—Trap’s Abram.
“Mischief never thrives
Without the help of Woman.”
—The Same.
IT will be a year next July since I first saw Mary Leavenworth. I was living at that time a most monotonous4 existence. Loving what was beautiful, hating what was sordid5, drawn6 by nature towards all that was romantic and uncommon7, but doomed8 by my straitened position and the loneliness of my widowhood to spend my days in the weary round of plain sewing, I had begun to think that the shadow of a humdrum9 old age was settling down upon me, when one morning, in the full tide of my dissatisfaction, Mary Leavenworth stepped across the threshold of my door and, with one smile, changed the whole tenor10 of my life.
This may seem exaggeration to you, especially when I say that her errand was simply one of business, she having heard I was handy with my needle; but if you could have seen her as she appeared that day, marked the look with which she approached me, and the smile with which she left, you would pardon the folly11 of a romantic old woman, who beheld12 a fairy queen in this lovely young lady. The fact is, I was dazzled by her beauty and her charms. And when, a few days after, she came again, and crouching13 down on the stool at my feet, said she was so tired of the gossip and tumult14 down at the hotel, that it was a relief to run away and hide with some one who would let her act like the child she was, I experienced for the moment, I believe, the truest happiness of my life. Meeting her advances with all the warmth her manner invited, I found her ere long listening eagerly while I told her, almost without my own volition15, the story of my past life, in the form of an amusing allegory.
The next day saw her in the same place; and the next; always with the eager, laughing eyes, and the fluttering, uneasy hands, that grasped everything they touched, and broke everything they grasped.
But the fourth day she was not there, nor the fifth, nor the sixth, and I was beginning to feel the old shadow settling back upon me, when one night, just as the dusk of twilight16 was merging17 into evening gloom, she came stealing in at the front door, and, creeping up to my side, put her hands over my eyes with such a low, ringing laugh, that I started.
“You don’t know what to make of me!” she cried, throwing aside her cloak, and revealing herself in the full splendor18 of evening attire19. “I don’t know what to make of myself. Though it seems folly, I felt that I must run away and tell some one that a certain pair of eyes have been looking into mine, and that for the first time in my life I feel myself a woman as well as a queen.” And with a glance in which coyness struggled with pride, she gathered up her cloak around her, and laughingly cried:
“Have you had a visit from a flying sprite? Has one little ray of moonlight found its way into your prison for a wee moment, with Mary’s laugh and Mary’s snowy silk and flashing diamonds? Say!” and she patted my cheek, and smiled so bewilderingly, that even now, with all the dull horror of these after-events crowding upon me, I cannot but feel something like tears spring to my eyes at the thought of it.
“And so the Prince has come for you?” I whispered, alluding20 to a story I had told her the last time she had visited me; a story in which a girl, who had waited all her life in rags and degradation21 for the lordly knight22 who was to raise her from a hovel to a throne, died just as her one lover, an honest peasant-lad whom she had discarded in her pride, arrived at her door with the fortune he had spent all his days in amassing23 for her sake.
But at this she flushed, and drew back towards the door. “I don’t know; I am afraid not. I—I don’t think anything about that. Princes are not so easily won,” she murmured.
“What! are you going?” I said, “and alone? Let me accompany you.”
But she only shook her fairy head, and replied: “No, no; that would be spoiling the romance, indeed. I have come upon you like a sprite, and like a sprite I will go.” And, flashing like the moonbeam she was, she glided24 out into the night, and floated away down the street.
When she next came, I observed a feverish25 excitement in her manner, which assured me, even plainer than the coy sweetness displayed in our last interview, that her heart had been touched by her lover’s attentions. Indeed, she hinted as much before she left, saying in a melancholy26 tone, when I had ended my story in the usual happy way, with kisses and marriage, “I shall never marry!” finishing the exclamation27 with a long-drawn sigh, that somehow emboldened28 me to say, perhaps because I knew she had no mother:
She gave me one quick look, and then dropped her eyes. I feared I had offended her, and was feeling very humble30, when she suddenly replied, in an even but low tone, “I said I should never marry, because the one man who pleases me can never be my husband.”
All the hidden romance in my nature started at once into life. “Why not? What do you mean? Tell me.”
“There is nothing to tell,” said she; “only I have been so weak as to”—she would not say, fall in love, she was a proud woman—“admire a man whom my uncle will never allow me to marry.”
And she rose as if to go; but I drew her back. “Whom your uncle will not allow you to marry!” I repeated. “Why? because he is poor?”
“No; uncle loves money, but not to such an extent as that. Besides, Mr. Clavering is not poor. He is the owner of a beautiful place in his own country——”
“Own country?” I interrupted. “Is he not an American?”
“No,” she returned; “he is an Englishman.”
I did not see why she need say that in just the way she did, but, supposing she was aggravated31 by some secret memory, went on to inquire: “Then what difficulty can there be? Isn’t he—” I was going to say steady, but refrained.
“He is an Englishman,” she emphasized in the same bitter tone as before. “In saying that, I say it all. Uncle will never let me marry an Englishman.”
“He has an absolute mania34 on the subject,” resumed she. “I might as well ask him to allow me to drown myself as to marry an Englishman.”
A woman of truer judgment35 than myself would have said: “Then, if that is so, why not discard from your breast all thought of him? Why dance with him, and talk to him, and let your admiration36 develop into love?” But I was all romance then, and, angry at a prejudice I could neither understand nor appreciate, I said:
“But that is mere37 tyranny! Why should he hate the English so? And why, if he does, should you feel yourself obliged to gratify him in a whim38 so unreasonable39?”
“Why? Shall I tell you, auntie?” she said, flushing and looking away.
“Yes,” I returned; “tell me everything.”
“Well, then, if you want to know the worst of me, as you already know the best, I hate to incur40 my uncle’s displeasure, because—because—I have always been brought up to regard myself as his heiress, and I know that if I were to marry contrary to his wishes, he would instantly change his mind, and leave me penniless.”
