It was one of the distinctions of Mr. Claud Walsingham Popple that his studio was never too much encumbered1 with the attributes of his art to permit the installing, in one of its cushioned corners, of an elaborately furnished tea-table flanked by the most varied2 seductions in sandwiches and pastry3.
Mr. Popple, like all great men, had at first had his ups and downs; but his reputation had been permanently4 established by the verdict of a wealthy patron who, returning from an excursion into other fields of portraiture5, had given it as the final fruit of his experience that Popple was the only man who could "do pearls." To sitters for whom this was of the first consequence it was another of the artist's merits that he always subordinated art to elegance6, in life as well as in his portraits. The "messy" element of production was no more visible in his expensively screened and tapestried7 studio than its results were perceptible in his painting; and it was often said, in praise of his work, that he was the only artist who kept his studio tidy enough for a lady to sit to him in a new dress.
Mr. Popple, in fact, held that the personality of the artist should at all times be dissembled behind that of the man. It was his opinion that the essence of good-breeding lay in tossing off a picture as easily as you lit a cigarette. Ralph Marvell had once said of him that when he began a portrait he always turned back his cuffs8 and said: "Ladies and gentlemen, you can see there's absolutely nothing here," and Mrs. Fairford supplemented the description by defining his painting as "chafing-dish" art. On a certain late afternoon of December, some four years after Mr. Popple's first meeting with Miss Undine Spragg of Apex9, even the symbolic10 chafing-dish was nowhere visible in his studio; the only evidence of its recent activity being the full-length portrait of Mrs. Ralph Marvell, who, from her lofty easel and her heavily garlanded frame, faced the doorway11 with the air of having been invited to "receive" for Mr. Popple.
The artist himself, becomingly clad in mouse-coloured velveteen, had just turned away from the picture to hover12 above the tea-cups; but his place had been taken by the considerably14 broader bulk of Mr. Peter Van Degen, who, tightly moulded into a coat of the latest cut, stood before the portrait in the attitude of a first arrival.
"Yes, it's good--it's damn good, Popp; you've hit the hair off ripplingly; but the pearls ain't big enough," he pronounced.
A slight laugh sounded from the raised dais behind the easel.
"Of course they're not! But it's not HIS fault, poor man; HE didn't give them to me!" As she spoke15 Mrs. Ralph Marvell rose from a monumental gilt16 arm-chair of pseudo-Venetian design and swept her long draperies to Van Degen's side.
"He might, then--for the privilege of painting you!" the latter rejoined, transferring his bulging17 stare from the counterfeit18 to the original. His eyes rested on Mrs. Marvell's in what seemed a quick exchange of understanding; then they passed on to a critical inspection20 of her person. She was dressed for the sitting in something faint and shining, above which the long curves of her neck looked dead white in the cold light of the studio; and her hair, all a shadowless rosy21 gold, was starred with a hard glitter of diamonds.
"The privilege of painting me? Mercy, _I_ have to pay for being painted! He'll tell you he's giving me the picture--but what do you suppose this cost?" She laid a finger-tip on her shimmering22 dress.
Van Degen's eye rested on her with cold enjoyment23. "Does the price come higher than the dress?"
She ignored the allusion24. "Of course what they charge for is the cut--"
"What they cut away? That's what they ought to charge for, ain't it, Popp?"
Undine took this with cool disdain25, but Mr. Popple's sensibilities were offended.
"My dear Peter--really--the artist, you understand, sees all this as a pure question of colour, of pattern; and it's a point of honour with the MAN to steel himself against the personal seduction."
