Her air, her manners, all who saw admired,
Courteous1, though coy, and gentle, though retired2;
The joy of youth and health her eyes displayed;
And ease of heart her every look conveyed.
Crabbe.
The visits of the Laird thus again sunk into matters of ordinary course, from which nothing was to be expected or apprehended4. If a lover could have gained a fair one as a snake is said to fascinate a bird, by pertinaciously5 gazing on her with great stupid greenish eyes, which began now to be occasionally aided by spectacles, unquestionably Dumbiedikes would have been the person to perform the feat7. But the art of fascination8 seems among the artes perditae, and I cannot learn that this most pertinacious6 of starers produced any effect by his attentions beyond an occasional yawn.
In the meanwhile, the object of his gaze was gradually attaining9 the verge10 of youth, and approaching to what is called in females the middle age, which is impolitely held to begin a few years earlier with their more fragile sex than with men. Many people would have been of opinion, that the Laird would have done better to have transferred his glances to an object possessed11 of far superior charms to Jeanie’s, even when Jeanie’s were in their bloom, who began now to be distinguished12 by all who visited the cottage at St. Leonard’s Crags.
Effie Deans, under the tender and affectionate care of her sister, had now shot up into a beautiful and blooming girl. Her Grecian shaped head was profusely13 rich in waving ringlets of brown hair, which, confined by a blue snood of silk, and shading a laughing Hebe countenance14, seemed the picture of health, pleasure, and contentment. Her brown russet short-gown set off a shape, which time, perhaps, might be expected to render too robust15, the frequent objection to Scottish beauty, but which, in her present early age, was slender and taper16, with that graceful17 and easy sweep of outline which at once indicates health and beautiful proportion of parts.
These growing charms, in all their juvenile18 profusion19, had no power to shake the steadfast20 mind, or divert the fixed21 gaze of the constant Laird of Dumbiedikes. But there was scarce another eye that could behold22 this living picture of health and beauty, without pausing on it with pleasure. The traveller stopped his weary horse on the eve of entering the city which was the end of his journey, to gaze at the sylph-like form that tripped by him, with her milk-pail poised23 on her head, bearing herself so erect24, and stepping so light and free under her burden, that it seemed rather an ornament25 than an encumbrance26. The lads of the neighbouring suburb, who held their evening rendezvous27 for putting the stone, casting the hammer, playing at long bowls, and other athletic28 exercises, watched the motions of Effie Deans, and contended with each other which should have the good fortune to attract her attention. Even the rigid29 Presbyterians of her father’s persuasion30, who held each indulgence of the eye and sense to be a snare31 at least if not a crime, were surprised into a moment’s delight while gazing on a creature so exquisite32 — instantly checked by a sigh, reproaching at once their own weakness, and mourning that a creature so fair should share in the common and hereditary33 guilt34 and imperfection of our nature, which she deserved as much by her guileless purity of thought, speech, and action, as by her uncommon35 loveliness of face and person.
Yet there were points in Effie’s character which gave rise not only to strange doubt and anxiety on the part of Douce David Deans, whose ideas were rigid, as may easily be supposed, upon the subject of youthful amusements, but even of serious apprehension36 to her more indulgent sister. The children of the Scotch37 of the inferior classes are usually spoiled by the early indulgence of their parents; how, wherefore, and to what degree, the lively and instructive narrative39 of the amiable40 and accomplished41 authoress of “Glenburnie”1 has saved me and all future scribblers the trouble of recording42.
Effie had had a double share of this inconsiderate and misjudged kindness. Even the strictness of her father’s principles could not condemn43 the sports of infancy44 and childhood; and to the good old man, his younger daughter, the child of his old age, seemed a child for some years after she attained45 the years of womanhood, was still called the “bit lassie,” and “little Effie,” and was permitted to run up and down uncontrolled, unless upon the Sabbath, or at the times of family worship. Her sister, with all the love and care of a mother, could not be supposed to possess the same authoritative46 influence; and that which she had hitherto exercised became gradually limited and diminished as Effie’s advancing years entitled her, in her own conceit47 at least, to the right of independence and free agency. With all the innocence48 and goodness of disposition49, therefore, which we have described, the Lily of St. Leonard’s possessed a little fund of self-conceit and obstinacy50, and some warmth and irritability51 of temper, partly natural perhaps, but certainly much increased by the unrestrained freedom of her childhood. Her character will be best illustrated52 by a cottage evening scene.
