Twenty-four
It was again dusk when Arthur Calgary came to Sunny Point on an even-ing very like the evening when he had first come there. Viper’s Point, hethought to himself as he rang the bell.
Once again events seemed to repeat themselves. It was Hester whoopened it. There was the same defiance¹ in her face, the same air of desper-ate tragedy. Behind her in the hall he saw, as he had seen before, thewatchful, suspicious figure of Kirsten Lindstrom. It was history repeatingitself.
Then the pattern wavered and changed. The suspicion and the despera-tion went out of Hester’s face. It broke up into a lovely, welcoming smile.
“You,” she said. “Oh, I’m so glad you’ve come!”
He took her hands in his.
“I want to see your father, Hester. Is he upstairs in the library?”
“Yes. Yes, he’s there with Gwenda.”
Kirsten Lindstrom came forward towards them.
“Why do you come here again?” she said accusingly. “Look at thetrouble you brought last time! See what has happened to us all. Hester’slife ruined, Mr. Argyle’s life ruined—and two deaths. Two! Philip Durrantand little Tina. And it is your doing—all your doing!”
“Tina is not dead yet,” said Calgary, “and I have something here to dothat I cannot leave undone³.”
“What have you got to do?” Kirsten still stood barring his way to thestaircase.
“I’ve got to finish what I began,” said Calgary.
Very gently he put a hand on her shoulder and moved her slightly aside.
He walked up the stairs and Hester followed him. He turned back over hisshoulder and said to Kirsten: “Come, too, Miss Lindstrom, I would like youall to be here.”
In the library, Leo Argyle was sitting in a chair by the desk. GwendaVaughan was kneeling in front of the fire, staring into its embers. Theylooked up with some surprise.
“I’m sorry to burst in upon you,” said Calgary, “but as I’ve just been say-ing to these two, I’ve come to finish what I began.” He looked round. “IsMrs. Durrant in the house still? I should like her to be here also.”
“She’s lying down, I think,” said Leo. “She—she’s taken things terriblyhard.”
“I should like her to be here all the same.” He looked at Kirsten. “Per-haps you would go and fetch her.”
“She may not want to come,” said Kirsten sullenly

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1 defiance
n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗
参考例句：
He climbed the ladder in defiance of the warning.他无视警告爬上了那架梯子。 He slammed the door in a spirit of defiance.他以挑衅性的态度把门砰地一下关上。

2 aged
adj.年老的，陈年的
参考例句：
He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。 He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

3 undone
a.未做完的，未完成的
参考例句：
He left nothing undone that needed attention.所有需要注意的事他都注意到了。

4 sullenly
不高兴地，绷着脸，忧郁地
参考例句：
'so what?" Tom said sullenly. “那又怎么样呢？”汤姆绷着脸说。 Emptiness after the paper, I sIt'sullenly in front of the stove. 报看完，想不出能找点什么事做，只好一人坐在火炉旁生气。

5 neatly
adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地
参考例句：
Sailors know how to wind up a long rope neatly.水手们知道怎样把一条大绳利落地缠好。 The child's dress is neatly gathered at the neck.那孩子的衣服在领口处打着整齐的皱褶。

6 calamity
n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件
参考例句：
Even a greater natural calamity cannot daunt us. 再大的自然灾害也压不垮我们。 The attack on Pearl Harbor was a crushing calamity.偷袭珍珠港(对美军来说)是一场毁灭性的灾难。

7 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
参考例句：
They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。 The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 guilt
n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责
参考例句：
She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。 Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。

9 invalid
n.病人，伤残人；adj.有病的，伤残的；无效的
参考例句：
He will visit an invalid.他将要去看望一个病人。 A passport that is out of date is invalid.护照过期是无效的。

10 delinquent
adj.犯法的，有过失的；n.违法者
参考例句：
Most delinquent children have deprived backgrounds.多数少年犯都有未受教育的背景。 He is delinquent in paying his rent.他拖欠房租。

11 concussion
n.脑震荡；震动
参考例句：
He was carried off the field with slight concussion.他因轻微脑震荡给抬离了现场。 She suffers from brain concussion.她得了脑震荡。

12 blur
n.模糊不清的事物；vt.使模糊，使看不清楚
参考例句：
The houses appeared as a blur in the mist.房子在薄雾中隐隐约约看不清。 If you move your eyes and your head,the picture will blur.如果你的眼睛或头动了，图像就会变得模糊不清。

13 alibi
n.某人当时不在犯罪现场的申辩或证明；借口
参考例句：
Do you have any proof to substantiate your alibi? 你有证据表明你当时不在犯罪现场吗？ The police are suspicious of his alibi because he already has a record.警方对他不在场的辩解表示怀疑，因为他已有前科。

14 devoted
adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的
参考例句：
He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。 We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

15 perfectly
adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地
参考例句：
The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。 Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

16 superintendent
n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长
参考例句：
He was soon promoted to the post of superintendent of Foreign Trade.他很快就被擢升为对外贸易总监。 He decided to call the superintendent of the building.他决定给楼房管理员打电话。

17 glib
adj.圆滑的，油嘴滑舌的
参考例句：
His glib talk sounds as sweet as a song.他说的比唱的还好听。 The fellow has a very glib tongue.这家伙嘴油得很。

18 deliberately
adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地
参考例句：
The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。 They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

19 instigator
n.煽动者
参考例句：
It is not a and differs from instigator in nature. 在刑法理论中，通常将教唆犯作为共犯的一种类型加以探究。 来自互联网 If we are really the instigator, we are awaiting punishment. 如果我们真的是煽动者，那我们愿意接受惩罚。 来自互联网

20 accomplice
n.从犯，帮凶，同谋
参考例句：
She was her husband's accomplice in murdering a rich old man.她是她丈夫谋杀一个老富翁的帮凶。 He is suspected as an accomplice of the murder.他涉嫌为这次凶杀案的同谋。

21 applied
adj.应用的；v.应用，适用
参考例句：
She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。 This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

22 doting
adj.溺爱的，宠爱的
参考例句：
His doting parents bought him his first racing bike at 13.宠爱他的父母在他13岁时就给他买了第一辆竞速自行车。 The doting husband catered to his wife's every wish.这位宠爱妻子的丈夫总是高度满足太太的各项要求。

23 sagging
下垂[沉，陷]，松垂，垂度
参考例句：
The morale of the enemy troops is continuously sagging. 敌军的士气不断低落。 We are sagging south. 我们的船正离开航线向南漂流。

24 regained
复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地
参考例句：
The majority of the people in the world have regained their liberty. 世界上大多数人已重获自由。 She hesitated briefly but quickly regained her poise. 她犹豫片刻，但很快恢复了镇静。

25 dwelling
n.住宅，住所，寓所
参考例句：
Those two men are dwelling with us.那两个人跟我们住在一起。 He occupies a three-story dwelling place on the Park Street.他在派克街上有一幢3层楼的寓所。

26 gulf
n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂
参考例句：
The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。 There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。