Mrs Wortle, when she perceived that her husband no longer called on Mrs Peacocke alone, became herself more assiduous in her visits, till at last she too entertained a great liking¹ for the woman. When Mr Peacocke had been gone for nearly a month she had fallen into a habit of going across every day after the performance of her own domestic morning duties, and remaining in the schoolhouse for an hour. On one morning she found that Mrs Peacocke had just received a letter from New York, in which her husband had narrated² his adventures so far. He had written from Southampton, but not after the revelation which had been made to him there as to the death of Ferdinand. He might have so done, but the information given to him had, at the spur of the moment, seemed to be so doubtful that he had refrained. Then he had been able to think of it all during the voyage, and from New York he had written at great length, detailing everything. Mrs Peacocke did not actually read out loud the letter, which was full of such terms of affection as are common between man and wife, knowing that her title to be called a wife was not admitted by Mrs Wortle; but she read much of it, and told all the circumstances as they were related.

“Then,” said Mrs Wortle, he certainly is — no more.” There came a certain accession of sadness to her voice, as she reflected that, after all, she was talking to this woman of the death of her undoubted husband.

“Yes; he is dead — at last.” Mrs Wortle uttered a deep sigh. It was dreadful to her to think that a woman should speak in that way of the death of her husband. “I know all that is going on in your mind,” said Mrs Peacocke, looking up into her face.

“Do you?”

“Every thought. You are telling yourself how terrible it is that a woman should speak of the death of her husband without a tear in her eye, without a sob³ — without one word of sorrow.”

“It is very sad.”

“Of course it is sad. Has it not all been sad? But what would you have me do? It is not because he was always bad to me — because he marred⁴ all my early life, making it so foul⁵ a blotch

点击收听单词发音  

1 liking
n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢
参考例句：
The word palate also means taste or liking.Palate这个词也有“口味”或“嗜好”的意思。 I must admit I have no liking for exaggeration.我必须承认我不喜欢夸大其词。

2 narrated
v.故事( narrate的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
Some of the story was narrated in the film. 该电影叙述了这个故事的部分情节。 来自《简明英汉词典》 Defoe skilfully narrated the adventures of Robinson Crusoe on his desert island. 笛福生动地叙述了鲁滨逊·克鲁索在荒岛上的冒险故事。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 sob
n.空间轨道的轰炸机；呜咽，哭泣
参考例句：
The child started to sob when he couldn't find his mother.孩子因找不到他妈妈哭了起来。 The girl didn't answer,but continued to sob with her head on the table.那个女孩不回答，也不抬起头来。她只顾低声哭着。

4 marred
adj. 被损毁, 污损的
参考例句：
The game was marred by the behaviour of drunken fans. 喝醉了的球迷行为不轨，把比赛给搅了。 Bad diction marred the effectiveness of his speech. 措词不当影响了他演说的效果。

5 foul
adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规
参考例句：
Take off those foul clothes and let me wash them.脱下那些脏衣服让我洗一洗。 What a foul day it is!多么恶劣的天气！

6 blotch
n.大斑点；红斑点；v.使沾上污渍，弄脏
参考例句：
He pointed to a dark blotch upon the starry sky some miles astern of us.他指着我们身后几英里处繁星点点的天空中的一朵乌云。 His face was covered in ugly red blotches.他脸上有许多难看的红色大斑点。

7 shudder
v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动
参考例句：
The sight of the coffin sent a shudder through him.看到那副棺材，他浑身一阵战栗。 We all shudder at the thought of the dreadful dirty place.我们一想到那可怕的肮脏地方就浑身战惊。

8 ascertain
vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清
参考例句：
It's difficult to ascertain the coal deposits.煤储量很难探明。 We must ascertain the responsibility in light of different situtations.我们必须根据不同情况判定责任。

9 judgment
n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见
参考例句：
The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。 He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

10 vexed
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
参考例句：
The conference spent days discussing the vexed question of border controls. 会议花了几天的时间讨论边境关卡这个难题。 He was vexed at his failure. 他因失败而懊恼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 condemn
vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑
参考例句：
Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。 We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。

12 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。

13 repent
v.悔悟，悔改，忏悔，后悔
参考例句：
He has nothing to repent of.他没有什么要懊悔的。 Remission of sins is promised to those who repent.悔罪者可得到赦免。

14 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。

15 wretch
n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人
参考例句：
You are really an ungrateful wretch to complain instead of thanking him.你不但不谢他，还埋怨他，真不知好歹。 The dead husband is not the dishonoured wretch they fancied him.死去的丈夫不是他们所想象的不光彩的坏蛋。

16 vile
adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的
参考例句：
Who could have carried out such a vile attack?会是谁发起这么卑鄙的攻击呢？ Her talk was full of vile curses.她的话里充满着恶毒的咒骂。

17 deserted
adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的
参考例句：
The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。 The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。

18 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。

19 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。

20 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。

21 condemned
adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词
参考例句：
He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。 The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

22 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。

23 horrid
adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的
参考例句：
I'm not going to the horrid dinner party.我不打算去参加这次讨厌的宴会。 The medicine is horrid and she couldn't get it down.这种药很难吃，她咽不下去。

24 softened
（使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰
参考例句：
His smile softened slightly. 他的微笑稍柔和了些。 The ice cream softened and began to melt. 冰淇淋开始变软并开始融化。

25 insufficient
adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的
参考例句：
There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。 In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。

26 alluded
提及，暗指( allude的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
In your remarks you alluded to a certain sinister design. 在你的谈话中，你提到了某个阴谋。 She also alluded to her rival's past marital troubles. 她还影射了对手过去的婚姻问题。

27 mere
adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过
参考例句：
That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。 It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

28 collapses
折叠( collapse的第三人称单数 )； 倒塌； 崩溃； （尤指工作劳累后）坐下
参考例句：
This bridge table collapses. 这张桥牌桌子能折叠。 Once Russia collapses, the last chance to stop Hitler will be gone. 一旦俄国垮台，抑止希特勒的最后机会就没有了。

29 vacancies
n.空房间( vacancy的名词复数 )；空虚；空白；空缺
参考例句：
job vacancies 职位空缺 The sign outside the motel said \"No Vacancies\". 汽车旅馆外的招牌显示“客满”。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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 deterred
v.阻止，制止( deter的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
I told him I wasn't interested, but he wasn't deterred. 我已告诉他我不感兴趣，可他却不罢休。 Jeremy was not deterred by this criticism. 杰里米没有因这一批评而却步。 来自辞典例句

32 hesitation
n.犹豫，踌躇
参考例句：
After a long hesitation, he told the truth at last.踌躇了半天，他终于直说了。 There was a certain hesitation in her manner.她的态度有些犹豫不决。

33 slander
n./v.诽谤，污蔑
参考例句：
The article is a slander on ordinary working people.那篇文章是对普通劳动大众的诋毁。 He threatened to go public with the slander.他威胁要把丑闻宣扬出去。

34 uncommon
adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的
参考例句：
Such attitudes were not at all uncommon thirty years ago.这些看法在30年前很常见。 Phil has uncommon intelligence.菲尔智力超群。

35 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。

36 censured
v.指责，非难，谴责( censure的过去式 )
参考例句：
They were censured as traitors. 他们被指责为叛徒。 来自辞典例句 The judge censured the driver but didn't fine him. 法官责备了司机但没罚他款。 来自辞典例句

37 severely
adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地
参考例句：
He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。 He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。