Down the avenue there came to them, with the opening of thedoor, the voice of Owen's motor. It was the signal whichhad interrupted their first talk, and again, instinctively,they drew apart at the sound. Without a word Darrow turnedback into the room, while Sophy Viner went down the stepsand walked back alone toward the court.
At luncheon1 the presence of the surgeon, and the non-appearance of Madame de Chantelle--who had excused herselfon the plea of a headache--combined to shift theconversational centre of gravity; and Darrow, under shelterof the necessarily impersonal2 talk, had time to adjust hisdisguise and to perceive that the others were engaged in thesame re-arrangement. It was the first time that he had seenyoung Leath and Sophy Viner together since he had learned oftheir engagement; but neither revealed more emotion thanbefitted the occasion. It was evident that Owen was deeplyunder the girl's charm, and that at the least sign from herhis bliss3 would have broken bounds; but her reticence4 wasjustified by the tacitly recognized fact of Madame deChantelle's disapproval5. This also visibly weighed onAnna's mind, making her manner to Sophy, if no less kind,yet a trifle more constrained6 than if the moment of finalunderstanding had been reached. So Darrow interpreted thetension perceptible under the fluent exchange ofcommonplaces in which he was diligently7 sharing. But he wasmore and more aware of his inability to test the moralatmosphere about him: he was like a man in fever testinganother's temperature by the touch.
After luncheon Anna, who was to motor the surgeon home,suggested to Darrow that he should accompany them. Effie wasalso of the party; and Darrow inferred that Anna wished togive her step-son a chance to be alone with his betrothed8.
On the way back, after the surgeon had been left at hisdoor, the little girl sat between her mother and Darrow, andher presence kept their talk from taking a personal turn.
Darrow knew that Mrs. Leath had not yet told Effie of therelation in which he was to stand to her. The prematuredivulging of Owen's plans had thrown their own into thebackground, and by common consent they continued, in thelittle girl's presence, on terms of an informalfriendliness.
The sky had cleared after luncheon, and to prolong theirexcursion they returned by way of the ivy-mantled ruin whichwas to have been the scene of the projected picnic. Thiscircuit brought them back to the park gates not long beforesunset, and as Anna wished to stop at the lodge9 for news ofthe injured child Darrow left her there with Effie andwalked on alone to the house. He had the impression thatshe was slightly surprised at his not waiting for her; buthis inner restlessness vented10 itself in an intense desirefor bodily movement. He would have liked to walk himselfinto a state of torpor11; to tramp on for hours through themoist winds and the healing darkness and come backstaggering with fatigue12 and sleep. But he had no pretextfor such a flight, and he feared that, at such a moment, hisprolonged absence might seem singular to Anna.
As he approached the house, the thought of her nearnessproduced a swift reaction of mood. It was as if an intenservision of her had scattered13 his perplexities like morningmists. At this moment, wherever she was, he knew he wassafely shut away in her thoughts, and the knowledge madeevery other fact dwindle14 away to a shadow. He and she lovedeach other, and their love arched over them open and ampleas the day: in all its sunlit spaces there was no cranny fora fear to lurk15. In a few minutes he would be in her presenceand would read his reassurance16 in her eyes. And presently,before dinner, she would contrive17 that they should have anhour by themselves in her sitting-room18, and he would sit bythe hearth19 and watch her quiet movements, and the way thebluish lustre20 on her hair purpled a little as she bent21 abovethe fire.
A carriage drove out of the court as he entered it, and inthe hall his vision was dispelled22 by the exceedinglysubstantial presence of a lady in a waterproof23 and a tweedhat, who stood firmly planted in the centre of a pile ofluggage, as to which she was giving involved but luciddirections to the footman who had just admitted her. Shewent on with these directions regardless of Darrow'sentrance, merely fixing her small pale eyes on him while sheproceeded, in a deep contralto voice, and a fluent Frenchpronounced with the purest Boston accent, to specify24 thedestination of her bags; and this enabled Darrow to give herback a gaze protracted25 enough to take in all the details ofher plain thick-set person, from the square sallow facebeneath bands of grey hair to the blunt boot-toes protrudingunder her wide walking skirt.