Mr. Van Degen received this protest with a sound of almost vulgar derision, but Undine thrilled agreeably under the glance which her portrayer26 cast on her. She was flattered by Van Degen's notice, and thought his impertinence witty27; but she glowed inwardly at Mr. Popple's eloquence28. After more than three years of social experience she still thought he "spoke beautifully," like the hero of a novel, and she ascribed to jealousy29 the lack of seriousness with which her husband's friends regarded him. His conversation struck her as intellectual, and his eagerness to have her share his thoughts was in flattering contrast to Ralph's growing tendency to keep his to himself. Popple's homage30 seemed the, subtlest proof of what Ralph could have made of her if he had "really understood" her. It was but another step to ascribe all her past mistakes to the lack of such understanding; and the satisfaction derived31 from this thought had once impelled32 her to tell the artist that he alone knew how to rouse her 'higher self.' He had assured her that the memory of her words would thereafter hallow his life; and as he hinted that it had been stained by the darkest errors she was moved at the thought of the purifying influence she exerted.
Thus it was that a man should talk to a true woman--but how few whom she had known possessed33 the secret! Ralph, in the first months of their marriage, had been eloquent34 too, had even gone the length of quoting poetry; but he disconcerted her by his baffling twists and strange allusions35 (she always scented36 ridicule37 in the unknown), and the poets he quoted were esoteric and abstruse38. Mr. Popple's rhetoric39 was drawn40 from more familiar sources, and abounded41 in favourite phrases and in moving reminiscences of the Fifth Reader. He was moreover as literary as he was artistic42; possessing an unequalled acquaintance with contemporary fiction, and dipping even into the lighter43 type of memoirs44, in which the old acquaintances of history are served up in the disguise of "A Royal Sorceress" or "Passion in a Palace." The mastery with which Mr. Popple discussed the novel of the day, especially in relation to the sensibilities of its hero and heroine, gave Undine a sense of intellectual activity which contrasted strikingly with Marvell's flippant estimate of such works. "Passion," the artist implied, would have been the dominant45 note of his life, had it not been held in check by a sentiment of exalted46 chivalry47, and by the sense that a nature of such emotional intensity48 as his must always be "ridden on the curb49."
Van Degen was helping50 himself from the tray of iced cocktails51 which stood near the tea-table, and Popple, turning to Undine, took up the thread of his discourse52. But why, he asked, why allude53 before others to feelings so few could understand? The average man--lucky devil!--(with a compassionate54 glance at Van Degen's back) the average man knew nothing of the fierce conflict between the lower and higher natures; and even the woman whose eyes had kindled55 it--how much did SHE guess of its violence? Did she know--Popple recklessly asked--how often the artist was forgotten in the man--how often the man would take the bit between his teeth, were it not that the look in her eyes recalled some sacred memory, some lesson learned perhaps beside his mother's knee? "I say, Popp--was that where you learned to mix this drink? Because it does the old lady credit," Van Degen called out, smacking56 his lips; while the artist, dashing a nervous hand through his hair, muttered: "Hang it, Peter--is NOTHING sacred to you?"
It pleased Undine to feel herself capable of inspiring such emotions. She would have been fatigued57 by the necessity of maintaining her own talk on Popple's level, but she liked to listen to him, and especially to have others overhear what he said to her.
Her feeling for Van Degen was different. There was more similarity of tastes between them, though his manner flattered her vanity less than Popple's. She felt the strength of Van Degen's contempt for everything he did not understand or could not buy: that was the only kind of "exclusiveness" that impressed her. And he was still to her, as in her inexperienced days, the master of the mundane58 science she had once imagined that Ralph Marvell possessed. During the three years since her marriage she had learned to make distinctions unknown to her girlish categories. She had found out that she had given herself to the exclusive and the dowdy59 when the future belonged to the showy and the promiscuous60; that she was in the case of those who have cast in their lot with a fallen cause, or--to use an analogy more within her range--who have hired an opera box on the wrong night. It was all confusing and exasperating61. Apex ideals had been based on the myth of "old families" ruling New York from a throne of Revolutionary tradition, with the new millionaires paying them feudal62 allegiance. But experience had long since proved the delusiveness63 of the simile64. Mrs. Marvell's classification of the world into the visited and the unvisited was as obsolete65 as a mediaeval cosmogony. Some of those whom Washington Square left unvisited were the centre of social systems far outside its ken13, and as indifferent to its opinions as the constellations66 to the reckonings of the astronomers67; and all these systems joyously68 revolved69 about their central sun of gold.
