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Chapter 16
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Beatrice Ashby looked down the dining-table at her nephew Patrick and thought how well he was doing it. The occasion must be an extraordinarily1 difficult one for him, but he was carrying it off beautifully. He was neither awkward nor exuberant2. He brought to the situation the same quiet detachment that he had shown on their first meeting in that Pimlico room. It was a very adult quality, and a little surprising in a boy not yet twenty-one. He had great dignity this Patrick Ashby, she thought, watching him dealing3 with the Rector. Surely never before can anyone have been so silent by habit without appearing either stiff or stupid.

It was she who had brought Simon up, and she was pleased with the result. But this boy had brought himself up, and the result was even better, it seemed. Perhaps it was a case of “giving the first seven years” and the rest followed automatically. Or perhaps it was that the goodness in Patrick had been so innate4 that he had needed no other guidance. He had followed his own lights, and the result was this quiet, adult young man with the still face.

It was a mask of a face; a sad mask, on the whole. It was such a contrast to the similar set of features in Simon’s mobile countenance5 that they reminded one of those reversible comedy-tragedy masks that are used to decorate the title-pages of plays.

Simon was being particularly gay to-night, and Bee’s heart ached for him. He too was doing it well, and to-night she loved him almost without reservation. Simon was abdicating6, and doing it with a grace and spontaneity that she would not have believed possible. She felt a little guilty that she had underrated him. She had not credited the selfish, acquisitive Simon with such a power of renunciation.

They were choosing a name for Honey’s filly foal, and the conversation was growing ribald. Nancy was insisting that “honey” was an endearment7, and should be translated as “poppet,” and Eleanor said that no thoroughbred as good as Honey’s present foal should be damned by a name like Poppet. If Eleanor had refused to dress especially for Patrick’s arrival, she had now made up for it. It was a long time since Bee had seen her looking so well or so pretty. Eleanor belonged to a type which did not glow easily.

Brat8 is in love with Honey,” Eleanor said.

“I suppose Bee dragged you round the paddocks before you were well over the doorstep,” said Nancy. “Were you impressed, Brat?”

She too had adopted the nickname. Only the Rector called him Patrick.

“I’m in love with the whole bunch,” Brat said. “And I found an old friend.”

“Oh? Who was that?”

“Regina.”

“Oh, yes, of course. Poor old Regina. She must be about twenty!” Nancy said.

“Not so much of the ‘poor’,” said Simon. “Regina has kept us shod and clothed for a whole generation. We ought to pay her a dividend9.”

“She takes her dividends10 out in pasture,” Eleanor said. “She was always a greedy eater.”

“When you drop foals like Regina year after year without a break, you’re entitled to an appetite,” Simon said.

Simon was drinking a great deal more than usual, but it seemed to be having little effect on him. Bee thought that the Rector looked at him now and then with pity in his eyes.

And Brat, too, at the other end of the table, was watching Simon, but without pity. Pity was not an emotion that Brat indulged in very often: like everyone who despises self-pity he did not readily pity others; but it was not because of his native disinclination to pity that he withheld11 sympathy from Simon Ashby. It was not even because Simon was his declared enemy; he had admired enemies before now. It was because there was something about Simon Ashby that repelled12 him. There was something unaccountable about Simon. There he sat, being light-hearted and charming, and there sat his relations and friends silently applauding his nobility and his courage. They were applauding an “act,” but they would all be staggered to know what an act Simon was really putting on for their benefit.

Watching him as he displayed his graces, Brat felt that Simon reminded him of someone that he had met quite lately. Someone who had just that air of breeding, and excellent good manners, and good looks, and that — unaccountability. Who could that have been?

He was maddened by that tip-of-the-tongue feeling. In one more second he would remember. Loding? No. Someone on the ship coming over? Not very likely. That lawyer chap: the K.C. chap, Macdermott? No. Then who could it ——

“Don’t you think so, Patrick?”

