3-17

17.

Weeks later, Meg and I drove through the gate, into the lush gardens of Clarence House, which

made Meg gasp¹.

You should see them in the spring. Pa designed them himself.

I added: In honor of Gan-Gan, you know. She lived here before him.

I’d mentioned Gan-Gan to Meg. I’d also mentioned that I used to live here at Clarence House,

from when I was nineteen until I was about twenty-eight. After I moved out, Camilla turned my

bedroom into her dressing² room. I tried not to care. But, especially the first time I saw it, I cared.

We paused at the front door. Five o’clock, on the dot. Wouldn’t do to be late.

Meg looked beautiful and I told her so. She was wearing a black-and-white dress, with a full

skirt, patterned with flowers, and when I put my hand on her back I could feel how delicate the

material was. Her hair was down, because I suggested she wear it that way. Pa likes it when

women wear their hair down. Granny too. She often commented on “Kate’s beautiful mane.”

Meg was wearing little makeup³, which I’d also suggested. Pa didn’t approve of women who

wore a lot.

The door opened and we were greeted by Pa’s Gurkha butler. And by Leslie, his long-time

house manager, who’d also worked for Gan-Gan. They led us down the long corridor, past the big

paintings and gilt-edged mirrors, along the crimson⁴ carpet with the crimson runner, past the big

glass cabinet filled with gleaming porcelain⁵ and exquisite⁶ heirlooms, up the creaky staircase,

which rose three steps before jogging right, up another twelve steps, then jogged right again.

There, at last, on the landing above us, stood Pa.

Beside him stood Camilla.

Meg and I had rehearsed this moment several times. For Pa, curtsy. Say, Your Royal

Highness, or Sir. Maybe a kiss on each cheek if he leans in, otherwise a handshake. For Camilla,

no curtsy. Not necessary. Just a quick kiss or handshake.

No curtsy? You sure?

I didn’t think it appropriate.

We all went into a large sitting room. Along the way Pa asked Meg if it was true, as he’d been

told, that she was the star of an American soap opera! She smiled. I smiled. I desperately⁷ wanted

to say: Soap opera? No, that’s our family, Pa.

Meg said she was in a cable drama that aired in the evening. About lawyers. Called Suits.

Marvelous, Pa said. How splendid.

We came to a round table laid with a white cloth. Beside it stood a trolley⁸ with tea: honey

cake, flapjacks, sandwiches, warm crumpets, crackers⁹ with some creamy spread, shredded¹⁰ basil—

Pa’s favorite. All surgically¹¹ laid out. Pa sat with his back to an open window, as far as possible

from the popping fire. Camilla sat across from him, her back to the fire. Meg and I sat between

them, across from one another.

I wolfed down a crumpet with Marmite; Meg had two smoked-salmon tea sandwiches. We

were starving. We’d been so nervous all day that we hadn’t eaten.

Pa offered her some flapjacks. She loved them.

Camilla asked how Meg took her tea, dark or light, and Meg apologized for not knowing. I

thought tea was tea. This sparked a rollicking discussion about tea, and wine, and other libations,

and Britishisms versus¹² Americanisms, and then we were onto the larger subject of Things We All

Like, which led straight to dogs. Meg talked about her two “fur babies,” Bogart and Guy, both of

whom were rescues. Guy had a particularly sad story. Meg found him at a Kentucky kill shelter

after someone abandoned him in deep woods, without food or water. Beagles, she explained, were

put down in Kentucky more than in any other state, and when she saw Guy on the shelter’s

website she fell in love.

I watched Camilla’s face darken. She was the patron of Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, so these

kinds of stories always hit her hard. Pa too. He couldn’t bear to think of any animal suffering. He

was undoubtedly¹³ reminded of the time his beloved dog, Pooh, got lost on the grouse¹⁴ moor¹⁵ in

Scotland—probably down a rabbit hole—never to be seen again.

The conversation was easy, all four of us talking at once, but then Pa and Meg fell into a quiet

chat, and I turned to Camilla, who seemed keener on eavesdropping¹⁶ than talking to her stepson

but, alas¹⁷, she was stuck with me.

Soon, we all switched. How weird¹⁸, I thought, that we’re just instinctively¹⁹ observing the same

protocol²⁰ as we would at a state dinner with Granny.

Eventually the conversation broadened again to include everyone. We talked about acting²¹ and

the arts generally. What a struggle it could be to make your way in such a trade, Pa said. He had a

lot of questions about Meg’s career, and he looked impressed by the way she answered. Her

confidence, her intelligence, I thought, caught him unawares.

And then our time was up. Pa and Camilla had another engagement. Royal life. Heavily

regimented, overscheduled, so forth²².

I made a note to explain all this later to Meg.

We all stood. Meg leaned towards Pa. I flinched²³; like Willy, Pa wasn’t a hugger. Thankfully,

she gave him a standard British cheek-to-cheek, which he actually seemed to enjoy.

I walked Meg out of Clarence House, into those lush, fragrant²⁴ gardens, feeling exultant²⁵.

