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45.

Meg had spent months trying to soothe¹ her father. There was always something new that he’d read

about himself, something derogatory he’d taken to heart. His pride was constantly wounded.

Every day there was another humiliating photo in the papers. Thomas Markle buying a new loo.

Thomas Markle buying a six-pack. Thomas Markle with his belly³ hanging over his belt.

We understood. Meg told him we knew how he felt. The press, the paps, they were awful.

Impossible to totally ignore what’s written, she acknowledged⁴. But please do try to ignore them in

person. Ignore anyone who approaches, Daddy. Be on guard against anyone who pretends to be

your best friend. He seemed to be listening. He started to sound as if he was in a better place,

mentally.

Then, the Saturday before the wedding, Jason phoned us. We’ve got a problem.

What?

The Mail on Sunday is going to run a story saying that Meg’s father has been working with the

paps and, for money, has staged some candid⁵ photos.

We immediately phoned Meg’s dad, told him what was coming. We asked if it was true. Had

he staged a bunch of candid photos for money?

No.

Meg said: We might be able to kill this story, Daddy, but if it turns out you’re lying, we’ll

never be able to kill a false story about ourselves, or our children, again. So this is serious. You

must tell us the truth.

He swore that he’d never staged any photos, that he hadn’t taken part in any such charade⁶, that

he didn’t know the pap in question.

Meg whispered to me: I believe him.

In that case, we told him, leave Mexico right now: A whole new level of harassment⁷ is about

to rain down on you, so come to Britain. Now. We’ll arrange for an apartment where you can hole

up safely until your flight.

Air New Zealand, first class, booked and paid for by Meg.

We would immediately send a car with private security⁸ to pick him up.

He said he had things to do.

Now Meg’s face changed. Something was up.

She turned to me again and sighed: He’s lying.

The story broke the next morning and it was worse than we feared. There was video of Meg’s

father meeting the pap at an internet café. There was a series of farcically staged shots, including

one of him reading a book about Britain as if studying for the wedding. The photos, reportedly

worth a hundred thousand pounds, seemed to prove beyond all doubt that Meg’s father had indeed

been lying. He’d taken part in this fakery⁹, maybe to make some money, or maybe they had some

leverage¹⁰ on him. We didn’t know.

Headlines read: Meg Markle’s father a con² artist! Staged candid photos for money!

A week before the wedding, this now became the story.

Though the photos had been taken weeks before, they’d been held in reserve until the most

devastating¹¹ possible moment.

Soon after the story broke, Thomas Markle sent us a text:

I’m so ashamed.

We phoned him.

And texted him.

And phoned again.

We’re not angry, please pick up.

He didn’t answer.

Then we heard, along with the rest of the world, that he’d apparently¹² had a heart attack and

wasn’t coming to the wedding.

1 soothe   

v.安慰；使平静；使减轻；缓和；奉承

参考例句：

• I've managed to soothe him down a bit.我想方设法使他平静了一点。
• This medicine should soothe your sore throat.这种药会减轻你的喉痛。

2 con   

n.反对的观点，反对者，反对票，肺病；vt.精读，学习，默记；adv.反对地，从反面；adj.欺诈的

参考例句：

• We must be fair and consider the reason pro and con.我们必须公平考虑赞成和反对的理由。
• The motion is adopted non con.因无人投反对票，协议被通过。

3 belly   

n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛

参考例句：

• The boss has a large belly.老板大腹便便。
• His eyes are bigger than his belly.他眼馋肚饱。

4 acknowledged   

adj.公认的v.承认( acknowledge的过去式和过去分词 )；鸣谢；对…打招呼；告知已收到

参考例句：

• He acknowledged publicly that he might have made a mistake. 他当众承认自己可能犯了个错误。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The police acknowledged that three police vehicles were damaged. 警方承认有三辆警车被毁。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 candid   

adj.公正的，正直的；坦率的

参考例句：

• I cannot but hope the candid reader will give some allowance for it.我只有希望公正的读者多少包涵一些。
• He is quite candid with his friends.他对朋友相当坦诚。

6 charade   

n.用动作等表演文字意义的字谜游戏

参考例句：

• You must not refine too much upon this charade.你切不可过分推敲这个字谜。
• His poems,despite their dignity and felicity,have an air of charade.他的诗篇虽然庄严巧妙，却有猜迷之嫌。

7 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

8 security   

n.安全，安全感；防护措施；保证(金)，抵押(品)；债券，证券

参考例句：

• A security guard brought him down with a flying tackle.一名保安人员飞身把他抱倒。
• There was tight security at the airport when the President's plane landed.总统的专机降落时，机场的保安措施很严密。

9 fakery   

伪造，伪装

参考例句：

• Would the fakery have fooled merchants of the time? 这种造假术是否骗过了当时的商人？
• Mr Hwang's fakery damaged the integrity of a science that could ill afford any bad news. 黄先生的造假毁坏了一项经不起任何坏消息的科学的诚信。

10 leverage   

n.力量，影响；杠杆作用，杠杆的力量

参考例句：

• We'll have to use leverage to move this huge rock.我们不得不借助杠杆之力来移动这块巨石。
• He failed in the project because he could gain no leverage. 因为他没有影响力，他的计划失败了。

11 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

12 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。