EVERY precaution being taken with regard to Lavinia and her clothes, for warding1 off infection to Eugenia, if as yet she had escaped it; Mrs. Tyrold fixed2 a day for fetching her little daughter from Cleves. Sir Hugh, at the earnest entreaty3 of Camilla, invited the young party to come again early that morning, that some amends4 might be made them for their recent disappointment of the ball and supper, by a holiday, and a little sport, previous to the arrival of Mrs. Tyrold; to whom he voluntarily pledged his word, that Eugenia should not again be taken abroad, nor suffered to appear before any strangers.
Various gambols5 were now again enacted6 by the once more happy group; but all was conducted with as much security as gaiety, till Lionel proposed the amusement of riding upon a plank7 in the park.
A plank was immediately procured9 by the gardener, and placed upon the trunk of an old oak, where it parted into two thick branches.
The boys and the three eldest10 girls balanced one another in turn, with great delight and dexterity11; but Sir Hugh feared committing the little Eugenia, for whom he was grown very anxious, amongst them, till the repinings of the child demolished12 his prudence13. The difficulty how to indulge her with safety was, nevertheless, considerable: and, after various experiments, he resolved to trust her to nobody but himself; and, placing her upon his lap, occupied one end of the plank, and desired that as many of the rest as were necessary to make the weight equal, would seat themselves upon the other.
This diversion was short, but its consequences were long. Edgar Mandlebert, who superintended the balance, poised14 it with great exactness; yet no sooner was Sir Hugh elevated, than, becoming exceedingly giddy, he involuntarily loosened his hold of Eugenia, who fell from his arms to the ground.
In the agitation15 of his fright, he stooped forward to save her, but lost his equilibrium16; and, instead of rescuing, followed her.
The greatest confusion ensued; Edgar, with admirable adroitness17, preserved the elder girls from suffering by the accident; and Lionel took care of himself by leaping instantly from the plank: Sir Hugh, extremely bruised18, could not get up without pain; but all concern and attention soon centred in the little Eugenia, whose incessant19 cries raised apprehensions20 of some more than common mischief21.
She was carried to the house in the arms of Edgar, and delivered to the governess. She screamed the whole time she was undressing; and Edgar, convinced she had received some injury, galloped22 off, unbid, for a surgeon: but what was the horror of Sir Hugh, upon hearing him pronounce, that her left shoulder was put out, and that one of her knees was dislocated!
In an agony of remorse23, he shut himself up in his room, without power to issue a command, or listen to a question: nor could he be prevailed upon to open his door, till the arrival of Mrs. Tyrold.
Hastily then rushing out, he hurried to meet her; and, snatching both her hands, and pressing them between his own, he burst into a passionate24 flood of tears, and sobbed25 out: ‘Hate me, my dear sister, for you can’t help it! for I am sorry to tell it you, but I believe I have been the death of poor Eugenia, that never hurt a fly in her life!’
Pale, and struck with dread26, yet always possessing her presence of mind, Mrs. Tyrold disengaged herself, and demanded where she might find her? Sir Hugh could make no rational answer; but Edgar, who had run down stairs, purposing to communicate the tidings more gently, briefly27 stated the misfortune, and conducted her to the poor little sufferer.
Mrs. Tyrold, though nearly overpowered by a sight so affecting, still preserved her faculties28 for better uses than lamentation29. She held the child in her arms while the necessary operations were performing by the surgeon; she put her to bed, and watched by her side the whole night; during which, in defiance30 of all precautions, a high fever came on, and she grew worse every moment.
The next morning, while still in this alarming state, the unfortunate little innocent exhibited undoubted symptoms of the small pox.
Mr. Tyrold now also established himself at Cleves, to share the parental31 task of nursing the afflicted32 child, whose room he never left, except to give consolation33 to his unhappy brother, who lived wholly in his own apartment, refusing the sight even of Camilla, and calling himself a monster too wicked to look at any thing that was good; though the affectionate little girl, pining at the exclusion35, continually presented herself at his door.
The disease bore every prognostic of fatal consequences, and the fond parents soon lost all hope, though they redoubled every attention.
Sir Hugh then gave himself up wholly to despair: he darkened his room, refused all food but bread and water, permitted no one to approach him, and reviled36 himself invariably with the contrition37 of a wilful38 murderer.