The careful father was absent in his well-stocked byre, foddering53 those useful and patient animals on whose produce his living depended, and the summer evening was beginning to close in, when Jeanie Deans began to be very anxious for the appearance of her sister, and to fear that she would not reach home before her father returned from the labour of the evening, when it was his custom to have “family exercise,” and when she knew that Effie’s absence would give him the most serious displeasure. These apprehensions54 hung heavier upon her mind, because, for several preceding evenings, Effie had disappeared about the same time, and her stay, at first so brief as scarce to be noticed, had been gradually protracted55 to half-an-hour, and an hour, and on the present occasion had considerably56 exceeded even this last limit. And now, Jeanie stood at the door, with her hand before her eyes to avoid the rays of the level sun, and looked alternately along the various tracks which led towards their dwelling57, to see if she could descry58 the nymph-like form of her sister. There was a wall and a stile which separated the royal domain59, or King’s Park, as it is called, from the public road; to this pass she frequently directed her attention, when she saw two persons appear there somewhat suddenly, as if they had walked close by the side of the wall to screen themselves from observation. One of them, a man, drew back hastily; the other, a female, crossed the stile, and advanced towards her — It was Effie. She met her sister with that affected60 liveliness of manner, which, in her rank, and sometimes in those above it, females occasionally assume to hide surprise or confusion; and she carolled as she came —
“The elfin knight61 sate62 on the brae,
The broom grows bonny, the broom grows fair;
And by there came lilting a lady so gay,
And we daurna gang down to the broom nae mair.”
“Whisht, Effie,” said her sister; “our father’s coming out o’ the byre.” — The damsel stinted63 in her song. —“Whare hae ye been sae late at e’en?”
“It’s no late, lass,” answered Effie.
“It’s chappit eight on every clock o’ the town, and the sun’s gaun down ahint the Corstorphine hills — Whare can ye hae been sae late?”
“Nae gate,” answered Effie.
“And wha was that parted wi’ you at the stile?”
“Naebody,” replied Effie once more.
“Nae gate? — Naebody? — I wish it may be a right gate, and a right body, that keeps folk out sae late at e’en, Effie.”
“What needs ye be aye speering then at folk?” retorted Effie. “I’m sure, if ye’ll ask nae questions, I’ll tell ye nae lees. I never ask what brings the Laird of Dumbiedikes glowering64 here like a wull-cat (only his een’s greener, and no sae gleg), day after day, till we are a’ like to gaunt our charts aft.”
“Because ye ken65 very weel he comes to see our father,” said Jeanie, in answer to this pert remark.
“And Dominie Butler — Does he come to see our father, that’s sae taen wi’ his Latin words?” said Effie, delighted to find that by carrying the war into the enemy’s country, she could divert the threatened attack upon herself, and with the petulance66 of youth she pursued her triumph over her prudent67 elder sister. She looked at her with a sly air, in which there was something like irony68, as she chanted, in a low but marked tone, a scrap69 of an old Scotch song —
“Through the kirkyard
I met wi’ the Laird,
The silly puir body he said me nae harm;
But just ere ’twas dark,
I met wi’ the clerk”
Here the songstress stopped, looked full at her sister, and, observing the tears gather in her eyes, she suddenly flung her arms round her neck, and kissed them away. Jeanie, though hurt and displeased70, was unable to resist the caresses71 of this untaught child of nature, whose good and evil seemed to flow rather from impulse than from reflection. But as she returned the sisterly kiss, in token of perfect reconciliation72, she could not suppress the gentle reproof73 —“Effie, if ye will learn fule sangs, ye might make a kinder use of them.”
“And so I might, Jeanie,” continued the girl, clinging to her sister’s neck; “and I wish I had never learned ane o’ them — and I wish we had never come here — and I wish my tongue had been blistered74 or I had vexed76 ye.”
“Never mind that, Effie,” replied the affectionate sister; “I canna be muckle vexed wi’ ony thing ye say to me — but O, dinna vex75 our father!”
“I will not — I will not,” replied Effie; “and if there were as mony dances the morn’s night as there are merry dancers in the north firmament77 on a frosty e’en, I winna budge78 an inch to gang near ane o’ them.”
“Dance!” echoed Jeanie Deans in astonishment79. “O Effie, what could take ye to a dance?”
