CHAPTER XXVII THE STORM CENTER MOVES

 As soon as Berny had left his office Bill Cannon¹ wrote a note to Mrs. Ryan, telling her of the interview he had just had with her daughter-in-law. He did not mention the check, simply stating Berny’s decision to accept their proposal and leave her husband. The matter was of too intimate a nature to trust to the telephone and he sent the note by one of his own clerks, who had instructions to wait for an answer, as the old man did not know what Mrs. Ryan might already have heard from Dominick.

 

It threw its recipient² into a state of agitated³, quivering exultation⁴. Mrs. Ryan had heard nothing from her son, and her hopes of the separation had sunk to the lowest ebb⁵. Not so prudent⁶ as Cannon, she called up Dominick at the bank, asking him if it were true that his wife had left him, and beseeching⁷ him simply to tell her “yes” or “no.” The young man, hampered⁸ by the publicity⁹ of his surroundings and his promise to Berny, answered her with the utmost brevity, telling her[487] that there had been a change in his domestic life but that he could not enter into details now. He begged her to ask him no further questions as he would be at home at three o’clock that afternoon, when he would explain the whole matter to her.

 

She wrote this to the Bonanza¹⁰ King and sent it by his waiting messenger. The old man felt relieved when he read the letter. He was confident now that Berny had not deceived him. She had told the truth, and was leaving the town and her husband, for what reason he could not yet be sure, but there seemed no doubt that she was going. They would ignore the subject before Rose, and, in the course of time, Dominick would break down the unflinching resistance she had threatened to make to his suit. The old man felt buoyant and exhilarated. It looked as if things were at last going their way.

 

He sent a message to Mrs. Ryan, asking her to let him know as soon as possible what Dominick said, and waited in his office in a state of tension very foreign to his usual iron stolidity¹¹. It was four o’clock before word came from her in the form of a telephone message, demanding his presence at her house at the earliest possible moment. He responded to it at once, and in the sitting-room¹² of the Ryan mansion¹³ heard from Dominick’s own lips the story of his false and tragic¹⁴ marriage.

 

[488]The old man listened, unwinking, speechless, immovable. It was the one thing he had never thought of, a solution of the situation that was as completely unexpected to him as death would have been. He said nothing to Dominick about the money he had given Berny, did not mention having seen her. A sharp observer might have noticed that he looked a little blank, that, the first shock of surprise over, there was a slight expression of wandering attention in his eye, a suggestion of mental faculties¹⁵ inwardly focusing on an unseen point, about his manner.

 

He walked home, deeply thinking, abashed¹⁶ a little by the ease with which Fate unties¹⁷ the knots that man’s clumsy fingers work over in vain. And it was untied¹⁸. They were free—the boy and girl he loved—to realize his and their own dreams. It would need no years of wooing to melt Rose from stony¹⁹ resistance. Nobody had been sacrificed.

 

He felt a sense of gratitude²⁰ toward Berny. Down in his heart he was conscious of a stirring of something that was kindly²¹, almost affectionate, toward her. It did not require a great stretch of imagination to see himself and her as two knowing, world-battered rogues²² who had combined to let youth and innocence²³ have their happiness. He could almost feel the partnership²⁴ with her she had spoken of, a sort of bond of Masonic understanding, a kindred attitude in[489] matters of ethics²⁵. They had a mutually low estimate of human nature, a bold, cool unscrupulousness, a daring courage that never faltered²⁶. In fact, he was sorry he had not given Berny the whole fifty thousand dollars.

 

“She could have got it out of me,” he said to himself, pondering pensively²⁷. “If she’d stuck out for it I’d have given it to her. And she might just as well have had it.”

 

That evening for the first time in nearly three years Dominick Ryan dined with his mother in the great dining-room of the Ryan mansion. Cornelia was out with Jack²⁸ Duffy, so Mrs. Ryan had her boy all to herself and she beamed and glowed and gloated on him as he sat opposite her, the reddened light of the candles falling on his beloved, familiar face.