She submitted to this scrutiny26 with no more evidence ofsurprise than a monument examined by a tourist; but when thefate of her luggage had been settled she turned suddenly toDarrow and, dropping her eyes from his face to his feet,asked in trenchant27 accents: "What sort of boots have you goton?"Before he could summon his wits to the consideration of thisquestion she continued in a tone of suppressed indignation:
"Until Americans get used to the fact that France is underwater for half the year they're perpetually risking theirlives by not being properly protected. I suppose you'vebeen tramping through all this nasty clammy mud as if you'dbeen taking a stroll on Boston Common."Darrow, with a laugh, affirmed his previous experience ofFrench dampness, and the degree to which he was on his guardagainst it; but the lady, with a contemptuous snort,rejoined: "You young men are all alike----"; to which sheappended, after another hard look at him: "I suppose you'reGeorge Darrow? I used to know one of your mother's cousins,who married a Tunstall of Mount Vernon Street. My name isAdelaide Painter. Have you been in Boston lately? No? I'msorry for that. I hear there have been several new housesbuilt at the lower end of Commonwealth28 Avenue and I hopedyou could tell me about them. I haven't been there forthirty years myself."Miss Painter's arrival at Givre produced the same effect asthe wind's hauling around to the north after days of languidweather. When Darrow joined the group about the tea-tableshe had already given a tingle30 to the air. Madame deChantelle still remained invisible above stairs; but Darrowhad the impression that even through her drawn31 curtains andbolted doors a stimulating32 whiff must have entered.
Anna was in her usual seat behind the tea-tray, and SophyViner presently led in her pupil. Owen was also there,seated, as usual, a little apart from the others, andfollowing Miss Painter's massive movements and equallysubstantial utterances33 with a smile of secret intelligencewhich gave Darrow the idea of his having been in clandestineparley with the enemy. Darrow further took note that thegirl and her suitor perceptibly avoided each other; but thismight be a natural result of the tension Miss Painter hadbeen summoned to relieve.
Sophy Viner would evidently permit no recognition of thesituation save that which it lay with Madame de Chantelle toaccord; but meanwhile Miss Painter had proclaimed her tacitsense of it by summoning the girl to a seat at her side.
Darrow, as he continued to observe the newcomer, who wasperched on her arm-chair like a granite34 image on the edge ofa cliff, was aware that, in a more detached frame of mind,he would have found an extreme interest in studying andclassifying Miss Painter. It was not that she said anythingremarkable, or betrayed any of those unspoken perceptionswhich give significance to the most commonplace utterances.
She talked of the lateness of her train, of an impendingcrisis in international politics, of the difficulty ofbuying English tea in Paris and of the enormities of whichFrench servants were capable; and her views on thesesubjects were enunciated36 with a uniformity of emphasisimplying complete unconsciousness of any difference in theirinterest and importance. She always applied37 to the Frenchrace the distant epithet38 of "those people", but she betrayedan intimate acquaintance with many of its members, and anencyclopaedic knowledge of the domestic habits, financialdifficulties and private complications of various persons ofsocial importance. Yet, as she evidently felt noincongruity in her attitude, so she revealed no desire toparade her familiarity with the fashionable, or indeed anysense of it as a fact to be paraded. It was evident thatthe titled ladies whom she spoke35 of as Mimi or Simone orOdette were as much "those people" to her as the bonnewho tampered41 with her tea and steamed the stamps off herletters ("when, by a miracle, I don't put them in the boxmyself.") Her whole attitude was of a vast grim toleranceof things-as-they-came, as though she had been somewonderful automatic machine which recorded facts but had notyet been perfected to the point of sorting or labellingthem.
All this, as Darrow was aware, still fell short ofaccounting for the influence she obviously exerted on thepersons in contact with her. It brought a slight relief tohis state of tension to go on wondering, while he watchedand listened, just where the mystery lurked42. Perhaps, afterall, it was in the fact of her blank insensibility, aninsensibility so devoid43 of egotism that it had no hardnessand no grimaces44, but rather the freshness of a simplermental state. After living, as he had, as they all had, forthe last few days, in an atmosphere perpetually tremulouswith echoes and implications, it was restful and fortifyingmerely to walk into the big blank area of Miss Painter'smind, so vacuous45 for all its accumulated items, so echolessfor all its vacuity46.
His hope of a word with Anna before dinner was dispelled byher rising to take Miss Painter up to Madame de Chantelle;and he wandered away to his own room, leaving Owen and MissViner engaged in working out a picture-puzzle for Effie.
Madame de Chantelle--possibly as the result of her friend'sministrations--was able to appear at the dinner-table,rather pale and pink-nosed, and casting tenderly reproachfulglances at her grandson, who faced them with imperviousserenity; and the situation was relieved by the fact thatMiss Viner, as usual, had remained in the school-room withher pupil.
