It was in the vestry that the force of Mr. Voules’ personality began to show at its true value. He seemed to open out and spread over things directly the restraints of the ceremony were at an end.

“Everything,” he said to the clergyman, “excellent.” He also shook hands with Mrs. Larkins, who clung to him for a space, and kissed Miriam on the cheek. “First kiss for me,” he said, “anyhow.”

He led Mr. Polly to the register by the arm, and then got chairs for Mrs. Larkins and his wife. He then turned on Miriam. “Now, young people,” he said. “One! or I shall again.

“That’s right!” said Mr. Voules. “Same again, Miss.”

Mr. Polly was overcome with modest confusion, and turning, found a refuge from this publicity¹ in the arms of Mrs. Larkins. Then in a state of profuse² moisture he was assaulted and kissed by Annie and Minnie, who were immediately kissed upon some indistinctly stated grounds by Mr. Voules, who then kissed the entirely³ impassive Mrs. Voules and smacked⁴ his lips and remarked: “Home again safe and sound!” Then with a strange harrowing cry Mrs. Larkins seized upon and bedewed Miriam with kisses, Annie and Minnie kissed each other, and Johnson went abruptly⁵ to the door of the vestry and stared into the church — no doubt with ideas of sanctuary⁶ in his mind. “Like a bit of a kiss round sometimes,” said Mr. Voules, and made a kind of hissing⁷ noise with his teeth, and suddenly smacked his hands together with great éclat several times. Meanwhile the clergyman scratched his cheek with one hand and fiddled⁸ the pen with the other and the verger coughed protestingly.

“The dog cart’s just outside,” said Mr. Voules. “No walking home to-day for the bride, Mam.”

点击收听单词发音  

1 publicity
n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告
参考例句：
The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。 He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

2 profuse
adj.很多的，大量的，极其丰富的
参考例句：
The hostess is profuse in her hospitality.女主人招待得十分周到。 There was a profuse crop of hair impending over the top of his face.一大绺头发垂在他额头上。

3 entirely
ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地
参考例句：
The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。 His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

4 smacked
拍，打，掴( smack的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
He smacked his lips but did not utter a word. 他吧嗒两下嘴，一声也不言语。 She smacked a child's bottom. 她打孩子的屁股。

5 abruptly
adv.突然地，出其不意地
参考例句：
He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。 I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

6 sanctuary
n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区
参考例句：
There was a sanctuary of political refugees behind the hospital.医院后面有一个政治难民的避难所。 Most countries refuse to give sanctuary to people who hijack aeroplanes.大多数国家拒绝对劫机者提供庇护。

7 hissing
n. 发嘶嘶声, 蔑视 动词hiss的现在分词形式
参考例句：
The steam escaped with a loud hissing noise. 蒸汽大声地嘶嘶冒了出来。 His ears were still hissing with the rustle of the leaves. 他耳朵里还听得萨萨萨的声音和屑索屑索的怪声。 来自汉英文学 - 春蚕

8 fiddled
v.伪造( fiddle的过去式和过去分词 )；篡改；骗取；修理或稍作改动
参考例句：
He fiddled the company's accounts. 他篡改了公司的账目。 来自《简明英汉词典》 He began with Palestrina, and fiddled all the way through Bartok. 他从帕勒斯春纳的作品一直演奏到巴塔克的作品。 来自辞典例句

9 disperse
vi.使分散；使消失；vt.分散；驱散
参考例句：
The cattle were swinging their tails to disperse the flies.那些牛甩动着尾巴驱赶苍蝇。 The children disperse for the holidays.孩子们放假了。

10 sobbing
<主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的
参考例句：
I heard a child sobbing loudly. 我听见有个孩子在呜呜地哭。 Her eyes were red with recent sobbing. 她的眼睛因刚哭过而发红。

11 sobbed
哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说
参考例句：
She sobbed out the story of her son's death. 她哭诉着她儿子的死。 She sobbed out the sad story of her son's death. 她哽咽着诉说她儿子死去的悲惨经过。

12 wedded
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 )
参考例句：
She's wedded to her job. 她专心致志于工作。 I was invited over by the newly wedded couple for a meal. 我被那对新婚夫妇请去吃饭。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 vindictive
adj.有报仇心的，怀恨的，惩罚的
参考例句：
I have no vindictive feelings about it.我对此没有恶意。 The vindictive little girl tore up her sister's papers.那个充满报复心的小女孩撕破了她姐姐的作业。

14 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。

15 massacre
n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀
参考例句：
There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。 If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！

16 warding
监护，守护（ward的现在分词形式）
参考例句：
Magina channels a powerful warding magic damping the negative effects of spells. 敌法师用守护魔法来抵御负面法术的攻击。 Indeed, warding off disruption is the principal property of complex systems. 的确，避免破损解体是复杂系统主要的属性。

17 adorned
[计]被修饰的
参考例句：
The walls were adorned with paintings. 墙上装饰了绘画。 And his coat was adorned with a flamboyant bunch of flowers. 他的外套上面装饰着一束艳丽刺目的鲜花。

18 hampers
妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的第三人称单数 )
参考例句：
Prejudice sometimes hampers a person from doing the right thing. 有时候，偏见会妨碍人正确行事。 This behavior is the opposite of modeless feedback, and it hampers flow. 这个行为有悖于非模态的反馈，它阻碍了流。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

19 ominous
adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的
参考例句：
Those black clouds look ominous for our picnic.那些乌云对我们的野餐来说是个不祥之兆。 There was an ominous silence at the other end of the phone.电话那头出现了不祥的沉默。

20 heroism
n.大无畏精神，英勇
参考例句：
He received a medal for his heroism.他由于英勇而获得一枚奖章。 Stories of his heroism resounded through the country.他的英雄故事传遍全国。

21 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

22 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。

23 tranquil
adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的
参考例句：
The boy disturbed the tranquil surface of the pond with a stick. 那男孩用棍子打破了平静的池面。 The tranquil beauty of the village scenery is unique. 这乡村景色的宁静是绝无仅有的。

24 swerved
v.（使）改变方向，改变目的( swerve的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
She swerved sharply to avoid a cyclist. 她猛地急转弯，以躲开一个骑自行车的人。 The driver has swerved on a sudden to avoid a file of geese. 为了躲避一队鹅，司机突然来个急转弯。 来自《简明英汉词典》

25 evoking
产生，引起，唤起( evoke的现在分词 )
参考例句：
Some occur in organisms without evoking symptoms. 一些存在于生物体中，但不发生症状。 Nowadays, the protection of traditional knowledge is evoking heat discussion worldwide. 目前，全球都掀起了保护传统知识的热潮。