“But,” I cried, my romance a little dampened by this admission, “you tell me Mr. Clavering has enough to live upon, so you would not want; and if you love—”
Her violet eyes fairly flashed in her amazement.
“You don’t understand,” she said; “Mr. Clavering is not poor; but uncle is rich. I shall be a queen—” There she paused, trembling, and falling on my breast. “Oh, it sounds mercenary, I know, but it is the fault of my bringing up. I have been taught to worship money. I would be utterly41 lost without it. And yet”—her whole face softening42 with the light of another emotion, “I cannot say to Henry Clavering, ‘Go! my prospects44 are dearer to me than you!’ I cannot, oh, I cannot!”
“You love him, then?” said I, determined45 to get at the truth of the matter if possible.
She rose restlessly. “Isn’t that a proof of love? If you knew me, you would say it was.” And, turning, she took her stand before a picture that hung on the wall of my sitting-room46.
“That looks like me,” she said.
“Yes,” I remarked, “that is why I prize it.”
She did not seem to hear me; she was absorbed in gazing at the exquisite48 face before her. “That is a winning face,” I heard her say. “Sweeter than mine. I wonder if she would ever hesitate between love and money. I do not believe she would,” her own countenance49 growing gloomy and sad as she said so; “she would think only of the happiness she would confer; she is not hard like me. Eleanore herself would love this girl.”
I think she had forgotten my presence, for at the mention of her cousin’s name she turned quickly round with a half suspicious look, saying lightly:
“My dear old Mamma Hubbard looks horrified50. She did not know she had such a very unromantic little wretch51 for a listener, when she was telling all those wonderful stories of Love slaying52 dragons, and living in caves, and walking over burning ploughshares as if they were tufts of spring grass?”
“No,” I said, taking her with an irresistible53 impulse of admiring affection into my arms; “but if I had, it would have made no difference. I should still have talked about love, and of all it can do to make this weary workaday world sweet and delightful54.”
“Would you? Then you do not think me such a wretch?”
What could I say? I thought her the winsomest being in the world, and frankly55 told her so. Instantly she brightened into her very gayest self. Not that I thought then, much less do I think now, she partially56 cared for my good opinion; but her nature demanded admiration, and unconsciously blossomed under it, as a flower under the sunshine.
“And you will still let me come and tell you how bad I am,—that is, if I go on being bad, as I doubtless shall to the end of the chapter? You will not turn me off?”
“I will never turn you off.”
“Not if I should do a dreadful thing? Not if I should run away with my lover some fine night, and leave uncle to discover how his affectionate partiality had been requited58?”
It was lightly said, and lightly meant, for she did not even wait for my reply. But its seed sank deep into our two hearts for all that. And for the next few days I spent my time in planning how I should manage, if it should ever fall to my lot to conduct to a successful issue so enthralling59 a piece of business as an elopement. You may imagine, then, how delighted I was, when one evening Hannah, this unhappy girl who is now lying dead under my roof, and who was occupying the position of lady’s maid to Miss Mary Leavenworth at that time, came to my door with a note from her mistress, running thus:
“Have the loveliest story of the season ready for me tomorrow; and
let the prince be as handsome as—as some one you have heard of,
and the princess as foolish as your little yielding pet,
“MARY.”
Which short note could only mean that she was engaged. But the next day did not bring me my Mary, nor the next, nor the next; and beyond hearing that Mr. Leavenworth had returned from his trip I received neither word nor token. Two more days dragged by, when, just as twilight set in, she came. It had been a week since I had seen her, but it might have been a year from the change I observed in her countenance and expression. I could scarcely greet her with any show of pleasure, she was so unlike her former self.
“You are disappointed, are you not?” said she, looking at me. “You expected revelations, whispered hopes, and all manner of sweet confidences; and you see, instead, a cold, bitter woman, who for the first time in your presence feels inclined to be reserved and uncommunicative.”
“That is because you have had more to trouble than encourage you in your love,” I returned, though not without a certain shrinking, caused more by her manner than words.
She did not reply to this, but rose and paced the floor, coldly at first, but afterwards with a certain degree of excitement that proved to be the prelude60 to a change in her manner; for, suddenly pausing, she turned to me and said: “Mr. Clavering has left R——, Mrs. Belden.”
“Left!”
“Yes, my uncle commanded me to dismiss him, and I obeyed.”
The work dropped from my hands, in my heartfelt disappointment. “Ah! then he knows of your engagement to Mr. Clavering?”
“Yes; he had not been in the house five minutes before Eleanore told him.”
“Then she knew?”
“Yes,” with a half sigh. “She could hardly help it. I was foolish enough to give her the cue in my first moment of joy and weakness. I did not think of the consequences; but I might have known. She is so conscientious61.”
“I do not call it conscientiousness62 to tell another’s secrets,” I returned.
“That is because you are not Eleanore.”
Not having a reply for this, I said, “And so your uncle did not regard your engagement with favor?”
“Favor! Did I not tell you he would never allow me to marry an Englishman? He said he would sooner see me buried.”
“And you yielded? Made no struggle? Let the hard, cruel man have his way?”
She was walking off to look again at that picture which had attracted her attention the time before, but at this word gave me one little sidelong look that was inexpressibly suggestive.
“I obeyed him when he commanded, if that is what you mean.”
“And dismissed Mr. Clavering after having given him your word of honor to be his wife?”
“Why not, when I found I could not keep my word.”
She did not reply at once, but lifted her face mechanically to the picture.
“My uncle would tell you that I had decided to be governed wholly by his wishes!” she responded at last with what I felt was self-scornful bitterness.
Greatly disappointed, I burst into tears. “Oh, Mary!” I cried, “Oh, Mary!” and instantly blushed, startled that I had called her by her first name.
But she did not appear to notice.