There were moments after Undine's return to New York when she was tempted70 to class her marriage with the hateful early mistakes from the memories of which she had hoped it would free her. Since it was never her habit to accuse herself of such mistakes it was inevitable71 that she should gradually come to lay the blame on Ralph. She found a poignant72 pleasure, at this stage of her career, in the question: "What does a young girl know of life?" And the poignancy73 was deepened by the fact that each of the friends to whom she put the question seemed convinced that--had the privilege been his--he would have known how to spare her the disenchantment it implied.
The conviction of having blundered was never more present to her than when, on this particular afternoon, the guests invited by Mr. Popple to view her portrait began to assemble before it.
Some of the principal figures of Undine's group had rallied for the occasion, and almost all were in exasperating enjoyment of the privileges for which she pined. There was young Jim Driscoll, heir-apparent of the house, with his short stout74 mistrustful wife, who hated society, but went everywhere lest it might be thought she had been left out; the "beautiful Mrs. Beringer," a lovely aimless being, who kept (as Laura Fairford said) a home for stray opinions, and could never quite tell them apart; little Dicky Bowles, whom every one invited because he was understood to "say things" if one didn't; the Harvey Shallums, fresh from Paris, and dragging in their wake a bewildered nobleman vaguely75 designated as "the Count," who offered cautious conversational76 openings, like an explorer trying beads77 on savages78; and, behind these more salient types, the usual filling in of those who are seen everywhere because they have learned to catch the social eye.
Such a company was one to flatter the artist as much his sitter, so completely did it represent that unamity of opinion which constitutes social strength. Not one the number was troubled by any personal theory of art: all they asked of a portrait was that the costume should be sufficiently79 "life-like," and the face not too much so; and a long experience in idealizing flesh and realizing dress-fabrics had enabled Mr. Popple to meet both demands.
"Hang it," Peter Van Degen pronounced, standing19 before the easel in an attitude of inspired interpretation80, "the great thing in a man's portrait is to catch the likeness81--we all know that; but with a woman's it's different--a woman's picture has got to be pleasing. Who wants it about if it isn't? Those big chaps who blow about what they call realism--how do THEIR portraits look in a drawing-room? Do you suppose they ever ask themselves that? THEY don't care--they're not going to live with the things! And what do they know of drawing-rooms, anyhow? Lots of them haven't even got a dress-suit. There's where old Popp has the pull over 'em--HE knows how we live and what we want."
This was received by the artist with a deprecating murmur82, and by his public with warm expressions of approval.
"Happily in this case," Popple began ("as in that of so many of my sitters," he hastily put in), "there has been no need to idealize-nature herself has outdone the artist's dream."
Undine, radiantly challenging comparison with her portrait, glanced up at it with a smile of conscious merit, which deepened as young Jim Driscoll declared:
"By Jove, Mamie, you must be done exactly like that for the new music-room."
His wife turned a cautious eye upon the picture.
"How big is it? For our house it would have to be a good deal bigger," she objected; and Popple, fired by the thought of such a dimensional opportunity, rejoined that it would be the chance of all others to. "work in" a marble portico83 and a court-train: he had just done Mrs. Lycurgus Ambler84 in a court-train and feathers, and as THAT was for Buffalo85 of course the pictures needn't clash.
"Well, it would have to be a good deal bigger than Mrs. Ambler's," Mrs. Driscoll insisted; and on Popple's suggestion that in that case he might "work in" Driscoll, in court-dress also--("You've been presented? Well, you WILL be,--you'll HAVE to, if I do the picture--which will make a lovely memento")--Van Degen turned aside to murmur to Undine: "Pure bluff86, you know--Jim couldn't pay for a photograph. Old Driscoll's high and dry since the Ararat investigation87."
She threw him a puzzled glance, having no time, in her crowded existence, to follow the perturbations of Wall Street save as they affected88 the hospitality of Fifth Avenue.
"You mean they've lost their money? Won't they give their fancy ball, then?"
Van Degen shrugged89. "Nobody knows how it's coming out That queer chap Elmer Moffatt threatens to give old Driscoll a fancy ball--says he's going to dress him in stripes! It seems he knows too much about the Apex street-railways."