It is very possible, that, in the communicative mood into which the Lily of St. Leonard’s was now surprised, she might have given her sister her unreserved confidence, and saved me the pain of telling a melancholy80 tale; but at the moment the word dance was uttered, it reached the ear of old David Deans, who had turned the corner of the house, and came upon his daughters ere they were aware of his presence. The word prelate, or even the word pope, could hardly have produced so appalling81 an effect upon David’s ear; for, of all exercises, that of dancing, which he termed a voluntary and regular fit of distraction82, he deemed most destructive of serious thoughts, and the readiest inlet to all sorts of licentiousness83; and he accounted the encouraging, and even permitting, assemblies or meetings, whether among those of high or low degree, for this fantastic and absurd purpose, or for that of dramatic representations, as one of the most flagrant proofs of defection and causes of wrath84. The pronouncing of the word dance by his own daughters, and at his own door, now drove him beyond the verge of patience. “Dance!” he exclaimed. “Dance! — dance, said ye? I daur ye, limmers that ye are, to name sic a word at my door-cheek! It’s a dissolute profane85 pastime, practised by the Israelites only at their base and brutal86 worship of the Golden Calf87 at Bethel, and by the unhappy lass wha danced aff the head of John the Baptist, upon whilk chapter I will exercise this night for your farther instruction, since ye need it sae muckle, nothing doubting that she has cause to rue88 the day, lang or this time, that e’er she suld hae shook a limb on sic an errand. Better for her to hae been born a cripple, and carried frae door to door, like auld89 Bessie Bowie, begging bawbees, than to be a king’s daughter, fiddling90 and flinging the gate she did. I hae often wondered that ony ane that ever bent91 a knee for the right purpose, should ever daur to crook92 a hough to fyke and fling at piper’s wind and fiddler’s squealing93. And I bless God (with that singular worthy94, Peter Walker the packman at Bristo-Port),2 that ordered my lot in my dancing days, so that fear of my head and throat, dread95 of bloody96 rope and swift bullet, and trenchant97 swords and pain of boots and thumkins, cauld and hunger, wetness and weariness, stopped the lightness of my head, and the wantonness of my feet.
And now, if I hear ye, quean lassies, sae muckle as name dancing, or think there’s sic a thing in this warld as flinging to fiddler’s sounds, and piper’s springs, as sure as my father’s spirit is with the just, ye shall be no more either charge or concern of mine! Gang in, then — gang in, then, hinnies,” he added, in a softer tone, for the tears of both daughters, but especially those of Effie, began to flow very fast — “Gang in, dears, and we’ll seek grace to preserve us frae all, manner of profane folly98, whilk causeth to sin, and promoteth the kingdom of darkness, warring with the kingdom of light.”
The objurgation of David Deans, however well meant, was unhappily timed. It created a division of feelings in Effie’s bosom99, and deterred100 her from her intended confidence in her sister. “She wad hand me nae better than the dirt below her feet,” said Effie to herself, “were I to confess I hae danced wi’ him four times on the green down by, and ance at Maggie Macqueens’s; and she’ll maybe hing it ower my head that she’ll tell my father, and then she wad be mistress and mair. But I’ll no gang back there again. I’m resolved I’ll no gang back. I’ll lay in a leaf of my Bible,3 and that’s very near as if I had made an aith, that I winna gang back.”
And she kept her vow101 for a week, during which she was unusually cross and fretful, blemishes102 which had never before been observed in her temper, except during a moment of contradiction.
There was something in all this so mysterious as considerably to alarm the prudent and affectionate Jeanie, the more so as she judged it unkind to her sister to mention to their father grounds of anxiety which might arise from her own imagination. Besides, her respect for the good old man did not prevent her from being aware that he was both hot-tempered and positive, and she sometimes suspected that he carried his dislike to youthful amusements beyond the verge that religion and reason demanded. Jeanie had sense enough to see that a sudden and severe curb103 upon her sister’s hitherto unrestrained freedom might be rather productive of harm than good, and that Effie, in the headstrong wilfulness104 of youth, was likely to make what might be overstrained in her father’s precepts106 an excuse to herself for neglecting them altogether. In the higher classes, a damsel, however giddy, is still under the dominion107 of etiquette108, and subject to the surveillance of mammas and chaperons; but the country girl, who snatches her moment of gaiety during the intervals110 of labour, is under no such guardianship111 or restraint, and her amusement becomes so much the more hazardous112. Jeanie saw all this with much distress113 of mind, when a circumstance occurred which appeared calculated to relieve her anxiety.
