the words 'after which Election duly holden the said Sibimet and

Tabikat his wife may at their pleasure assume Imperial--' before,



with a guilty look, he crumpled it up in his hand.

CHAPTER 4.



A CUNNING CONSPIRACY.

The Warden entered at this moment: and close behind him came the Lord



Chancellor, a little flushed and out of breath, and adjusting his wig,

which appeared to have been dragged partly off his head.



"But where is my precious child?" my Lady enquired, as the four took

their seats at the small side-table devoted to ledgers and bundles and



bills.

"He left the room a few minutes ago with the Lord Chancellor,"



the Sub-Warden briefly explained.

"Ah!" said my Lady, graciously smiling on that high official.



"Your Lordship has a very taking way with children! I doubt if any

one could gain the ear of my darling Uggug so quickly as you can!"



For an entirely stupid woman, my Lady's remarks were curiously full of

meaning, of which she herself was wholly unconscious.



The Chancellor bowed, but with a very uneasy air. "I think the Warden

was about to speak," he remarked, evidentlyanxious to change the



subject.

But my Lady would not be checked. "He is a clever boy," she continued



with enthusiasm, "but he needs a man like your Lordship to draw him

out!"



The Chancellor bit his lip, and was silent. He evidently feared that,

stupid as she looked, she understood what she said this time, and was



having a joke at his expense. He might have spared himself all anxiety:

whatever accidental meaning her words might have, she herself never



meant anything at all.

"It is all settled!" the Warden announced, wasting no time over



preliminaries. "The Sub-Wardenship is abolished, and my brother is

appointed to act as Vice-Warden whenever I am absent. So, as I am going



abroad for a while, he will enter on his new duties at once."

"And there will really be a Vice after all?" my Lady enquired.



"I hope so!" the Warden smilingly replied.

My Lady looked much pleased, and tried to clap her hands: but you might



as well have knocked two feather-beds together, for any noise it made.

"When my husband is Vice," she said, "it will be the same as if we had



a hundred Vices!"

"Hear, hear!" cried the Sub-Warden.



"You seem to think it very remarkable," my Lady remarked with some

severity, "that your wife should speak the truth!"



"No, not remarkable at all!" her husband anxiously explained.

"Nothing is remarkable that you say, sweet one!"



My Lady smiled approval of the sentiment, and went on.

"And am I Vice-Wardeness?"



"If you choose to use that title," said the Warden:

"but 'Your Excellency' will be the proper style of address. And I trust



that both 'His Excellency' and 'Her Excellency' will observe the

Agreement I have drawn up. The provision I am most anxious about



is this." He unrolled a large parchmentscroll, and read aloud the words

"'item, that we will be kind to the poor.' The Chancellor worded it



for me," he added, glancing at that great Functionary.

"I suppose, now, that word 'item' has some deep legal meaning?"



"Undoubtedly!" replied the Chancellor, as articulately as he could with

a pen between his lips. He was nervously rolling and unrolling several



other scrolls, and making room among them for the one the Warden had

just handed to him. "These are merely the rough copies," he explained:



"and, as soon as I have put in the final corrections--" making a

great commotion among the different parchments, "--a semi-colon or



two that I have accidentally omitted--" here he darted about, pen in

hand, from one part of the scroll to another, spreading sheets of



blotting-paper over his corrections, "all will be ready for signing."

"Should it not be read out, first?" my Lady enquired.



"No need, no need!" the Sub-Warden and the Chancellor exclaimed at the

same moment, with feverish eagerness.



"No need at all," the Warden gently assented. "Your husband and I have

gone through it together. It provides that he shall exercise the full



authority of Warden, and shall have the disposal of the annualrevenue

attached to the office, until my return, or, failing that, until Bruno



comes of age: and that he shall then hand over, to myself or to Bruno

as the case may be, the Wardenship, the unspent revenue, and the



contents of the Treasury, which are to be preserved, intact, under his

guardianship."



All this time the Sub-Warden was busy, with the Chancellor's help,

shifting the papers from side to side, and pointing out to the Warden

• hastily [´heistili] ad.急速地；草率地 (初中英语单词)


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


• calmly [´kɑ:mli] ad.平静地；无风浪地 (初中英语单词)


• standing [´stændiŋ] n.持续 a.直立的 (初中英语单词)


• triumph [´traiəmf] n.胜利 vi.得胜，战胜 (初中英语单词)


• witness [´witnis] n.见证人 vt.目击 (初中英语单词)


• annual [´ænjuəl] a.每年的 n.年刊 (初中英语单词)


• anxiety [æŋ´zaiəti] n.挂念；渴望；焦虑的事 (初中英语单词)


• earnest [´ə:nist] a.认真的 n.认真；诚恳 (初中英语单词)