Undine paled a little. Though she had already tried on her costume for the Driscoll ball her disappointment at Van Degen's announcement was effaced90 by the mention of Moffatt's name. She had not had the curiosity to follow the reports of the "Ararat Trust Investigation," but once or twice lately, in the snatches of smoking-room talk, she had been surprised by a vague allusion to Elmer Moffatt, as to an erratic91 financial influence, half ridiculed92, yet already half redoubtable93. Was it possible that the redoubtable element had prevailed? That the time had come when Elmer Moffatt--the Elmer Moffatt of Apex!--could, even for a moment, cause consternation94 in the Driscoll camp? He had always said he "saw things big"; but no one had ever believed he was destined95 to carry them out on the same scale. Yet apparently96 in those idle Apex days, while he seemed to be "loafing and fooling," as her father called it, he had really been sharpening his weapons of aggression97; there had been something, after all, in the effect of loose-drifting power she had always felt in him. Her heart beat faster, and she longed to question Van Degen; but she was afraid of betraying herself, and turned back to the group about the picture. Mrs. Driscoll was still presenting objections in a tone of small mild obstinacy98. "Oh, it's a LIKENESS, of course--I can see that; but there's one thing I must say, Mr. Popple. It looks like a last year's dress."
The attention of the ladies instantly rallied to the picture, and the artist paled at the challenge.
"It doesn't look like a last year's face, anyhow--that's what makes them all wild," Van Degen murmured. Undine gave him back a quick smile. She had already forgotten about Moffatt. Any triumph in which she shared left a glow in her veins99, and the success of the picture obscured all other impressions. She saw herself throning in a central panel at the spring exhibition, with the crowd pushing about the picture, repeating her name; and she decided100 to stop on the way home and telephone her press-agent to do a paragraph about Popple's tea.
But in the hall, as she drew on her cloak, her thoughts reverted101 to the Driscoll fancy ball. What a blow if it were given up after she had taken so much trouble about her dress! She was to go as the Empress Josephine, after the Prudhon portrait in the Louvre. The dress was already fitted and partly embroidered102, and she foresaw the difficulty of persuading the dress-maker to take it back.
"Why so pale and sad, fair cousin? What's up?" Van Degen asked, as they emerged from the lift in which they had descended103 alone from the studio.
"I don't know--I'm tired of posing. And it was so frightfully hot."
"Yes. Popple always keeps his place at low-neck temperature, as if the portraits might catch cold." Van Degen glanced at his watch. "Where are you off to?"
"West End Avenue, of course--if I can find a cab to take me there."
It was not the least of Undine's grievances104 that she was still living in the house which represented Mr. Spragg's first real-estate venture in New York. It had been understood, at the time of her marriage, that the young couple were to be established within the sacred precincts of fashion; but on their return from the honeymoon105 the still untenanted house in West End Avenue had been placed at their disposal, and in view of Mr. Spragg's financial embarrassment106 even Undine had seen the folly107 of refusing it. That first winter, more-over, she had not regretted her exile: while she awaited her boy's birth she was glad to be out of sight of Fifth Avenue, and to take her hateful compulsory108 exercise where no familiar eye could fall on her. And the next year of course her father would give them a better house.
But the next year rents had risen in the Fifth Avenue quarter, and meanwhile little Paul Marvell, from his beautiful pink cradle, was already interfering109 with his mother's plans. Ralph, alarmed by the fresh rush of expenses, sided with his father-in-law in urging Undine to resign herself to West End Avenue; and thus after three years she was still submitting to the incessant110 pin-pricks inflicted111 by the incongruity112 between her social and geographical113 situation--the need of having to give a west side address to her tradesmen, and the deeper irritation114 of hearing her friends say: "Do let me give you a lift home, dear--Oh, I'd forgotten! I'm afraid I haven't the time to go so far--"
It was bad enough to have no motor of her own, to be avowedly115 dependent on "lifts," openly and unconcealably in quest of them, and perpetually plotting to provoke their offer (she did so hate to be seen in a cab!) but to miss them, as often as not, because of the remoteness of her destination, emphasized the hateful sense of being "out of things."