Mrs. Saddletree, with whom our readers have already been made acquainted, chanced to be a distant relation of Douce David Deans, and as she was a woman orderly in her life and conversation, and, moreover, of good substance, a sort of acquaintance was formally kept up between the families. Now, this careful dame114, about a year and a half before our story commences, chanced to need, in the line of her profession, a better sort of servant, or rather shop-woman. “Mr. Saddletree,” she said, “was never in the shop when he could get his nose within the Parliament House, and it was an awkward thing for a woman-body to be standing115 among bundles o’ barkened leather her lane, selling saddles and bridles116; and she had cast her eyes upon her far-awa cousin Effie Deans, as just the very sort of lassie she would want to keep her in countenance on such occasions.”
In this proposal there was much that pleased old David — there was bed, board, and bountith — it was a decent situation — the lassie would be under Mrs. Saddletree’s eye, who had an upright walk, and lived close by the Tolbooth Kirk, in which might still be heard the comforting doctrines118 of one of those few ministers of the Kirk of Scotland who had not bent the knee unto Baal, according to David’s expression, or become accessory to the course of national defections — union, toleration, patronages, and a bundle of prelatical Erastian oaths which had been imposed on the church since the Revolution, and particularly in the reign120 of “the late woman” (as he called Queen Anne), the last of that unhappy race of Stuarts. In the good man’s security concerning the soundness of the theological doctrine117 which his daughter was to hear, he was nothing disturbed on account of the snares121 of a different kind, to which a creature so beautiful, young, and wilful105, might be exposed in the centre of a populous122 and corrupted123 city. The fact is, that he thought with so much horror on all approaches to irregularities of the nature most to be dreaded124 in such cases, that he would as soon have suspected and guarded against Effie’s being induced to become guilty of the crime of murder. He only regretted that she should live under the same roof with such a worldly-wise man as Bartoline Saddletree, whom David never suspected of being an ass38 as he was, but considered as one really endowed with all the legal knowledge to which he made pretension125, and only liked him the worse for possessing it. The lawyers, especially those amongst them who sate as ruling elders in the General Assembly of the Kirk, had been forward in promoting the measures of patronage119, of the abjuration126 oath, and others, which, in the opinion of David Deans, were a breaking down of the carved work of the sanctuary127, and an intrusion upon the liberties of the kirk. Upon the dangers of listening to the doctrines of a legalised formalist, such as Saddletree, David gave his daughter many lectures; so much so, that he had time to touch but slightly on the dangers of chambering, company-keeping, and promiscuous128 dancing, to which, at her time of life, most people would have thought Effie more exposed, than to the risk of theoretical error in her religious faith.
Jeanie parted from her sister with a mixed feeling of regret, and apprehension, and hope. She could not be so confident concerning Effie’s prudence129 as her father, for she had observed her more narrowly, had more sympathy with her feelings, and could better estimate the temptations to which she was exposed. On the other hand, Mrs. Saddletree was an observing, shrewd, notable woman, entitled to exercise over Effie the full authority of a mistress, and likely to do so strictly130, yet with kindness. Her removal to Saddletree’s, it was most probable, would also serve to break off some idle acquaintances, which Jeanie suspected her sister to have formed in the neighbouring suburb. Upon the whole, then, she viewed her departure from Saint Leonard’s with pleasure, and it was not until the very moment of their parting for the first time in their lives, that she felt the full force of sisterly sorrow. While they repeatedly kissed each other’s cheeks, and wrung131 each other’s hands, Jeanie took that moment of affectionate sympathy, to press upon her sister the necessity of the utmost caution in her conduct while residing in Edinburgh. Effie listened, without once raising her large dark eyelashes, from which the drops fell so fast as almost to resemble a fountain. At the conclusion she sobbed132 again, kissed her sister, promised to recollect133 all the good counsel she had given her, and they parted.
During the first weeks, Effie was all that her kinswoman expected, and even more. But with time there came a relaxation134 of that early zeal135 which she manifested in Mrs. Saddletree’s service. To borrow once again from the poet, who so correctly and beautifully describes living manners:—
Something there was — what, none presumed to say —
Clouds lightly passing on a summer’s day;
Whispers and hints, which went from ear to ear,
And mixed reports no judge on earth could clear.