Well, that’s that then, I thought. Welcome to the family.

1 gasp   

n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说

参考例句：

• She gave a gasp of surprise.她吃惊得大口喘气。
• The enemy are at their last gasp.敌人在做垂死的挣扎。

2 dressing   

n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料

参考例句：

• Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
• The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。

3 makeup   

n.组织；性格；化装品

参考例句：

• Those who failed the exam take a makeup exam.这次考试不及格的人必须参加补考。
• Do you think her beauty could makeup for her stupidity?你认为她的美丽能弥补她的愚蠢吗？

4 crimson   

n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色

参考例句：

• She went crimson with embarrassment.她羞得满脸通红。
• Maple leaves have turned crimson.枫叶已经红了。

5 porcelain   

n.瓷；adj.瓷的，瓷制的

参考例句：

• These porcelain plates have rather original designs on them.这些瓷盘的花纹很别致。
• The porcelain vase is enveloped in cotton.瓷花瓶用棉花裹着。

6 exquisite   

adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的

参考例句：

• I was admiring the exquisite workmanship in the mosaic.我当时正在欣赏镶嵌画的精致做工。
• I still remember the exquisite pleasure I experienced in Bali.我依然记得在巴厘岛所经历的那种剧烈的快感。

7 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

8 trolley   

n.手推车，台车；无轨电车；有轨电车

参考例句：

• The waiter had brought the sweet trolley.侍者已经推来了甜食推车。
• In a library,books are moved on a trolley.在图书馆，书籍是放在台车上搬动的。

9 crackers   

adj.精神错乱的，癫狂的n.爆竹( cracker的名词复数 )；薄脆饼干；（认为）十分愉快的事；迷人的姑娘

参考例句：

• That noise is driving me crackers. 那噪声闹得我简直要疯了。
• We served some crackers and cheese as an appetiser. 我们上了些饼干和奶酪作为开胃品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 shredded   

shred的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Serve the fish on a bed of shredded lettuce. 先铺一层碎生菜叶，再把鱼放上，就可以上桌了。
• I think Mapo beancurd and shredded meat in chilli sauce are quite special. 我觉得麻婆豆腐和鱼香肉丝味道不错。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 surgically   

adv. 外科手术上, 外科手术一般地

参考例句：

• Unsightly moles can be removed surgically. 不雅观的痣可以手术去除。
• To bypass this impediment an almost mature egg cell is removed surgically. 为了克服这一障碍，通过手术，取出一个差不多成熟的卵细胞。

12 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

13 undoubtedly   

adv.确实地，无疑地

参考例句：

• It is undoubtedly she who has said that.这话明明是她说的。
• He is undoubtedly the pride of China.毫无疑问他是中国的骄傲。

14 grouse   

n.松鸡；v.牢骚，诉苦

参考例句：

• They're shooting grouse up on the moors.他们在荒野射猎松鸡。
• If you don't agree with me,please forget my grouse.如果你的看法不同，请不必介意我的牢骚之言。

15 moor   

n.荒野，沼泽；vt.(使)停泊；vi.停泊

参考例句：

• I decided to moor near some tourist boats.我决定在一些观光船附近停泊。
• There were hundreds of the old huts on the moor.沼地上有成百上千的古老的石屋。

16 eavesdropping   

n. 偷听

参考例句：

• We caught him eavesdropping outside the window. 我们撞见他正在窗外偷听。
• Suddenly the kids,who had been eavesdropping,flew into the room. 突然间，一直在偷听的孩子们飞进屋来。

17 alas   

int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等)

参考例句：

• Alas!The window is broken!哎呀！窗子破了！
• Alas,the truth is less romantic.然而，真理很少带有浪漫色彩。

18 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

19 instinctively   

adv.本能地

参考例句：

• As he leaned towards her she instinctively recoiled. 他向她靠近，她本能地往后缩。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He knew instinctively where he would find her. 他本能地知道在哪儿能找到她。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 protocol   

n.议定书，草约，会谈记录，外交礼节

参考例句：

• We must observe the correct protocol.我们必须遵守应有的礼仪。
• The statesmen signed a protocol.那些政治家签了议定书。

21 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

22 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

23 flinched   

v.（因危险和痛苦）退缩，畏惧( flinch的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He flinched at the sight of the blood. 他一见到血就往后退。
• This tough Corsican never flinched or failed. 这个刚毅的科西嘉人从来没有任何畏缩或沮丧。 来自辞典例句

24 fragrant   

adj.芬香的，馥郁的，愉快的

参考例句：

• The Fragrant Hills are exceptionally beautiful in late autumn.深秋的香山格外美丽。
• The air was fragrant with lavender.空气中弥漫薰衣草香。

25 exultant   

adj.欢腾的，狂欢的，大喜的

参考例句：

• The exultant crowds were dancing in the streets.欢欣的人群在大街上跳起了舞。
• He was exultant that she was still so much in his power.他仍然能轻而易举地摆布她，对此他欣喜若狂。