Darrow conjectured48 that the real clash of arms would nottake place till the morrow; and wishing to leave the fieldopen to the contestants49 he set out early on a solitary50 walk.
It was nearly luncheon-time when he returned from it andcame upon Anna just emerging from the house. She had on herhat and jacket and was apparently51 coming forth29 to seek him,for she said at once: "Madame de Chantelle wants you to goup to her.""To go up to her? Now?""That's the message she sent. She appears to rely on you todo something." She added with a smile: "Whatever it is,let's have it over!"Darrow, through his rising sense of apprehension52, wonderedwhy, instead of merely going for a walk, he had not jumpedinto the first train and got out of the way till Owen'saffairs were finally settled.
"But what in the name of goodness can I do?" he protested,following Anna back into the hall.
"I don't know. But Owen seems so to rely on you, too----""Owen! Is HE to be there?""No. But you know I told him he could count on you.""But I've said to your mother-in-law all I could.""Well, then you can only repeat it."This did not seem to Darrow to simplify his case as much asshe appeared to think; and once more he had a movement ofrecoil. "There's no possible reason for my being mixed upin this affair!"Anna gave him a reproachful glance. "Not the fact thatI am?" she reminded him; but even this only stiffened53 hisresistance.
"Why should you be, either--to this extent?"The question made her pause. She glanced about the hall, asif to be sure they had it to themselves; and then, in alowered voice: "I don't know," she suddenly confessed; "but,somehow, if THEY'RE not happy I feel as if we shouldn'tbe.""Oh, well--" Darrow acquiesced54, in the tone of the man whoperforce yields to so lovely an unreasonableness55. Escapewas, after all, impossible, and he could only resign himselfto being led to Madame de Chantelle's door.
Within, among the bric-a-brac and furbelows, he found MissPainter seated in a redundant56 purple armchair with theincongruous air of a horseman bestriding a heavy mount.
Madame de Chantelle sat opposite, still a little wan47 anddisordered under her elaborate hair, and clasping thehandkerchief whose visibility symbolized57 her distress58. Onthe young man's entrance she sighed out a plaintive59 welcome,to which she immediately appended: "Mr. Darrow, I can't helpfeeling that at heart you're with me!"The directness of the challenge made it easier for Darrow toprotest, and he reiterated60 his inability to give an opinionon either side.
"But Anna declares you have--on hers!"He could not restrain a smile at this faint flaw in animpartiality so scrupulous61. Every evidence of feminineinconsequence in Anna seemed to attest62 her deeper subjectionto the most inconsequent of passions. He had certainlypromised her his help--but before he knew what he waspromising.
He met Madame de Chantelle's appeal by replying: "If therewere anything I could possibly say I should want it to be inMiss Viner's favour.""You'd want it to be--yes! But could you make it so?""As far as facts go, I don't see how I can make it eitherfor or against her. I've already said that I know nothingof her except that she's charming.""As if that weren't enough--weren't all there OUGHT tobe!" Miss Painter put in impatiently. She seemed to addressherself to Darrow, though her small eyes were fixed63 on herfriend.
"Madame de Chantelle seems to imagine," she pursued, "that ayoung American girl ought to have a dossier--a police-record, or whatever you call it: what those awful women inthe streets have here. In our country it's enough to knowthat a young girl's pure and lovely: people don'timmediately ask her to show her bank-account and hervisiting-list."Madame de Chantelle looked plaintively64 at her sturdymonitress. "You don't expect me not to ask if she's got afamily?""No; nor to think the worse of her if she hasn't. The factthat she's an orphan65 ought, with your ideas, to be a merit.
You won't have to invite her father and mother to Givre!""Adelaide--Adelaide!" the mistress of Givre lamented66.
"Lucretia Mary," the other returned--and Darrow spared aninstant's amusement to the quaint39 incongruity40 of the name--"you know you sent for Mr. Darrow to refute me; and how canhe, till he knows what I think?""You think it's perfectly67 simple to let Owen marry a girl weknow nothing about?""No; but I don't think it's perfectly simple to preventhim."The shrewdness of the answer increased Darrow's interest inMiss Painter. She had not hitherto struck him as being aperson of much penetration68, but he now felt sure that hergimlet gaze might bore to the heart of any practicalproblem.
Madame de Chantelle sighed out her recognition of thedifficulty.