“Have you any complaint to make?” she asked. “Is it not my manifest duty to be governed by my uncle’s wishes? Has he not brought me up from childhood? lavished64 every luxury upon me? made me all I am, even to the love of riches which he has instilled65 into my soul with every gift he has thrown into my lap, every word he has dropped into my ear, since I was old enough to know what riches meant? Is it for me now to turn my back upon fostering care so wise, beneficent, and free, just because a man whom I have known some two weeks chances to offer me in exchange what he pleases to call his love?”
“But,” I feebly essayed, convinced perhaps by the tone of sarcasm66 in which this was uttered that she was not far from my way of thinking after all, “if in two weeks you have learned to love this man more than everything else, even the riches which make your uncle’s favor a thing of such moment—”
“Well,” said she, “what then?”
“Why, then I would say, secure your happiness with the man of your choice, if you have to marry him in secret, trusting to your influence over your uncle to win the forgiveness he never can persistently67 deny.”
You should have seen the arch expression which stole across her face at that. “Would it not be better,” she asked, creeping to my arms, and laying her head on my shoulder, “would it not be better for me to make sure of that uncle’s favor first, before undertaking68 the hazardous69 experiment of running away with a too ardent70 lover?”
Struck by her manner, I lifted her face and looked at it. It was one amused smile.
“Oh, my darling,” said I, “you have not, then dismissed Mr. Clavering?”
“But not without hope?”
She burst into a ringing laugh.
“Oh, you dear old Mamma Hubbard; what a matchmaker you are, to be sure! You appear as much interested as if you were the lover yourself.”
“But tell me,” I urged.
In a moment her serious mood returned. “He will wait for me,” said she.
The next day I submitted to her the plan I had formed for her clandestine72 intercourse73 with Mr. Clavering. It was for them both to assume names, she taking mine, as one less liable to provoke conjecture74 than a strange name, and he that of LeRoy Robbins. The plan pleased her, and with the slight modification75 of a secret sign being used on the envelope, to distinguish her letters from mine, was at once adopted.
And so it was I took the fatal step that has involved me in all this trouble. With the gift of my name to this young girl to use as she would and sign what she would, I seemed to part with what was left me of judgment and discretion76. Henceforth, I was only her scheming, planning, devoted77 slave; now copying the letters which she brought me, and enclosing them to the false name we had agreed upon, and now busying myself in devising ways to forward to her those which I received from him, without risk of discovery. Hannah was the medium we employed, as Mary felt it would not be wise for her to come too often to my house. To this girl’s charge, then, I gave such notes as I could not forward in any other way, secure in the reticence78 of her nature, as well as in her inability to read, that these letters addressed to Mrs. Amy Belden would arrive at their proper destination without mishap79. And I believe they always did. At all events, no difficulty that I ever heard of arose out of the use of this girl as a go-between.
But a change was at hand. Mr. Clavering, who had left an invalid80 mother in England, was suddenly summoned home. He prepared to go, but, flushed with love, distracted by doubts, smitten81 with the fear that, once withdrawn82 from the neighborhood of a woman so universally courted as Mary, he would stand small chance of retaining his position in her regard, he wrote to her, telling his fears and asking her to marry him before he went.
“Make me your husband, and I will follow your wishes in all things,” he wrote. “The certainty that you are mine will make parting possible; without it, I cannot go; no, not if my mother should die without the comfort of saying good-bye to her only child.”
By some chance she was in my house when I brought this letter from the post-office, and I shall never forget how she started when she read it. But, from looking as if she had received an insult, she speedily settled down into a calm consideration of the subject, writing and delivering into my charge for copying a few lines in which she promised to accede83 to his request, if he would agree to leave the public declaration of the marriage to her discretion, and consent to bid her farewell at the door of the church or wherever the ceremony of marriage should take place, never to come into her presence again till such declaration had been made. Of course this brought in a couple of days the sure response: “Anything, so you will be mine.”
And Amy Belden’s wits and powers of planning were all summoned into requisition for the second time, to devise how this matter could be arranged without subjecting the parties to the chance of detection. I found the thing very difficult. In the first place, it was essential that the marriage should come off within three days, Mr. Clavering having, upon the receipt of her letter, secured his passage upon a steamer that sailed on the following Saturday; and, next, both he and Miss Leavenworth were too conspicuous84 in their personal appearance to make it at all possible for them to be secretly married anywhere within gossiping distance of this place. And yet it was desirable that the scene of the ceremony should not be too far away, or the time occupied in effecting the journey to and from the place would necessitate85 an absence from the hotel on the part of Miss Leavenworth long enough to arouse the suspicions of Eleanore; something which Mary felt it wiser to avoid. Her uncle, I have forgotten to say, was not here—having gone away again shortly after the apparent dismissal of Mr. Clavering. F——, then, was the only town I could think of which combined the two advantages of distance and accessibility. Although upon the railroad, it was an insignificant86 place, and had, what was better yet, a very obscure man for its clergyman, living, which was best of all, not ten rods from the depot87. If they could meet there? Making inquiries88, I found that it could be done, and, all alive to the romance of the occasion, proceeded to plan the details.
And now I am coming to what might have caused the overthrow89 of the whole scheme: I allude90 to the detection on the part of Eleanore of the correspondence between Mary and Mr. Clavering. It happened thus. Hannah, who, in her frequent visits to my house, had grown very fond of my society, had come in to sit with me for a while one evening. She had not been in the house, however, more than ten minutes, before there came a knock at the front door; and going to it I saw Mary, as I supposed, from the long cloak she wore, standing91 before me. Thinking she had come with a letter for Mr. Clavering, I grasped her arm and drew her into the hall, saying, “Have you got it? I must post it to-night, or he will not receive it in time.”
There I paused, for, the panting creature I had by the arm turning upon me, I saw myself confronted by a stranger.
“You have made a mistake,” she cried. “I am Eleanore Leavenworth, and I have come for my girl Hannah. Is she here?”