Van Degen looked out at the long snow-piled streets, down which the lamps were beginning to put their dreary116 yellow splashes.
"Of course you won't get a cab on a night like this. If you don't mind the open car, you'd better jump in with me. I'll run you out to the High Bridge and give you a breath of air before dinner."
The offer was tempting117, for Undine's triumph in the studio had left her tired and nervous--she was beginning to learn that success may be as fatiguing118 as failure. Moreover, she was going to a big dinner that evening, and the fresh air would give her the eyes and complexion119 she needed; but in the back of her mind there lingered the vague sense of a forgotten engagement. As she tried to recall it she felt Van Degen raising the fur collar about her chin.
"Got anything you can put over your head? Will that lace thing do? Come along, then." He pushed her through the swinging doors, and added with a laugh, as they reached the street: "You're not afraid of being seen with me, are you? It's all right at this hour--Ralph's still swinging on a strap120 in the elevated."
The winter twilight121 was deliriously122 cold, and as they swept through Central Park, and gathered impetus123 for their northward124 flight along the darkening Boulevard, Undine felt the rush of physical joy that drowns scruples125 and silences memory. Her scruples, indeed, were not serious; but Ralph disliked her being too much with Van Degen, and it was her way to get what she wanted with as little "fuss" as possible. Moreover, she knew it was a mistake to make herself too accessible to a man of Peter's sort: her impatience126 to enjoy was curbed127 by an instinct for holding off and biding128 her time that resembled the patient skill with which her father had conducted the sale of his "bad" real estate in the Pure Water Move days. But now and then youth had its way--she could not always resist the present pleasure. And it was amusing, too, to be "talked about" with Peter Van Degen, who was noted129 for not caring for "nice women." She enjoyed the thought of triumphing over meretricious130 charms: it ennobled her in her own eyes to influence such a man for good.
Nevertheless, as the motor flew on through the icy twilight, her present cares flew with it. She could not shake off the thought of the useless fancy dress which symbolized131 the other crowding expenses she had not dared confess to Ralph. Van Degen heard her sigh, and bent132 down, lowering the speed of the motor.
"What's the matter? Isn't everything all right?"
His tone made her suddenly feel that she could confide133 in him, and though she began by murmuring that it was nothing she did so with the conscious purpose of being persuaded to confess. And his extraordinary "niceness" seemed to justify134 her and to prove that she had been right in trusting her instinct rather than in following the counsels of prudence135. Heretofore, in their talks, she had never gone beyond the vaguest hint of material "bothers"--as to which dissimulation136 seemed vain while one lived in West End Avenue! But now that the avowal137 of a definite worry had been wrung138 from her she felt the injustice139 of the view generally taken of poor Peter. For he had been neither too enterprising nor too cautious (though people said of him that he "didn't care to part"); he had just laughed away, in bluff brotherly fashion, the gnawing140 thought of the fancy dress, had assured her he'd give a ball himself rather than miss seeing her wear it, and had added: "Oh, hang waiting for the bill--won't a couple of thou make it all right?" in a tone that showed what a small matter money was to any one who took the larger view of life.
The whole incident passed off so quickly and easily that within a few minutes she had settled down--with a nod for his "Everything jolly again now?"--to untroubled enjoyment of the hour. Peace of mind, she said to herself, was all she needed to make her happy--and that was just what Ralph had never given her! At the thought his face seemed to rise before her, with the sharp lines of care between the eyes: it was almost like a part of his "nagging141" that he should thrust himself in at such a moment! She tried to shut her eyes to the face; but a moment later it was replaced by another, a small odd likeness of itself; and with a cry of compunction she started up from her furs.
"Mercy! It's the boy's birthday--I was to take him to his grandmother's. She was to have a cake for him and Ralph was to come up town. I KNEW there was something I'd forgotten!"
