grudge
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| n.不满，怨恨，妒嫉；vt.勉强给，不情愿做 | |
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52
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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53
rugged
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| adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的 | |
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54
colloquialism
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| n.俗话，白话，口语 | |
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55
literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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56
extinction
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| n.熄灭，消亡，消灭，灭绝，绝种 | |
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57
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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58
propping
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| 支撑 | |
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59
apprehensive
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| adj.担心的，恐惧的，善于领会的 | |
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60
ascertaining
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| v.弄清，确定，查明( ascertain的现在分词 ) | |
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61
prone
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| adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的 | |
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62
recede
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| vi.退(去)，渐渐远去；向后倾斜，缩进 | |
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63
asperity
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| n.粗鲁，艰苦 | |
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64
adroitly
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| adv.熟练地，敏捷地 | |
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65
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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66
rehabilitation
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| n.康复，悔过自新，修复，复兴，复职，复位 | |
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67
calamitous
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| adj.灾难的，悲惨的；多灾多难；惨重 | |
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68
garrulous
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| adj.唠叨的，多话的 | |
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69
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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70
lugubriously
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71
agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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72
grilled
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| adj. 烤的, 炙过的, 有格子的 动词grill的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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73
seclusion
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| n.隐遁，隔离 | |
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74
antedating
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| v.（在历史上）比…为早( antedate的现在分词 )；先于；早于；（在信、支票等上）填写比实际日期早的日期 | |
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75
honourable
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| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
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76
proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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77
distressed
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| 痛苦的 | |
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78
prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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79
disquieting
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| adj.令人不安的，令人不平静的v.使不安，使忧虑，使烦恼( disquiet的现在分词 ) | |
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80
perspiration
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| n.汗水；出汗 | |
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81
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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82
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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83
enticing
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| adj.迷人的；诱人的 | |
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84
succinctly
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| adv.简洁地；简洁地，简便地 | |
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85
sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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86
gallantly
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| adv. 漂亮地，勇敢地，献殷勤地 | |
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87
demurely
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| adv.装成端庄地，认真地 | |
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88
groan
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| vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
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89
winced
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| 赶紧避开，畏缩( wince的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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90
rheumatism
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| n.风湿病 | |
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91
manliness
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| 刚毅 | |
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92
humiliation
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| n.羞辱 | |
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93
diplomacy
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| n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕 | |
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94
conqueror
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| n.征服者，胜利者 | |
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95
afflicted
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| 使受痛苦，折磨( afflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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96
dangled
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| 悬吊着( dangle的过去式和过去分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口 | |
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97
subterfuge
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| n.诡计；藉口 | |
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98
demonstration
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| n.表明，示范，论证，示威 | |
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99
efface
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| v.擦掉，抹去 | |
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100
underlying
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| adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的 | |
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101
growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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102
swooped
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| 俯冲，猛冲( swoop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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103
chatter
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| vi.／n.喋喋不休；短促尖叫；(牙齿)打战 | |
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104
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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105
deafened
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| 使聋( deafen的过去式和过去分词 )； 使隔音 | |
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106
shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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107
exclamations
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| n.呼喊( exclamation的名词复数 )；感叹；感叹语；感叹词 | |
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108
baron
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| n.男爵；(商业界等)巨头，大王 | |
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109
duel
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| n./v.决斗；(双方的)斗争 | |
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110
lapsed
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| adj.流失的，堕落的v.退步( lapse的过去式和过去分词 )；陷入；倒退；丧失 | |
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111
horrified
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| a.(表现出)恐惧的 | |
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112
eternity
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| n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷 | |
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113
whatsoever
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| adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么 | |
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114
diplomat
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| n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人 | |
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115
muddle
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| n.困惑，混浊状态；vt.使混乱，使糊涂，使惊呆；vi.胡乱应付，混乱 | |
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116
rumours
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| n.传闻( rumour的名词复数 )；风闻；谣言；谣传 | |
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117
sensational
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| adj.使人感动的，非常好的，轰动的，耸人听闻的 | |
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118
distrait
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| adj.心不在焉的 | |
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119
utterance
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| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
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120
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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121
rosebud
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| n.蔷薇花蕾，妙龄少女 | |
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122
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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123
cipher
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| n.零；无影响力的人；密码 | |
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124
despatch
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| n./v.(dispatch)派遣；发送；n.急件；新闻报道 | |
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125
adviser
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| n.劝告者，顾问 | |
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126
relinquish
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| v.放弃，撤回，让与，放手 | |
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127
clattering
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| 发出咔哒声（clatter的现在分词形式） | |
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128
upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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129
motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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130
moody
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| adj.心情不稳的，易怒的，喜怒无常的 | |
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131
depressed
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| adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的 | |
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132
lamely
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| 一瘸一拐地，不完全地 | |
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133
bolster
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| n.枕垫；v.支持，鼓励 | |
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134
perils
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| 极大危险( peril的名词复数 )； 危险的事（或环境） | |
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135
joyous
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| adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的 | |
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136
arrogance
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| n.傲慢，自大 | |
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137
positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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138
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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139
wilful
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| adj.任性的，故意的 | |
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140
ironic
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| adj.讽刺的，有讽刺意味的，出乎意料的 | |
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141
perplexed
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| adj.不知所措的 | |
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142
disapproval
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| n.反对，不赞成 | |
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143
wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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144
romp
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| n.欢闹；v.嬉闹玩笑 | |
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145
sip
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| v.小口地喝，抿，呷；n.一小口的量 | |
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146
delectable
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| adj.使人愉快的；美味的 | |
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147
deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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