allowed himself to be encumbered with the debris of a feast 12 He thus entally learned that the privilege of loving her is one of the least favors that a charming woman can accord; and in seeking to avoid the pitfalls of sentiment he had developed a science of evasion in which the woman of the moment became a mere implement of the game. He owed a great deal of delicate enjoyment to the cultivation of this art. The perils from which it had been his refuge became naively harmless:w it possible that he who now took his easy way along the levels had once preferred to gasp on the raw heights of emotion? Youth is a high-colored season; but he had the satisfaction of feeling that he had entered earlier than most into that chiaroscuro of sensation where every half-tone has its value As a promoter of this pleasure no one he had known was comparable to Mrs Vervain. He had taught a good many women not to betray their feelings, but he had never before had such fine material to work in. She had been surprisingly crude when he first knew her; capable of making the most awkward inferences, of plunging through thin ice 4, of recklessly undressing her emotions; but she had acquired, under the discipline of his reticences and evasions 5, a skill almost perhaps more remarkable in that it involved keeping time with any tune he played and reading at sight some uncommonly difficult passages It had taken Thursdale seven years to form this fine talent; but the result justified the effort. At the crucial moment she had been perfect: her way of greeting Miss Gaynor had made him regret that he had announced his engagement by letter. It was an evasion that confessed a d ifficulty; a deviation 6 implying an obstacle, where by common consent, it was agreed to see none; it betrayed, in short, a lack of confidence in the completeness of his method It had been his pride never to put himself in position which had to be quitted, as it were, by the back door; but here, as he perceived, the main portals would have opened for him of their own accord. All this and much more. he read in the finished naturalness with which Mrs. Vervain had met Miss Gaynor. He had never seen a better piece of work: there was no over-eagerness no suspicious warmth, above all (and this gave her art the grace of a natural quality there were none of those damnable implications whereby a woman, in welcoming her friend,'s betrothed 8, may keep him on pins and needles while she laps the lady in complacency. So masterly a performance, indeed, hardly needed the offset of Miss 12.12 be encumbered with the debris of a feast:宴会后的残渣,锁物所限制 13.13 chiaroscuro of sensation:感官上的明暗对比法 14.14 of plunging through thin ice:肤浅的 15. 5 reticences and evasions:保守与托词 16.16 deviation:出轨,背叛 17.17 damnable implications whereby a woman:带来可怕的后果与影响 18.18 betrothed:未婚妻ever allowed himself to be encumbered with the debris of a feast 12 He thus incidentally learned that the privilege of loving her is one of the least favors that a charming woman can accord; and in seeking to avoid the pitfalls of sentiment he had developed a science of evasion in which the woman of the moment became a mere implement of the game. He owed a great deal of delicate enjoyment to the cultivation of this art. The perils from which it had been his refuge became naively harmless: was it possible that he who now took his easy way along the levels had once preferred to gasp on the raw heights of emotion? Youth is a high-colored season; but he had the satisfaction of feeling that he had entered earlier than most into that chiar'oscuro of sensation 13where every half-tone has its value. As a promoter of this pleasure no one he had known was comparable to Mrs. Vervain. He had taught a good many women not to betray their feelings, but he had never before had such fine material to work in. She had been surprisingly crude when he first knew her; capable of making the most awkward inferences, of plunging through thin ice14, of recklessly undressing her emotions; but she had acquired, under the discipline of his reticences and evasions 15, a skill almost equal to his own, and perhaps more remarkable in that it involved keeping time with any tune he played and reading at sight some uncommonly difficult passages. It had taken Thursdale seven years to form this fine talent; but the result justified the effort. At the crucial moment she had been perfect: her way of greeting Miss Gaynor had made him regret that he had announced his engagement by letter. It was an evasion that confessed a difficulty; a deviation16 implying an obstacle, where, by common consent, it was agreed to see none; it betrayed, in short, a lack of confidence in the completeness of his method. It had been his pride never to put himself in a position which had to be quitted, as it were, by the back door; but here, as he perceived, the main portals would have opened for him of their own accord. All this, and much more, he read in the finished naturalness with which Mrs. Vervain had met Miss Gaynor. He had never seen a better piece of work: there was no over-eagerness, no suspicious warmth, above all (and this gave her art the grace of a natural quality) there were none of those damnable implications whereby a woman17, in welcoming her friend's betrothed18, may keep him on pins and needles while she laps the lady in complacency. So masterly a performance, indeed, hardly needed the offset of Miss 12. 12 be encumbered with the debris of a feast：宴会后的残渣，锁物所限制 13. 13 chiar'oscuro of sensation：感官上的明暗对比法 14. 14 of plunging through thin ice：肤浅的 15. 15 reticences and evasions：保守与托词 16. 16 deviation：出轨，背叛 17. 17 damnable implications whereby a woman：带来可怕的后果与影响 18. 18 betrothed：未婚妻