In this state of self-punishment he persevered39, till the distemper unexpectedly took a sudden and happy turn, and the surgeon made known, that his patient might possibly recover.
The joy of Sir Hugh was now as frantic40 as his grief had been the moment before: he hastened to his drawing-room, commanded that the whole house should be illuminated41; promised a year’s wages to all his servants; bid his house-keeper distribute beef and broth34 throughout the village; and sent directions that the bells of the three nearest parish churches should be rung for a day and a night. But when Mr. Tyrold, to avert42 the horror of any wholly unprepared disappointment, represented the still precarious43 state of Eugenia, and the many changes yet to be feared; he desperately44 reversed all his orders, returned sadly to his dark room, and protested he would never more rejoice, till Mrs. Tyrold herself should come to him with good news.
This anxiously waited ?|ra at length arrived; Eugenia, though seamed and even scarred by the horrible disorder45, was declared out of danger; and Mrs. Tyrold, burying her anguish46 at the alteration47, in her joy for the safety of her child, with an heart overflowing48 from pious49 gratitude50, became the messenger of peace; and, holding out her hand to Sir Hugh, assured him the little Eugenia would soon be well.
Sir Hugh, in an ecstasy51 which no power could check, forgot every pain and infirmity to hurry up to the apartment of the little girl, that he might kneel, he said, at her feet, and there give thanks for her recovery: but the moment he entered the room, and saw the dreadful havoc52 grim disease had made on her face; not a trace of her beauty left, no resemblance by which he could have known her; he shrunk back, wrung53 his hands, called himself the most sinful of all created beings, and in the deepest despondence, sunk into a chair and wept aloud.
Eugenia soon began to cry also, though unconscious for what cause; and Mrs. Tyrold remonstrated54 to Sir Hugh upon the uselessness of such transports, calmly beseeching55 him to retire and compose himself.
‘Yes, sister,’ he answered, ‘yes, I’ll go away, for I am sure, I do not want to look at her again; but to think of its being all my doing!–O brother! O sister! why don’t you both kill me in return? And what amends can I make her? what amends, except a poor little trifle of money?–And as to that, she shall have it, God knows, every penny I am worth, the moment I am gone; ay, that she shall, to a single shilling, if I die tomorrow!’
Starting up with revived courage from this idea, he ventured again to turn his head towards Eugenia, exclaiming: ‘O, if she does but get well! does but ease my poor conscience by making me out not to be a murderer, a guinea for every pit in that poor face will I settle on her out of hand; yes, before I so much as breathe again, for fear of dying in the mean time!’
Mrs. Tyrold scarce noticed this declaration; but his brother endeavoured to dissuade56 him from so sudden and partial a measure: he would not, however, listen; he made what speed he could down stairs, called hastily for his hat and stick, commanded all his servants to attend him, and muttering frequent ejaculations to himself, that he would not trust to changing his mind, he proceeded to the family chapel57, and approaching with eager steps to the altar, knelt down, and bidding every one hear and witness what he said, made a solemn vow58, ‘That if he might be cleared of the crime of murder, by the recovery of Eugenia, he would atone59 what he could for the ill he had done her, by bequeathing to her every thing he possessed60 in the world, in estate, cash, and property, without the deduction61 of a sixpence.’
He told all present to remember and witness this, in case of an apoplexy before his new will could be written down.
Returning then to the house, lightened, he said, from a load of self-reproach, which had rendered the last fortnight insupportable to him, he sent for the attorney of a neighbouring town, and went upstairs, with a firmer mind, to wait his arrival in the sick room.
‘O my dear uncle,’ cried his long banished62 Camilla, who hearing him upon the stairs, skipt lightly after him, ‘how glad I am to see you again! I almost thought I should see you no more!’
Here ended at once the just acquired tranquility of Sir Hugh; all his satisfaction forsook63 him at the appearance of his little darling; he considered her as an innocent creature whom he was preparing to injure; he could not bear to look at her; his heart smote64 him in her favour; his eyes filled with tears; he was unable to go on, and with slow and trembling steps, he moved again towards his own room.
‘My dearest uncle!’ cried Camilla, holding by his coat, and hanging upon his arm, ‘won’t you speak to me?’