I could only raise my hand in apprehension92, and point to the girl sitting in the corner of the room before her. Miss Leavenworth immediately turned back.
“Hannah, I want you,” said she, and would have left the house without another word, but I caught her by the arm.
“Oh, miss—” I began, but she gave me such a look, I dropped her arm.
“I have nothing to say to you!” she cried in a low, thrilling voice. “Do not detain me.” And, with a glance to see if Hannah were following her, she went out.
For an hour I sat crouched93 on the stair just where she had left me. Then I went to bed, but I did not sleep a wink94 that night. You can imagine, then, my wonder when, with the first glow of the early morning light, Mary, looking more beautiful than ever, came running up the steps and into the room where I was, with the letter for Mr. Clavering trembling in her hand.
“Oh!” I cried in my joy and relief, “didn’t she understand me, then?”
The gay look on Mary’s face turned to one of reckless scorn. “If you mean Eleanore, yes. She is duly initiated95, Mamma Hubbard. Knows that I love Mr. Clavering and write to him. I couldn’t keep it secret after the mistake you made last evening; so I did the next best thing, told her the truth.”
“Not that you were about to be married?”
“Certainly not. I don’t believe in unnecessary communications.”
“And you did not find her as angry as you expected?”
“I will not say that; she was angry enough. And yet,” continued Mary, with a burst of self-scornful penitence96, “I will not call Eleanore’s lofty indignation anger. She was grieved, Mamma Hubbard, grieved.” And with a laugh which I believe was rather the result of her own relief than of any wish to reflect on her cousin, she threw her head on one side and eyed me with a look which seemed to say, “Do I plague you so very much, you dear old Mamma Hubbard?”
I felt a heavy hand, hot with fever, lifted from my heart. “And we can still go on?”
She held out the letter for reply.
The plan agreed upon between us for the carrying out of our intentions was this. At the time appointed, Mary was to excuse herself to her cousin upon the plea that she had promised to take me to see a friend in the next town. She was then to enter a buggy previously100 ordered, and drive here, where I was to join her. We were then to proceed immediately to the minister’s house in F——, where we had reason to believe we should find everything prepared for us. But in this plan, simple as it was, one thing was forgotten, and that was the character of Eleanore’s love for her cousin. That her suspicions would be aroused we did not doubt; but that she would actually follow Mary up and demand an explanation of her conduct, was what neither she, who knew her so well, nor I, who knew her so little, ever imagined possible. And yet that was just what occurred. But let me explain. Mary, who had followed out the programme to the point of leaving a little note of excuse on Eleanore’s dressing-table, had come to my house, and was just taking off her long cloak to show me her dress, when there came a commanding knock at the front door. Hastily pulling her cloak about her I ran to open it, intending, you may be sure, to dismiss my visitor with short ceremony, when I heard a voice behind me say, “Good heavens, it is Eleanore!” and, glancing back, saw Mary looking through the window-blind upon the porch without.
“What shall we do?” I cried, in very natural dismay.
“Do? why, open the door and let her in; I am not afraid of Eleanore.”
I immediately did so, and Eleanore Leavenworth, very pale, but with a resolute101 countenance, walked into the house and into this room, confronting Mary in very nearly the same spot where you are now sitting. “I have come,” said she, lifting a face whose expression of mingled102 sweetness and power I could not but admire, even in that moment of apprehension, “to ask you without any excuse for my request, if you will allow me to accompany you upon your drive this morning?”
Mary, who had drawn herself up to meet some word of accusation103 or appeal, turned carelessly away to the glass. “I am very sorry,” she said, “but the buggy holds only two, and I shall be obliged to refuse.”
“I will order a carriage.”
“But I do not wish your company, Eleanore. We are off on a pleasure trip, and desire to have our fun by ourselves.”
“And you will not allow me to accompany you?”
“I cannot prevent your going in another carriage.”
Eleanore’s face grew yet more earnest in its expression. “Mary,” said she, “we have been brought up together. I am your sister in affection if not in blood, and I cannot see you start upon this adventure with no other companion than this woman. Then tell me, shall I go with you, as a sister, or on the road behind you as the enforced guardian104 of your honor against your will?”
“My honor?”
“You are going to meet Mr. Clavering.”
“Well?”
“Twenty miles from home.”
“Well?”
Mary’s haughty106 lip took an ominous107 curve. “The same hand that raised you has raised me,” she cried bitterly.
“This is no time to speak of that,” returned Eleanore.
Mary’s countenance flushed. All the antagonism108 of her nature was aroused. She looked absolutely Juno-like in her wrath109 and reckless menace. “Eleanore,” she cried, “I am going to F—— to marry Mr. Clavering! Now do you wish to accompany me?”
“I do.”
Mary’s whole manner changed. Leaping forward, she grasped her cousin’s arm and shook it. “For what reason?” she cried. “What do you intend to do?”
“To witness the marriage, if it be a true one; to step between you and shame if any element of falsehood should come in to affect its legality.”
Mary’s hand fell from her cousin’s arm. “I do not understand you,” said she. “I thought you never gave countenance to what you considered wrong.”
“Nor do I. Any one who knows me will understand that I do not give my approval to this marriage just because I attend its ceremonial in the capacity of an unwilling110 witness.”
“Then why go?”
“Because I value your honor above my own peace. Because I love our common benefactor111, and know that he would never pardon me if I let his darling be married, however contrary her union might be to his wishes, without lending the support of my presence to make the transaction at least a respectable one.”
“Any more so than now?”
“Mr. Clavering does not return with me, Eleanore.”
“No, I supposed not.”
“I leave him immediately after the ceremony.”
Eleanore bowed her head.
“He goes to Europe.” A pause.
“And I return home.”
“There to wait for what, Mary?”
“What every other girl does under such circumstances, I suppose. The development of more reasonable feelings in an obdurate114 parent’s heart.”