• fiercely [´fiəsli] ad.凶猛地，残忍地 (初中英语单词)


• election [i´lekʃən] n.选举；选择 (初中英语单词)


• guilty [´gilti] a.有罪的；心虚的 (初中英语单词)


• cunning [´kʌniŋ] a.&n.狡猾(诡诈)的 (初中英语单词)


• breath [breθ] n.呼吸；气息 (初中英语单词)


• partly [´pɑ:tli] ad.部分地；不完全地 (初中英语单词)


• briefly [´bri:fli] ad.简短地；简略地 (初中英语单词)


• darling [´dɑ:liŋ] n.爱人 a.亲爱的 (初中英语单词)


• stupid [´stju:pid] a.愚蠢的；糊涂的 (初中英语单词)


• curiously [´kjuəriəsli] ad.好奇地；稀奇古怪地 (初中英语单词)


• wholly [´həul-li] ad.完全，十足；统统 (初中英语单词)


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


• anxious [´æŋkʃəs] a.担忧的；渴望的 (初中英语单词)


• enthusiasm [in´θju:ziæzəm] n.热心；狂热；爱好 (初中英语单词)


• whenever [wen´evə] conj.&ad.无论何时 (初中英语单词)


• absent [´æbsənt, əb´sent] a.不在的 vt.使缺席 (初中英语单词)


• remarkable [ri´mɑ:kəbl] a.值得注意的；显著的 (初中英语单词)


• sentiment [´sentimənt] n.情绪；多愁善感 (初中英语单词)


• provision [prə´viʒən] n.供应；规定；条款 (初中英语单词)


• gently [´dʒentli] ad.温和地；静静地 (初中英语单词)


• thermometer [θə´mɔmitə] n.温度计；寒暑表 (高中英语单词)


• painful [´peinfəl] a.痛(苦)的；费力的 (高中英语单词)


• recollection [,rekə´lekʃən] n.回忆；追想；记忆力 (高中英语单词)


• banquet [´bæŋkwit] n.宴会，盛宴 (高中英语单词)


• melancholy [´melənkəli] n.忧郁 a.忧郁的 (高中英语单词)


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


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


• gardener [´gɑ:dnə] n.园艺家；园林工人 (高中英语单词)


• angrily [´æŋgrili] ad.生气地；愤怒地 (高中英语单词)


• chancellor [´tʃɑ:nsələ] n.首相；大臣 (高中英语单词)


• hideous [´hidiəs] a.丑陋的，可怕的 (高中英语单词)


• manuscript [´mænjuskript] a.手抄的 n.手稿 (高中英语单词)


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


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


• anxiously [´æŋkʃəsli] ad.挂念地；渴望地 (高中英语单词)


• approval [ə´pru:vəl] n.赞成，批准，认可 (高中英语单词)


• disposal [di´spəuzəl] n.处理；支配 (高中英语单词)


• revenue [´revinju:] n.税收；收入 (高中英语单词)


• cautious [´kɔ:ʃəs] a.小心的；谨慎的 (英语四级单词)


• graciously [´greiʃəsli] ad.仁慈地，和蔼庄重地 (英语四级单词)


• feebly [´fi:bli] ad.虚弱地；贫乏地 (英语四级单词)


• trying [´traiiŋ] a.难堪的；费劲的 (英语四级单词)


• warden [´wɔ:dn] n.看守人；监护人 (英语四级单词)


• devoted [di´vəutid] a.献身…的，忠实的 (英语四级单词)


• accidental [,æksi´dentl] a.偶然的；附属的 (英语四级单词)


• wasting [´weistiŋ] a.&n.浪费(的) (英语四级单词)


• parchment [´pɑ:tʃmənt] n.羊皮纸(文稿) (英语四级单词)


• nervously [´nə:vəsli] ad.神经质地；胆怯地 (英语四级单词)


• commotion [kə´məuʃən] n.混乱；骚动 (英语四级单词)


• feverish [´fi:vəriʃ] a.发烧的；狂热的 (英语四级单词)


• forcibly [´fɔ:səbli] ad.强行地，强烈地 (英语六级单词)


• timidly [´timidli] ad.胆怯地 (英语六级单词)


• ruffian [´rʌfiən] n.流氓 a.残暴的 (英语六级单词)


• weeping [´wi:piŋ] a.&n.哭泣(的) (英语六级单词)


• piercing [´piəsiŋ] a.刺(贯)穿的；尖刻的 (英语六级单词)


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


• scroll [skrəul] n.卷轴；纸卷 (英语六级单词)


• accidentally [,æksi´dentəli] ad.偶然地 (英语六级单词)


• intact [in´tækt] a.未动过的，完整的 (英语六级单词)