‘Yes, my dear, to be sure I will,’ he answered, endeavouring to hide his emotion, ‘only not now; so don’t follow me Camilla, for I’m going to be remarkably65 busy!’
‘O uncle!’ she cried, plaintively66, ‘and I have not seen you so long! And I have wished so to see you! and I have been so unhappy about Eugenia! and you have always locked your door; and I would not rap hard at it, for fear you should be asleep: But why, would you not see me, uncle? and why will you send me away?’
‘My dear Camilla,’ he replied, with increased agitation, ‘I have used you very ill; I have been your worst enemy, which is the very reason I don’t care to see you; so go away, I beg, for I am bad enough without all this. But I give you my thanks for all your little playful gambols, having nothing better now to offer you; which is but a poor return from an uncle to a niece!’
He then shut himself into his room, leaving Camilla drowned in tears at the outside of the door.
Wretched in reflecting upon the shock and disappointment which the new disposition67 of his affairs must occasion her, he had not fortitude68 to inform her of his intention. He desired to speak with Edgar Mandlebert, who, with all the Tyrold family, resided, for the present, at Cleves, and abruptly69 related to him the new destination he had just vowed70 of his wealth; beseeching that he would break it in the softest manner to his poor little favourite, assuring her she would be always the first in his love, though a point of mere71 conscience had forced him to make choice of another heiress.
Edgar, whose zeal72 to serve and oblige had never been put to so severe a test, hesitated how to obey this injunction; yet he would not refuse it, as he found that all the servants of the house were enabled, if they pleased, to anticipate more incautiously the ill news. He followed her, therefore, into the garden, whither she had wandered to weep unobserved; but he stopt short at sight of her distress73, conceiving his errand to be already known to her, and determined74 to consult with Indiana, to whom he communicated his terrible embassy, entreating75 her to devise some consolation for her poor cousin.
Indiana felt too much chagrined76 at her own part in this transaction, to give her attention to Camilla; she murmured without scruple77 at the deprivation78 of what she had once expected for herself, and at another time for her brother; and expressed much resentment79 at the behaviour of her uncle, mingled80 with something very near repining, not merely at his late preference of Camilla, but even at the recovery of the little Eugenia. Edgar heard her with surprise, and wondered to find how much less her beauty attracted him from the failure of her good nature.
He now pursued the weeping Camilla, who, dispersing81 her tears at his approach, pretended to be picking some lavender, and keeping her eyes steadfastly82 upon the bush, asked him if he would have any? He took a sprig, but spoke83 to her in a voice of such involuntary compassion84, that she soon lost her self-command, and the big drops again rolled fast down her cheeks. Extremely concerned, he strove gently to sooth her; but the expressions of regret at her uncle’s avoidance, which then escaped her, soon convinced him his own task was still to be performed. With anxious fear of the consequences of a blow so unlooked for, he executed it with all the speed, yet all the consideration in his power. Camilla, the moment she understood him, passionately85 clasped her hands, and exclaimed: ‘O if that is all! If my uncle indeed loves me as well as before all this; I am sure I can never, never be so wicked, as to envy poor little Eugenia, who has suffered so much, and almost been dying, because she will be richer than I shall be!’
Edgar, delighted and relieved, thought she was grown a thousand times more beautiful than Indiana; and eagerly taking her hand, ran with her to the apartment of the poor disconsolate86 Sir Hugh; where his own eyes soon overflowed87 from tenderness and admiration88, at the uncommon89 scene he witnessed, of the generous affection with which Camilla consoled the fond distress of her uncle, though springing from her own disappointment and loss.
They stayed till the arrival of the attorney, who took the directions of Sir Hugh, and drew up, for his immediate8 satisfaction, a short deed, making over, according to his vow, all he should die possessed of, without any let or qualification whatsoever90, to his niece Eugenia. This was properly signed and sealed, and Sir Hugh hastened up stairs with a copy of it to Mr. Tyrold.
