there came a glimmer of hope. The Admiral again proposed an

adjournment to the 'Trevanion Arms,' and when Dick had once



more refused, it hung for a moment in the balance whether or

not the old toper would return there by himself. Had he done



so, of course Dick could have taken to his heels, and warned

Esther of what was coming, and of how it had begun. But the



Admiral, after a pause, decided for the brandy at home, and

made off in that direction.



We have no details of the sounding.

Next day the Admiral was observed in the parish church, very



properly dressed. He found the places, and joined in

response and hymn, as to the manner born; and his appearance,



as he intended it should, attracted some attention among the

worshippers. Old Naseby, for instance, had observed him.



'There was a drunken-looking blackguard opposite us in

church,' he said to his son as they drove home; 'do you know



who he was?'

'Some fellow - Van Tromp, I believe,' said Dick.



'A foreigner, too!' observed the Squire.

Dick could not sufficientlycongratulate himself on the



escape he had effected. Had the Admiral met him with his

father, what would have been the result? And could such a



catastrophe be long postponed? It seemed to him as if the

storm were nearly ripe; and it was so more nearly than he



thought.

He did not go to the cottage in the afternoon, withheld by



fear and shame; but when dinner was over at Naseby House, and

the Squire had gone off into a comfortable doze, Dick slipped



out of the room, and ran across country, in part to save

time, in part to save his own courage from growing cold; for



he now hated the notion of the cottage or the Admiral, and if

he did not hate, at least feared to think of Esther. He had



no clue to her reflections; but he could not conceal from his

own heart that he must have sunk in her esteem, and the



spectacle of her infatuation galled him like an insult.

He knocked and was admitted. The room looked very much as on



his last visit, with Esther at the table and Van Tromp beside

the fire; but the expression of the two faces told a very



different story. The girl was paler than usual; her eyes

were dark, the colour seemed to have faded from round about



them, and her swiftest glance was as intent as a stare. The

appearance of the Admiral, on the other hand, was rosy, and



flabby, and moist; his jowl hung over his shirt collar, his

smile was loose and wandering, and he had so far relaxed the



natural control of his eyes, that one of them was aimed

inward, as if to watch the growth of the carbuncle. We are



warned against bad judgments; but the Admiral was certainly

not sober. He made no attempt to rise when Richard entered,



but waved his pipe flightily in the air, and gave a leer of

welcome. Esther took as little notice of him as might be.



'Aha! Dick!' cried the painter. 'I've been to church; I

have, upon my word. And I saw you there, though you didn't



see me. And I saw a devilish pretty woman, by Gad. If it

were not for this baldness, and a kind of crapulous air I



can't disguise from myself - if it weren't for this and that

and t'other thing - I - I've forgot what I was saying. Not



that that matters, I've heaps of things to say. I'm in a

communicative vein to-night. I'll let out all my cats, even



unto seventy times seven. I'm in what I call THE stage, and

all I desire is a listener, although he were deaf, to be as



happy as Nebuchadnezzar.'

Of the two hours which followed upon this it is unnecessary



to give more than a sketch. The Admiral was extremely silly,

now and then amusing, and never really offensive. It was



plain that he kept in view the presence of his daughter, and

chose subjects and a character of language that should not



offend a lady. On almost any other occasion Dick would have

enjoyed the scene. Van Tromp's egotism, flown with drink,



struck a pitch above mere vanity. He became candid and

explanatory; sought to take his auditors entirely into his



confidence, and tell them his inmost conviction about

himself. Between his self-knowledge, which was considerable,



and his vanity, which was immense, he had created a strange

hybrid animal, and called it by his own name. How he would

• succession [sək´seʃən] n.继任；继承(权) (初中英语单词)


• series [´siəri:z] n.连续；系列；丛书 (初中英语单词)


• arrival [ə´raivəl] n.到达；到达的人(物) (初中英语单词)


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


• admiral [´ædmərəl] n.海军上将，舰队司令 (初中英语单词)


• firmly [´fə:mli] ad.坚固地，稳定地 (初中英语单词)


• neglect [ni´glekt] vt.&n.疏忽；忽视；忽略 (初中英语单词)


• jealous [´dʒeləs] a.妒忌的 (初中英语单词)


• temper [´tempə] n.韧度 v.锻炼；调和 (初中英语单词)


• delightful [di´laitful] a.讨人喜欢的 (初中英语单词)


• frankly [´fræŋkli] ad.直率地；慷慨地 (初中英语单词)


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


• landlord [´lændlɔ:d] n.地主；房东；店主 (初中英语单词)


• wisdom [´wizdəm] n.智慧，聪明，才智 (初中英语单词)


