In this way nothing was said at the first telling of the story to decide the fate of the schoolmaster and of the lady whom we shall still call his wife. There certainly had been no horror displayed by the Doctor. “Whether you can remain here is another question.” The Doctor, during the whole interview, had said nothing harder than that. Mr Peacocke, as he left the rectory, did feel that the Doctor had been very good to him. There had not only been no horror, but an expression of the kindest sympathy. And as to the going, that was left in doubt. He himself felt that he ought to go — but it would have been so very sad to have to go without a friend left with whom he could consult as to his future condition!

“He has been very kind, then?” said Mrs Peacocke to her husband when he related to her the particulars of the interview.

“Very kind.”

“And he did not reproach you.”

“Not a word.”

“Nor me?”

“He declared that had it been he who was in question he would have clung to you for ever and ever.”

“Did he? Then will he leave us here?”

“That does not follow. I should think not. He will know that others must know it. Your brother-in-law will not tell him only. Lefroy, when he finds that he can get no money here, from sheer revenge will tell the story everywhere. When he left the rectory, he was probably as angry with the Doctor as he is with me. He will do all the harm that he can to all of us.”

“We must go, then?”

“I should think so. Your position here would be insupportable even if it could be permitted. You may be sure of this — everybody will know it.”

“What do I care for everybody?” she said. It is not that I am ashamed of myself.”

“No, dearest; nor am I— ashamed of myself or of you. But there will be bitter words, and bitter words will produce bitter looks and scant¹ respect. How would it be with you if the boys looked at you as though they thought ill of you?”

“They would not — oh, they would not!”

“Or the servants — if they reviled² you?”

“Could it come to that?”

“It must not come to that. But it is as the Doctor said himself just now — a man cannot isolate³ the morals, the manners, the ways of his life from the morals of others. Men, if they live together, must live together by certain laws.”

点击收听单词发音  

1 scant
adj.不充分的，不足的；v.减缩，限制，忽略
参考例句：
Don't scant the butter when you make a cake.做糕饼时不要吝惜奶油。 Many mothers pay scant attention to their own needs when their children are small.孩子们小的时候，许多母亲都忽视自己的需求。

2 reviled
v.辱骂，痛斥( revile的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
The tramp reviled the man who drove him off. 流浪汉辱骂那位赶他走开的人。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》 The old man reviled against corruption. 那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 isolate
vt.使孤立，隔离
参考例句：
Do not isolate yourself from others.不要把自己孤立起来。 We should never isolate ourselves from the masses.我们永远不能脱离群众。

4 noted
adj.著名的，知名的
参考例句：
The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。 Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

5 inclination
n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好
参考例句：
She greeted us with a slight inclination of the head.她微微点头向我们致意。 I did not feel the slightest inclination to hurry.我没有丝毫着急的意思。

6 excellence
n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德
参考例句：
His art has reached a high degree of excellence.他的艺术已达到炉火纯青的地步。 My performance is far below excellence.我的表演离优秀还差得远呢。

7 peculiarity
n.独特性，特色；特殊的东西；怪癖
参考例句：
Each country has its own peculiarity.每个国家都有自己的独特之处。 The peculiarity of this shop is its day and nigth service.这家商店的特点是昼夜服务。

8 peculiar
adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的
参考例句：
He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。 He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

9 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。

10 phoenix
n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生
参考例句：
The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。 The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

11 bishop
n.主教，（国际象棋）象
参考例句：
He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。 Two years after his death the bishop was canonised.主教逝世两年后被正式封为圣者。

12 confiding
adj.相信人的，易于相信的v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的现在分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等）
参考例句：
The girl is of a confiding nature. 这女孩具有轻信别人的性格。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》 Celia, though confiding her opinion only to Andrew, disagreed. 西莉亚却不这么看，尽管她只向安德鲁吐露过。 来自辞典例句

13 conceal
v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽
参考例句：
He had to conceal his identity to escape the police.为了躲避警方，他只好隐瞒身份。 He could hardly conceal his joy at his departure.他几乎掩饰不住临行时的喜悦。

14 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。

15 acting
n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的
参考例句：
Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。 During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

16 gutter
n.沟，街沟，水槽，檐槽，贫民窟
参考例句：
There's a cigarette packet thrown into the gutter.阴沟里有个香烟盒。 He picked her out of the gutter and made her a great lady.他使她脱离贫苦生活，并成为贵妇。

17 akin
adj.同族的，类似的
参考例句：
She painted flowers and birds pictures akin to those of earlier feminine painters.她画一些同早期女画家类似的花鸟画。 Listening to his life story is akin to reading a good adventure novel.听他的人生故事犹如阅读一本精彩的冒险小说。

18 virtue
n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力
参考例句：
He was considered to be a paragon of virtue.他被认为是品德尽善尽美的典范。 You need to decorate your mind with virtue.你应该用德行美化心灵。

19 obstinacy
n.顽固；（病痛等）难治
参考例句：
It is a very accountable obstinacy.这是一种完全可以理解的固执态度。 Cindy's anger usually made him stand firm to the point of obstinacy.辛迪一发怒，常常使他坚持自见，并达到执拗的地步。

20 virago
n.悍妇
参考例句：
The virago vomited out curses on that tramp.那悍妇怒骂那流浪汉。 His wife is a virago.他的妻子是母老虎。

21 kindly
adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地
参考例句：
Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。 A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

22 decided
adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的
参考例句：
This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。 There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

23 secrecy
n.秘密，保密，隐蔽
参考例句：
All the researchers on the project are sworn to secrecy.该项目的所有研究人员都按要求起誓保守秘密。 Complete secrecy surrounded the meeting.会议在绝对机密的环境中进行。

24 apparently
adv.显然地；表面上，似乎
参考例句：
An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。 He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

25 repartee
n.机敏的应答
参考例句：
This diplomat possessed an excellent gift for repartee.这位外交官具有卓越的应对才能。 He was a brilliant debater and his gift of repartee was celebrated.他擅长辩论，以敏于应答著称。

26 vehemently
adv. 热烈地
参考例句：
He argued with his wife so vehemently that he talked himself hoarse. 他和妻子争论得很激烈，以致讲话的声音都嘶哑了。 Both women vehemently deny the charges against them. 两名妇女都激烈地否认了对她们的指控。

27 bias
n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见
参考例句：
They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。 He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。

28 repented
对（自己的所为）感到懊悔或忏悔( repent的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
He repented his thoughtlessness. 他后悔自己的轻率。 Darren repented having shot the bird. 达伦后悔射杀了那只鸟。

29 repentance
n.懊悔
参考例句：
He shows no repentance for what he has done.他对他的所作所为一点也不懊悔。 Christ is inviting sinners to repentance.基督正在敦请有罪的人悔悟。

30 remains
n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹
参考例句：
He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。 The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

31 pretences
n.假装( pretence的名词复数 )；作假；自命；自称
参考例句：
You've brought your old friends out here under false pretences. 你用虚假的名义把你的那些狐朋狗党带到这里来。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹 There are no pretences about him. 他一点不虚伪。 来自辞典例句

32 reprobate
n.无赖汉；堕落的人
参考例句：
After the fall,god begins to do the work of differentiation between his elect and the reprobate.人堕落之后，上帝开始分辨选民与被遗弃的人。 He disowned his reprobate son.他声明与堕落的儿子脱离关系。