顺水推舟17

时间：2025-01-30 17:16:50

（单词翻译:单击）

Nine
I
It was a fine morning. The birds were singing, and Rosaleen, coming down to breakfast in her
expensive peasant dress, felt happy.
The doubts and fears that had lately oppressed her seemed to have faded away. David was in a
good temper, laughing and teasing her. His visit to London on the previous day had been
satisfactory. Breakfast was well cooked and well served. They had just finished it when the post
arrived.
There were seven or eight letters for Rosaleen. Bills, charitable appeals, some local invitations
—nothing of any special interest.
David laid aside a couple of small bills and opened the third envelope. The enclosure, like the
outside of the envelope, was written in printed characters.
Dear Mr. Hunter,
I think it is best to approach you rather than your sister, Mrs. Cloade,” in
case the contents of this letter might come as somewhat of a shock to her. Briefly1,
I have news of Captain Robert Underhay, which she may be glad to hear. I am
staying at the Stag and if you will call there this evening, I shall be pleased to go
into the matter with you.
Yours faithfully,
Enoch Arden
A strangled sound came from David’s throat. Rosaleen looked up smiling, then her face changed
to an expression of alarm.
“David—David—what is it?”
Mutely he held out the letter to her. She took it and read it.
“But—David—I don’t understand—what does it mean?”
“You can read, can’t you?”
She glanced up at him timorously2.
“David—does it mean—what are we going to do?”
He was frowning—planning rapidly in his quick far-seeing mind.
“It’s all right, Rosaleen, no need to be worried. I’ll deal with it—”
“But does it mean that—”
“Don’t worry, my dear girl. Leave it to me. Listen, this is what you’ve got to do. Pack a
bag at once and go up to London. Go to the flat — and stay there until you hear from me?
Understand?”
“Yes. Yes, of course I understand, but David—”
“Just do as I say, Rosaleen.” He smiled at her. He was kindly3, reassuring4. “Go and pack.
I’ll drive you to the station. You can catch the 10:32. Tell the porter at the flats that you don’t
want to see any one. If any one calls and asks for you, he’s to say you’re out of town. Give him
a quid. Understand? He’s not to let any one up to see you except me.”
“Oh.” Her hands went up to her cheeks. She looked at him with scared lovely eyes.
“It’s all right, Rosaleen — but it’s tricky5. You’re not much hand at the tricky stuff.
That’s my lookout6. I want you out of the way so that I’ve got a free hand, that’s all.”
“Can’t I stay here, David?”
“No, of course you can’t, Rosaleen. Do have some sense. I’ve got to have a free hand to
deal with this fellow whoever he is—”
“Do you think that it’s—that it’s—”
He said with emphasis:
“I don’t think anything at the moment. The first thing is to get you out of the way. Then I can
find out where we stand. Go on—there’s a good girl, don’t argue.”
She turned and went out of the room.
David frowned down at the letter in his hand.
Very noncommittal — polite — well phrased — might mean anything. It might be genuine
solicitude7 in an awkward situation. Might be a veiled threat. He conned8 its phrases over and over
—“I have news of Captain Robert Underhay”…“Best to approach you”…“I shall be
pleased to go into the matter with you…” “Mrs. Cloade.” Damn it all, he didn’t like those
inverted9 commas—Mrs. Cloade…”
He looked at the signature. Enoch Arden. Something stirred in his mind — some poetical10
memory…a line of verse.

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1 briefly 9Styo     
adv.简单地，简短地
参考例句：
  • I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
  • He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。
2 timorously d13cc247e3c856fff3dc97e07716d433     
adv.胆怯地，羞怯地
参考例句：
  • Prissy climbed reluctantly from the wagon with many groans and timorously followed Scarlett up the avenue. 百里茜很不情愿从马车上爬下来，一路嘟囔，跟着思嘉胆怯地向那条林荫道走去。 来自飘（部分）
3 kindly tpUzhQ     
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。
4 reassuring vkbzHi     
a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的，使人放心的
参考例句：
  • He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. 他轻拍了一下她的肩膀让她放心。
  • With a reassuring pat on her arm, he left. 他鼓励地拍了拍她的手臂就离开了。
5 tricky 9fCzyd     
adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的
参考例句：
  • I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
  • He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。
6 lookout w0sxT     
n.注意，前途，瞭望台
参考例句：
  • You can see everything around from the lookout.从了望台上你可以看清周围的一切。
  • It's a bad lookout for the company if interest rates don't come down.如果利率降不下来，公司的前景可就不妙了。
7 solicitude mFEza     
n.焦虑
参考例句：
  • Your solicitude was a great consolation to me.你对我的关怀给了我莫大的安慰。
  • He is full of tender solicitude towards my sister.他对我妹妹满心牵挂。
8 conned a0132dc3e7754a1685b731008a313dea     
adj.被骗了v.指挥操舵( conn的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
  • Lynn felt women had been conned. 林恩觉得女人们受骗了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He was so plausible that he conned everybody. 他那么会花言巧语，以至于骗过了所有的人。 来自辞典例句
9 inverted 184401f335d6b8661e04dfea47b9dcd5     
adj.反向的，倒转的v.使倒置，使反转( invert的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
  • Only direct speech should go inside inverted commas. 只有直接引语应放在引号内。
  • Inverted flight is an acrobatic manoeuvre of the plane. 倒飞是飞机的一种特技动作。 来自《简明英汉词典》
10 poetical 7c9cba40bd406e674afef9ffe64babcd     
adj.似诗人的；诗一般的；韵文的；富有诗意的
参考例句：
  • This is a poetical picture of the landscape. 这是一幅富有诗意的风景画。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • John is making a periphrastic study in a worn-out poetical fashion. 约翰正在对陈腐的诗风做迂回冗长的研究。 来自辞典例句

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