Mr Palliser did not remain long in Baden after the payment of Burgo’s bill. Perhaps I shall not throw any undeserved discredit¹ on his courage if I say that he was afraid to do so. What would he have said — what would he have been able to say, if that young man had come to him demanding an explanation? So he hurried away to Strasbourg the same day, much to his wife’s satisfaction.

The journey home from thence was not marked by any incidents. Gradually Mr Palliser became a little more lenient² to his wife and slightly less oppressive in his caution. If he still inquired about the springs of the carriages, he did so in silence, and he ceased to enjoin³ the necessity of a day’s rest after each day’s journey. By the time that they reached Dover he had become so used to his wife’s condition that he made but little fluttering as she walked out of the boat by that narrow gangway which is so contrived⁴ as to make an arrival there a serious inconvenience to a lady, and a nuisance even to a man. He was somewhat staggered when a big man, in the middle of the night, insisted on opening the little basket which his wife carried, and was uncomfortable when obliged to stop her on the plank⁵ while he gave up the tickets which he thought had been already surrendered; but he was becoming used to his position, and bore himself like a man.

During their journey home Mr Palliser had by no means kept his seat opposite to Lady Glencora with constancy. He had soon found that it was easier to talk to Mr Grey than to his wife, and, consequently, the two ladies had been much together, as had also the two gentlemen. What the ladies discussed may be imagined. One was about to become a wife and the other a mother, and that was to be their fate after each had made up her mind that no such lot was to be hers. It may, however, be presumed that for every one word that Alice spoke⁶ Lady Glencora spoke ten. The two men, throughout these days of close intimacy⁷, were intent upon politics. Mr Palliser, who may be regarded as the fox who had lost his tail — the tail being, in this instance, the comfort of domestic privacy — was eager in recommending his new friend to cut off his tail also. “Your argument would be very well”, said he, “if men were to be

点击收听单词发音  

1 discredit
vt.使不可置信；n.丧失信义；不信，怀疑
参考例句：
Their behaviour has bought discredit on English football.他们的行为败坏了英国足球运动的声誉。 They no longer try to discredit the technology itself.他们不再试图怀疑这种技术本身。

2 lenient
adj.宽大的，仁慈的
参考例句：
The judge was lenient with him.法官对他很宽大。 It's a question of finding the means between too lenient treatment and too severe punishment.问题是要找出处理过宽和处罚过严的折中办法。

3 enjoin
v.命令；吩咐；禁止
参考例句：
He enjoined obedience on the soldiers.他命令士兵服从。 The judge enjoined him from selling alcohol.法官禁止他卖酒。

4 contrived
adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的
参考例句：
There was nothing contrived or calculated about what he said.他说的话里没有任何蓄意捏造的成分。 The plot seems contrived.情节看起来不真实。

5 plank
n.板条，木板，政策要点，政纲条目
参考例句：
The plank was set against the wall.木板靠着墙壁。 They intend to win the next election on the plank of developing trade.他们想以发展贸易的纲领来赢得下次选举。

6 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。

7 intimacy
n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行
参考例句：
His claims to an intimacy with the President are somewhat exaggerated.他声称自己与总统关系密切，这有点言过其实。 I wish there were a rule book for intimacy.我希望能有个关于亲密的规则。

8 contented
adj.满意的，安心的，知足的
参考例句：
He won't be contented until he's upset everyone in the office.不把办公室里的每个人弄得心烦意乱他就不会满足。 The people are making a good living and are contented,each in his station.人民安居乐业。

9 exponent
n.倡导者，拥护者；代表人物；指数，幂
参考例句：
She is an exponent of vegetarianism.她是一个素食主义的倡导者。 He had been the principal exponent of the Gallipoli campaign.他曾为加里波利战役的主要代表人物。

10 quiescent
adj.静止的，不活动的，寂静的
参考例句：
It is unlikely that such an extremist organization will remain quiescent for long.这种过激的组织是不太可能长期沉默的。 Great distance in either time or space has wonderful power to lull and render quiescent the human mind.时间和空间上的远距离有一种奇妙的力量，可以使人的心灵平静。