Eleanore sighed, and a short silence ensued, broken by Eleanore’s suddenly falling upon her knees, and clasping her cousin’s hand. “Oh, Mary,” she sobbed115, her haughtiness116 all disappearing in a gush117 of wild entreaty118, “consider what you are doing! Think, before it is too late, of the consequences which must follow such an act as this. Marriage founded upon deception can never lead to happiness. Love—but it is not that. Love would have led you either to have dismissed Mr. Clavering at once, or to have openly accepted the fate which a union with him would bring. Only passion stoops to subterfuge119 like this. And you,” she continued, rising and turning toward me in a sort of forlorn hope very touching120 to see, “can you see this young motherless girl, driven by caprice, and acknowledging no moral restraint, enter upon the dark and crooked121 path she is planning for herself, without uttering one word of warning and appeal? Tell me, mother of children dead and buried, what excuse you will have for your own part in this day’s work, when she, with her face marred122 by the sorrows which must follow this deception, comes to you——”
“The same excuse, probably,” Mary’s voice broke in, chill and strained, “which you will have when uncle inquires how you came to allow such an act of disobedience to be perpetrated in his absence: that she could not help herself, that Mary would gang her ain gait, and every one around must accommodate themselves to it.”
It was like a draught123 of icy air suddenly poured into a room heated up to fever point. Eleanore stiffened124 immediately, and drawing back, pale and composed, turned upon her cousin with the remark:
“Then nothing can move you?”
The curling of Mary’s lips was her only reply.
Mr. Raymond, I do not wish to weary you with my feelings, but the first great distrust I ever felt of my wisdom in pushing this matter so far came with that curl of Mary’s lip. More plainly than Eleanore’s words it showed me the temper with which she was entering upon this undertaking; and, struck with momentary125 dismay, I advanced to speak when Mary stopped me.
“There, now, Mamma Hubbard, don’t you go and acknowledge that you are frightened, for I won’t hear it. I have promised to marry Henry Clavering to-day, and I am going to keep my word—if I don’t love him,” she added with bitter emphasis. Then, smiling upon me in a way which caused me to forget everything save the fact that she was going to her bridal, she handed me her veil to fasten. As I was doing this, with very trembling fingers, she said, looking straight at Eleanore:
“You have shown yourself more interested in my fate than I had any reason to expect. Will you continue to display this concern all the way to F——, or may I hope for a few moments of peace in which to dream upon the step which, according to you, is about to hurl126 upon me such dreadful consequences?”
“If I go with you to F——,” Eleanore returned, “it is as a witness, no more. My sisterly duty is done.”
“Very well, then,” Mary said, dimpling with sudden gayety; “I suppose I shall have to accept the situation. Mamma Hubbard, I am so sorry to disappoint you, but the buggy won’t hold three. If you are good you shall be the first to congratulate me when I come home to-night.” And, almost before I knew it, the two had taken their seats in the buggy that was waiting at the door. “Good-by,” cried Mary, waving her hand from the back; “wish me much joy—of my ride.”
I tried to do so, but the words wouldn’t come. I could only wave my hand in response, and rush sobbing127 into the house.
Of that day, and its long hours of alternate remorse128 and anxiety, I cannot trust myself to speak. Let me come at once to the time when, seated alone in my lamp-lighted room, I waited and watched for the token of their return which Mary had promised me. It came in the shape of Mary herself, who, wrapped in her long cloak, and with her beautiful face aglow129 with blushes, came stealing into the house just as I was beginning to despair.
A strain of wild music from the hotel porch, where they were having a dance, entered with her, producing such a weird130 effect upon my fancy that I was not at all surprised when, in flinging off her cloak, she displayed garments of bridal white and a head crowned with snowy roses.
“Oh, Mary!” I cried, bursting into tears; “you are then——”
“Mrs. Henry Clavering, at your service. I’m a bride, Auntie.”
“Without a bridal,” I murmured, taking her passionately131 into my embrace.
She was not insensible to my emotion. Nestling close to me, she gave herself up for one wild moment to a genuine burst of tears, saying between her sobs132 all manner of tender things; telling me how she loved me, and how I was the only one in all the world to whom she dared come on this, her wedding night, for comfort or congratulation, and of how frightened she felt now it was all over, as if with her name she had parted with something of inestimable value.
“And does not the thought of having made some one the proudest of men solace133 you?” I asked, more than dismayed at this failure of mine to make these lovers happy.
“I don’t know,” she sobbed. “What satisfaction can it be for him to feel himself tied for life to a girl who, sooner than lose a prospective134 fortune, subjected him to such a parting?”
“Tell me about it,” said I.
But she was not in the mood at that moment. The excitement of the day had been too much for her. A thousand fears seemed to beset135 her mind. Crouching down on the stool at my feet, she sat with her hands folded and a glare on her face that lent an aspect of strange unreality to her brilliant attire. “How shall I keep it secret! The thought haunts me every moment; how can I keep it secret!”
“Why, is there any danger of its being known?” I inquired. “Were you seen or followed?”
“No,” she murmured. “It all went off well, but——”
“Where is the danger, then?”
“I cannot say; but some deeds are like ghosts. They will not be laid; they reappear; they gibber; they make themselves known whether we will or not. I did not think of this before. I was mad, reckless, what you will. But ever since the night has come, I have felt it crushing upon me like a pall136 that smothers137 life and youth and love out of my heart. While the sunlight remained I could endure it; but now—oh, Auntie, I have done something that will keep me in constant fear. I have allied138 myself to a living apprehension. I have destroyed my happiness.”
I was too aghast to speak.
“For two hours I have played at being gay. Dressed in my bridal white, and crowned with roses, I have greeted my friends as if they were wedding-guests, and made believe to myself that all the compliments bestowed139 upon me—and they are only too numerous—were just so many congratulations upon my marriage. But it was no use; Eleanore knew it was no use. She has gone to her room to pray, while I—I have come here for the first time, perhaps for the last, to fall at some one’s feet and cry,—’ God have mercy upon me!’”