During this interval109, Mrs. Saddletree was sometimes displeased by Effie’s lingering when she was sent upon errands about the shop business, and sometimes by a little degree of impatience136 which she manifested at being rebuked137 on such occasions. But she good-naturedly allowed, that the first was very natural to a girl to whom everything in Edinburgh was new and the other was only the petulance of a spoiled child, when subjected to the yoke138 of domestic discipline for the first time. Attention and submission139 could not be learned at once — Holyrood was not built in a day — use would make perfect.
It seemed as if the considerate old lady had presaged140 truly. Ere many months had passed, Effie became almost wedded141 to her duties, though she no longer discharged them with the laughing cheek and light step, which had at first attracted every customer. Her mistress sometimes observed her in tears, but they were signs of secret sorrow, which she concealed143 as often as she saw them attract notice. Time wore on, her cheek grew pale, and her step heavy. The cause of these changes could not have escaped the matronly eye of Mrs. Saddletree, but she was chiefly confined by indisposition to her bedroom for a considerable time during the latter part of Effie’s service. This interval was marked by symptoms of anguish144 almost amounting to despair. The utmost efforts of the poor girl to command her fits of hysterical145 agony were, often totally unavailing, and the mistakes which she made in the shop the while, were so numerous and so provoking that Bartoline Saddletree, who, during his wife’s illness, was obliged to take closer charge of the business than consisted with his study of the weightier matters of the law, lost all patience with the girl, who, in his law Latin, and without much respect to gender146, he declared ought to be cognosced by inquest of a jury, as fatuus, furiosus, and naturaliter idiota. Neighbours, also, and fellow-servants, remarked with malicious147 curiosity or degrading pity, the disfigured shape, loose dress, and pale cheeks, of the once beautiful and still interesting girl. But to no one would she grant her confidence, answering all taunts148 with bitter sarcasm149, and all serious expostulation with sullen150 denial, or with floods of tears.
At length, when Mrs. Saddletree’s recovery was likely to permit her wonted attention to the regulation of her household, Effie Deans, as if unwilling151 to face an investigation152 made by the authority of her mistress, asked permission of Bartoline to go home for a week or two, assigning indisposition, and the wish of trying the benefit of repose153 and the change of air, as the motives154 of her request. Sharp-eyed as a lynx (or conceiving himself to be so) in the nice sharp quillits of legal discussion, Bartoline was as dull at drawing inferences from the occurrences of common life as any Dutch professor of mathematics. He suffered Effie to depart without much suspicion, and without any inquiry155.
It was afterwards found that a period of a week intervened betwixt her leaving her master’s house and arriving at St. Leonard’s. She made her appearance before her sister in a state rather resembling the spectre than the living substance of the gay and beautiful girl, who had left her father’s cottage for the first time scarce seventeen months before. The lingering illness of her mistress had, for the last few months, given her a plea for confining herself entirely156 to the dusky precincts of the shop in the Lawnmarket, and Jeanie was so much occupied, during the same period, with the concerns of her father’s household, that she had rarely found leisure for a walk in the city, and a brief and hurried visit to her sister. The young women, therefore, had scarcely seen each other for several months, nor had a single scandalous surmise157 reached the ears of the secluded158 inhabitants of the cottage at St. Leonard’s. Jeanie, therefore, terrified to death at her sister’s appearance, at first overwhelmed her with inquiries159, to which the unfortunate young woman returned for a time incoherent and rambling160 answers, and finally fell into a hysterical fit. Rendered too certain of her sister’s misfortune, Jeanie had now the dreadful alternative of communicating her ruin to her father, or of endeavouring to conceal142 it from him. To all questions concerning the name or rank of her seducer161, and the fate of the being to whom her fall had given birth, Effie remained as mute as the grave, to which she seemed hastening; and indeed the least allusion162 to either seemed to drive her to distraction. Her sister, in distress and in despair, was about to repair to Mrs. Saddletree to consult her experience, and at the same time to obtain what lights she could upon this most unhappy affair, when she was saved that trouble by a new stroke of fate, which seemed to carry misfortune to the uttermost.