It was the Rector again. He must be careful with the old boy. He had been more afraid of meeting George Peck than of anyone but Simon. After a twin brother there is no one who is liable to remember so much about you or to remember that much so well as the man who taught you. There would be a score of small things that George Peck would know about Patrick Ashby that not even Patrick Ashby’s mother would know. But the meeting had gone off very well. Nancy Peck had kissed him on both cheeks and said: “Oh, dear, you’ve got very grown-up and serious, haven’t you!”

“Patrick always was,” the Rector had said, and had shaken hands.

He had looked consideringly at Brat, but no more consideringly than was normal in a man examining an old pupil met after a decade of absence. And Brat, who had no love for the Cloth, found himself liking13 the Rector. He was still wary14 of him, but the wariness15 was due not to the Rector’s calling but to his knowledge of Pat Ashby, and to the intelligence and penetration16 of the eyes in his simian17 face.

Considering that intelligence, Brat was glad that he was particularly well primed in the matter of Pat Ashby’s schooling18. The Rector was Alec Loding’s brother-in-law, and Loding had had what he called a front-stall view of the Ashby twins’ education.

As for Alec Loding’s sister, she was the most beautiful woman that Brat had ever seen. He had never heard of the famous Nancy Ledingham, but her brother had been eloquent19 about her. “Could have had anyone in the world; any man would have been delighted to keep her just to look at; but she had to choose George Peck.” He had been shown Nancy in every kind of garment, from a swimming suit to her court presentation gown, but none of the photographs had done justice to her serene20 beauty, her gaiety, her general niceness. He felt that George Peck must be all right if Nancy had married him.

“Was that the Toselli child you had out with you?” she was saying to Eleanor. “That object I met you with this afternoon?”

“That was Tony,” Eleanor said.

“How he brought back the days of my youth!”

“Tony did? How?”

“You won’t remember it, but there used to be things called cavalry21 regiments22. And every regiment23 had a trick-riding team. And every trick-riding team had a “comedy” member. And every “comedy” member of a trick-riding team looked just like Tony.”

“So they did!” Bee said, delighted. “That was what he reminded me of this afternoon and I couldn’t think of it at the time. That masterly irrelevance24. The completely unrelated garments.”

“You may wonder why I took him out at all,” Eleanor remarked. “But after Sheila Parslow he’s a positive holiday. He’ll ride quite well some day, Tony.”

“To the prospective25 horseman all things are forgiven, are they?” the Rector said, mocking mildly.

“Doesn’t La Parslow get any better?” Simon asked.

“She will never get any better. She skates about in the saddle like a block of ice on a plate. I could weep for the horse all the time we are out. Luckily Cherrypicker has an indestructible frame and practically no feelings.”

The move from the dining-room to the living-room produced an anti-climax. The talk ceased to flow and ran into aimless trickles26. Brat was suddenly so tired that he could hardly stand up. He hoped that no one would spring anything on him now; his normally hard head was muzzy with unaccustomed wine, and his thoughts fumbled27 and stuck. The twins said good night and went upstairs. Bee poured the coffee which had been placed in readiness for them on a low table by the fire, and it was not as hot as it should have been. Bee made despairing grimaces28 at Nancy.

“Our Lana, is it?” Nancy asked, sympathetic.

“Yes. I suppose she had to meet our Arthur and couldn’t wait another ten minutes.”

Simon, too, fell silent, as if the effort he had been making seemed suddenly not worth while. Only Eleanor seemed to have brought from the dining-room the warmth and happiness that had made dinner a success. In the moments of silence between the slow spurts29 of talk the rain fell against the tall windows with a soft shush.

“You were right about the weather, Aunt Bee,” Eleanor said. “She said this morning that it was that too-bright kind that would bring rain before night.”

“Bee is perennially30 right,” the Rector said, giving her a look that was half a smile, half a benediction31.

“It sounds loathsome,” Bee said.

Nancy waited until they had lingered properly over their coffee and then said: “It has been a very full day for Brat, Bee; and I expect you are all tired. We won’t stay now, but you’ll come over and see us when you can crawl out from under the crush, won’t you, Brat?”

Simon fetched her wraps and they all went out to the doorstep to see their guests off. On the doorstep Nancy took off her evening shoes, tucked them under her arm, and stepped into a pair of Wellingtons that she had left behind the door. Then she tucked her other arm under her husband’s, huddled32 close to him under their single umbrella, and walked away with him into the night.