 

After dinner they went into the sitting-room, the sanctum with the ebonized cherry furniture where the family always retired²⁹ when important matters were afoot. Here, side by side, they sat before the fireplace with the portrait of the late Cornelius Ryan looking benignly³⁰ down on them. They did not talk much. The subject of the young man’s marriage had been thoroughly³¹ gone over in the afternoon. Later on, his mother would extract from him further particulars, till she would be as conversant³² with that miserable³³ chapter of his life as if she had lived it herself.

 

To-night they were both in the quiescent³⁴ state[490] that follows turmoil³⁵ and strife³⁶. They sat close together, staring into space, now and then dropping one of the short disconnected sentences that indicate a fused, understanding intimacy³⁷. The young man’s body was limp in his chair, his mind lulled³⁸ in the restorative lethargy, the suspension of activities, that follows a struggle. His thoughts shrank shudderingly³⁹ from the past, and did not seek to penetrate⁴⁰ the future. He rested in a torpor⁴¹ of relief through which a dreamy sense of happiness came dimly, as if in the faintest, most delicate whispers.

 

His mother’s musings were definite and practical. She could now make that settlement, share and share alike, on both children that she had long desired—Cornelia’s would be a dowry on her wedding day and Dominick’s—well, Dominick had had hard times enough. She would go down to-morrow morning and see her lawyer about it.

 

At the same hour, in the house of the other rich man, the Bonanza King, having driven the servants from the room with violent words that did not indicate bad humor so much as high spirits, told his daughter the story. He told it shortly, hardly more than the main facts, and when it was concluded, forbore to make comments or, in fact, to look at her. It was a great deliverance, but he was not quite sure that his darling would experience the frank, unadulterated joy that had possessed⁴² both himself and Mrs. Ryan[491] without restraining qualms⁴³. He did not know what to say to Rose. There were mysterious complexities⁴⁴ in her character that made him decide to confine his statement to a recital⁴⁵ of facts, eliminating those candid⁴⁶ expressions of feeling which he could permit himself when talking to Mrs. Ryan or Berny.

 

As soon as he had told it all he rose from his chair as if ending the interview. His daughter rose too, pale and silent, and he put his arm round her shoulders and pressed her against his chest in a good-night hug. She kissed him and went up stairs to her own rooms, and he returned to his arm-chair at the end of the dining-table. Here, as was his wont⁴⁷, he sat smoking and pondering, turning over in his head the various aspects of the curious story and its unexpected outcome. Once, as the memory of Berny weeping into his handkerchief recurred⁴⁸ to him, he stirred uneasily and muttered to himself,

 

“Why didn’t the damned fool stick out for the whole fifty thousand? I’d have given it to her as soon as not.”

 

Meantime the storm center, the focus round which the hopes and angers and fears of this little group had circled, was speeding eastward⁴⁹ in the darkness of the early night. Berny sat in the corner of her section with her luggage piled high on the seat before her, a pillow behind her head. In the brightly clear light, intensified⁵⁰ by[492] reflections from glazed⁵¹ woodwork and the surfaces of mirrors, she looked less haggard, calmer and steadier, than she had looked for many weeks. Relief was at her heart. Now that she had turned her back on it she realized how she had hated it all—the flat, the isolation⁵², the unsuccessful struggle, Dominick and his superior ways.

 

The excitement of change, the desire of the new, the unfamiliar⁵³, the untried, which had taken her far afield once before, sang in her blood and whispered its siren song in her ear. She had missed a fortune, but still she had something. She was not plunging⁵⁴ penniless into the great outside world, and she pressed her hand against her chest where the thirty-five thousand dollars was sewed into the lining⁵⁵ of her bodice. Thirty-five thousand dollars! It was a good deal if it wasn’t three hundred thousand.