I looked at her in uncontrollable emotion. “Oh, Mary, have I only succeeded, then, in making you miserable140?”
She did not answer; she was engaged in picking up the crown of roses which had fallen from her hair to the floor.
“If I had not been taught to love money so!” she said at length. “If, like Eleanore, I could look upon the splendor which has been ours from childhood as a mere accessory of life, easy to be dropped at the call of duty or affection! If prestige, adulation, and elegant belongings141 were not so much to me; or love, friendship, and domestic happiness more! If only I could walk a step without dragging the chain of a thousand luxurious143 longings142 after me. Eleanore can. Imperious as she often is in her beautiful womanhood, haughty as she can be when the delicate quick of her personality is touched too rudely, I have known her to sit by the hour in a low, chilly144, ill-lighted and ill-smelling garret, cradling a dirty child on her knee, and feeding with her own hand an impatient old woman whom no one else would consent to touch. Oh, oh! they talk about repentance145 and a change of heart! If some one or something would only change mine! But there is no hope of that! no hope of my ever being anything else than what I am: a selfish, wilful146, mercenary girl.”
Nor was this mood a mere transitory one. That same night she made a discovery which increased her apprehension almost to terror. This was nothing less than the fact that Eleanore had been keeping a diary of the last few weeks. “Oh,” she cried in relating this to me the next day, “what security shall I ever feel as long as this diary of hers remains147 to confront me every time I go into her room? And she will not consent to destroy it, though I have done my best to show her that it is a betrayal of the trust I reposed148 in her. She says it is all she has to show in the way of defence, if uncle should ever accuse her of treachery to him and his happiness. She promises to keep it locked up; but what good will that do! A thousand accidents might happen, any of them sufficient to throw it into uncle’s hands. I shall never feel safe for a moment while it exists.”
I endeavored to calm her by saying that if Eleanore was without malice149, such fears were groundless. But she would not be comforted, and seeing her so wrought150 up, I suggested that Eleanore should be asked to trust it into my keeping till such time as she should feel the necessity of using it. The idea struck Mary favorably. “O yes,” she cried; “and I will put my certificate with it, and so get rid of all my care at once.” And before the afternoon was over, she had seen Eleanore and made her request.
It was acceded151 to with this proviso, that I was neither to destroy nor give up all or any of the papers except upon their united demand. A small tin box was accordingly procured152, into which were put all the proofs of Mary’s marriage then existing, viz.: the certificate, Mr. Clavering’s letters, and such leaves from Eleanore’s diary as referred to this matter. It was then handed over to me with the stipulation153 I have already mentioned, and I stowed it away in a certain closet upstairs, where it has lain undisturbed till last night.
Here Mrs. Belden paused, and, blushing painfully, raised her eyes to mine with a look in which anxiety and entreaty were curiously154 blended.
“I don’t know what you will say,” she began, “but, led away by my fears, I took that box out of its hiding-place last evening and, notwithstanding your advice, carried it from the house, and it is now——”
“In my possession,” I quietly finished.
I don’t think I ever saw her look more astounded155, not even when I told her of Hannah’s death. “Impossible!” she exclaimed. “I left it last night in the old barn that was burned down. I merely meant to hide it for the present, and could think of no better place in my hurry; for the barn is said to be haunted—a man hung himself there once—and no one ever goes there. I—I—you cannot have it!” she cried, “unless——”
“Unless I found and brought it away before the barn was destroyed,” I suggested.
Her face flushed deeper. “Then you followed me?”
“Yes,” said I. Then, as I felt my own countenance redden, hastened to add: “We have been playing strange and unaccustomed parts, you and I. Some time, when all these dreadful events shall be a mere dream of the past, we will ask each other’s pardon. But never mind all this now. The box is safe, and I am anxious to hear the rest of your story.”
This seemed to compose her, and after a minute she continued:
Mary seemed more like herself after this. And though, on account of Mr. Leavenworth’s return and their subsequent preparations for departure, I saw but little more of her, what I did see was enough to make me fear that, with the locking up of the proofs of her marriage, she was indulging the idea that the marriage itself had become void. But I may have wronged her in this.
The story of those few weeks is almost finished. On the eve of the day before she left, Mary came to my house to bid me good-by. She had a present in her hand the value of which I will not state, as I did not take it, though she coaxed156 me with all her prettiest wiles157. But she said something that night that I have never been able to forget. It was this. I had been speaking of my hope that before two months had elapsed she would find herself in a position to send for Mr. Clavering, and that when that day came I should wish to be advised of it; when she suddenly interrupted me by saying:
“Uncle will never be won upon, as you call it, while he lives. If I was convinced of it before, I am sure of it now. Nothing but his death will ever make it possible for me to send for Mr. Clavering.” Then, seeing me look aghast at the long period of separation which this seemed to betoken158, blushed a little and whispered: “The prospect43 looks somewhat dubious159, doesn’t it? But if Mr. Clavering loves me, he can wait.”
“But,” said I, “your uncle is only little past the prime of life and appears to be in robust160 health; it will be years of waiting, Mary.”
“I don’t know,” she muttered, “I think not. Uncle is not as strong as he looks and—” She did not say any more, horrified perhaps at the turn the conversation was taking. But there was an expression on her countenance that set me thinking at the time, and has kept me thinking ever since.
Not that any actual dread57 of such an occurrence as has since happened came to oppress my solitude161 during the long months which now intervened. I was as yet too much under the spell of her charm to allow anything calculated to throw a shadow over her image to remain long in my thoughts. But when, some time in the fall, a letter came to me personally from Mr. Clavering, filled with a vivid appeal to tell him something of the woman who, in spite of her vows162, doomed him to a suspense163 so cruel, and when, on the evening of the same day, a friend of mine who had just returned from New York spoke164 of meeting Mary Leavenworth at some gathering165, surrounded by manifest admirers, I began to realize the alarming features of the affair, and, sitting down, I wrote her a letter. Not in the strain in which I had been accustomed to talk to her,—I had not her pleading eyes and trembling, caressing166 hands ever before me to beguile167 my judgment from its proper exercise,—but honestly and earnestly, telling her how Mr. Clavering felt, and what a risk she ran in keeping so ardent a lover from his rights. The reply she sent rather startled me.