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


• farewell [feə´wel] int.再见 n.&a.告别 (初中英语单词)


• conceal [kən´si:l] vt.藏；隐瞒 (初中英语单词)


• injure [´indʒə] vt.伤害，损害，毁坏 (初中英语单词)


• instance [´instəns] n.例子，实例，例证 (初中英语单词)


• foreigner [´fɔrinə] n.外国人 (初中英语单词)


• sufficiently [sə´fiʃəntli] ad.充分地，足够地 (初中英语单词)


• cottage [´kɔtidʒ] n.村舍；小屋；小别墅 (初中英语单词)


• squire [skwaiə] n.护卫，侍从；乡绅 (初中英语单词)


• intent [in´tent] a.专心致志的 n.意图 (初中英语单词)


• collar [´kɔlə] n.衣领；(狗等的)项圈 (初中英语单词)


• painter [´peintə] n.画家；(油)漆工 (初中英语单词)


• disguise [dis´gaiz] vt.假装；隐瞒 n.伪装 (初中英语单词)


• sketch [sketʃ] n.素描；短剧 v.草拟 (初中英语单词)


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


• character [´kæriktə] n.特性；性质；人物；字 (初中英语单词)


• vanity [´væniti] n.虚荣；自负；空虚 (初中英语单词)


• conviction [kən´vikʃən] n.定罪；确信，信服 (初中英语单词)


• immense [i´mens] a.广大的，无限的 (初中英语单词)


• portrait [´pɔ:trit] n.肖像；相片；雕像 (高中英语单词)


• malice [´mælis] n.恶意；怨恨；预谋 (高中英语单词)


• grudge [grʌdʒ] vt.&n.吝啬；怨恨 (高中英语单词)


• upright [´ʌprait] a.直立的 ad.直立地 (高中英语单词)


• sullen [´sʌlən] a.不高兴的 (高中英语单词)


• differently [´difrentli] ad.不同地，有差别地 (高中英语单词)


• destiny [´destini] n.命运 (高中英语单词)


• monstrous [´mɔnstrəs] a.怪异的；庞大的 (高中英语单词)


• denounce [di´nauns] vt.指责；告发；揭发 (高中英语单词)


• perfectly [´pə:fiktli] ad.理想地；完美地 (高中英语单词)


• access [´ækses] n.接近；通路；进入 (高中英语单词)


• strive [straiv] vi.争取；努力；奋斗 (高中英语单词)


• forthwith [fɔ:θ´wið] ad.立刻 (高中英语单词)


• lodging [´lɔdʒiŋ] n.寄宿，住宿 (高中英语单词)


• generosity [,dʒenə´rɔsiti] n.慷慨；慷慨的行为 (高中英语单词)


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


• fantastic [fæn´tæstik] a.奇异的；荒谬的 (高中英语单词)


• implore [im´plɔ:] vt.乞求，恳求 (高中英语单词)


• inclination [,inkli´neiʃən] n.倾斜；爱好；天资 (高中英语单词)


• rascal [´rɑ:skəl] n.流氓 (高中英语单词)


• decided [di´saidid] a.明显的；决定的 (高中英语单词)


• parish [´pæriʃ] n.教区(的全体居民) (高中英语单词)


• congratulate [kən´grætjuleit] vt.祝贺 (高中英语单词)


• esteem [i´sti:m] n.尊重 vt.认为；感到 (高中英语单词)


• saying [´seiŋ, ´sei-iŋ] n.言语；言论；格言 (高中英语单词)


• amusing [ə´mju:ziŋ] a.有趣的 (高中英语单词)


• offensive [ə´fensiv] a.冒犯的 n.进攻 (高中英语单词)


• eloquent [´eləkwənt] a.流利的；雄辩的 (英语四级单词)


• cordially [´kɔ:djəli] ad.热诚地；亲切地 (英语四级单词)


• brandy [´brændi] n.白兰地酒 (英语四级单词)


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


• blessed [´blesid] a.享福的；神圣的 (英语四级单词)


• glimmer [´glimə] n.&vi.闪光 (英语四级单词)


• listener [´lisənə] n.(收)听者，听众之一 (英语四级单词)


• lacking [´lækiŋ] a.缺少的，没有的 (英语六级单词)


• arsenal [´ɑ:sənəl] n.兵工厂；军械库 (英语六级单词)


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


• parasite [´pærəsait] n.寄生动(植)物；食客 (英语六级单词)


• discreet [di´skri:t] a.谨慎的，考虑周到的 (英语六级单词)


• withheld [wið´held] withhold过去式(分词) (英语六级单词)


• devilish [´devəliʃ] a.魔鬼般的，凶恶的 (英语六级单词)