 

As the train thundered on through the darkness she saw before her the lights of great cities, and heard the call of liberty, the call of the nomad⁵⁶ and the social vagabond, the call of the noisy thoroughfare, of the bright places, of the tumult⁵⁷ and the crowd. The roving passion of the wanderer, to whom the spell of home is faint as a whisper in the night, passed into her veins⁵⁸ like the invigorating heat of wine. She exulted⁵⁹ in the sense of her freedom, in the magic of adventure, in the wild independence of the unknown.

1 cannon   

n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮

参考例句：

• The soldiers fired the cannon.士兵们开炮。
• The cannon thundered in the hills.大炮在山间轰鸣。

2 recipient   

a.接受的,感受性强的 n.接受者,感受者,容器

参考例句：

• Please check that you have a valid email certificate for each recipient. 请检查是否对每个接收者都有有效的电子邮件证书。
• Colombia is the biggest U . S aid recipient in Latin America. 哥伦比亚是美国在拉丁美洲最大的援助对象。

3 agitated   

adj.被鼓动的，不安的

参考例句：

• His answers were all mixed up,so agitated was he.他是那样心神不定，回答全乱了。
• She was agitated because her train was an hour late.她乘坐的火车晚点一个小时，她十分焦虑。

4 exultation   

n.狂喜，得意

参考例句：

• It made him catch his breath, it lit his face with exultation. 听了这个名字，他屏住呼吸，乐得脸上放光。
• He could get up no exultation that was really worthy the name. 他一点都激动不起来。

5 ebb   

vi.衰退，减退；n.处于低潮，处于衰退状态

参考例句：

• The flood and ebb tides alternates with each other.涨潮和落潮交替更迭。
• They swam till the tide began to ebb.他们一直游到开始退潮。

6 prudent   

adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的

参考例句：

• A prudent traveller never disparages his own country.聪明的旅行者从不贬低自己的国家。
• You must school yourself to be modest and prudent.你要学会谦虚谨慎。

7 beseeching   

adj.恳求似的v.恳求，乞求（某事物）( beseech的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• She clung to her father, beseeching him for consent. 她紧紧挨着父亲，恳求他答应。 来自辞典例句
• He casts a beseeching glance at his son. 他用恳求的眼光望着儿子。 来自辞典例句

8 hampered   

妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions. 恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
• So thought every harassed, hampered, respectable boy in St. Petersburg. 圣彼德堡镇的那些受折磨、受拘束的体面孩子们个个都是这么想的。

9 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

10 bonanza   

n.富矿带，幸运，带来好运的事

参考例句：

• Bargain hunters enjoyed a real bonanza today.到处买便宜货的人今天真是交了好运。
• What a bonanza for the winning ticket holders!对于手持胜券的人来说，这是多好的运气啊。

11 stolidity   

n.迟钝，感觉麻木

参考例句：

• That contrast between flashy inspiration and stolidity may now apply to the world's big central banks. 而今这种创意的灵感和反应上的迟钝的对照也适用于世界上的各大中央银行。 来自互联网

12 sitting-room   

n.（BrE）客厅，起居室

参考例句：

• The sitting-room is clean.起居室很清洁。
• Each villa has a separate sitting-room.每栋别墅都有一间独立的起居室。

13 mansion   

n.大厦，大楼；宅第

参考例句：

• The old mansion was built in 1850.这座古宅建于1850年。
• The mansion has extensive grounds.这大厦四周的庭园广阔。

14 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

15 faculties   

n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院

参考例句：

• Although he's ninety, his mental faculties remain unimpaired. 他虽年届九旬，但头脑仍然清晰。
• All your faculties have come into play in your work. 在你的工作中，你的全部才能已起到了作用。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 abashed   

adj.窘迫的，尴尬的v.使羞愧，使局促，使窘迫( abash的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He glanced at Juliet accusingly and she looked suitably abashed. 他怪罪的一瞥，朱丽叶自然显得很窘。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The girl was abashed by the laughter of her classmates. 那小姑娘因同学的哄笑而局促不安。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 unties   

