"It wouldn't be I--it would be you. It would frighten them to think



that you should absorb his lordship's young affections."

Bessie Alden, with her clear eyes still overshadowed by her dark brows,



continued to interrogate. "Why should that frighten them?"

Mrs. Westgate poised her answer with a smile before delivering it.



"Because they think you are not good enough. You are a charming girl,

beautiful and amiable, intelligent and clever, and as bien-elevee



as it is possible to be; but you are not a fit match for Lord Lambeth."

Bessie Alden was decidedly disgusted. "Where do you get such extraordinary



ideas?" she asked. "You have said some such strange things lately.

My dear Kitty, where do you collect them?"



Kitty was evidently enamored of her idea. "Yes, it would

put them on pins and needles, and it wouldn't hurt you.



Mr. Beaumont is already most uneasy; I could soon see that."

The young girl meditated a moment. "Do you mean that they spy upon him--



that they interfere with him?"

"I don't know what power they have to interfere, but I know



that a British mama may worry her son's life out."

It has been intimated that, as regards certain disagreeable things,



Bessie Alden had a fund of skepticism. She abstained on the present occasion

from expressing disbelief, for she wished not to irritate her sister.



But she said to herself that Kitty had been misinformed--that this

was a traveler's tale. Though she was a girl of a lively imagination,



there could in the nature of things be, to her sense, no reality in

the idea of her belonging to a vulgarcategory. What she said aloud was,



"I must say that in that case I am very sorry for Lord Lambeth."

Mrs. Westgate, more and more exhilarated by her scheme, was smiling



at her again. "If I could only believe it was safe!" she exclaimed.

"When you begin to pity him, I, on my side, am afraid."



"Afraid of what?"

"Of your pitying him too much."



Bessie Alden turned away impatiently; but at the end of a minute she

turned back. "What if I should pity him too much?" she asked.



Mrs. Westgate hereupon turned away, but after a moment's

reflection she also faced her sister again. "It would come,



after all, to the same thing," she said.

Lord Lambeth came the next day with his trap, and the two ladies,



attended by Willie Woodley, placed themselves under his guidance,

and were conveyed eastward, through some of the duskier portions



of the metropolis, to the great turreted donjon which overlooks

the London shipping. They all descended from their vehicle and



entered the famous inclosure; and they secured the services of a

venerable beefeater, who, though there were many other claimants for



legendary information, made a fine exclusive party of them and marched

them through courts and corridors, through armories and prisons.



He delivered his usual peripatetic discourse, and they stopped and stared,

and peeped and stooped, according to the official admonitions.



Bessie Alden asked the old man in the crimsondoublet a great

many questions; she thought it a most fascinating place.



Lord Lambeth was in high good humor; he was constantly laughing;

he enjoyed what he would have called the lark. Willie Woodley kept



looking at the ceilings and tapping the walls with the knuckle

of a pearl-gray glove; and Mrs. Westgate, asking at frequent



intervals to be allowed to sit down and wait till they came back,

was as frequently informed that they would never come back.



To a great many of Bessie's questions--chiefly on collateral

points of English history--the ancient warder was naturally



unable to reply; whereupon she always appealed to Lord Lambeth.

But his lordship was very ignorant. He declared that he knew nothing



about that sort of thing, and he seemed greatly diverted at being

treated as an authority.



"You can't expect everyone to know as much as you," he said.

"I should expect you to know a great deal more," declared Bessie Alden.



"Women always know more than men about names and dates

and that sort of thing," Lord Lambeth rejoined.



"There was Lady Jane Grey we have just been hearing about,

who went in for Latin and Greek and all the learning of her age."



"YOU have no right to be ignorant, at all events," said Bessie.

"Why haven't I as good a right as anyone else?"



"Because you have lived in the midst of all these things."

"What things do you mean? Axes, and blocks, and thumbscrews?"



"All these historical things. You belong to a historical family."

"Bessie is really too historical," said Mrs. Westgate,



catching a word of this dialogue.

• instantly [´instəntli] ad.立即，立刻 (初中英语单词)


• trifle [´traifəl] n.琐事，小事；少量 (初中英语单词)


• agreeable [ə´gri:əbəl] a.适合的；符合的 (初中英语单词)


• evidently [´evidəntli] ad.明显地 (初中英语单词)


• confess [kən´fes] vt.供认；坦白；承认 (初中英语单词)


• associate [ə´səuʃieit] v.联合a.同伴的n.伙伴 (初中英语单词)


• peculiar [pi´kju:liə] a.特有的；奇异的 (初中英语单词)


• advantage [əd´vɑ:ntidʒ] n.优势；利益 (初中英语单词)


• privilege [´privilidʒ] n.特权 vt.给….特权 (初中英语单词)


• wicked [´wikid] a.邪恶的；不道德的 (初中英语单词)


• freely [´fri:li] ad.自由地；慷慨地 (初中英语单词)


• extremely [ik´stri:mli] ad.极端地；非常地 (初中英语单词)


• charming [´tʃɑ:miŋ] a.可爱的；极好的 (初中英语单词)


• emperor [´empərə] n.皇帝 (初中英语单词)


• departure [di´pɑ:tʃə] n.离开，出发 (初中英语单词)