David Deans had been alarmed at the state of health in which his daughter had returned to her paternal163 residence; but Jeanie had contrived164 to divert him from particular and specific inquiry. It was therefore like a clap of thunder to the poor old man, when, just as the hour of noon had brought the visit of the Laird of Dumbiedikes as usual, other and sterner, as well as most unexpected guests, arrived at the cottage of St. Leonard’s. These were the officers of justice, with a warrant of justiciary to search for and apprehend3 Euphemia, or Effie Deans, accused of the crime of child-murder. The stunning165 weight of a blow so totally unexpected bore down the old man, who had in his early youth resisted the brow of military and civil tyranny, though backed with swords and guns, tortures and gibbets. He fell extended and senseless upon his own hearth166; and the men, happy to escape from the scene of his awakening167, raised, with rude humanity, the object of their warrant from her bed, and placed her in a coach, which they had brought with them. The hasty remedies which Jeanie had applied168 to bring back her father’s senses were scarce begun to operate, when the noise of the wheels in motion recalled her attention to her miserable169 sister. To ran shrieking170 after the carriage was the first vain effort of her distraction, but she was stopped by one or two female neighbours, assembled by the extraordinary appearance of a coach in that sequestered171 place, who almost forced her back to her father’s house. The deep and sympathetic affliction of these poor people, by whom the little family at St. Leonard’s were held in high regard, filled the house with lamentation172. Even Dumbiedikes was moved from his wonted apathy173, and, groping for his purse as he spoke174, ejaculated, “Jeanie, woman! — Jeanie, woman! dinna greet — it’s sad wark, but siller will help it;” and he drew out his purse as he spoke.
The old man had now raised himself from the ground, and, looking about him as if he missed something, seemed gradually to recover the sense of his wretchedness. “Where,” he said, with a voice that made the roof ring, “where is the vile175 harlot, that has disgraced the blood of an honest man? — Where is she, that has no place among us, but has come foul176 with her sins, like the Evil One, among the children of God? — Where is she, Jeanie? — Bring her before me, that I may kill her with a word and a look!”
All hastened around him with their appropriate sources of consolation177 — the Laird with his purse, Jeanie with burnt feathers and strong waters, and the women with their exhortations178. “O neighbour — O Mr. Deans, it’s a sair trial, doubtless — but think of the Rock of Ages, neighbour — think of the promise!”
“And I do think of it, neighbours — and I bless God that I can think of it, even in the wrack179 and ruin of a’ that’s nearest and dearest to me — But to be the father of a castaway — a profligate180 — a bloody Zipporah — a mere181 murderess! — O, how will the wicked exult182 in the high places of their wickedness! — the prelatists, and the latitudinarians, and the hand-waled murderers, whose hands are hard as horn wi’ handing the slaughter-weapons — they will push out the lip, and say that we are even such as themselves. Sair, sair I am grieved, neighbours, for the poor castaway — for the child of mine old age — but sairer for the stumbling-block and scandal it will be to all tender and honest souls!”
“Davie — winna siller do’t?” insinuated183 the laird, still proffering184 his green purse, which was full of guineas.
“I tell ye, Dumbiedikes,” said Deans, “that if telling down my haill substance could hae saved her frae this black snare, I wad hae walked out wi’ naething but my bonnet185 and my staff to beg an awmous for God’s sake, and ca’d mysell an happy man — But if a dollar, or a plack, or the nineteenth part of a boddle, wad save her open guilt and open shame frae open punishment, that purchase wad David Deans never make! — Na, na; an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, life for life, blood for blood — it’s the law of man, and it’s the law of God. — Leave me, sirs — leave me — I maun warstle wi’ this trial in privacy and on my knees.”
Jeanie, now in some degree restored to the power of thought, joined in the same request. The next day found the father and daughter still in the depth of affliction, but the father sternly supporting his load of ill through a proud sense of religious duty, and the daughter anxiously suppressing her own feelings to avoid again awakening his. Thus was it with the afflicted186 family until the morning after Porteous’s death, a period at which we are now arrived.