All remonstrance91 was ineffectual; his conscience, he protested, could no other way be appeased92; his noble little Camilla had forgiven him her ill usage, and he could now bear to look at the change for the worse in Eugenia, without finding his heart-strings ready to burst at the sight. ‘You,’ he cried, ‘brother, who do not know what, it is I have suffered through my conscience, can’t tell what it is to get a little ease; for if she had died, you might all have had the comfort to say ’twas I murdered her, which would have given you the satisfaction of having had no hand in it. But then, what would have become of poor me, having it all upon my own head? However, now thank Heaven, I have no need to care about the matter; for as to the mere loss of beauty, pretty as it is to look at, I hope it is no such great injury, as she’ll have a splendid fortune, which is certainly a better thing, in point of lasting93. For as to beauty, Lord help us! what is it? except just to the eye.’
He then walked up to the child, intending to kiss her, but stopt and sighed involuntarily as he looked at her, saying: ‘After all, she’s not like the same thing! no more than I am myself. I shall never think I know her again, never as long as I live! I can’t so much as believe her to be the same, though I am sure of its being true. However, it shall make no change in my love for her, poor little dear, for it’s all my own doing; though innocently enough, as to any meaning, God knows!’
It was still some time before the little girl recovered, and then a new misfortune became daily more palpable, from some latent and incurable94 mischief, owing to her fall, which made her grow up with one leg shorter than the other, and her whole figure diminutive95 and deformed96: These additional evils reconciled her parents to the partial will of her uncle, which they now, indeed, thought less wanting in equity97, since no other reparation could be offered to the innocent sufferer for ills so insurmountable.
1 warding | |
监护,守护(ward的现在分词形式) | |
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2 fixed | |
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的 | |
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3 entreaty | |
n.恳求,哀求 | |
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4 amends | |
n. 赔偿 | |
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5 gambols | |
v.蹦跳,跳跃,嬉戏( gambol的第三人称单数 ) | |
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6 enacted | |
制定(法律),通过(法案)( enact的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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7 plank | |
n.板条,木板,政策要点,政纲条目 | |
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8 immediate | |
adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的 | |
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9 procured | |
v.(努力)取得, (设法)获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 );拉皮条 | |
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10 eldest | |
adj.最年长的,最年老的 | |
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11 dexterity | |
n.(手的)灵巧,灵活 | |
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12 demolished | |
v.摧毁( demolish的过去式和过去分词 );推翻;拆毁(尤指大建筑物);吃光 | |
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13 prudence | |
n.谨慎,精明,节俭 | |
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14 poised | |
a.摆好姿势不动的 | |
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15 agitation | |
n.搅动;搅拌;鼓动,煽动 | |
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16 equilibrium | |
n.平衡,均衡,相称,均势,平静 | |
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17 adroitness | |
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18 bruised | |
[医]青肿的,瘀紫的 | |
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19 incessant | |
adj.不停的,连续的 | |
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20 apprehensions | |
疑惧 | |
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21 mischief | |
n.损害,伤害,危害;恶作剧,捣蛋,胡闹 | |
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22 galloped | |
(使马)飞奔,奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 ); 快速做[说]某事 | |
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23 remorse | |
n.痛恨,悔恨,自责 | |
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24 passionate | |
adj.热情的,热烈的,激昂的,易动情的,易怒的,性情暴躁的 | |
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25 sobbed | |
哭泣,啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 ); 哭诉,呜咽地说 | |
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26 dread | |
vt.担忧,忧虑;惧怕,不敢;n.担忧,畏惧 | |
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27 briefly | |
adv.简单地,简短地 | |
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28 faculties | |
n.能力( faculty的名词复数 );全体教职员;技巧;院 | |
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29 lamentation | |
n.悲叹,哀悼 | |
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30 defiance | |
n.挑战,挑衅,蔑视,违抗 | |
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31 parental | |
adj.父母的;父的;母的 | |
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32 afflicted | |
使受痛苦,折磨( afflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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33 consolation | |
n.安慰,慰问 | |
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34 broth | |
n.原(汁)汤(鱼汤、肉汤、菜汤等) | |
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35 exclusion | |
n.拒绝,排除,排斥,远足,远途旅行 | |
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36 reviled | |
v.辱骂,痛斥( revile的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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37 contrition | |
n.悔罪,痛悔 | |
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38 wilful | |
adj.任性的,故意的 | |
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39 persevered | |
