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CHAPTER II. WHERE CAN SHE BE?
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Something had on that particular day, at that special hour occurred to disturb the customary serenity1 of Kingslough. Spite of the sun which flared3 upon the terrace, blinds were drawn4 up and heads thrust out.
 
People stood in knots upon the Glendare Parade talking eagerly together, and looking down into the sea. At the doors of the houses in Main Street servants occupied the door-steps and gaped5 vaguely6 to right and left as though expecting the coming of some strange spectacle.
 
In the middle of the horse-ways poodles, unexpectedly released from durance in stuffy7 24parlours, yelped8 at other poodles, and fought and ran or were carried away. The young ladies who attended as day-boarders that select establishment presided over by the Misses Chesterfield having been accorded a half-holiday, came walking through the town to their respective homes, thereby9 adding to the tumult10. Thundering double knocks resounded11 momentarily at the door of an insignificant-looking three-storey house on the parade, in the lower room of which a very old lady, feeble though voluble, sat wringing12 her hand, bemoaning13 her fate, and appealing in turn to each of her visitors to “do something.”
 
“They are turning the water out of Hay’s mill-pond, and all the fishermen are down on the shore, and Colonel Perris has taken his groom14 and gardener to the Black Stream, and oh! my dear friend, let us try to hope for the best,” said Mrs. Lefroy, one of the annual visitors to Kingslough, acting15 with a wonderful naturalness the part of Job’s comforter to the decrepit16, broken woman she addressed.
 
“You may be quite sure, dear Miss Riley, 25that everybody is doing their best,” added Mrs. Mynton kindly17, if ungrammatically.
 
“And whatever may have happened,” broke in the clergyman who did not reside in his parish, and never visited it save on Sunday mornings, “whatever may have happened I need not remind so thorough a Christian18 that—”
 
“How can you all be so silly as to frighten the poor old lady in this absurd manner,” said a deep stern female voice at this juncture19; “the girl will come back safe and sound, never fear. Girls do not get murdered, or drowned, or kidnapped so easily at this age of the world; she will return about dinner-time, if not before, mark my words.” And the speaker a hard-featured woman of more than middle age, who possessed20 a kindly eye as well as decided21 manners, looked round the persons assembled as she finished, as though to inquire “Who is there amongst you that shall dare contradict me?”
 
For a moment there was silence, and then uprose a confused murmur22 of many voices—amongst 26which one sounded shrill23 above the rest.
 
“If ye think ye are in England still, Mrs. Hartley—” commenced the owner of that cracked treble in a brogue which made one at least of her auditors24 shiver.
 
“Pardon me, Miss Tracey, I never indulge in day-dreams,” interposed Mrs. Hartley, rustling26 across the room in one of those stiff black silks, which were at once the envy and the condemnation27 of feminine Kingslough, “but whether people are in England or Ireland, I consider it very foolish to meet trouble half way. Particularly in this case, where I hope and believe the trouble is all imaginary.”
 
“Ah! and indeed we hope that too, every one of us,” said Mrs. Mynton, who was regarded in Kingslough as a sort of peace-making chorus.
 
“Perhaps you know where Nettie is, Mrs. Hartley,” suggested Mrs. Lefroy, who on the score of her husband’s name claimed a relationship with various distinguished28 members of 27the bar which it would have puzzled the king-at-arms to trace, and adopted in consequence a severe and judicial29 deportment amongst her acquaintances.
 
“I know no more of Miss O’Hara’s movements than you do, perhaps rather less,” replied the lady addressed, “but until I am positively30 assured some accident has happened to her, I prefer to believe that, finding she was too late for school, she took a holiday, and has walked up to the Abbey to sketch31, or gone to see some of her young friends, who may perhaps have induced her to spend the remainder of the day in forgetfulness of backboards and Cramer’s exercises.”
 
“Ah! you don’t know Nettie.”
 
“Indeed, you don’t know Nettie.”
 
“You know nothing at all about Nettie,” broke forth32 Miss Riley’s visitors, whilst Miss Riley herself, shaking her poor old head, mumbled33 out from jaws34 that were almost toothless, “Nettie would not do such a thing, not for the world.”
 
For a moment Mrs. Hartley remained silent; 28but she was a person who did not like to be beaten or to seem beaten, and accordingly, with a sudden rally of her forces, she inquired,—
 
“Had the girl any lover?”
 
Now this was in reality the question which every woman in the room had been dying to put; and yet so unquestioned was Miss Riley’s respectability of position and propriety35 of demeanour during seventy years or thereabouts of maidenhood36, that no one impressed by the Hibernian unities37 had ventured to put it. Mrs. Hartley was however a “foreigner” and audacious. “Had the girl a lover?” she asked, and at the mere38 suggestion of such a possibility, the curls in Miss Riley’s brown front began slowly to slip from their tortoiseshell moorings, whilst her wrinkled old cheeks became suffused39 with a pale pink glow, just as though she were eighteen again, young enough to be wooed, and won, and wed40.
 
“I am astonished at such an idea entering into the mind of any one who ever beheld41 my grand-niece,” she remarked, the very bows 29in her cap trembling with indignation and palsy. “Nettie is only sixteen—a mere child—”
 
(“With a very pretty face,” remarked Mrs. Hartley, inter25 alia.)
 
“Who has never, so far as I know,” went on the octogenarian, “spoken half-a-dozen words to a—a—gentleman since she was ten years old.”
 
“And pray, my dear Miss Riley, how far do you know about it,” retorted that irrepressible Englishwoman. “How can you, who never stir out of your house except for an hour in the sun, tell how many half-a-dozen words a young girl may have spoken to a young man. Have you asked that delightful42 Jane of yours if she ever suspected a love affair?”
 
“You can have in Jane, if you like,” said Miss Riley. “If anything of that sort had been going on, Mrs. Hartley, Jane was too old and faithful a servant to have kept it from me.”
 
“I wish we were all as sure Nettie has met with no accident, as we are that she has always 30behaved, and always will behave, like the good little girl we know her to be,” remarked Mrs. Mynton.
 
“It is natural though,” began Miss Tracey, “that seeing Mrs. Hartley is an Englishwoman, she—”
 
“Nonsense,” interposed the lady, thus disparagingly43 referred to. “No one can think more highly of Nettie than I; indeed if I had a fault to find with her manners, it was only that they were too sedate44 and quiet for such a young creature—such a very pretty young creature,” added Mrs. Hartley reflectively.
 
“It is very hard upon me at my time of life,” said Miss Riley with a helpless whimper, and the irrelevance45 of incipient46 dotage47.
 
“Indeed it is; indeed we all feel that, but you must hope for the best. We shall see Nettie come back yet safe and sound.” Thus the chorus, while Mrs. Hartley walked to the window and looked out upon the sea, a puzzled expression lurking48 in her brown eyes, and an almost contemptuous smile lingering about her mouth.
 
31“Can you not throw any further light on this matter, Grace,” she asked at last turning towards a young girl who sat silent in one corner of the room.
 
“I never saw Nettie after she left our gate at nine o’clock this morning,” was the reply accompanied by a vivid blush. “I wanted her to come in, but she said she was in a hurry; that she wished to get to school early, so as to speak to Miss Emily about a French exercise she did not quite understand.”
 
“And when you reached Kingslough House she had not arrived?”
 
“No, ma’am.”
 
“I believe Miss Moffat has already told us all she knows on the subject,” interposed a lady who had not hitherto entered into the conversation.
 
“I believe Miss Moffat knows more than she chooses to tell,” retorted Mrs. Hartley, with a brusqueness which caused the eyes of every person to turn towards the girl, who in a perfect agony of confusion exclaimed,—
 
32“Oh! Mrs. Hartley, I have not the remotest idea where Nettie is. I am quite positive she had not another thought in her mind when she left me, but to go straight to Kingslough House.”
 
“The first remark you made when you heard she had not reached school was, that some accident must have happened to her.”
 