松开，解开( untie的第三人称单数 )； 解除，使自由； 解决

参考例句：

• High efficiency unties the method experience that circular functions inscribes in high school mathematics, good Bonus. 高中数学中高效率解三角函数题的方法经验，好了加分。

18 untied   

松开，解开( untie的过去式和过去分词 )； 解除，使自由； 解决

参考例句：

• Once untied, we common people are able to conquer nature, too. 只要团结起来，我们老百姓也能移山倒海。
• He untied the ropes. 他解开了绳子。

19 stony   

adj.石头的，多石头的，冷酷的，无情的

参考例句：

• The ground is too dry and stony.这块地太干，而且布满了石头。
• He listened to her story with a stony expression.他带着冷漠的表情听她讲经历。

20 gratitude   

adj.感激，感谢

参考例句：

• I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
• She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。

21 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

22 rogues   

n.流氓( rogue的名词复数 )；无赖；调皮捣蛋的人；离群的野兽

参考例句：

• 'I'll show these rogues that I'm an honest woman,'said my mother. “我要让那些恶棍知道，我是个诚实的女人。” 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛
• The rogues looked at each other, but swallowed the home-thrust in silence. 那些恶棍面面相觑，但只好默默咽下这正中要害的话。 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛

23 innocence   

n.无罪；天真；无害

参考例句：

• There was a touching air of innocence about the boy.这个男孩有一种令人感动的天真神情。
• The accused man proved his innocence of the crime.被告人经证实无罪。

24 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

25 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

26 faltered   

（嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃

参考例句：

• He faltered out a few words. 他支吾地说出了几句。
• "Er - but he has such a longhead!" the man faltered. 他不好意思似的嚅嗫着：“这孩子脑袋真长。”

27 pensively   

adv.沉思地，焦虑地

参考例句：

• Garton pensively stirred the hotchpotch of his hair. 加顿沉思着搅动自己的乱发。 来自辞典例句
• "Oh, me,'said Carrie, pensively. "I wish I could live in such a place." “唉，真的，"嘉莉幽幽地说，"我真想住在那种房子里。” 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

28 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

29 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

30 benignly   

adv.仁慈地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Everyone has to benignly help people in distress. 每一个人应让该亲切地帮助有困难的人。 来自互联网
• This drug is benignly soporific. 这种药物具有良好的催眠效果。 来自互联网

31 thoroughly   

adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地

参考例句：

• The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
• The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。

32 conversant   

adj.亲近的，有交情的，熟悉的

参考例句：

• Mr.Taylor is thoroughly conversant with modern music.泰勒先生对现代音乐很精通。
• We become the most conversant stranger in the world.我们变成了世界上最熟悉的陌生人。

33 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

34 quiescent   

adj.静止的，不活动的，寂静的

参考例句：

• It is unlikely that such an extremist organization will remain quiescent for long.这种过激的组织是不太可能长期沉默的。
• Great distance in either time or space has wonderful power to lull and render quiescent the human mind.时间和空间上的远距离有一种奇妙的力量，可以使人的心灵平静。

35 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

36 strife   

n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争

参考例句：

• We do not intend to be drawn into the internal strife.我们不想卷入内乱之中。
• Money is a major cause of strife in many marriages.金钱是造成很多婚姻不和的一个主要原因。

37 intimacy   

n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行

参考例句：

• His claims to an intimacy with the President are somewhat exaggerated.他声称自己与总统关系密切，这有点言过其实。
• I wish there were a rule book for intimacy.我希望能有个关于亲密的规则。

38 lulled   

vt.使镇静，使安静（lull的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• They lulled her into a false sense of security. 他们哄骗她，使她产生一种虚假的安全感。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The movement of the train lulled me to sleep. 火车轻微的震动催我进入梦乡。 来自《简明英汉词典》

39 shudderingly   

参考例句：

• Shudderingly, she acknowledged to herself that she dared not face what lay before her. 她害怕地发抖，她承认自己不敢面对眼前的一切。 来自互联网