“I have put Mr. Robbins out of my calculations for the present, and advise you to do the same. As for the gentleman himself, I have told him that when I could receive him I would be careful to notify him. That day has not yet come.
“But do not let him be discouraged,” she added in a postscript168. “When he does receive his happiness, it will be a satisfying one.”
When, I thought. Ah, it is that when which is likely to ruin all! But, intent only upon fulfilling her will, I sat down and wrote a letter to Mr. Clavering, in which I stated what she had said, and begged him to have patience, adding that I would surely let him know if any change took place in Mary or her circumstances. And, having despatched it to his address in London, awaited the development of events.
They were not slow in transpiring169. In two weeks I heard of the sudden death of Mr. Stebbins, the minister who had married them; and while yet laboring170 under the agitation171 produced by this shock, was further startled by seeing in a New York paper the name of Mr. Clavering among the list of arrivals at the Hoffman House; showing that my letter to him had failed in its intended effect, and that the patience Mary had calculated upon so blindly was verging172 to its end. I was consequently far from being surprised when, in a couple of weeks or so afterwards, a letter came from him to my address, which, owing to the careless omission173 of the private mark upon the envelope, I opened, and read enough to learn that, driven to desperation by the constant failures which he had experienced in all his endeavors to gain access to her in public or private, a failure which he was not backward in ascribing to her indisposition to see him, he had made up his mind to risk everything, even her displeasure; and, by making an appeal to her uncle, end the suspense under which he was laboring, definitely and at once. “I want you,” he wrote; “dowered or dowerless, it makes little difference to me. If you will not come of yourself, then I must follow the example of the brave knights174, my ancestors; storm the castle that holds you, and carry you off by force of arms.”
Neither can I say I was much surprised, knowing Mary as I did, when, in a few days from this, she forwarded to me for copying, this reply: “If Mr. Robbins ever expects to be happy with Amy Belden, let him reconsider the determination of which he speaks. Not only would he by such an action succeed in destroying the happiness of her he professes175 to love, but run the greater risk of effectually annulling176 the affection which makes the tie between them endurable.”
To this there was neither date nor signature. It was the cry of warning which a spirited, self-contained creature gives when brought to bay. It made even me recoil177, though I had known from the first that her pretty wilfulness178 was but the tossing foam179 floating above the soundless depths of cold resolve and most deliberate purpose.
What its real effect was upon him and her fate I can only conjecture. All I know is that in two weeks thereafter Mr. Leavenworth was found murdered in his room, and Hannah Chester, coming direct to my door from the scene of violence, begged me to take her in and secrete180 her from public inquiry181, as I loved and desired to serve Mary Leavenworth.
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1
avarice
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| n.贪婪；贪心 | |
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everlasting
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| adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的 | |
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foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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monotonous
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| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
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sordid
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| adj.肮脏的，不干净的，卑鄙的，暗淡的 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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uncommon
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| adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的 | |
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doomed
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| 命定的 | |
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humdrum
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| adj.单调的，乏味的 | |
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tenor
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| n.男高音（歌手），次中音（乐器），要旨，大意 | |
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folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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tumult
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| n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹 | |
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volition
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| n.意志；决意 | |
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twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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merging
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| 合并（分类） | |
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splendor
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| n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌 | |
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attire
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| v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装 | |
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alluding
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| 提及，暗指( allude的现在分词 ) | |
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degradation
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| n.降级；低落；退化；陵削；降解；衰变 | |
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knight
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| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
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amassing
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| v.积累，积聚( amass的现在分词 ) | |
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glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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feverish
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| adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的 | |
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melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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emboldened
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| v.鼓励，使有胆量( embolden的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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rosy
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| adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的 | |
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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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aggravated
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| 使恶化( aggravate的过去式和过去分词 )； 使更严重； 激怒； 使恼火 | |
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amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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puerile
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| adj.幼稚的，儿童的 | |
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mania
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| n.疯狂；躁狂症，狂热，癖好 | |
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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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whim
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| n.一时的兴致，突然的念头；奇想，幻想 | |
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unreasonable
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| adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的 | |
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incur
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| vt.招致，蒙受，遭遇 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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42
softening
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| 变软，软化 | |
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43
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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prospects
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| n.希望，前途(恒为复数) | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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sitting-room
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| n.（BrE）客厅，起居室 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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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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50
horrified
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| a.(表现出)恐惧的 | |
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wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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slaying
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| 杀戮。 | |
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53
irresistible
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| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
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54
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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partially
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| adv.部分地，从某些方面讲 | |
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57
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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58
requited
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| v.报答( requite的过去式和过去分词 )；酬谢；回报；报复 | |
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59
enthralling
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| 迷人的 | |
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60
prelude
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| n.序言，前兆，序曲 | |
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conscientious
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| adj.审慎正直的，认真的，本着良心的 | |
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conscientiousness
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| 责任心 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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lavished
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| v.过分给予，滥施( lavish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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instilled
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| v.逐渐使某人获得（某种可取的品质），逐步灌输( instill的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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sarcasm
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| n.讥讽，讽刺，嘲弄，反话 （adj.sarcastic） | |
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persistently
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| ad.坚持地；固执地 | |
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undertaking
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| n.保证，许诺，事业 | |
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hazardous
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| adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的 | |
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ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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demurely
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| adv.装成端庄地，认真地 | |
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clandestine
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| adj.秘密的，暗中从事的 | |
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73
intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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74
conjecture
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| n./v.推测，猜测 | |
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75
modification
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| n.修改，改进，缓和，减轻 | |
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discretion
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| n.谨慎；随意处理 | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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reticence
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| n.沉默，含蓄 | |
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mishap
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| n.不幸的事，不幸；灾祸 | |
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invalid
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| n.病人，伤残人；adj.有病的，伤残的；无效的 | |
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smitten
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| 猛打，重击，打击( smite的过去分词 ) | |
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withdrawn
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| vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出 | |
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83
accede
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| v.应允，同意 | |
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84
conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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85
necessitate