“Allow me to correct you, Mrs. Hartley,” said Miss Chesterfield. “Miss Moffat’s words were, ‘something must have happened,’ meaning, as I understood, that something must have happened to prevent her attending as usual to her duties; that was what you intended to imply, my dear,” added the lady, addressing her pupil, “is it not so?”
 
“Yes, that was what I intended to say,” the girl eagerly agreed.
 
“And when the man brought in her scarf, which he saw floating on the pond, you thought she must have met with an accident?”
 
“Please, Mrs. Hartley, do not ask me any more,” pleaded the witness. “We are making Miss Riley wretched. I cannot tell what 33to think. Very likely her scarf blew off as she crossed the plank49. It was not in the least degree slippery this morning. I went that way myself. Besides the water there is not deep enough to drown any person.”
 
A long sentence for a young lady of that day to utter in public. The gift of tongues had not then been so freely vouchsafed50 to damsels under twenty, as it has in these later times. And after listening to Miss Grace’s little speech, Mrs. Hartley turned once more towards the window, and looked again over the sea.
 
With a different expression, however, to that her face had worn previously51. She looked anxious and troubled. Nettie O’Hara’s beauty was too pleasant a remembrance for this middle-aged52 lady to be able to contemplate53 without dismay, the possibility of harm having come to her. And that harm had come to her she began to fear, not in the way suggested by the Job’s comforters who surrounded Miss Riley, but in a manner which might make the dripping corpse54 and long fair hair rendered unlovely by 34clinging sand, a welcome and happy memory by comparison.
 
No visitor who entered Miss Riley’s house that day, had been so much inclined to pooh-pooh the alarm excited by the girl’s disappearance55 as that remarkably56 sensible and matter-of-fact English lady, who now stood silently looking out over the sea; but as that sweet young face, innocent and guileless, and yet not quite happy, rose up before the eyes of her memory, she felt as though she should like to go forth and assist herself in the search foolish, kindly, incompetent57, well-meaning friends and acquaintances were making for the girl.
 
While she stood there she heard vaguely as one hears the sound of running water, the stream of consolation58 and condolence flow on. They were good people all, those friends of the poor palsied lady, who with shaking head and trembling hands sat listening to their reiterated59 assurances that she need not be uneasy, there would be good news of Nettie soon; but not a competent counsellor could be reckoned 35amongst them. That at least was Mrs. Hartley’s opinion when she turned and surveyed the group, and her opinion took the form of words in this wise:—
 
“If you hear nothing of Nettie before the post goes out to-night, Miss Riley, I should advise you to write and ask your nephew, the General, to come and see you without delay. I hope and trust, however, there may be no necessity for you to write. I shall send this evening to know if your anxiety is at an end.”
 
And so saying, Mrs. Hartley took the old lady’s hand, and held it for a moment sympathizingly; then with a general curtsey and good morning to an assemblage so large as to render a more friendly leave-taking well-nigh impossible, she passed from the room, her silk dress rustling as she went.
 
“That delightful Jane,” as Mrs. Hartley called her, was in waiting to let the visitor out. She was a woman of thirty or thereabouts, ruddy complexioned60, and of a comely62 countenance63. She was arrayed in decent black. 36Some one or other of the Riley family was always dying, and her mistress liked to see Jane in black, though the mistress could not perhaps well have afforded to provide mourning for the maid.
 
Mourning was tidy and respectable, further it enabled Jane to wear out Miss Riley’s tardily64 laid aside sable65 garments; but a better dressed servant could not have been found in Kingslough than Jane M’Bride, who now stood apron66 at her eye ready to open the door for Mrs. Hartley.
 
“My good Jane,” said that lady, pausing, “what do you think of all this?”
 
“If anything has happened to Miss Nettie, it will break the mistress’s heart altogether,” answered the servant.
 
“But what can have happened?” asked Mrs. Hartley.
 
“Nothin’ plaze God,” replied Jane, with that ready invocation of the sacred name, which is an Hibernian peculiarity68, and yet apparently69 with a secret misgiving70, that her own views and those of Providence71 might on 37the special occasion in question have chanced to be at variance72.
 
“Jane,” said Mrs. Hartley, unmoved by the solemnity of the adjuration—perhaps because she was too much accustomed to hear it used—“has it occurred to you that Miss Nettie might have gone off with a—lover?”
 
“No, ma’am; oh! presarve us all, no; Miss Nettie had no lover, nor thought of one.”
 
“You are quite certain of that? I speak to you as a friend of the family.”
 
“Certain sure; it is as sure as death, Miss Nettie had no lover.”
 
“Then as sure as death, if Miss Nettie had not a lover, she will be back here before the sun sets,” and adown the parade sailed Mrs. Hartley, all her silken flags and streamers flying in the light summer breeze.
 
Before, however, she reached Glendare Terrace, came a soft voice in her ear, and a light touch on her arm.
 
“May I walk with you, Mrs. Hartley?” said the voice.
 
38“I want to confide73 in you,” said the touch.
 
“You here, Grace?” exclaimed Mrs. Hartley stopping and looking her young companion straight in the face. “Most decidedly you may walk with me, you know I am always glad of your company.”
 
And then they went on in silence. “Surely she will ask me some question,” thought Grace. “I will give my lady line enough,” decided the older woman—and the latter won.
 
“I have so wanted to speak to you, dear Mrs. Hartley,” said the girl, after they had paced along a few minutes in silence.
 
“I like to hear you speak, Grace,” was the calm reply.
 
“But about Nettie—”
 
“I understood you to say, my love, that you had told us all there was to tell.”
 
“And so I have—told all I had to tell, but surely, surely—you know—that is—I mean—dear Mrs. Hartley,” and the timid hand clasped the widow’s well-developed arm more 39tightly, “I may trust you implicitly74, may I not?”
 
There was a second’s pause, then Mrs. Hartley said,—
 
“I hope you may trust me, Grace.”
 
“I have told all I know about Nettie,” went on the girl vehemently75, “but not all I suspect. Oh! Mrs. Hartley, when I heard you advise Miss Riley to send for the General, I could have blessed you. If ever Nettie comes back, you must never tell, never, what I am saying to you now. Nettie was miserable76 and discontented, and—and wicked. She used to wish she was dead. Oh! how she used to cry at the prospect77 of being a governess for life; and it was hard, was it not, poor dear? I cannot bear to think about it. She seemed good and kind to Miss Riley, but she was not a bit grateful, really. Papa never liked Nettie. I did, and I like her still, but somehow, try her as one would, soft and sweet as she appeared, one always seemed to be getting one’s teeth on a stone. I am afraid you will think me dreadfully unkind, but I 40must talk to somebody, and, may I, please, talk to you?”
 
“Certainly, Grace, if you will make yourself intelligible,” was the reply; “but I want to understand. Not fifteen minutes since you said you were certain that when Nettie parted company with you, she had, to use your own expression, which, if you were my child, I should beg of you never to use again, ‘not another thought in her mind but to go straight to Kingslough House.’”
 
“If I talked English, like you,” retorted Grace, “everybody in Ireland would laugh at me.”
 
“Do you talk Irish, then?” asked Mrs. Hartley.
 
“You know what I mean,” was the answer, and once again Mrs. Hartley felt the soft hand clasping her arm.
 
“My love, I do know what your Irish-English means, but not in the slightest degree do I comprehend your mystery. Do you believe Nettie has committed suicide?”
 
41“Suicide!” with a shiver, “why should she?”
 
“Do you believe she is drowned?”
 
“No! oh, no!”
 
“Will she return to the Parade to-night?”
 
“I hope she may. How can I tell?”
 
At this juncture Mrs. Hartley freed her arm from Miss Moffat’s grasp.
 
“My dear child,” she said, “you had better go home to your father. He is a man of mature years, and may like to be fooled. I am a woman of mature years, and the bare suspicion of being fooled is intolerable to me—good-bye.”
 
Then Miss Moffat suddenly brought to book, exclaimed,—
 
“I have no mother, Mrs. Hartley, and my father never liked Nettie, and I liked her so—so much.”
 
“And therefore you know what has become of her—where she has gone?”—a sentence severely80 uttered as an interrogative.
 