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courteous
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| adj.彬彬有礼的，客气的 | |
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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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apprehend
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| vt.理解，领悟，逮捕，拘捕，忧虑 | |
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apprehended
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| 逮捕，拘押( apprehend的过去式和过去分词 )； 理解 | |
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pertinaciously
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| adv.坚持地；固执地；坚决地；执拗地 | |
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pertinacious
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| adj.顽固的 | |
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feat
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| n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的 | |
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fascination
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| n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋 | |
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attaining
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的现在分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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verge
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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profusely
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| ad.abundantly | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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robust
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| adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的 | |
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taper
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| n.小蜡烛，尖细，渐弱；adj.尖细的；v.逐渐变小 | |
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17
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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18
juvenile
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| n.青少年，少年读物；adj.青少年的，幼稚的 | |
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19
profusion
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| n.挥霍；丰富 | |
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steadfast
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| adj.固定的，不变的，不动摇的；忠实的；坚贞不移的 | |
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21
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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22
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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23
poised
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| a.摆好姿势不动的 | |
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24
erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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ornament
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| v.装饰，美化；n.装饰，装饰物 | |
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26
encumbrance
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| n.妨碍物，累赘 | |
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27
rendezvous
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| n.约会，约会地点，汇合点；vi.汇合，集合；vt.使汇合，使在汇合地点相遇 | |
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28
athletic
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| adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的 | |
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29
rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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30
persuasion
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| n.劝说；说服；持有某种信仰的宗派 | |
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31
snare
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| n.陷阱，诱惑，圈套；（去除息肉或者肿瘤的）勒除器；响弦，小军鼓；vt.以陷阱捕获，诱惑 | |
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32
exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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33
hereditary
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| adj.遗传的，遗传性的，可继承的，世袭的 | |
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34
guilt
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| n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责 | |
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35
uncommon
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| adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的 | |
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36
apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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37
scotch
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| n.伤口，刻痕；苏格兰威士忌酒；v.粉碎，消灭，阻止；adj.苏格兰(人)的 | |
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38
ass
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| n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人 | |
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39
narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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40
amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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41
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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42
recording
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| n.录音，记录 | |
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43
condemn
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| vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑 | |
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44
infancy
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| n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期 | |
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45
attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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46
authoritative
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| adj.有权威的，可相信的；命令式的；官方的 | |
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47
conceit
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| n.自负，自高自大 | |
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48
innocence
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| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
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49
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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50
obstinacy
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| n.顽固；（病痛等）难治 | |
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51
irritability
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| n.易怒 | |
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52
illustrated
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| adj. 有插图的，列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词 | |
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53
foddering
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| v.用饲料喂（fodder的现在分词形式） | |
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54
apprehensions
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| 疑惧 | |
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55
protracted
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| adj.拖延的；延长的v.拖延“protract”的过去式和过去分词 | |
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56
considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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57
dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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58
descry
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| v.远远看到；发现；责备 | |
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59
domain
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| n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围 | |
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60
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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61
knight
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| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
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62
sate
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| v.使充分满足 | |
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63
stinted
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| v.限制，节省（stint的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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64
glowering
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| v.怒视( glower的现在分词 ) | |
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65
ken
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| n.视野，知识领域 | |
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66
petulance
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| n.发脾气，生气，易怒，暴躁，性急 | |
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67
prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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68
irony
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| n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄 | |
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69
scrap
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| n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废 | |
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70
displeased
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| a.不快的 | |
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71
caresses
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| 爱抚，抚摸( caress的名词复数 ) | |
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72
reconciliation
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| n.和解，和谐，一致 | |
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73
reproof
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| n.斥责，责备 | |
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74
blistered
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| adj.水疮状的，泡状的v.（使）起水泡( blister的过去式和过去分词 )；（使表皮等）涨破，爆裂 | |
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75
vex
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| vt.使烦恼，使苦恼 | |
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76
vexed
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| adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论 | |
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77
firmament
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| n.苍穹；最高层 | |
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78
budge
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| v.移动一点儿；改变立场 | |
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79
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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80
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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81
appalling
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| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
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82
distraction
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| n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐 | |
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83
licentiousness
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| n.放肆，无法无天 | |
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84
wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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85
profane
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| adj.亵神的，亵渎的；vt.亵渎，玷污 | |
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86
brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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87
calf
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| n.小牛，犊，幼仔，小牛皮 | |
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88
rue
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| n.懊悔，芸香，后悔；v.后悔，悲伤，懊悔 | |
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89
auld
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| adj.老的，旧的 | |
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90
fiddling
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| 微小的 | |
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91
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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92