11 gunpowder
n.火药
参考例句：
Gunpowder was introduced into Europe during the first half of the 14th century.在14世纪上半叶，火药传入欧洲。 This statement has a strong smell of gunpowder.这是一篇充满火药味的声明。

12 enjoined
v.命令( enjoin的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
The embezzler was severely punished and enjoined to kick back a portion of the stolen money each month. 贪污犯受到了严厉惩罚，并被责令每月退还部分赃款。 来自《简明英汉词典》 She enjoined me strictly not to tell anyone else. 她严令我不准告诉其他任何人。 来自辞典例句

13 exultation
n.狂喜，得意
参考例句：
It made him catch his breath, it lit his face with exultation. 听了这个名字，他屏住呼吸，乐得脸上放光。 He could get up no exultation that was really worthy the name. 他一点都激动不起来。

14 vehemence
n.热切；激烈；愤怒
参考例句：
The attack increased in vehemence.进攻越来越猛烈。 She was astonished at his vehemence.她对他的激昂感到惊讶。

15 discretion
n.谨慎；随意处理
参考例句：
You must show discretion in choosing your friend.你择友时必须慎重。 Please use your best discretion to handle the matter.请慎重处理此事。

16 opposition
n.反对，敌对
参考例句：
The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。 The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

17 outspoken
adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的
参考例句：
He was outspoken in his criticism.他在批评中直言不讳。 She is an outspoken critic of the school system in this city.她是这座城市里学校制度的坦率的批评者。

18 hostility
n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争
参考例句：
There is open hostility between the two leaders.两位领导人表现出公开的敌意。 His hostility to your plan is well known.他对你的计划所持的敌意是众所周知的。

19 perverse
adj.刚愎的；坚持错误的，行为反常的
参考例句：
It would be perverse to stop this healthy trend.阻止这种健康发展的趋势是没有道理的。 She gets a perverse satisfaction from making other people embarrassed.她有一种不正常的心态，以使别人难堪来取乐。

20 encumbered
v.妨碍，阻碍，拖累( encumber的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
The police operation was encumbered by crowds of reporters. 警方的行动被成群的记者所妨碍。 The narrow quay was encumbered by hundreds of carts. 狭窄的码头被数百辆手推车堵得水泄不通。 来自辞典例句

21 desolate
adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂
参考例句：
The city was burned into a desolate waste.那座城市被烧成一片废墟。 We all felt absolutely desolate when she left.她走后，我们都觉得万分孤寂。

22 postponed
vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）
参考例句：
The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。 The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

23 promising
adj.有希望的，有前途的
参考例句：
The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。 We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

24 interfering
adj. 妨碍的 动词interfere的现在分词
参考例句：
He's an interfering old busybody! 他老爱管闲事！ I wish my mother would stop interfering and let me make my own decisions. 我希望我母亲不再干预，让我自己拿主意。

25 infinitely
adv.无限地，无穷地
参考例句：
There is an infinitely bright future ahead of us.我们有无限光明的前途。 The universe is infinitely large.宇宙是无限大的。

26 attentive
adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的
参考例句：
She was very attentive to her guests.她对客人招待得十分周到。 The speaker likes to have an attentive audience.演讲者喜欢注意力集中的听众。

27 wont
adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯
参考例句：
He was wont to say that children are lazy.他常常说小孩子们懒惰。 It is his wont to get up early.早起是他的习惯。

28 forth
adv.向前；向外，往外
参考例句：
The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。 He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

29 heartily
adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很
参考例句：
He ate heartily and went out to look for his horse.他痛快地吃了一顿，就出去找他的马。 The host seized my hand and shook it heartily.主人抓住我的手，热情地和我握手。

30 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。

31 determined
adj.坚定的；有决心的
参考例句：
I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。 He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

32 mischief
n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹
参考例句：
Nobody took notice of the mischief of the matter. 没有人注意到这件事情所带来的危害。 He seems to intend mischief.看来他想捣蛋。