“No! I wish I did—I wish I did.”
 
42“What do you suspect? you may be quite frank, Grace, with me.”
 
“She had a locket she wore inside her dress, a ring she put on sometimes and said belonged to her grandfather; but it was quite a new ring, and the hair in the locket was black as jet. The locket fell out of her dress one day, and she invented in her confusion two or three stories about it. If she had only told me—if she had only said one word—Nettie, Nettie,” wailed81 the girl, extinguishing with that cry the last ray of hope Mrs. Hartley’s horizon had contained.
 
“Grace,” began that lady, after a long and painful pause, “you reminded me a little time since that you have no mother. May I talk to you like one?”
 
“Dear Mrs. Hartley, yes! what have I done wrong?” and Grace’s hand stole back to its accustomed place, and for once Mrs. Hartley thought her companion’s accent more than pretty, something which might even have attracted admirers at “the West End.”
 
“Nothing, I hope; I trust you never will; 43but does your great interest in Nettie O’Hara arise from the fact that you and John Riley are likely to be much hereafter one to another?”
 
Instantly the hand was withdrawn82, and a quick flush passed over the girl’s face.
 
“John and I are nothing to each other but very good friends. He does not care enough for me, and I do not care enough for him, for things to be different. I only wish Nettie and he could have liked each other, and made a match. Perhaps in time she would have grown good enough for him.”
 
“You think John Riley a very good man, then?”
 
“Yes, too good and rare—” began the girl, when her companion interrupted her with—
 
“You little simpleton, run home, and to-night when you say your prayers, entreat83 that if you ever marry, you may have just such a good and rare (though foolish and capable of improvement) husband as John Riley. In all human probability you never will be anything 44more to each other than you are now; but still keep him as a friend, and you shall have me too, Grace, if you care for an old woman’s liking84.”
 
“Though I am not pretty like Nettie,” added the girl.
 
“You are pretty, though not like Nettie. Ah! child, when you are my age you will understand why we, for whom admiration85, if we ever had the power to attract it, is a forgotten story, are so tender to girls. Oh! I wish I had that fair-haired Nettie beside me now. How shall I sleep if no tidings come of her to-night?”
 
“Surely there will,” said Grace softly.
 
“Surely there will not,” considered Mrs. Hartley; and so the pair parted, Miss Moffat with the hope that although Nettie might have “gone off” with somebody she would repent86 by the way and turn back, Mrs. Hartley wondering who in the world that “somebody” might be with whom the young lady had chosen to elope.
 
Could it be Mr. John Riley; that same John to whom Grace Moffat had, by popular consent, 45been long assigned? Grace was young, but young people grow older in a judicious87 course of years. John likewise had not yet that head on his shoulders which is popularly supposed to bestow88 wisdom on its possessor; but he was an honest, honourable89, good-looking, sufficiently90 clever young man, and as both families approved of the suggested alliance (had done so indeed since Grace wore a coral and bells), Kingslough considered the marriage as well-nigh un fait accompli.
 
True, Grace had been known to declare “she never meant to leave her father, that she did not think much of love or lovers, of marrying or giving in marriage. Why could not girls let well alone, and when they were happy at home, stay there? She was happy; she would always remain at Bayview; she was well; she did wish people would leave her alone.” Thus Grace, whilst John, when gracefully91 rallied on the subject by acquaintances who never could be made to understand that if a man has lost his heart, he does not care to talk about the fact, was wont92 laughingly to quote the 46Scotch ballad93, and say, “‘Gracie is ower young to marry yet,’ and when she is old enough it is not likely she would throw herself away upon a poor fellow like me.”
 
For Grace had a large fortune in her own right, and expectations worthy94 of consideration, and she came of a good old family, and persons who were supposed to understand such matters declared that eventually Grace would be a very attractive woman.
 
But then that time was the paradise of girls; they held the place in masculine estimation now unhappily monopolized95 by more mature sirens, and if a girl failed in her early teens to develope beauty after the fashion of Nettie O’Hara, her chances in the matrimonial market were not considered promising96.
 
Curls, book-muslin, blue eyes, sashes to match, blushes when spoken to, no original or commonplace observations to advance when invited out to the mild dissipation of tea, and a carpet-dance; such was the raw material from which men of that generation chose wives for themselves, mothers for their children.
 
47It was the fashion of the day, and we are all aware that fashions are not immutable97.
 
Such is not the fashion now; and yet who, looking around, shall dare to say that the old curl and crook98 and shepherdess business had not, spite of its folly99, much to recommend it?
 
Men made mistakes then no doubt, but they were surely less costly100 mistakes than are made nowadays. If a husband take to wife the wrong woman—and this is an error which has not even the charm of novelty to recommend it—he had surely a better chance for happiness with natural hair, virgin101 white dresses made after simplicity’s own device, innocent blue eyes, and cheeks whose roses bloomed at a moment’s notice, than with the powders, paints, and frizettes of our own enchanting102 maidens103.
 
We are concerned now, however, with the girl of that period. According to the then standard of beauty, as by society established, Grace Moffat was not lovely. With Nettie O’Hara the case stood widely different.
 
48Had her portrait ever been painted, it might now have been exhibited as the type of that in woman which took men’s hearts captive in those old world days; golden hair hanging in thick curls almost to her waist; large blue eyes, with iris79 that dilated104 till at times it made the pupil seem nearly black; long, tender lashes105; a broad white forehead; a complexion61 pure pink, pure white; dimpled cheeks; soft tender throat; slight figure, undeveloped; brains undeveloped also; temper, perhaps, ditto.
 
A face without a line; eyes without even a passing cloud; an expression perfectly106 free from shadow; and yet Grace Moffat described her favourite companion accurately107, when in vague language she likened her to some fair tempting108 fruit, inside whereof there lurked109 a hardness, which friend, relative, and acquaintance, tried in vain to overcome. It had been the custom at Kingslough to regard Nettie as a limpid110 brook111, through the clean waters of which every pebble112, every grain of sand was to be plainly discerned. Now as Mrs. Hartley 49sat and pondered over the girl’s mysterious disappearance, she marvelled113 whether Miss Nettie’s innocent transparency might not rather have been that of a mirror; in other words, whether, while showing nothing much of her own thoughts, the young lady merely reflected back those of others.
 
She had been unhappy, yet who save Grace was cognizant of the fact? The outside world always imagined she was interested and absorbed in those studies, which were to fit her to fill a responsible position—perhaps eventually at a salary of eighty pounds a year; such things were amongst the chronicles of society—in that state of life in which strangely enough Providence had seen fit to place an O’Hara. And yet what was the truth? the position had been unendurable to her, and most probably the studies likewise.
 
“Oh!” sighed Mrs. Hartley, sinking into the depths of a comfortable easy-chair, “is truth to be found nowhere save at the bottom of a well? and has John Riley anything to do 50with Nettie’s disappearance? If I find he has, I shall renounce114 humanity.”
 
Nevertheless, how was she to retain her faith intact even in John Riley? Not for one moment did she now imagine that if Nettie were actually gone, and she believed this to be the case, she had gone alone. No relative, Mrs. Hartley well knew, would welcome this prodigal115 with tears of rejoicing—with outstretched arms of love. She had been slow to share in the alarm caused by Nettie’s disappearance, by Nettie’s saturated116 scarf; now she could not resist a gradually increasing conviction that the girl’s conduct had belied117 her face, and brought discredit118 on her family; that she had stolen away with some one who, fancying the match would not be approved of by his own relatives, possessed power enough over her affections to induce her to consent to a secret marriage.
 
A deeper depth of misfortune than a runaway119 match Mrs. Hartley had indeed for a moment contemplated120, as whilst the talk in Miss Riley’s parlour ran on, her eyes looked over 51the sun-lit sea; but seated in her own pleasant drawing-room, her reason refused to let her fears venture again to the brink121 of so terrible an abyss. No; Nettie had always been surrounded by honest and honourable men and women; women, who though they might be at times malicious122, fond of scandal, given to tattling concerning the offences of their neighbours, would yet have done their best to keep a girl from wrong, or the knowledge of wrong; men, who let their sins of omission123 and commission be in other respects what they would, had yet a high standard of morality, as morality concerned their wives, mothers, sisters, children, and female relatives generally.
 