"I haven't a word to say against Miss Viner; but she'sknocked about so, as it's called, that she must have beenmixed up with some rather dreadful people. If only Owencould be made to see that--if one could get at a few facts,I mean. She says, for instance, that she has a sister; butit seems she doesn't even know her address!""If she does, she may not want to give it to you. I daresaythe sister's one of the dreadful people. I've no doubt thatwith a little time you could rake up dozens of them: haveher 'traced', as they call it in detective stories. I don'tthink you'd frighten Owen, but you might: it's naturalenough he should have been corrupted69 by those foreign ideas.
You might even manage to part him from the girl; but youcouldn't keep him from being in love with her. I saw thatwhen I looked them over last evening. I said to myself:
'It's a real old-fashioned American case, as sweet and soundas home-made bread.' Well, if you take his loaf away fromhim, what are you going to feed him with instead? Which ofyour nasty Paris poisons do you think he'll turn to?
Supposing you succeed in keeping him out of a really badmess--and, knowing the young man as I do, I rather thinkthat, at this crisis, the only way to do it would be tomarry him slap off to somebody else--well, then, who, may Iask, would you pick out? One of your sweet Frenchingenues, I suppose? With as much mind as a minnow and asmuch snap as a soft-boiled egg. You might hustle70 him intothat kind of marriage; I daresay you could--but if I knowOwen, the natural thing would happen before the first babywas weaned.""I don't know why you insinuate71 such odious72 things againstOwen!""Do you think it would be odious of him to return to hisreal love when he'd been forcibly parted from her? At anyrate, it's what your French friends do, every one of them!
Only they don't generally have the grace to go back to anold love; and I believe, upon my word, Owen would!"Madame de Chantelle looked at her with a mixture of awe73 andexultation. "Of course you realize, Adelaide, that insuggesting this you're insinuating74 the most shocking thingsagainst Miss Viner?""When I say that if you part two young things who are dyingto be happy in the lawful75 way it's ten to one they'll cometogether in an unlawful one? I'm insinuating shocking thingsagainst YOU, Lucretia Mary, in suggesting for a momentthat you'll care to assume such a responsibility before yourMaker. And you wouldn't, if you talked things straight outwith him, instead of merely sending him messages through amiserable sinner like yourself!"Darrow expected this assault on her adopted creed76 to provokein Madame de Chantelle an explosion of pious77 indignation;but to his surprise she merely murmured: "I don't know whatMr. Darrow'll think of you!""Mr. Darrow probably knows his Bible as well as I do," MissPainter calmly rejoined; adding a moment later, without theleast perceptible change of voice or expression: "I supposeyou've heard that Gisele de Folembray's husband accuses herof being mixed up with the Duc d'Arcachon in that businessof trying to sell a lot of imitation pearls to Mrs. HomerPond, the Chicago woman the Duke's engaged to? It seems thejeweller says Gisele brought Mrs. Pond there, and gottwenty-five per cent--which of course she passed on tod'Arcachon. The poor old Duchess is in a fearful state--soafraid her son'll lose Mrs. Pond! When I think that Giseleis old Bradford Wagstaff's grand-daughter, I'm thankful he'ssafe in Mount Auburn!"
1 luncheon | |
n.午宴,午餐,便宴 | |
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2 impersonal | |
adj.无个人感情的,与个人无关的,非人称的 | |
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3 bliss | |
n.狂喜,福佑,天赐的福 | |
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4 reticence | |
n.沉默,含蓄 | |
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5 disapproval | |
n.反对,不赞成 | |
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6 constrained | |
adj.束缚的,节制的 | |
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7 diligently | |
ad.industriously;carefully | |
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8 betrothed | |
n. 已订婚者 动词betroth的过去式和过去分词 | |
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9 lodge | |
v.临时住宿,寄宿,寄存,容纳;n.传达室,小旅馆 | |
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10 vented | |
表达,发泄(感情,尤指愤怒)( vent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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11 torpor | |
n.迟钝;麻木;(动物的)冬眠 | |
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12 fatigue | |
n.疲劳,劳累 | |
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13 scattered | |
adj.分散的,稀疏的;散步的;疏疏落落的 | |
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14 dwindle | |
v.逐渐变小(或减少) | |
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15 lurk | |
n.潜伏,潜行;v.潜藏,潜伏,埋伏 | |
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16 reassurance | |
n.使放心,使消除疑虑 | |
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17 contrive | |
vt.谋划,策划;设法做到;设计,想出 | |
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18 sitting-room | |
n.(BrE)客厅,起居室 | |
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19 hearth | |
n.壁炉炉床,壁炉地面 | |
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20 lustre | |
n.光亮,光泽;荣誉 | |
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21 bent | |
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的 | |
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22 dispelled | |
v.驱散,赶跑( dispel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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23 waterproof | |