“Good old Nancy,” Simon said. “You can’t keep a Ledingham down.” He sounded just a little drunk.

“Dear Nan,” Bee said softly. She moved into the living-room and surveyed it in an absent fashion.

“I think Nan is right,” she said. “It is time we all went to bed. It has been an exciting day for all of us.”

“We don’t want it to end so soon, do we?” Eleanor said.

“You have La Parslow at nine-thirty to-morrow,” Simon reminded her. “I saw it in the book.”

“What were you doing with the riding book?”

“I like to see that you’re not cheating on your income tax.”

“Oh, yes, let’s go to bed,” Eleanor said, with a wide happy yawn. “It’s been a wonderful day.”

She turned to Brat to say good night, became suddenly shy, gave him her hand and said: “Good night then, Brat. Sleep well,” and went away upstairs.

Brat turned to Bee, but she said: “I shall come in to see you on my way up.” So he turned back to face Simon.

“Good night, Simon.” He met the clear cold eyes levelly.

“Good night to you — Patrick,” Simon said, looking faintly amused. He had managed to make the name sound like a provocation33.

“Are you coming up now?” Brat heard Bee ask him as he climbed the stairs.

“Not quite yet.”

“Will you see that the lights are out, then? And make sure of the locks?”

“Yes, of course I’ll do that. Good night, Bee darling.”

As Brat turned on to the landing he saw Bee’s arms go round Simon. And he was stabbed by a hot despairing jealousy34 that shocked him. What had it to do with him?

Bee followed him into the old night nursery in a few moments. She looked with a practised eye at the bed and said: “That moron35 promised to put in a hot-water bottle and she has forgotten to do it.”

“Don’t worry,” Brat said. “I’d only have put it out again. I don’t use the things.”

“You must think us a crowd of soft-livers,” she said.

“I think you’re a nice crowd,” he said.

She looked at him and smiled.

“Tired?”

“Yes.”

“Too tired for breakfast at eight-thirty?”

“That sounds luxuriously36 late to me.”

“Did you enjoy it, that hard life — Brat?”

“Sure.”

“I think you’re nice too,” she said, and kissed him lightly. “I wish you hadn’t stayed away from us so long, but we are glad to have you back. Good night, my dear.” And as she went out: “It’s no use ringing a bell, of course, because no one will answer. But if you have a mad desire for fried shrimps37, or iced water, or a copy of the Pilgrim’s Progress or something, come along to my room. It is still the right-hand one in front.”

“Good night,” he said.

She stood for a moment outside his room, the door-knob still in her hand, and then moved away to Eleanor’s door. She knocked and went in. For the last year or so Eleanor had been a great comfort to her. She had been so long alone in her need for judgment38 and resolution that it was refreshing39 to have the companionship of her own kind; to have Eleanor’s unemotional good sense on tap when she wanted it.

“Hullo, Bee,” Eleanor said, looking up through the hair she was brushing. She was beginning to drop the “aunt,” as Simon did.

Bee sank into a chair and said: “Well, that’s over.”

“It turned out to be quite a success, didn’t it,” Eleanor said. “Simon behaved beautifully. Poor Simon.”

“Yes. Poor Simon.”

“Perhaps Brat — Patrick — will offer him some kind of partnership40. Do you think? After all, Simon helped to make the stable. It wouldn’t be fair to walk in and grab the lot after taking no interest for years and years.”

“No. I don’t know. I hope so.”

“You sound tired.”

“Aren’t we all?”

“D’you know, Bee, I must confess I have the greatest difficulty in connecting the two.”

“The two? Simon and Patrick?”

“No. Patrick and Brat.”

There was a moment’s silence, filled with the soft sound of the rain and the strokes of Eleanor’s brush.

“You mean you — don’t think he is Patrick?”