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encumbered
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| v.妨碍，阻碍，拖累( encumber的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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pastry
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| n.油酥面团，酥皮糕点 | |
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permanently
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| adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地 | |
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portraiture
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| n.肖像画法 | |
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elegance
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| n.优雅；优美，雅致；精致，巧妙 | |
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tapestried
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| adj.饰挂绣帷的，织在绣帷上的v.用挂毯（或绣帷）装饰( tapestry的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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cuffs
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| n.袖口( cuff的名词复数 )v.掌打，拳打( cuff的第三人称单数 ) | |
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apex
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| n.顶点，最高点 | |
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symbolic
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| adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的 | |
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doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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hover
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| vi.翱翔，盘旋；徘徊；彷徨，犹豫 | |
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ken
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| n.视野，知识领域 | |
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considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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gilt
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| adj.镀金的；n.金边证券 | |
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bulging
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| 膨胀； 凸出（部）； 打气； 折皱 | |
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counterfeit
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| vt.伪造，仿造；adj.伪造的，假冒的 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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inspection
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| n.检查，审查，检阅 | |
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rosy
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| adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的 | |
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shimmering
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| v.闪闪发光，发微光( shimmer的现在分词 ) | |
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enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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allusion
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| n.暗示，间接提示 | |
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disdain
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| n.鄙视，轻视；v.轻视，鄙视，不屑 | |
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portrayer
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| n.肖像画家 | |
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witty
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| adj.机智的，风趣的 | |
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eloquence
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| n.雄辩；口才，修辞 | |
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jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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homage
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| n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬 | |
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derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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impelled
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| v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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eloquent
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| adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的 | |
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allusions
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| 暗指，间接提到( allusion的名词复数 ) | |
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scented
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| adj.有香味的；洒香水的；有气味的v.嗅到(scent的过去分词) | |
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ridicule
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| v.讥讽，挖苦；n.嘲弄 | |
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abstruse
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| adj.深奥的，难解的 | |
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rhetoric
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| n.修辞学，浮夸之言语 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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41
abounded
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| v.大量存在，充满，富于( abound的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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artistic
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| adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的 | |
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43
lighter
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| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
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44
memoirs
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| n.回忆录；回忆录传( mem,自oir的名词复数) | |
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45
dominant
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| adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因 | |
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46
exalted
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| adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的 | |
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47
chivalry
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| n.骑士气概，侠义；（男人）对女人彬彬有礼，献殷勤 | |
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48
intensity
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| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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49
curb
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| n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制 | |
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50
helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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51
cocktails
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| n.鸡尾酒( cocktail的名词复数 )；餐前开胃菜；混合物 | |
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52
discourse
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| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
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53
allude
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| v.提及，暗指 | |
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54
compassionate
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| adj.有同情心的，表示同情的 | |
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55
kindled
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| （使某物）燃烧，着火( kindle的过去式和过去分词 )； 激起（感情等）； 发亮，放光 | |
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56
smacking
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| 活泼的，发出响声的，精力充沛的 | |
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57
fatigued
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| adj. 疲乏的 | |
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58
mundane
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| adj.平凡的；尘世的；宇宙的 | |
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59
dowdy
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| adj.不整洁的；过旧的 | |
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60
promiscuous
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| adj.杂乱的，随便的 | |
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61
exasperating
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| adj. 激怒的 动词exasperate的现在分词形式 | |
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62
feudal
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| adj.封建的，封地的，领地的 | |
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63
delusiveness
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| 狡诈 | |
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64
simile
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| n.直喻，明喻 | |
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65
obsolete
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| adj.已废弃的，过时的 | |
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66
constellations
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| n.星座( constellation的名词复数 )；一群杰出人物；一系列（相关的想法、事物）；一群（相关的人） | |
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67
astronomers
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| n.天文学者，天文学家( astronomer的名词复数 ) | |
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68
joyously
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| ad.快乐地, 高兴地 | |
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69
revolved
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| v.（使）旋转( revolve的过去式和过去分词 )；细想 | |
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70
tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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71
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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72