v.坚忍,坚持( persevere的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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40 frantic | |
adj.狂乱的,错乱的,激昂的 | |
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41 illuminated | |
adj.被照明的;受启迪的 | |
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42 avert | |
v.防止,避免;转移(目光、注意力等) | |
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43 precarious | |
adj.不安定的,靠不住的;根据不足的 | |
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44 desperately | |
adv.极度渴望地,绝望地,孤注一掷地 | |
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45 disorder | |
n.紊乱,混乱;骚动,骚乱;疾病,失调 | |
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46 anguish | |
n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦,烦恼 | |
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47 alteration | |
n.变更,改变;蚀变 | |
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48 overflowing | |
n. 溢出物,溢流 adj. 充沛的,充满的 动词overflow的现在分词形式 | |
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49 pious | |
adj.虔诚的;道貌岸然的 | |
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50 gratitude | |
adj.感激,感谢 | |
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51 ecstasy | |
n.狂喜,心醉神怡,入迷 | |
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52 havoc | |
n.大破坏,浩劫,大混乱,大杂乱 | |
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53 wrung | |
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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54 remonstrated | |
v.抗议( remonstrate的过去式和过去分词 );告诫 | |
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55 beseeching | |
adj.恳求似的v.恳求,乞求(某事物)( beseech的现在分词 ) | |
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56 dissuade | |
v.劝阻,阻止 | |
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57 chapel | |
n.小教堂,殡仪馆 | |
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58 vow | |
n.誓(言),誓约;v.起誓,立誓 | |
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59 atone | |
v.赎罪,补偿 | |
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60 possessed | |
adj.疯狂的;拥有的,占有的 | |
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61 deduction | |
n.减除,扣除,减除额;推论,推理,演绎 | |
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62 banished | |
v.放逐,驱逐( banish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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63 forsook | |
forsake的过去式 | |
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64 smote | |
v.猛打,重击,打击( smite的过去式 ) | |
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65 remarkably | |
ad.不同寻常地,相当地 | |
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66 plaintively | |
adv.悲哀地,哀怨地 | |
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67 disposition | |
n.性情,性格;意向,倾向;排列,部署 | |
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68 fortitude | |
n.坚忍不拔;刚毅 | |
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69 abruptly | |
adv.突然地,出其不意地 | |
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70 vowed | |
起誓,发誓(vow的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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71 mere | |
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
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72 zeal | |
n.热心,热情,热忱 | |
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73 distress | |
n.苦恼,痛苦,不舒适;不幸;vt.使悲痛 | |
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74 determined | |
adj.坚定的;有决心的 | |
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75 entreating | |
恳求,乞求( entreat的现在分词 ) | |
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76 chagrined | |
adj.懊恼的,苦恼的v.使懊恼,使懊丧,使悔恨( chagrin的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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77 scruple | |
n./v.顾忌,迟疑 | |
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78 deprivation | |
n.匮乏;丧失;夺去,贫困 | |
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79 resentment | |
n.怨愤,忿恨 | |
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80 mingled | |
混合,混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 ); 混进,与…交往[联系] | |
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81 dispersing | |
adj. 分散的 动词disperse的现在分词形式 | |
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82 steadfastly | |
adv.踏实地,不变地;岿然;坚定不渝 | |
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83 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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84 compassion | |
n.同情,怜悯 | |
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85 passionately | |
ad.热烈地,激烈地 | |
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86 disconsolate | |
adj.忧郁的,不快的 | |
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87 overflowed | |
溢出的 | |
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88 admiration | |
n.钦佩,赞美,羡慕 | |
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89 uncommon | |
adj.罕见的,非凡的,不平常的 | |
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90 whatsoever | |
adv.(用于否定句中以加强语气)任何;pron.无论什么 | |
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91 remonstrance | |
n抗议,抱怨 | |
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92 appeased | |
安抚,抚慰( appease的过去式和过去分词 ); 绥靖(满足另一国的要求以避免战争) | |
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93 lasting | |
adj.永久的,永恒的;vbl.持续,维持 | |
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94 incurable | |
adj.不能医治的,不能矫正的,无救的;n.不治的病人,无救的人 | |
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95 diminutive | |
adj.小巧可爱的,小的 | |
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96 deformed | |
adj.畸形的;变形的;丑的,破相了的 | |
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97 equity | |
n.公正,公平,(无固定利息的)股票 | |
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