Had Nettie been one of the royal family, fenced round by all sorts of forms and ceremonies, by state etiquette124, and the traditions of a line of kings, she could not, in Mrs. Hartley’s opinion, have breathed an atmosphere more free from taint125 of evil, than that in which she had hitherto lived and had her being.
 
It might be John Riley—incited thereto 52by love of her pretty face, and fear of opposition126 from his family—had persuaded the girl to run off with him. If this were so, the greater pity for both. He was poor and struggling; her worldly fortune consisted of those personal charms already duly chronicled, a very little learning, and a smattering of a few accomplishments127.
 
She knew as much as other young ladies of her age of that period; but after all, “La Clochette,” the “Battle of Prague,” and other such triumphs of musical execution were not serviceable articles with which to set up house.
 
She had been in training for a governess, and why, oh! why, could not John Riley have left her in peace to follow that eminently128 respectable, if somewhat monotonous129 vocation67?
 
“It must be John Riley;” that Mrs. Hartley decided with a sorrowful shake of her head. Thanks to the blindness, or folly, or design of Grace Moffat, the young man had been afforded ample opportunities of contemplating130 Nettie’s 53pink cheeks, and blue eyes, and golden curls, in the old-fashioned garden at Bayview.
 
She had counted there as nobody, no doubt, the demure131 little chit. She had been still and proper, Mrs. Hartley could well understand. At a very early period of her young life, Nettie was taught in a bitter enough school the truth, that speech is silver, but silence gold.
 
Nevertheless, young men have eyes, and John Riley was at least as likely as Mrs. Hartley to realize the fact that Nettie was a very pretty girl.
 
“And it will be misery132 for both of them,” decided the lady; “but there, what can it signify to me, who have no reason to trouble myself about the matter, to whom they are neither kith nor kin2? I shall never believe in an honest face again Mr. John Riley, nor in a blundering, stupid schoolboy manner. There, I wash my hands of the whole matter; I only wish they were both young enough to be whipped and put in the corner, couple of babies.”
 
And then as a fitting result of her sentence, 54Mrs. Hartley sent up this message to the Parade: “Mrs. Hartley’s kind love, and has Miss Riley heard any tidings of her niece?” as by a convenient fiction Miss O’Hara was called.
 
The answer which came back was, “Miss Riley’s best love to Mrs. Hartley. She is very poorly, and has sent for the General. No news of Miss Nettie.”
 
“What a shame,” thought Mrs. Hartley, “for them to keep the poor old lady in such a state of suspense133!” and she went to bed, having previously corked134 up all the vials of her wrath135, with the intention of opening them sooner or later for the benefit of John Riley.
 
Alas136! however, for the best laid schemes of humanity. Next morning, when Dodson, Mrs. Hartley’s highly respectable and eminently disagreeable maid, called her mistress, she brought with her into the room the following announcement:—
 
“It is nine o’clock’ ’m, and if you please, ’m, Mr. Riley, ’m, is in the drawing-room, ’m, and Miss O’Hara—”
 
55“What of her, woman?” demanded Mrs. Hartley, in a tone Mrs. Siddons might have envied, sitting bolt upright in bed and looking in her toilette de nuit a very different person indeed from the stately widow whose dress was the envy and whose tongue was the dread78 of all the ladies in Kingslough, whether married or single. “Don’t stand there silent, as if you were an idiot.”
 
“Miss O’Hara have gone off with Mr. Daniel Brady, ’m, if you please, ’m,” and Dodson the imperturbable137, having made this little speech, turned discreetly138 to leave the room.
 
“If she pleased, indeed!” Whether she pleased or not the deed was done and irrevocable.
 
For blue eyes, and pink cheeks, and golden hair there was in this world no hope, no pardon, no chance of social or family rehabiliment; not even when the eyes were bleared and glassy, not when the cheeks were pale and furrowed139, not when the thick, bright hair was thin and grey, might Nettie ever imagine this 56sin of her youth would be forgiven and forgotten.
 
An hour had been enough for the sowing, years would scarcely suffice for the in-gathering.
 
All this Mrs. Hartley foresaw as she laid her head again on the pillow and turned her eyes away from the sight of the bright sunbeams dancing on the sea.
 