• venture [´ventʃə] n.投机 v.冒险；敢于 (初中英语单词)


• offense [ə´fens] n.冒犯；触怒；犯法 (初中英语单词)


• frighten [´fraitn] vt.吓唬，使惊惧 (初中英语单词)


• absorb [əb´sɔ:b] vt.吸收；吸引 (初中英语单词)


• intelligent [in´telidʒənt] a.聪明的；理智的 (初中英语单词)


• interfere [,intə´fiə] vi.干涉；妨碍；打扰 (初中英语单词)


• lively [´laivli] a.活泼的；热烈的 (初中英语单词)


• reality [ri´æliti] n.现实(性)；真实；逼真 (初中英语单词)


• scheme [ski:m] n.计划；阴谋，诡计 (初中英语单词)


• shipping [´ʃipiŋ] n.船运业；船舶(总数) (初中英语单词)


• fascinating [´fæsineitiŋ] a.迷人，使神魂颠倒的 (初中英语单词)


• constantly [´kɔnstəntli] ad.经常地；不断地 (初中英语单词)


• ignorant [´ignərənt] a.无知的，愚昧的 (初中英语单词)


• everyone [´evriwʌn] pron.=everybody 每人 (初中英语单词)


• learning [´lə:niŋ] n.学习；学问；知识 (初中英语单词)


• awfully [´ɔ:fuli] ad.令人畏惧地 (高中英语单词)


• declaration [,deklə´reiʃən] n.宣布；宣言；申报 (高中英语单词)


• duchess [´dʌtʃis] n.公爵夫人；女公爵 (高中英语单词)


• thankful [´θæŋkfəl] a.感激的；欣慰的 (高中英语单词)


• critical [´kritikəl] a.批评的；关键性的 (高中英语单词)


• liable [´laiəbəl] a.易于…的；有责任的 (高中英语单词)


• compliment [´kɔmplimənt] n.敬意 vt.赞美；祝贺 (高中英语单词)


• stubborn [´stʌbən] a.顽固的；坚持的 (高中英语单词)


• brightness [´braitnis] n.光明；快乐 (高中英语单词)


• decidedly [di´saididli] ad.坚决地，果断地 (高中英语单词)


• uneasy [ʌn´i:zi] a.不安的；不自在的 (高中英语单词)


• disagreeable [,disə´gri:əbl] a.令人不悦的 (高中英语单词)


• irritate [´iriteit] vt.激怒；刺激 (高中英语单词)


• exclusive [ik´sklu:siv] a.独有的；集中的 (高中英语单词)


• discourse [´diskɔ:s] n.论文；演说；说教 (高中英语单词)


• crimson [´krimzən] a.&n.深(紫)红(的) (高中英语单词)


• lordship [´lɔ:dʃip] n.贵族权力；阁下 (高中英语单词)


• hearing [´hiəriŋ] n.听力；听证会；审讯 (高中英语单词)


• historical [his´tɔrikəl] a.历史(上)的 (高中英语单词)


• morrow [´mɔrəu] n.翌日 (英语四级单词)


• advent [´ædvent] n.来临；降临 (英语四级单词)


• somber [´sɔmbə] a.昏暗的；忧郁的 (英语四级单词)


• beautifully [´bju:tifəli] ad.美丽地；优美地 (英语四级单词)


• patronage [´pætrənidʒ] n.保护；赞助 (英语四级单词)


• drawing [´drɔ:iŋ] n.画图；制图；图样 (英语四级单词)


• allusion [ə´lu:ʒən] n.暗指；提及；引喻 (英语四级单词)


• aristocracy [,æris´tɔkrəsi] n.贵族政治；贵族 (英语四级单词)


• trying [´traiiŋ] a.难堪的；费劲的 (英语四级单词)


• imperfect [im´pə:fikt] a.不完全的；未完成的 (英语四级单词)


• amiable [´eimiəbəl] a.亲切的，温和的 (英语四级单词)


• vulgar [´vʌlgə] a.粗俗的；大众的 (英语四级单词)


• impatiently [im´peiʃəntli] ad.不耐烦地，急躁地 (英语四级单词)


• eastward [´i:stwəd] a.&ad.向东(的) (英语四级单词)


• metropolis [mi´trɔpəlis] n.首都；大城市 (英语四级单词)


• vehicle [´vi:ikəl] n.车辆；媒介物 (英语四级单词)


• whereupon [,weərə´pɔn] ad.在什么上面；因此 (英语四级单词)


• inviting [in´vaitiŋ] a.动人的 (英语六级单词)


• taking [´teikiŋ] a.迷人的 n.捕获物 (英语六级单词)


• animated [´ænimeitid] a.栩栩如生的；活跃的 (英语六级单词)


• outrageous [aut´reidʒəs] a.横蛮的；残暴的 (英语六级单词)


• speaking [´spi:kiŋ] n.说话 a.发言的 (英语六级单词)


• wanting [´wɔntiŋ, wɑ:n-] a.短缺的；不足的 (英语六级单词)


• category [´kætigəri] n.种类；部属；范畴 (英语六级单词)


• doublet [´dʌblit] n.一对中之一 (英语六级单词)