40 penetrate   

v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解

参考例句：

• Western ideas penetrate slowly through the East.西方观念逐渐传入东方。
• The sunshine could not penetrate where the trees were thickest.阳光不能透入树木最浓密的地方。

41 torpor   

n.迟钝；麻木；（动物的）冬眠

参考例句：

• The sick person gradually falls into a torpor.病人逐渐变得迟钝。
• He fell into a deep torpor.他一下子进入了深度麻痹状态。

42 possessed   

adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的

参考例句：

• He flew out of the room like a man possessed.他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。
• He behaved like someone possessed.他行为举止像是魔怔了。

43 qualms   

n.不安；内疚

参考例句：

• He felt no qualms about borrowing money from friends.他没有对于从朋友那里借钱感到不安。
• He has no qualms about lying.他撒谎毫不内疚。

44 complexities   

复杂性(complexity的名词复数)； 复杂的事物

参考例句：

• The complexities of life bothered him. 生活的复杂使他困惑。
• The complexities of life bothered me. 生活的杂乱事儿使我心烦。

45 recital   

n.朗诵，独奏会，独唱会

参考例句：

• She is going to give a piano recital.她即将举行钢琴独奏会。
• I had their total attention during the thirty-five minutes that my recital took.在我叙述的35分钟内，他们完全被我吸引了。

46 candid   

adj.公正的，正直的；坦率的

参考例句：

• I cannot but hope the candid reader will give some allowance for it.我只有希望公正的读者多少包涵一些。
• He is quite candid with his friends.他对朋友相当坦诚。

47 wont   

adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯

参考例句：

• He was wont to say that children are lazy.他常常说小孩子们懒惰。
• It is his wont to get up early.早起是他的习惯。

48 recurred   

再发生，复发( recur的过去式和过去分词 )； 治愈

参考例句：

• Old memories constantly recurred to him. 往事经常浮现在他的脑海里。
• She always winced when he recurred to the subject of his poems. 每逢他一提到他的诗作的时候，她总是有点畏缩。

49 eastward   

adv.向东；adj.向东的；n.东方，东部

参考例句：

• The river here tends eastward.这条河从这里向东流。
• The crowd is heading eastward,believing that they can find gold there.人群正在向东移去，他们认为在那里可以找到黄金。

50 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

51 glazed   

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

参考例句：

• eyes glazed with boredom 厌倦无神的眼睛
• His eyes glazed over at the sight of her. 看到她时，他的目光就变得呆滞。 来自《简明英汉词典》

52 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

53 unfamiliar   

adj.陌生的，不熟悉的

参考例句：

• I am unfamiliar with the place and the people here.我在这儿人地生疏。
• The man seemed unfamiliar to me.这人很面生。

54 plunging   

adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• War broke out again, plunging the people into misery and suffering. 战祸复发，生灵涂炭。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He is plunging into an abyss of despair. 他陷入了绝望的深渊。 来自《简明英汉词典》

55 lining   

n.衬里，衬料

参考例句：

• The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
• Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。

56 nomad   

n.游牧部落的人，流浪者，游牧民

参考例句：

• He was indeed a nomad of no nationality.他的确是个无国籍的游民。
• The nomad life is rough and hazardous.游牧生活艰苦又危险。

57 tumult   

n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹

参考例句：

• The tumult in the streets awakened everyone in the house.街上的喧哗吵醒了屋子里的每一个人。
• His voice disappeared under growing tumult.他的声音消失在越来越响的喧哗声中。

58 veins   

n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理

参考例句：

• The blood flows from the capillaries back into the veins. 血从毛细血管流回静脉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I felt a pleasant glow in all my veins from the wine. 喝过酒后我浑身的血都热烘烘的，感到很舒服。 来自《简明英汉词典》

59 exulted   

狂喜，欢跃( exult的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The people exulted at the victory. 人们因胜利而欢腾。
• The people all over the country exulted in the success in launching a new satellite. 全国人民为成功地发射了一颗新的人造卫星而欢欣鼓舞。