Meantime the door had closed behind her immaculate and most unpleasant maid.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 serenity fEzzz     
n.宁静,沉着,晴朗
参考例句:
  • Her face,though sad,still evoked a feeling of serenity.她的脸色虽然悲伤,但仍使人感觉安详。
  • She escaped to the comparative serenity of the kitchen.她逃到相对安静的厨房里。
2 kin 22Zxv     
n.家族,亲属,血缘关系;adj.亲属关系的,同类的
参考例句:
  • He comes of good kin.他出身好。
  • She has gone to live with her husband's kin.她住到丈夫的亲戚家里去了。
3 Flared Flared     
adj. 端部张开的, 爆发的, 加宽的, 漏斗式的 动词flare的过去式和过去分词
参考例句:
  • The match flared and went out. 火柴闪亮了一下就熄了。
  • The fire flared up when we thought it was out. 我们以为火已经熄灭,但它突然又燃烧起来。
4 drawn MuXzIi     
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的
参考例句:
  • All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
  • Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。
5 gaped 11328bb13d82388ec2c0b2bf7af6f272     
v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的过去式和过去分词 );张开,张大
参考例句:
  • A huge chasm gaped before them. 他们面前有个巨大的裂痕。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The front door was missing. A hole gaped in the roof. 前门不翼而飞,屋顶豁开了一个洞。 来自辞典例句
6 vaguely BfuzOy     
adv.含糊地,暖昧地
参考例句:
  • He had talked vaguely of going to work abroad.他含糊其词地说了到国外工作的事。
  • He looked vaguely before him with unseeing eyes.他迷迷糊糊的望着前面,对一切都视而不见。
7 stuffy BtZw0     
adj.不透气的,闷热的
参考例句:
  • It's really hot and stuffy in here.这里实在太热太闷了。
  • It was so stuffy in the tent that we could sense the air was heavy with moisture.帐篷里很闷热,我们感到空气都是潮的。
8 yelped 66cb778134d73b13ec6957fdf1b24074     
v.发出短而尖的叫声( yelp的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He yelped in pain when the horse stepped on his foot. 马踩了他的脚痛得他喊叫起来。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • A hound yelped briefly as a whip cracked. 鞭子一响,猎狗发出一阵嗥叫。 来自《简明英汉词典》
9 thereby Sokwv     
adv.因此,从而
参考例句:
  • I have never been to that city,,ereby I don't know much about it.我从未去过那座城市,因此对它不怎么熟悉。
  • He became a British citizen,thereby gaining the right to vote.他成了英国公民,因而得到了投票权。
10 tumult LKrzm     
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。
11 resounded 063087faa0e6dc89fa87a51a1aafc1f9     
v.(指声音等)回荡于某处( resound的过去式和过去分词 );产生回响;(指某处)回荡着声音
参考例句:
  • Laughter resounded through the house. 笑声在屋里回荡。
  • The echo resounded back to us. 回声传回到我们的耳中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
12 wringing 70c74d76c2d55027ff25f12f2ab350a9     
淋湿的,湿透的
参考例句:
  • He was wringing wet after working in the field in the hot sun. 烈日下在田里干活使他汗流满面。
  • He is wringing out the water from his swimming trunks. 他正在把游泳裤中的水绞出来。
13 bemoaning 1ceaeec29eac15496a4d93c997b604c3     
v.为(某人或某事)抱怨( bemoan的现在分词 );悲悼;为…恸哭;哀叹
参考例句:
  • They sat bemoaning the fact that no one would give them a chance. 他们坐着埋怨别人不肯给他们一个机会。
  • The rest were disappointed, miserable creatures in unwarm beds, tearfully bemoaning their fate. 剩下那些不幸的人,失望的人在不温暖的被窝里悲泣自己的命运。 来自汉英文学 - 家(1-26) - 家(1-26)
14 groom 0fHxW     
vt.给(马、狗等)梳毛,照料,使...整洁
参考例句:
  • His father was a groom.他父亲曾是个马夫。
  • George was already being groomed for the top job.为承担这份高级工作,乔治已在接受专门的培训。
15 acting czRzoc     
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的
参考例句:
  • Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她,她只是假装的。
  • During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代,她的表演生涯黯然失色。
16 decrepit A9lyt     
adj.衰老的,破旧的
参考例句:
  • The film had been shot in a decrepit old police station.该影片是在一所破旧不堪的警察局里拍摄的。
  • A decrepit old man sat on a park bench.一个衰弱的老人坐在公园的长凳上。
17 kindly tpUzhQ     
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。
18 Christian KVByl     
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒
参考例句:
  • They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
  • His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。
19 juncture e3exI     
n.时刻,关键时刻,紧要关头
参考例句:
  • The project is situated at the juncture of the new and old urban districts.该项目位于新老城区交界处。
  • It is very difficult at this juncture to predict the company's future.此时很难预料公司的前景。
20 possessed xuyyQ     
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。
21 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
22 murmur EjtyD     
n.低语,低声的怨言;v.低语,低声而言
参考例句:
  • They paid the extra taxes without a murmur.他们毫无怨言地交了附加税。
  • There was a low murmur of conversation in the hall.大厅里有窃窃私语声。
23 shrill EEize     
adj.尖声的;刺耳的;v尖叫
参考例句:
  • Whistles began to shrill outside the barn.哨声开始在谷仓外面尖叫。
  • The shrill ringing of a bell broke up the card game on the cutter.刺耳的铃声打散了小汽艇的牌局。
24 auditors 7c9d6c4703cbc39f1ec2b27542bc5d1a     
n.审计员,稽核员( auditor的名词复数 );(大学课程的)旁听生
参考例句:
  • The company has been in litigation with its previous auditors for a full year. 那家公司与前任审计员已打了整整一年的官司。
  • a meeting to discuss the annual accounts and the auditors' report thereon 讨论年度报表及其审计报告的会议
25 inter C5Cxa     
v.埋葬
参考例句:
  • They interred their dear comrade in the arms.他们埋葬了他们亲爱的战友。
  • The man who died in that accident has been interred.在那次事故中死的那个人已经被埋葬了。
26 rustling c6f5c8086fbaf68296f60e8adb292798     
n. 瑟瑟声,沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的
参考例句:
  • the sound of the trees rustling in the breeze 树木在微风中发出的沙沙声
  • the soft rustling of leaves 树叶柔和的沙沙声
27 condemnation 2pSzp     
n.谴责; 定罪
参考例句:
  • There was widespread condemnation of the invasion. 那次侵略遭到了人们普遍的谴责。
  • The jury's condemnation was a shock to the suspect. 陪审团宣告有罪使嫌疑犯大为震惊。
28 distinguished wu9z3v     
adj.卓越的,杰出的,著名的
参考例句:
  • Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
  • A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。
29 judicial c3fxD     
adj.司法的,法庭的,审判的,明断的,公正的
参考例句:
  • He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
  • Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。
30 positively vPTxw     
adv.明确地,断然,坚决地;实在,确实
参考例句:
  • She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
  • The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。
31 sketch UEyyG     
n.草图;梗概;素描;v.素描;概述
参考例句:
  • My sister often goes into the country to sketch. 我姐姐常到乡间去写生。
  • I will send you a slight sketch of the house.我将给你寄去房屋的草图。
32 forth Hzdz2     
adv.向前;向外,往外
参考例句:
  • The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
  • He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。
33 mumbled 3855fd60b1f055fa928ebec8bcf3f539     
含糊地说某事,叽咕,咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He mumbled something to me which I did not quite catch. 他对我叽咕了几句话,可我没太听清楚。
  • George mumbled incoherently to himself. 乔治语无伦次地喃喃自语。
34 jaws cq9zZq     
n.口部;嘴
参考例句:
  • The antelope could not escape the crocodile's gaping jaws. 那只羚羊无法从鱷鱼张开的大口中逃脱。
  • The scored jaws of a vise help it bite the work. 台钳上有刻痕的虎钳牙帮助它紧咬住工件。
35 propriety oRjx4     
n.正当行为;正当;适当
参考例句:
  • We hesitated at the propriety of the method.我们对这种办法是否适用拿不定主意。
  • The sensitive matter was handled with great propriety.这件机密的事处理得极为适当。
36 maidenhood maidenhood     
n. 处女性, 处女时代
参考例句:
37 unities 446679b44211171b359e870c2c96ee00     
n.统一体( unity的名词复数 );(艺术等) 完整;(文学、戏剧) (情节、时间和地点的)统一性;团结一致
参考例句:
  • Aristotle's Poetics advocates the "dramatic unities'', the unities of action, place and time. 亚里士多德在《诗学》一书中提倡“戏剧的统一性”,即事件、事件发生的时间和地点的统一。 来自英汉非文学 - 文明史
  • All compounds are unities of opposites differing in nature. 化合物都是不同性质的东西的对立统一。 来自互联网
38 mere rC1xE     
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过
参考例句:
  • That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
  • It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。
39 suffused b9f804dd1e459dbbdaf393d59db041fc     
v.(指颜色、水气等)弥漫于,布满( suffuse的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • Her face was suffused with colour. 她满脸通红。
  • Her eyes were suffused with warm, excited tears. 她激动地热泪盈眶。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
40 wed MgFwc     
v.娶,嫁,与…结婚
参考例句:
  • The couple eventually wed after three year engagement.这对夫妇在订婚三年后终于结婚了。
  • The prince was very determined to wed one of the king's daughters.王子下定决心要娶国王的其中一位女儿。
41 beheld beheld     
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
参考例句:
  • His eyes had never beheld such opulence. 他从未见过这样的财富。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The soul beheld its features in the mirror of the passing moment. 灵魂在逝去的瞬间的镜子中看到了自己的模样。 来自英汉文学 - 红字
42 delightful 6xzxT     
adj.令人高兴的,使人快乐的
参考例句:
  • We had a delightful time by the seashore last Sunday.上星期天我们在海滨玩得真痛快。
  • Peter played a delightful melody on his flute.彼得用笛子吹奏了一支欢快的曲子。
43 disparagingly b42f6539a4881e0982d0f4b448940378     
adv.以贬抑的口吻,以轻视的态度
参考例句:
  • These mythological figures are described disparagingly as belonging only to a story. 这些神话人物被轻蔑地描述为“仅在传说中出现”的人物。 来自互联网
  • In his memoirs he often speaks disparagingly about the private sector. 在他的回忆录里面他经常轻蔑的谈及私营(商业)部门。 来自互联网
44 sedate dDfzH     
adj.沉着的,镇静的,安静的
参考例句:
  • After the accident,the doctor gave her some pills to sedate her.事故发生后,医生让她服了些药片使她镇静下来。
  • We spent a sedate evening at home.我们在家里过了一个恬静的夜晚。
45 irrelevance 05a49ed6c47c5122b073e2b73db64391     
n.无关紧要;不相关;不相关的事物
参考例句:
  • the irrelevance of the curriculum to children's daily life 课程与孩子们日常生活的脱节
  • A President who identifies leadership with public opinion polls dooms himself to irrelevance. 一位总统如果把他的领导和民意测验投票结果等同起来,那么他注定将成为一个可有可无的人物。 来自辞典例句
46 incipient HxFyw     
adj.起初的,发端的,初期的
参考例句:
  • The anxiety has been sharpened by the incipient mining boom.采矿业初期的蓬勃发展加剧了这种担忧。
  • What we see then is an incipient global inflation.因此,我们看到的是初期阶段的全球通胀.
47 dotage NsqxN     
n.年老体衰;年老昏聩
参考例句:
  • Even in his dotage,the Professor still sits on the committee.即便上了年纪,教授仍然是委员会的一员。
  • Sarah moved back in with her father so that she could look after him in his dotage.萨拉搬回来与父亲同住,好在他年老时照顾他。
48 lurking 332fb85b4d0f64d0e0d1ef0d34ebcbe7     
潜在
参考例句:
  • Why are you lurking around outside my house? 你在我房子外面鬼鬼祟祟的,想干什么?
  • There is a suspicious man lurking in the shadows. 有一可疑的人躲在阴暗中。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
49 plank p2CzA     
n.板条,木板,政策要点,政纲条目
参考例句:
  • The plank was set against the wall.木板靠着墙壁。
  • They intend to win the next election on the plank of developing trade.他们想以发展贸易的纲领来赢得下次选举。
50 vouchsafed 07385734e61b0ea8035f27cf697b117a     
v.给予,赐予( vouchsafe的过去式和过去分词 );允诺
参考例句:
  • He vouchsafed to me certain family secrets. 他让我知道了某些家庭秘密。
  • The significance of the event does, indeed, seem vouchsafed. 这个事件看起来确实具有重大意义。 来自辞典例句
51 previously bkzzzC     
adv.以前,先前(地)
参考例句:
  • The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
  • Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿,解释原先发生了什么。
52 middle-aged UopzSS     
adj.中年的
参考例句:
  • I noticed two middle-aged passengers.我注意到两个中年乘客。
  • The new skin balm was welcome by middle-aged women.这种新护肤香膏受到了中年妇女的欢迎。
53 contemplate PaXyl     
vt.盘算,计议;周密考虑;注视,凝视
参考例句:
  • The possibility of war is too horrifying to contemplate.战争的可能性太可怕了,真不堪细想。
  • The consequences would be too ghastly to contemplate.后果不堪设想。
54 corpse JYiz4     
n.尸体,死尸
参考例句:
  • What she saw was just an unfeeling corpse.她见到的只是一具全无感觉的尸体。
  • The corpse was preserved from decay by embalming.尸体用香料涂抹以防腐烂。
55 disappearance ouEx5     
n.消失,消散,失踪
参考例句:
  • He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
  • Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。
56 remarkably EkPzTW     
ad.不同寻常地,相当地
参考例句:
  • I thought she was remarkably restrained in the circumstances. 我认为她在那种情况下非常克制。
  • He made a remarkably swift recovery. 他康复得相当快。
57 incompetent JcUzW     
adj.无能力的,不能胜任的
参考例句:
  • He is utterly incompetent at his job.他完全不能胜任他的工作。
  • He is incompetent at working with his hands.他动手能力不行。
58 consolation WpbzC     
n.安慰,慰问
参考例句:
  • The children were a great consolation to me at that time.那时孩子们成了我的莫大安慰。
  • This news was of little consolation to us.这个消息对我们来说没有什么安慰。
59 reiterated d9580be532fe69f8451c32061126606b     
反复地说,重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • "Well, I want to know about it,'she reiterated. “嗯,我一定要知道你的休假日期,"她重复说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
  • Some twenty-two years later President Polk reiterated and elaborated upon these principles. 大约二十二年之后,波尔克总统重申这些原则并且刻意阐释一番。
60 complexioned a05d20b875525b9c62d7b3a8621ffe3e     
脸色…的
参考例句:
  • My aunt Ablewhite is a large, silent, fair-complexioned woman, with one noteworthy point in her character. 艾伯怀特表姨妈是个身材高大,生性沉默的人,为人有个突出的地方。
  • Both were fair complexioned and slenderly made; both possessed faces full of distinction and intelligence. 两人都脸色白皙,身材苗条,两人都相貌非凡、一副聪明的样子。
61 complexion IOsz4     
n.肤色;情况,局面;气质,性格
参考例句:
  • Red does not suit with her complexion.红色与她的肤色不协调。
  • Her resignation puts a different complexion on things.她一辞职局面就全变了。
62 comely GWeyX     
adj.漂亮的,合宜的
参考例句:
  • His wife is a comely young woman.他的妻子是一个美丽的少妇。
  • A nervous,comely-dressed little girl stepped out.一个紧张不安、衣着漂亮的小姑娘站了出来。
63 countenance iztxc     
n.脸色,面容;面部表情;vt.支持,赞同
参考例句:
  • At the sight of this photograph he changed his countenance.他一看见这张照片脸色就变了。
  • I made a fierce countenance as if I would eat him alive.我脸色恶狠狠地,仿佛要把他活生生地吞下去。
64 tardily b2d1a1f9ad2c51f0a420cc474b3bcff1     
adv.缓慢
参考例句:
  • Notice came so tardily that we almost missed the deadline. 通知下达的太慢了,我几乎都错过了最后期限。 来自互联网
  • He always replied rather tardily to my letters. 他对我的信总是迟迟不作答复。 来自互联网
65 sable VYRxp     
n.黑貂;adj.黑色的
参考例句:
  • Artists' brushes are sometimes made of sable.画家的画笔有的是用貂毛制的。
  • Down the sable flood they glided.他们在黑黝黝的洪水中随波逐流。
66 apron Lvzzo     
n.围裙;工作裙
参考例句:
  • We were waited on by a pretty girl in a pink apron.招待我们的是一位穿粉红色围裙的漂亮姑娘。
  • She stitched a pocket on the new apron.她在新围裙上缝上一只口袋。
67 vocation 8h6wB     
n.职业,行业
参考例句:
  • She struggled for years to find her true vocation.她多年来苦苦寻找真正适合自己的职业。
  • She felt it was her vocation to minister to the sick.她觉得照料病人是她的天职。
68 peculiarity GiWyp     
n.独特性,特色;特殊的东西;怪癖
参考例句:
  • Each country has its own peculiarity.每个国家都有自己的独特之处。
  • The peculiarity of this shop is its day and nigth service.这家商店的特点是昼夜服务。
69 apparently tMmyQ     
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎
参考例句:
  • An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽,豁然开朗。
  • He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。
70 misgiving tDbxN     
n.疑虑,担忧,害怕
参考例句:
  • She had some misgivings about what she was about to do.她对自己即将要做的事情存有一些顾虑。
  • The first words of the text filled us with misgiving.正文开头的文字让我们颇为担心。
71 providence 8tdyh     
n.深谋远虑,天道,天意;远见;节约;上帝
参考例句:
  • It is tempting Providence to go in that old boat.乘那艘旧船前往是冒大险。
  • To act as you have done is to fly in the face of Providence.照你的所作所为那样去行事,是违背上帝的意志的。
72 variance MiXwb     
n.矛盾,不同
参考例句:
  • The question of woman suffrage sets them at variance. 妇女参政的问题使他们发生争执。
  • It is unnatural for brothers to be at variance. 兄弟之间不睦是不近人情的。
73 confide WYbyd     
v.向某人吐露秘密
参考例句:
  • I would never readily confide in anybody.我从不轻易向人吐露秘密。
  • He is going to confide the secrets of his heart to us.他将向我们吐露他心里的秘密。
74 implicitly 7146d52069563dd0fc9ea894b05c6fef     
adv. 含蓄地, 暗中地, 毫不保留地
参考例句:
  • Many verbs and many words of other kinds are implicitly causal. 许多动词和许多其他类词都蕴涵着因果关系。
  • I can trust Mr. Somerville implicitly, I suppose? 我想,我可以毫无保留地信任萨莫维尔先生吧?
75 vehemently vehemently     
adv. 热烈地
参考例句:
  • He argued with his wife so vehemently that he talked himself hoarse. 他和妻子争论得很激烈,以致讲话的声音都嘶哑了。
  • Both women vehemently deny the charges against them. 两名妇女都激烈地否认了对她们的指控。
76 miserable g18yk     
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。
77 prospect P01zn     
n.前景,前途;景色,视野
参考例句:
  • This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
  • The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。
78 dread Ekpz8     
vt.担忧,忧虑;惧怕,不敢;n.担忧,畏惧
参考例句:
  • We all dread to think what will happen if the company closes.我们都不敢去想一旦公司关门我们该怎么办。
  • Her heart was relieved of its blankest dread.她极度恐惧的心理消除了。
79 iris Ekly8     
n.虹膜,彩虹
参考例句:
  • The opening of the iris is called the pupil.虹膜的开口处叫做瞳孔。
  • This incredible human eye,complete with retina and iris,can be found in the Maldives.又是在马尔代夫,有这样一只难以置信的眼睛,连视网膜和虹膜都刻画齐全了。
80 severely SiCzmk     
adv.严格地;严厉地;非常恶劣地
参考例句:
  • He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
  • He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。
81 wailed e27902fd534535a9f82ffa06a5b6937a     
v.哭叫,哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • She wailed over her father's remains. 她对着父亲的遗体嚎啕大哭。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • The women of the town wailed over the war victims. 城里的妇女为战争的死难者们痛哭。 来自辞典例句
82 withdrawn eeczDJ     
vt.收回;使退出;vi.撤退,退出
参考例句:
  • Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
  • All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。
83 entreat soexj     
v.恳求,恳请
参考例句:
  • Charles Darnay felt it hopeless entreat him further,and his pride was touched besides.查尔斯-达尔内感到再恳求他已是枉然,自尊心也受到了伤害。
  • I entreat you to contribute generously to the building fund.我恳求您慷慨捐助建设基金。
84 liking mpXzQ5     
n.爱好;嗜好;喜欢
参考例句:
  • The word palate also means taste or liking.Palate这个词也有“口味”或“嗜好”的意思。
  • I must admit I have no liking for exaggeration.我必须承认我不喜欢夸大其词。
85 admiration afpyA     
n.钦佩,赞美,羡慕
参考例句:
  • He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
  • We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。
86 repent 1CIyT     
v.悔悟,悔改,忏悔,后悔
参考例句:
  • He has nothing to repent of.他没有什么要懊悔的。
  • Remission of sins is promised to those who repent.悔罪者可得到赦免。
87 judicious V3LxE     
adj.明智的,明断的,能作出明智决定的
参考例句:
  • We should listen to the judicious opinion of that old man.我们应该听取那位老人明智的意见。
  • A judicious parent encourages his children to make their own decisions.贤明的父亲鼓励儿女自作抉择。
88 bestow 9t3zo     
v.把…赠与,把…授予;花费
参考例句:
  • He wished to bestow great honors upon the hero.他希望将那些伟大的荣誉授予这位英雄。
  • What great inspiration wiII you bestow on me?你有什么伟大的灵感能馈赠给我?
89 honourable honourable     
adj.可敬的;荣誉的,光荣的
参考例句:
  • I don't think I am worthy of such an honourable title.这样的光荣称号,我可担当不起。
  • I hope to find an honourable way of settling difficulties.我希望设法找到一个体面的办法以摆脱困境。
90 sufficiently 0htzMB     
adv.足够地,充分地
参考例句:
  • It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
  • The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。
91 gracefully KfYxd     
ad.大大方方地;优美地
参考例句:
  • She sank gracefully down onto a cushion at his feet. 她优雅地坐到他脚旁的垫子上。
  • The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line. 新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。
92 wont peXzFP     
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。
93 ballad zWozz     
n.歌谣,民谣,流行爱情歌曲
参考例句:
  • This poem has the distinctive flavour of a ballad.这首诗有民歌风味。
  • This is a romantic ballad that is pure corn.这是一首极为伤感的浪漫小曲。
94 worthy vftwB     
adj.(of)值得的,配得上的;有价值的
参考例句:
  • I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
  • There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。
95 monopolized 4bb724103eadd6536b882e4d6ba0c3f6     
v.垄断( monopolize的过去式和过去分词 );独占;专卖;专营
参考例句:
  • Men traditionally monopolized jobs in the printing industry. 在传统上,男人包揽了印刷行业中的所有工作。
  • The oil combine monopolized the fuel sales of the country. 这家石油联合企业垄断了这个国家的原油销售。 来自互联网
96 promising BkQzsk     
adj.有希望的,有前途的
参考例句:
  • The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
  • We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。
97 immutable ma9x3     
adj.不可改变的,永恒的
参考例句:
  • Nothing in the world is immutable.世界没有一成不变的东西。
  • They free our minds from considering our world as fixed and immutable.它们改变着人们将世界看作是永恒不变的观点。
98 crook NnuyV     
v.使弯曲;n.小偷,骗子,贼;弯曲(处)
参考例句:
  • He demanded an apology from me for calling him a crook.我骂他骗子,他要我向他认错。
  • She was cradling a small parcel in the crook of her elbow.她用手臂挎着一个小包裹。
99 folly QgOzL     
n.愚笨,愚蠢,蠢事,蠢行,傻话
参考例句:
  • Learn wisdom by the folly of others.从别人的愚蠢行动中学到智慧。
  • Events proved the folly of such calculations.事情的进展证明了这种估计是愚蠢的。
100 costly 7zXxh     
adj.昂贵的,价值高的,豪华的
参考例句:
  • It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
  • This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用,左不过贵了些。
101 virgin phPwj     
n.处女,未婚女子;adj.未经使用的;未经开发的
参考例句:
  • Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗?
  • There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。
102 enchanting MmCyP     
a.讨人喜欢的
参考例句:
  • His smile, at once enchanting and melancholy, is just his father's. 他那种既迷人又有些忧郁的微笑,活脱儿象他父亲。
  • Its interior was an enchanting place that both lured and frightened me. 它的里头是个吸引人的地方,我又向往又害怕。
103 maidens 85662561d697ae675e1f32743af22a69     
处女( maiden的名词复数 ); 少女; 未婚女子; (板球运动)未得分的一轮投球
参考例句:
  • stories of knights and fair maidens 关于骑士和美女的故事
  • Transplantation is not always successful in the matter of flowers or maidens. 花儿移栽往往并不成功,少女们换了环境也是如此。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
104 dilated 1f1ba799c1de4fc8b7c6c2167ba67407     
adj.加宽的,扩大的v.(使某物)扩大,膨胀,张大( dilate的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • Her eyes dilated with fear. 她吓得瞪大了眼睛。
  • The cat dilated its eyes. 猫瞪大了双眼。 来自《简明英汉词典》
105 lashes e2e13f8d3a7c0021226bb2f94d6a15ec     
n.鞭挞( lash的名词复数 );鞭子;突然猛烈的一击;急速挥动v.鞭打( lash的第三人称单数 );煽动;紧系;怒斥
参考例句:
  • Mother always lashes out food for the children's party. 孩子们聚会时,母亲总是给他们许多吃的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Never walk behind a horse in case it lashes out. 绝对不要跟在马后面,以防它突然猛踢。 来自《简明英汉词典》
106 perfectly 8Mzxb     
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
  • Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。
107 accurately oJHyf     
adv.准确地,精确地
参考例句:
  • It is hard to hit the ball accurately.准确地击中球很难。
  • Now scientists can forecast the weather accurately.现在科学家们能准确地预报天气。
108 tempting wgAzd4     
a.诱人的, 吸引人的
参考例句:
  • It is tempting to idealize the past. 人都爱把过去的日子说得那么美好。
  • It was a tempting offer. 这是个诱人的提议。
109 lurked 99c07b25739e85120035a70192a2ec98     
vi.潜伏,埋伏(lurk的过去式与过去分词形式)
参考例句:
  • The murderers lurked behind the trees. 谋杀者埋伏在树后。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Treachery lurked behind his smooth manners. 他圆滑姿态的后面潜伏着奸计。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
110 limpid 43FyK     
adj.清澈的,透明的
参考例句:
  • He has a pair of limpid blue eyes.他有一双清澈的蓝眼睛。
  • The sky was a limpid blue,as if swept clean of everything.碧空如洗。
111 brook PSIyg     
n.小河,溪;v.忍受,容让
参考例句:
  • In our room we could hear the murmur of a distant brook.在我们房间能听到远处小溪汩汩的流水声。
  • The brook trickled through the valley.小溪涓涓流过峡谷。
112 pebble c3Rzo     
n.卵石,小圆石
参考例句:
  • The bird mistook the pebble for egg and tried to hatch it.这只鸟错把卵石当蛋,想去孵它。
  • The pebble made a ripple on the surface of the lake.石子在湖面上激起一个涟漪。
113 marvelled 11581b63f48d58076e19f7de58613f45     
v.惊奇,对…感到惊奇( marvel的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • I marvelled that he suddenly left college. 我对他突然离开大学感到惊奇。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • I marvelled at your boldness. 我对你的大胆感到惊奇。 来自《简明英汉词典》
114 renounce 8BNzi     
v.放弃;拒绝承认,宣布与…断绝关系
参考例句:
  • She decided to renounce the world and enter a convent.她决定弃绝尘世去当修女。
  • It was painful for him to renounce his son.宣布与儿子脱离关系对他来说是很痛苦的。
115 prodigal qtsym     
adj.浪费的,挥霍的,放荡的
参考例句:
  • He has been prodigal of the money left by his parents.他已挥霍掉他父母留下的钱。
  • The country has been prodigal of its forests.这个国家的森林正受过度的采伐。
116 saturated qjEzG3     
a.饱和的,充满的
参考例句:
  • The continuous rain had saturated the soil. 连绵不断的雨把土地淋了个透。
  • a saturated solution of sodium chloride 氯化钠饱和溶液
117 belied 18aef4d6637b7968f93a3bc35d884c1c     
v.掩饰( belie的过去式和过去分词 );证明(或显示)…为虚假;辜负;就…扯谎
参考例句:
  • His bluff exterior belied a connoisseur of antiques. 他作风粗放,令人看不出他是古董鉴赏家。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Her smile belied her true feelings. 她的微笑掩饰了她的真实感情。 来自《简明英汉词典》
118 discredit fu3xX     
vt.使不可置信;n.丧失信义;不信,怀疑
参考例句:
  • Their behaviour has bought discredit on English football.他们的行为败坏了英国足球运动的声誉。
  • They no longer try to discredit the technology itself.他们不再试图怀疑这种技术本身。
119 runaway jD4y5     
n.逃走的人,逃亡,亡命者;adj.逃亡的,逃走的
参考例句:
  • The police have not found the runaway to date.警察迄今没抓到逃犯。
  • He was praised for bringing up the runaway horse.他勒住了脱缰之马受到了表扬。
120 contemplated d22c67116b8d5696b30f6705862b0688     
adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式
参考例句:
  • The doctor contemplated the difficult operation he had to perform. 医生仔细地考虑他所要做的棘手的手术。
  • The government has contemplated reforming the entire tax system. 政府打算改革整个税收体制。
121 brink OWazM     
n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘,边沿
参考例句:
  • The tree grew on the brink of the cliff.那棵树生长在峭壁的边缘。
  • The two countries were poised on the brink of war.这两个国家处于交战的边缘。
122 malicious e8UzX     
adj.有恶意的,心怀恶意的
参考例句:
  • You ought to kick back at such malicious slander. 你应当反击这种恶毒的污蔑。
  • Their talk was slightly malicious.他们的谈话有点儿心怀不轨。
123 omission mjcyS     
n.省略,删节;遗漏或省略的事物,冗长
参考例句:
  • The omission of the girls was unfair.把女孩排除在外是不公平的。
  • The omission of this chapter from the third edition was a gross oversight.第三版漏印这一章是个大疏忽。
124 etiquette Xiyz0     
n.礼仪,礼节;规矩
参考例句:
  • The rules of etiquette are not so strict nowadays.如今的礼仪规则已不那么严格了。
  • According to etiquette,you should stand up to meet a guest.按照礼节你应该站起来接待客人。
125 taint MIdzu     
n.污点;感染;腐坏;v.使感染;污染
参考例句:
  • Everything possible should be done to free them from the economic taint.应尽可能把他们从经济的腐蚀中解脱出来。
  • Moral taint has spread among young people.道德的败坏在年轻人之间蔓延。
126 opposition eIUxU     
n.反对,敌对
参考例句:
  • The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
  • The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。
127 accomplishments 1c15077db46e4d6425b6f78720939d54     
n.造诣;完成( accomplishment的名词复数 );技能;成绩;成就
参考例句:
  • It was one of the President's greatest accomplishments. 那是总统最伟大的成就之一。
  • Among her accomplishments were sewing,cooking,playing the piano and dancing. 她的才能包括缝纫、烹调、弹钢琴和跳舞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
128 eminently c442c1e3a4b0ad4160feece6feb0aabf     
adv.突出地;显著地;不寻常地
参考例句:
  • She seems eminently suitable for the job. 她看来非常适合这个工作。
  • It was an eminently respectable boarding school. 这是所非常好的寄宿学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》
129 monotonous FwQyJ     
adj.单调的,一成不变的,使人厌倦的
参考例句:
  • She thought life in the small town was monotonous.她觉得小镇上的生活单调而乏味。
  • His articles are fixed in form and monotonous in content.他的文章千篇一律,一个调调儿。
130 contemplating bde65bd99b6b8a706c0f139c0720db21     
深思,细想,仔细考虑( contemplate的现在分词 ); 注视,凝视; 考虑接受(发生某事的可能性); 深思熟虑,沉思,苦思冥想
参考例句:
  • You're too young to be contemplating retirement. 你考虑退休还太年轻。
  • She stood contemplating the painting. 她站在那儿凝视那幅图画。
131 demure 3mNzb     
adj.严肃的;端庄的
参考例句:
  • She's very demure and sweet.她非常娴静可爱。
  • The luscious Miss Wharton gave me a demure but knowing smile.性感迷人的沃顿小姐对我羞涩地会心一笑。
132 misery G10yi     
n.痛苦,苦恼,苦难;悲惨的境遇,贫苦
参考例句:
  • Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
  • He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。
133 suspense 9rJw3     
n.(对可能发生的事)紧张感,担心,挂虑
参考例句:
  • The suspense was unbearable.这样提心吊胆的状况实在叫人受不了。
  • The director used ingenious devices to keep the audience in suspense.导演用巧妙手法引起观众的悬念。
134 corked 5b3254ed89f9ef75591adeb6077299c0     
adj.带木塞气味的,塞着瓶塞的v.用瓶塞塞住( cork的过去式 )
参考例句:
  • Our army completely surrounded and corked up the enemy stronghold. 我军把敌人的堡垒完全包围并封锁起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He kept his emotions corked up inside him. 他把感情深藏于内心。 来自《简明英汉词典》
135 wrath nVNzv     
n.愤怒,愤慨,暴怒
参考例句:
  • His silence marked his wrath. 他的沉默表明了他的愤怒。
  • The wrath of the people is now aroused. 人们被激怒了。
136 alas Rx8z1     
int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等)
参考例句:
  • Alas!The window is broken!哎呀!窗子破了!
  • Alas,the truth is less romantic.然而,真理很少带有浪漫色彩。
137 imperturbable dcQzG     
adj.镇静的
参考例句:
  • Thomas,of course,was cool and aloof and imperturbable.当然,托马斯沉着、冷漠,不易激动。
  • Edward was a model of good temper and his equanimity imperturbable.爱德华是个典型的好性子,他总是沉着镇定。
138 discreetly nuwz8C     
ad.(言行)审慎地,慎重地
参考例句:
  • He had only known the perennial widow, the discreetly expensive Frenchwoman. 他只知道她是个永远那么年轻的寡妇,一个很会讲排场的法国女人。
  • Sensing that Lilian wanted to be alone with Celia, Andrew discreetly disappeared. 安德鲁觉得莉莲想同西莉亚单独谈些什么,有意避开了。
139 furrowed furrowed     
v.犁田,开沟( furrow的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • Overhead hung a summer sky furrowed with the rash of rockets. 头顶上的夏日夜空纵横着急疾而过的焰火。 来自辞典例句
  • The car furrowed the loose sand as it crossed the desert. 车子横过沙漠,在松软的沙土上犁出了一道车辙。 来自辞典例句


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