poignant
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| adj.令人痛苦的，辛酸的，惨痛的 | |
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73
poignancy
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| n.辛酸事，尖锐 | |
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75
vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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76
conversational
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| adj.对话的，会话的 | |
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77
beads
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| n.（空心）小珠子( bead的名词复数 )；水珠；珠子项链 | |
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78
savages
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| 未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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79
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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80
interpretation
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| n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理 | |
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81
likeness
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| n.相像，相似（之处） | |
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82
murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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83
portico
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| n.柱廊，门廊 | |
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84
ambler
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| n.以溜步法走的马，慢慢走的人 | |
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85
buffalo
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| n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛 | |
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86
bluff
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| v.虚张声势，用假象骗人；n.虚张声势，欺骗 | |
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87
investigation
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| n.调查，调查研究 | |
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88
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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89
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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90
effaced
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| v.擦掉( efface的过去式和过去分词 )；抹去；超越；使黯然失色 | |
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91
erratic
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| adj.古怪的，反复无常的，不稳定的 | |
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92
ridiculed
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| v.嘲笑，嘲弄，奚落( ridicule的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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93
redoubtable
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| adj.可敬的；可怕的 | |
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94
consternation
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| n.大为吃惊，惊骇 | |
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95
destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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96
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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97
aggression
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| n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害 | |
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98
obstinacy
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| n.顽固；（病痛等）难治 | |
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99
veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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100
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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101
reverted
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| 恢复( revert的过去式和过去分词 )； 重提； 回到…上； 归还 | |
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102
embroidered
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| adj．绣花的 | |
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103
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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104
grievances
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| n.委屈( grievance的名词复数 )；苦衷；不满；牢骚 | |
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105
honeymoon
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| n.蜜月（假期）；vi.度蜜月 | |
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106
embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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107
folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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108
compulsory
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| n.强制的，必修的；规定的，义务的 | |
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109
interfering
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| adj. 妨碍的 动词interfere的现在分词 | |
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110
incessant
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| adj.不停的，连续的 | |
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111
inflicted
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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112
incongruity
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| n.不协调，不一致 | |
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113
geographical
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| adj.地理的；地区(性)的 | |
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114
irritation
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| n.激怒，恼怒，生气 | |
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115
avowedly
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| adv.公然地 | |
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116
dreary
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| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
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117
tempting
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| a.诱人的, 吸引人的 | |
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118
fatiguing
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| a.使人劳累的 | |
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119
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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120
strap
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| n.皮带，带子；v.用带扣住，束牢；用绷带包扎 | |
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121
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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122
deliriously
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| adv.谵妄（性）；发狂；极度兴奋/亢奋；说胡话 | |
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123
impetus
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| n.推动，促进，刺激；推动力 | |
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124
northward
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| adv.向北；n.北方的地区 | |
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125
scruples
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| n.良心上的不安( scruple的名词复数 )；顾虑，顾忌v.感到于心不安，有顾忌( scruple的第三人称单数 ) | |
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126
impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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127
curbed
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| v.限制，克制，抑制( curb的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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128
biding
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| v.等待，停留( bide的现在分词 )；居住；（过去式用bided）等待；面临 | |
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129
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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130
meretricious
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| adj.华而不实的，俗艳的 | |
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131
symbolized
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| v.象征，作为…的象征( symbolize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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132
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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133
confide
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| v.向某人吐露秘密 | |
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134
justify
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| vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护 | |
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135
prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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136
dissimulation
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| n.掩饰，虚伪，装糊涂 | |
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137
avowal
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| n.公开宣称，坦白承认 | |
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138
wrung
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| 绞( wring的过去式和过去分词 )； 握紧（尤指别人的手）； 把（湿衣服）拧干； 绞掉（水） | |
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139
injustice
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| n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利 | |
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140
gnawing
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| a.痛苦的，折磨人的 | |
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141
nagging
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| adj.唠叨的，挑剔的；使人不得安宁的v.不断地挑剔或批评（某人）( nag的现在分词 )；不断地烦扰或伤害（某人）；无休止地抱怨；不断指责 | |
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