n.防水材料;adj.防水的;v.使...能防水 | |
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24 specify | |
vt.指定,详细说明 | |
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25 protracted | |
adj.拖延的;延长的v.拖延“protract”的过去式和过去分词 | |
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26 scrutiny | |
n.详细检查,仔细观察 | |
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27 trenchant | |
adj.尖刻的,清晰的 | |
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28 commonwealth | |
n.共和国,联邦,共同体 | |
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29 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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30 tingle | |
vi.感到刺痛,感到激动;n.刺痛,激动 | |
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31 drawn | |
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的 | |
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32 stimulating | |
adj.有启发性的,能激发人思考的 | |
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33 utterances | |
n.发声( utterance的名词复数 );说话方式;语调;言论 | |
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34 granite | |
adj.花岗岩,花岗石 | |
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35 spoke | |
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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36 enunciated | |
v.(清晰地)发音( enunciate的过去式和过去分词 );确切地说明 | |
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37 applied | |
adj.应用的;v.应用,适用 | |
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38 epithet | |
n.(用于褒贬人物等的)表述形容词,修饰语 | |
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39 quaint | |
adj.古雅的,离奇有趣的,奇怪的 | |
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40 incongruity | |
n.不协调,不一致 | |
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41 tampered | |
v.窜改( tamper的过去式 );篡改;(用不正当手段)影响;瞎摆弄 | |
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42 lurked | |
vi.潜伏,埋伏(lurk的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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43 devoid | |
adj.全无的,缺乏的 | |
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44 grimaces | |
n.(表蔑视、厌恶等)面部扭曲,鬼脸( grimace的名词复数 )v.扮鬼相,做鬼脸( grimace的第三人称单数 ) | |
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45 vacuous | |
adj.空的,漫散的,无聊的,愚蠢的 | |
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46 vacuity | |
n.(想象力等)贫乏,无聊,空白 | |
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47 wan | |
(wide area network)广域网 | |
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48 conjectured | |
推测,猜测,猜想( conjecture的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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49 contestants | |
n.竞争者,参赛者( contestant的名词复数 ) | |
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50 solitary | |
adj.孤独的,独立的,荒凉的;n.隐士 | |
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51 apparently | |
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎 | |
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52 apprehension | |
n.理解,领悟;逮捕,拘捕;忧虑 | |
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53 stiffened | |
加强的 | |
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54 acquiesced | |
v.默认,默许( acquiesce的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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55 unreasonableness | |
无理性; 横逆 | |
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56 redundant | |
adj.多余的,过剩的;(食物)丰富的;被解雇的 | |
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57 symbolized | |
v.象征,作为…的象征( symbolize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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58 distress | |
n.苦恼,痛苦,不舒适;不幸;vt.使悲痛 | |
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59 plaintive | |
adj.可怜的,伤心的 | |
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60 reiterated | |
反复地说,重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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61 scrupulous | |
adj.审慎的,小心翼翼的,完全的,纯粹的 | |
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62 attest | |
vt.证明,证实;表明 | |
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63 fixed | |
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的 | |
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64 plaintively | |
adv.悲哀地,哀怨地 | |
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65 orphan | |
n.孤儿;adj.无父母的 | |
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66 lamented | |
adj.被哀悼的,令人遗憾的v.(为…)哀悼,痛哭,悲伤( lament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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67 perfectly | |
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地 | |
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68 penetration | |
n.穿透,穿人,渗透 | |
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69 corrupted | |
(使)败坏( corrupt的过去式和过去分词 ); (使)腐化; 引起(计算机文件等的)错误; 破坏 | |
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70 hustle | |
v.推搡;竭力兜售或获取;催促;n.奔忙(碌) | |
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71 insinuate | |
vt.含沙射影地说,暗示 | |
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72 odious | |
adj.可憎的,讨厌的 | |
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73 awe | |
n.敬畏,惊惧;vt.使敬畏,使惊惧 | |
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74 insinuating | |
adj.曲意巴结的,暗示的v.暗示( insinuate的现在分词 );巧妙或迂回地潜入;(使)缓慢进入;慢慢伸入 | |
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75 lawful | |
adj.法律许可的,守法的,合法的 | |
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76 creed | |
n.信条;信念,纲领 | |
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77 pious | |
adj.虔诚的;道貌岸然的 | |
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