Eleanor stopped brushing and looked up, her eyes wide with surprise. “Of course he’s Patrick,” she said, astonished. “Who else would he be?” She put down the brush and began to tie up her hair in a blue ribbon. “It’s just that I have no feeling of ever having met him before. Odd, isn’t it? When we spent nearly twelve years of our lives together. I like him; don’t you?”

“Yes,” Bee said. “I like him.” She, too, had no feeling of ever having met him before, and she too did not see “who else he could be.”

“Did Patrick not smile very often?”

“No; he was a serious child.”

“When Brat smiles I want to cry.”

“Good heavens, Eleanor.”

“You can ‘good heavens’ all you like, but I expect you know what I mean.”

Bee thought that she did.

“Did he tell you why he didn’t write to us all those years?”

“No. There wasn’t much opportunity for confidences.”

“I thought you might have asked him when you were going round the paddocks with him this evening.”

“No. He was too interested in the horses.”

“Why do you think he didn’t take any interest in us after he left?”

“Perhaps he took what old Nannie used to call a ‘scunner’ to us. It’s not so surprising, in a way, as the fact that he ran away in the first place. The urge to put Latchetts behind him must have been overwhelming.”

“Yes. I suppose so. But he was such a kind person: Pat. And so fond of us all. He mightn’t have wanted to come back, but you would have thought he’d want to let us know that he was safe.”

Since this was her own private stumbling-block, Bee had no help to offer.

“It must have been difficult to come back,” Eleanor said, running the comb through her brush. “He looked so tired to-night that he looked like a dead man. It’s not a very lively face at the best of times, is it? If you chopped it off behind the ears and hung it on a wall, no one would know the difference.”

Bee knew Eleanor well enough, and agreed with her sufficiently41, to translate this successfully.

“You don’t think he’ll want to sheer off again once the excitement of coming home has worn off?”

“Oh, no, I’m quite sure he won’t.”

“You think he is here for keeps?”

“Of course I do.”

But Brat, standing42 in the dark before the open window of his room and looking at the curve of the down in the wet starlight, was wondering about that very matter. The thing had succeeded beyond Loding’s most extravagant43 promises, and now?

Where did he go from here? How long would it be before Simon had him cold? And if Simon failed, how long could he go on living a life where at any moment someone might spring a mine?

That is what he had set out to do, of course. But somehow he had not really looked beyond the first stages. In his heart he had been unable to believe that he would succeed. Now that success was his he felt rather like someone who has climbed a pinnacle44 and can’t get down again. Elated but misgiving45.

He turned from the window and switched the lamp on. His landlady46 in Pimlico used to say that she “was so tired that she felt as if she’d been through a mangle”; he knew now how good a description that had been. That was exactly how he felt. Wrung47 out and empty. So limp that it was an effort to lift a hand to undress. He pulled off his nice new suit — the suit that had made him feel so guilty in that other life way back in London — and made himself hang it up. He peeled off his underclothes and stumbled into his faded old pyjamas48. He wondered for a moment whether they would mind if the rain came in and marked the carpet, but decided49 to risk it. So he left the window wide open and got into bed.

He lay for a long time listening to the quiet sound of the rain and looking at the room. Now was the time for Pat Ashby’s ghost to come and chill that room. He waited for the ghost but it did not come. The room was warm and welcoming. The figures on the wallpaper, the figures that those children had grown up with, looked friendly and alive. He turned his head to look at the groups by the bedside. To look for the one Eleanor had been in love with. The chap with the profile. He wondered if she was in love with anyone now.

His eyes went on to the wood of the bedstead, and he remembered that this was Alec Loding’s bed, and was pleased once more by the irony50 of it all. It was fantastically right that he should come to Latchetts only to sleep in Alec Loding’s bed. He must tell him one day. It was the kind of thing that Loding would appreciate.

He wondered whether it was Eleanor or Bee who had put the flowers in the bowl. Flowers to welcome him — home.

Latchetts, he said to himself, looking at the room. This is Latchetts. I’m here. This is Latchetts.

The sound of the word was a soporific; like the swing of a hammock. He put out his hand and switched off the light. In the dark the rain suddenly sounded louder.