crook
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| v.使弯曲；n.小偷，骗子，贼；弯曲(处) | |
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93
squealing
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| v.长声尖叫，用长而尖锐的声音说( squeal的现在分词 ) | |
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94
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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95
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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96
bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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97
trenchant
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| adj.尖刻的，清晰的 | |
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98
folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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99
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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100
deterred
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| v.阻止，制止( deter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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101
vow
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| n.誓(言)，誓约；v.起誓，立誓 | |
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102
blemishes
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| n.（身体的）瘢点( blemish的名词复数 )；伤疤；瑕疵；污点 | |
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103
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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104
wilfulness
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| 任性；倔强 | |
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105
wilful
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| adj.任性的，故意的 | |
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106
precepts
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| n.规诫，戒律，箴言( precept的名词复数 ) | |
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107
dominion
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| n.统治，管辖，支配权；领土，版图 | |
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108
etiquette
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| n.礼仪，礼节；规矩 | |
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109
interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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110
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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111
guardianship
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| n. 监护, 保护, 守护 | |
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112
hazardous
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| adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的 | |
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113
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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114
dame
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| n.女士 | |
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115
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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116
bridles
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| 约束( bridle的名词复数 )； 限动器； 马笼头； 系带 | |
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117
doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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118
doctrines
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| n.教条( doctrine的名词复数 )；教义；学说；（政府政策的）正式声明 | |
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119
patronage
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| n.赞助，支援，援助；光顾，捧场 | |
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120
reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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121
snares
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| n.陷阱( snare的名词复数 )；圈套；诱人遭受失败（丢脸、损失等）的东西；诱惑物v.用罗网捕捉，诱陷，陷害( snare的第三人称单数 ) | |
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122
populous
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| adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的 | |
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123
corrupted
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| （使）败坏( corrupt的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）腐化； 引起（计算机文件等的）错误； 破坏 | |
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124
dreaded
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| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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125
pretension
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| n.要求；自命，自称；自负 | |
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126
abjuration
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| n.发誓弃绝 | |
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127
sanctuary
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| n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区 | |
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128
promiscuous
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| adj.杂乱的，随便的 | |
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129
prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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130
strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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131
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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132
sobbed
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| 哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说 | |
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133
recollect
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| v.回忆，想起，记起，忆起，记得 | |
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134
relaxation
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| n.松弛，放松；休息；消遣；娱乐 | |
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135
zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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136
impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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137
rebuked
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| 责难或指责( rebuke的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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138
yoke
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| n.轭；支配；v.给...上轭，连接，使成配偶 | |
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139
submission
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| n.服从，投降；温顺，谦虚；提出 | |
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140
presaged
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| v.预示，预兆( presage的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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141
wedded
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| adj.正式结婚的；渴望…的，执著于…的v.嫁，娶，（与…）结婚( wed的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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142
conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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144
anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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hysterical
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| adj.情绪异常激动的，歇斯底里般的 | |
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gender
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| n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性 | |
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malicious
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| adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的 | |
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taunts
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| 嘲弄的言语，嘲笑，奚落( taunt的名词复数 ) | |
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sarcasm
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| n.讥讽，讽刺，嘲弄，反话 （adj.sarcastic） | |
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sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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investigation
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| n.调查，调查研究 | |
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repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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surmise
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| v./n.猜想，推测 | |
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secluded
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| adj.与世隔绝的；隐退的；偏僻的v.使隔开，使隐退( seclude的过去式和过去分词) | |
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inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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rambling
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| adj.[建]凌乱的，杂乱的 | |
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seducer
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| n.诱惑者,骗子,玩弄女性的人 | |
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allusion
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| n.暗示，间接提示 | |
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paternal
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| adj.父亲的，像父亲的，父系的，父方的 | |
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contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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stunning
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| adj.极好的；使人晕倒的 | |
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hearth
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| n.壁炉炉床，壁炉地面 | |
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awakening
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| n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的 | |
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applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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shrieking
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| v.尖叫( shriek的现在分词 ) | |
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sequestered
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| adj.扣押的；隐退的；幽静的；偏僻的v.使隔绝，使隔离( sequester的过去式和过去分词 )；扣押 | |
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lamentation
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| n.悲叹，哀悼 | |
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apathy
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| n.漠不关心，无动于衷；冷淡 | |
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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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vile
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| adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的 | |
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foul
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| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
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consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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exhortations
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| n.敦促( exhortation的名词复数 )；极力推荐；（正式的）演讲；（宗教仪式中的）劝诫 | |
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wrack
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| v.折磨；n.海草 | |
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profligate
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| adj.行为不检的；n.放荡的人，浪子，肆意挥霍者 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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exult
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| v.狂喜，欢腾；欢欣鼓舞 | |
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insinuated
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| v.暗示( insinuate的过去式和过去分词 )；巧妙或迂回地潜入；（使）缓慢进入；慢慢伸入 | |
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proffering
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| v.提供，贡献，提出( proffer的现在分词 ) | |
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bonnet
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| n.无边女帽；童帽 | |
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afflicted
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| 使受痛苦，折磨( afflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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