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| v.使成为必要，需要 | |
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86
insignificant
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| adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的 | |
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87
depot
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| n.仓库，储藏处；公共汽车站；火车站 | |
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88
inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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89
overthrow
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| v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆 | |
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90
allude
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| v.提及，暗指 | |
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91
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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92
apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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93
crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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94
wink
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| n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁 | |
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95
initiated
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| n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入 | |
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96
penitence
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| n.忏悔，赎罪；悔过 | |
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97
conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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98
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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99
naive
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| adj.幼稚的，轻信的；天真的 | |
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100
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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101
resolute
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| adj.坚决的，果敢的 | |
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102
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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103
accusation
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| n.控告，指责，谴责 | |
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104
guardian
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| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
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105
discreet
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| adj.(言行)谨慎的；慎重的；有判断力的 | |
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106
haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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107
ominous
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| adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的 | |
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108
antagonism
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| n.对抗，敌对，对立 | |
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109
wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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110
unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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111
benefactor
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| n. 恩人，行善的人，捐助人 | |
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112
deception
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| n.欺骗，欺诈；骗局，诡计 | |
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113
crimsoned
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| 变为深红色（crimson的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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114
obdurate
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| adj.固执的，顽固的 | |
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115
sobbed
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| 哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说 | |
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116
haughtiness
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| n.傲慢；傲气 | |
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117
gush
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| v.喷，涌；滔滔不绝(说话)；n.喷，涌流；迸发 | |
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118
entreaty
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| n.恳求，哀求 | |
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119
subterfuge
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| n.诡计；藉口 | |
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120
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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121
crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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122
marred
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| adj. 被损毁, 污损的 | |
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123
draught
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| n.拉，牵引，拖；一网（饮，吸，阵)；顿服药量，通风；v.起草，设计 | |
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124
stiffened
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| 加强的 | |
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125
momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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126
hurl
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| vt.猛投，力掷，声叫骂 | |
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127
sobbing
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| <主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
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128
remorse
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| n.痛恨，悔恨，自责 | |
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129
aglow
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| adj.发亮的；发红的；adv.发亮地 | |
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130
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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131
passionately
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| ad.热烈地，激烈地 | |
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132
sobs
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| 啜泣（声），呜咽（声）( sob的名词复数 ) | |
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133
solace
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| n.安慰；v.使快乐；vt.安慰(物)，缓和 | |
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134
prospective
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| adj.预期的，未来的，前瞻性的 | |
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135
beset
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| v.镶嵌；困扰，包围 | |
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136
pall
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| v.覆盖，使平淡无味；n.柩衣，棺罩；棺材；帷幕 | |
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137
smothers
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| （使）窒息， （使）透不过气( smother的第三人称单数 )； 覆盖； 忍住； 抑制 | |
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138
allied
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| adj.协约国的；同盟国的 | |
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139
bestowed
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| 赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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140
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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141
belongings
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| n.私人物品，私人财物 | |
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142
longings
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| 渴望，盼望( longing的名词复数 ) | |
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143
luxurious
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| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
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144
chilly
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| adj.凉快的，寒冷的 | |
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145
repentance
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| n.懊悔 | |
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146
wilful
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| adj.任性的，故意的 | |
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147
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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148
reposed
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| v.将（手臂等）靠在某人（某物）上( repose的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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149
malice
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| n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋 | |
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150
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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151
acceded
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| v.（正式）加入( accede的过去式和过去分词 )；答应；（通过财产的添附而）增加；开始任职 | |
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152
procured
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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153
stipulation
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| n.契约，规定，条文；条款说明 | |
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154
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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155
astounded
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| v.使震惊(astound的过去式和过去分词)；愕然；愕；惊讶 | |
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156
coaxed
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| v.哄，用好话劝说( coax的过去式和过去分词 )；巧言骗取；哄劝，劝诱 | |
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157
wiles
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| n.（旨在欺骗或吸引人的）诡计，花招；欺骗，欺诈( wile的名词复数 ) | |
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158
betoken
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| v.预示 | |
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159
dubious
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| adj.怀疑的，无把握的；有问题的，靠不住的 | |
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160
robust
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| adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的 | |
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161
solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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162
vows
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| 誓言( vow的名词复数 )； 郑重宣布，许愿 | |
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163
suspense
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| n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑 | |
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164
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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165
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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166
caressing
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| 爱抚的，表现爱情的，亲切的 | |
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167
beguile
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| vt.欺骗，消遣 | |
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168
postscript
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| n.附言，又及；(正文后的)补充说明 | |
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169
transpiring
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| （事实，秘密等）被人知道( transpire的现在分词 )； 泄露； 显露； 发生 | |
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170
laboring
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| n.劳动，操劳v.努力争取(for)( labor的现在分词 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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171
agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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172
verging
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| 接近，逼近（verge的现在分词形式） | |
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173
omission
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| n.省略，删节；遗漏或省略的事物，冗长 | |
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174
knights
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| 骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马 | |
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175
professes
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| 声称( profess的第三人称单数 )； 宣称； 公开表明； 信奉 | |
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176
annulling
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| v.宣告无效( annul的现在分词 )；取消；使消失；抹去 | |
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177
recoil
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| vi.退却，退缩，畏缩 | |
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178
wilfulness
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| 任性；倔强 | |
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179
foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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180
secrete
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| vt.分泌；隐匿，使隐秘 | |
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181
inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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