This morning he had got up and dressed in that back room under the slates51, with the crowding chimney-pots beyond the window. And here he was, going to sleep in Latchetts, with the sweet cold smell of the down blowing in on the damp air from the window.

As sleep drew him under he had an odd feeling of reassurance52. A feeling that Pat Ashby didn’t mind his being there; that he was on the contrary pleased about it all.

The unlikeliness of this roused him a little, and his thoughts, running on approval and disapproval53, went to Bee. What was it that he had felt when Bee took his hand to lead him to the interview this afternoon? What was different from any other of the thousand handclasps he had experienced in his time? Why the surge of warmth under his heart, and what kind of emotion was it anyway? He had suffered the same obscure gratification when Bee had thrust her arm through his on the way to the stables. What was so remarkable54 about a woman putting her hand on your arm? A woman, moreover, that you were not in love with, and were never likely to be in love with.

It was because she was a woman, of course, but the thing that made it remarkable was something else again. It had something to do with being taken for granted by her. No one else had taken his hand in just that way. Casual but — no, not possessive. Quite a few had been possessive with him, and he had not been gratified in the least. Casual but — what? Belonging. It had something to do with belonging. The hand had taken him for granted because he belonged. It was the unthinking friendliness55 of a woman to one of her family. Was it because he had never “belonged” before, that made that commonplace gesture into a benediction?

He went on thinking of Bee as he fell asleep. Her sidelong glance when she was considering something; her courage; the way she had braced56 herself to meet him that day in the back room in Pimlico; the way she had kissed him before she was sure, just in case he was Patrick; the way she had dealt with the suspense57 of Simon’s absence when he arrived to-day.

She was a lovely woman, Beatrice Ashby, and he loved her.

He had reached the toppling-over place of sleep when he was yanked of a sudden wide awake.

He had remembered something.

He knew now who it was that Simon Ashby reminded him of.

It was Timber.


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 extraordinarily Vlwxw     
adv.格外地;极端地
参考例句:
  • She is an extraordinarily beautiful girl.她是个美丽非凡的姑娘。
  • The sea was extraordinarily calm that morning.那天清晨,大海出奇地宁静。
2 exuberant shkzB     
adj.充满活力的;(植物)繁茂的
参考例句:
  • Hothouse plants do not possess exuberant vitality.在温室里培养出来的东西,不会有强大的生命力。
  • All those mother trees in the garden are exuberant.果园里的那些母树都长得十分茂盛。
3 dealing NvjzWP     
n.经商方法,待人态度
参考例句:
  • This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
  • His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。
4 innate xbxzC     
adj.天生的,固有的,天赋的
参考例句:
  • You obviously have an innate talent for music.你显然有天生的音乐才能。
  • Correct ideas are not innate in the mind.人的正确思想不是自己头脑中固有的。
5 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。
6 abdicating d328a8e260b8d7c8a75371dadc6930e7     
放弃(职责、权力等)( abdicate的现在分词 ); 退位,逊位
参考例句:
  • It is merely claimed that this is abdicating to save itself. 他仅仅把这称之为是人的高傲为了自我救赎而退出了王座。
  • A complete hands-off approach is abdicating your business responsibility. 彻底的不闻不问意味着你对自己事业责任的放弃。
7 endearment tpmxH     
n.表示亲爱的行为
参考例句:
  • This endearment indicated the highest degree of delight in the old cooper.这个称呼是老箍桶匠快乐到了极点的表示。
  • To every endearment and attention he continued listless.对于每一种亲爱的表示和每一种的照顾,他一直漫不在意。
8 brat asPzx     
n.孩子;顽童
参考例句:
  • He's a spoilt brat.他是一个被宠坏了的调皮孩子。
  • The brat sicked his dog on the passer-by.那个顽童纵狗去咬过路人。
9 dividend Fk7zv     
n.红利,股息;回报,效益
参考例句:
  • The company was forced to pass its dividend.该公司被迫到期不分红。
  • The first quarter dividend has been increased by nearly 4 per cent.第一季度的股息增长了近 4%。
10 dividends 8d58231a4112c505163466a7fcf9d097     
红利( dividend的名词复数 ); 股息; 被除数; (足球彩票的)彩金
参考例句:
  • Nothing pays richer dividends than magnanimity. 没有什么比宽宏大量更能得到厚报。
  • Their decision five years ago to computerise the company is now paying dividends. 五年前他们作出的使公司电脑化的决定现在正产生出效益。
11 withheld f9d7381abd94e53d1fbd8a4e53915ec8     
withhold过去式及过去分词
参考例句:
  • I withheld payment until they had fulfilled the contract. 他们履行合同后,我才付款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • There was no school play because the principal withheld his consent. 由于校长没同意,学校里没有举行比赛。 来自《简明英汉词典》
12 repelled 1f6f5c5c87abe7bd26a5c5deddd88c92     
v.击退( repel的过去式和过去分词 );使厌恶;排斥;推开
参考例句:
  • They repelled the enemy. 他们击退了敌军。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The minister tremulously, but decidedly, repelled the old man's arm. 而丁梅斯代尔牧师却哆里哆嗦地断然推开了那老人的胳臂。 来自英汉文学 - 红字
13 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。
14 wary JMEzk     
adj.谨慎的,机警的,小心的
参考例句:
  • He is wary of telling secrets to others.他谨防向他人泄露秘密。
  • Paula frowned,suddenly wary.宝拉皱了皱眉头,突然警惕起来。
15 wariness Ce1zkJ     
n. 注意,小心
参考例句:
  • The British public's wariness of opera is an anomaly in Europe. 英国公众对歌剧不大轻易接受的态度在欧洲来说很反常。
  • There certainly is a history of wariness about using the R-word. 历史表明绝对应当谨慎使用“衰退”一词。
16 penetration 1M8xw     
n.穿透,穿人,渗透
参考例句:
  • He is a man of penetration.他是一个富有洞察力的人。
  • Our aim is to achieve greater market penetration.我们的目标是进一步打入市场。
17 simian 2ENyA     
adj.似猿猴的;n.类人猿,猴
参考例句:
  • Ada had a wrinkled,simian face.埃达有一张布满皱纹、长得像猿猴的脸。
  • Curiosity is the taproot of an intellectual life,the most valuable of our simian traits.好奇是高智生命的根源,也是我们类人猿特征中最有价值的部分。
18 schooling AjAzM6     
n.教育;正规学校教育
参考例句:
  • A child's access to schooling varies greatly from area to area.孩子获得学校教育的机会因地区不同而大相径庭。
  • Backward children need a special kind of schooling.天赋差的孩子需要特殊的教育。
19 eloquent ymLyN     
adj.雄辩的,口才流利的;明白显示出的
参考例句:
  • He was so eloquent that he cut down the finest orator.他能言善辩,胜过最好的演说家。
  • These ruins are an eloquent reminder of the horrors of war.这些废墟形象地提醒人们不要忘记战争的恐怖。
20 serene PD2zZ     
adj. 安详的,宁静的,平静的
参考例句:
  • He has entered the serene autumn of his life.他已进入了美好的中年时期。
  • He didn't speak much,he just smiled with that serene smile of his.他话不多,只是脸上露出他招牌式的淡定的微笑。
21 cavalry Yr3zb     
n.骑兵;轻装甲部队
参考例句:
  • We were taken in flank by a troop of cavalry. 我们翼侧受到一队骑兵的袭击。
  • The enemy cavalry rode our men down. 敌人的骑兵撞倒了我们的人。
22 regiments 874816ecea99051da3ed7fa13d5fe861     
(军队的)团( regiment的名词复数 ); 大量的人或物
参考例句:
  • The three regiments are all under the command of you. 这三个团全归你节制。
  • The town was garrisoned with two regiments. 该镇有两团士兵驻守。
23 regiment JATzZ     
n.团,多数,管理;v.组织,编成团,统制
参考例句:
  • As he hated army life,he decide to desert his regiment.因为他嫌恶军队生活,所以他决心背弃自己所在的那个团。
  • They reformed a division into a regiment.他们将一个师整编成为一个团。
24 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
25 prospective oR7xB     
adj.预期的,未来的,前瞻性的
参考例句:
  • The story should act as a warning to other prospective buyers.这篇报道应该对其他潜在的购买者起到警示作用。
  • They have all these great activities for prospective freshmen.这会举办各种各样的活动来招待未来的新人。
26 trickles 90ffecf5836b69570298d5fc11cddea9     
n.细流( trickle的名词复数 );稀稀疏疏缓慢来往的东西v.滴( trickle的第三人称单数 );淌;使)慢慢走;缓慢移动
参考例句:
  • Trickles of sweat rained down my head and neck. 我颈上头上的汗珠,更同盛雨似的,一颗一颗的钻出来了。 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说
  • Water trickles through an underground grotto. 水沿着地下岩洞流淌。 来自辞典例句
27 fumbled 78441379bedbe3ea49c53fb90c34475f     
(笨拙地)摸索或处理(某事物)( fumble的过去式和过去分词 ); 乱摸,笨拙地弄; 使落下
参考例句:
  • She fumbled in her pocket for a handkerchief. 她在她口袋里胡乱摸找手帕。
  • He fumbled about in his pockets for the ticket. 他(瞎)摸着衣兜找票。
28 grimaces 40efde7bdc7747d57d6bf2f938e10b72     
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 )
参考例句:
  • Mr. Clark winked at the rude child making grimaces. 克拉克先生假装没有看见那个野孩子做鬼脸。 来自辞典例句
  • The most ridiculous grimaces were purposely or unconsciously indulged in. 故意或者无心地扮出最滑稽可笑的鬼脸。 来自辞典例句
29 spurts 8ccddee69feee5657ab540035af5f753     
短暂而突然的活动或努力( spurt的名词复数 ); 突然奋起
参考例句:
  • Great spurts of gas shoot out of the sun. 太阳气体射出形成大爆发。
  • Spurts of warm rain blew fitfully against their faces. 阵阵温热的雨点拍打在他们脸上。
30 perennially rMUxd     
adv.经常出现地;长期地;持久地;永久地
参考例句:
  • He perennially does business abroad. 他常年在国外做生意。 来自辞典例句
  • We want to know what is perennially new about the world. 我们想知道世上什么东西永远是新的。 来自互联网
31 benediction 6Q4y0     
n.祝福;恩赐
参考例句:
  • The priest pronounced a benediction over the couple at the end of the marriage ceremony.牧师在婚礼结束时为新婚夫妇祈求上帝赐福。
  • He went abroad with his parents' benediction.他带着父母的祝福出国去了。
32 huddled 39b87f9ca342d61fe478b5034beb4139     
挤在一起(huddle的过去式与过去分词形式)
参考例句:
  • We huddled together for warmth. 我们挤在一块取暖。
  • We huddled together to keep warm. 我们挤在一起来保暖。
33 provocation QB9yV     
n.激怒,刺激,挑拨,挑衅的事物,激怒的原因
参考例句:
  • He's got a fiery temper and flares up at the slightest provocation.他是火爆性子,一点就着。
  • They did not react to this provocation.他们对这一挑衅未作反应。
34 jealousy WaRz6     
n.妒忌,嫉妒,猜忌
参考例句:
  • Some women have a disposition to jealousy.有些女人生性爱妒忌。
  • I can't support your jealousy any longer.我再也无法忍受你的嫉妒了。
35 moron IEyxN     
n.极蠢之人,低能儿
参考例句:
  • I used to think that Gordon was a moron.我曾以为戈登是个白痴。
  • He's an absolute moron!他纯粹是个傻子!
36 luxuriously 547f4ef96080582212df7e47e01d0eaf     
adv.奢侈地,豪华地
参考例句:
  • She put her nose luxuriously buried in heliotrope and tea roses. 她把自己的鼻子惬意地埋在天芥菜和庚申蔷薇花簇中。 来自辞典例句
  • To be well dressed doesn't mean to be luxuriously dressed. 穿得好不一定衣着豪华。 来自辞典例句
37 shrimps 08429aec6f0990db8c831a2a57fc760c     
n.虾,小虾( shrimp的名词复数 );矮小的人
参考例句:
  • Shrimps are a popular type of seafood. 小虾是比较普遍的一种海味。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • I'm going to have shrimps for my tea. 傍晚的便餐我要吃点虾。 来自辞典例句
38 judgment e3xxC     
n.审判;判断力,识别力,看法,意见
参考例句:
  • The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
  • He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。
39 refreshing HkozPQ     
adj.使精神振作的,使人清爽的,使人喜欢的
参考例句:
  • I find it'so refreshing to work with young people in this department.我发现和这一部门的青年一起工作令人精神振奋。
  • The water was cold and wonderfully refreshing.水很涼,特别解乏提神。
40 partnership NmfzPy     
n.合作关系,伙伴关系
参考例句:
  • The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
  • Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。
41 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。
42 standing 2hCzgo     
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
参考例句:
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
43 extravagant M7zya     
adj.奢侈的;过分的;(言行等)放肆的
参考例句:
  • They tried to please him with fulsome compliments and extravagant gifts.他们想用溢美之词和奢华的礼品来取悦他。
  • He is extravagant in behaviour.他行为放肆。
44 pinnacle A2Mzb     
n.尖塔,尖顶,山峰;(喻)顶峰
参考例句:
  • Now he is at the very pinnacle of his career.现在他正值事业中的顶峰时期。
  • It represents the pinnacle of intellectual capability.它代表了智能的顶峰。
45 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。
46 landlady t2ZxE     
n.女房东,女地主
参考例句:
  • I heard my landlady creeping stealthily up to my door.我听到我的女房东偷偷地来到我的门前。
  • The landlady came over to serve me.女店主过来接待我。
47 wrung b11606a7aab3e4f9eebce4222a9397b1     
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)
参考例句:
  • He has wrung the words from their true meaning. 他曲解这些字的真正意义。
  • He wrung my hand warmly. 他热情地紧握我的手。
48 pyjamas 5SSx4     
n.(宽大的)睡衣裤
参考例句:
  • This pyjamas has many repairs.这件睡衣有许多修补过的地方。
  • Martin was in his pyjamas.马丁穿着睡衣。
49 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。
50 irony P4WyZ     
n.反语,冷嘲;具有讽刺意味的事,嘲弄
参考例句:
  • She said to him with slight irony.她略带嘲讽地对他说。
  • In her voice we could sense a certain tinge of irony.从她的声音里我们可以感到某种讥讽的意味。
51 slates ba298a474e572b7bb22ea6b59e127028     
(旧时学生用以写字的)石板( slate的名词复数 ); 板岩; 石板瓦; 石板色
参考例句:
  • The contract specifies red tiles, not slates, for the roof. 合同规定屋顶用红瓦,并非石板瓦。
  • They roofed the house with slates. 他们用石板瓦做屋顶。
52 reassurance LTJxV     
n.使放心,使消除疑虑
参考例句:
  • He drew reassurance from the enthusiastic applause.热烈的掌声使他获得了信心。
  • Reassurance is especially critical when it comes to military activities.消除疑虑在军事活动方面尤为关键。
53 disapproval VuTx4     
n.反对,不赞成
参考例句:
  • The teacher made an outward show of disapproval.老师表面上表示不同意。
  • They shouted their disapproval.他们喊叫表示反对。
54 remarkable 8Vbx6     
adj.显著的,异常的,非凡的,值得注意的
参考例句:
  • She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
  • These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。
55 friendliness nsHz8c     
n.友谊,亲切,亲密
参考例句:
  • Behind the mask of friendliness,I know he really dislikes me.在友善的面具后面,我知道他其实并不喜欢我。
  • His manner was a blend of friendliness and respect.他的态度友善且毕恭毕敬。
56 braced 4e05e688cf12c64dbb7ab31b49f741c5     
adj.拉牢的v.支住( brace的过去式和过去分词 );撑牢;使自己站稳;振作起来
参考例句:
  • They braced up the old house with balks of timber. 他们用梁木加固旧房子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The house has a wooden frame which is braced with brick. 这幢房子是木结构的砖瓦房。 来自《简明英汉词典》
57 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。


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