3-50

50.

Willy and Kate invited us for tea. To clear the air.

June 2018.

We walked over one late afternoon. I saw Meg’s eyes widen as we entered their front door,

walked past their front sitting room, down their hallway, into their study.

Wow, Meg said several times.

The wallpaper, the crown molding, the walnut¹ bookshelves lined with color- coordinated²

volumes, the priceless art. Gorgeous. Like a museum. And we both told them so. We

complimented them lavishly³ on their renovation⁴, though we also thought sheepishly of our IKEA

lamps, our discount sofa recently bought on sale, with Meg’s credit card, from sofa.com.

In the study, Meg and I sat on a love seat at one end of the room, Kate opposite us on a

leather-clad fender before the fireplace. Willy was to her left, in an armchair. There was a tray of

tea and biscuits. For ten minutes we did the classic small talk. How are the kids? How was your

honeymoon⁵?

Meg then acknowledged the tension among the four of us and ventured that it might go back to

those early days when she’d first joined the family—a misunderstanding that had almost passed

without notice. Kate thought Meg had wanted her fashion contacts. But Meg had her own. They’d

got off on the wrong foot perhaps? And then, Meg added, everything got magnified by the

wedding, and those infernal bridesmaids’ dresses.

But it turned out there were other things…about which we’d been unaware⁶.

Willy and Kate were apparently⁷ upset that we hadn’t given them Easter presents.

Easter presents? Was that a thing? Willy and I had never exchanged Easter presents. Pa always

made a big deal about Easter, sure, but that was Pa.

Still, if Willy and Kate were upset, we apologized.

For our part, we chipped in that we weren’t too pleased when Willy and Kate switched place

cards and changed seats at our wedding. We’d followed the American tradition, placing couples

next to each other, but Willy and Kate didn’t like that tradition, so their table was the only one

where spouses⁸ were apart.

They insisted it wasn’t them, it was someone else.

And they said we’d done the same thing at Pippa’s wedding.

We hadn’t. Much as we’d wanted to. We’d been separated by a huge flower arrangement

between us, and though we’d desperately⁹ wanted to sit together, we hadn’t done a thing about it.

None of this airing of grievances¹⁰ was doing us any good, I felt. We weren’t getting anywhere.

Kate looked out into the garden, gripping the edges of the leather so tightly that her fingers

were white, and said she was owed an apology.

Meg asked: For what?

You hurt my feelings, Meghan.

When? Please tell me.

I told you I couldn’t remember something and you said it was my hormones¹¹.

What are you talking about?

Kate mentioned a phone call in which they’d discussed the timing¹² of wedding rehearsals¹³.

Meg said: Oh, yes! I remember: You couldn’t remember something, and I said it’s not a big

deal, it’s baby brain. Because you’d just had a baby. It’s hormones.

Kate’s eyes widened: Yes. You talked about my hormones. We’re not close enough for you to

talk about my hormones!

Meg’s eyes got wide too. She looked genuinely confused. I’m sorry I talked about your

hormones. That’s just how I talk with my girlfriends.

Willy pointed¹⁴ at Meg. It’s rude, Meghan. It’s not what’s done here in Britain.

Kindly¹⁵ take your finger out of my face.

Was this really happening? Had it actually come to this? Shouting at each other about place

cards and hormones?

Meg said she’d never intentionally¹⁶ do anything to hurt Kate, and if she ever did, she asked

Kate to please just let her know so it wouldn’t happen again.

We all hugged. Kind of.

And then I said we’d better be going.

1 walnut   

n.胡桃，胡桃木，胡桃色，茶色

参考例句：

• Walnut is a local specialty here.核桃是此地的土特产。
• The stool comes in several sizes in walnut or mahogany.凳子有几种尺寸，材质分胡桃木和红木两种。

2 coordinated   

adj.协调的

参考例句：

• The sound has to be coordinated with the picture. 声音必须和画面协调一致。
• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

3 lavishly   

adv.慷慨地，大方地

参考例句：

• His house was lavishly adorned.他的屋子装饰得很华丽。
• The book is lavishly illustrated in full colour.这本书里有大量全彩插图。

4 renovation   

n.革新，整修

参考例句：

• The cinema will reopen next week after the renovation.电影院修缮后，将于下星期开业。
• The building has undergone major renovation.这座大楼已进行大整修。

5 honeymoon   

n.蜜月（假期）；vi.度蜜月

参考例句：

• While on honeymoon in Bali,she learned to scuba dive.她在巴厘岛度蜜月时学会了带水肺潜水。
• The happy pair are leaving for their honeymoon.这幸福的一对就要去度蜜月了。

6 unaware   

a.不知道的，未意识到的

参考例句：

• They were unaware that war was near. 他们不知道战争即将爆发。
• I was unaware of the man's presence. 我没有察觉到那人在场。

7 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。

8 spouses   

n.配偶，夫或妻( spouse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Jobs are available for spouses on campus and in the community. 校园里和社区里有配偶可做的工作。 来自辞典例句
• An astonishing number of spouses-most particularly in the upper-income brackets-have no close notion of their husbands'paychecks. 相当大一部分妇女——特别在高收入阶层——并不很了解他们丈夫的薪金。 来自辞典例句

9 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。

10 grievances   

n.委屈( grievance的名词复数 )；苦衷；不满；牢骚

参考例句：

• The trade union leader spoke about the grievances of the workers. 工会领袖述说工人们的苦情。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He gave air to his grievances. 他申诉了他的冤情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 hormones   

n. 荷尔蒙，激素 名词hormone的复数形式

参考例句：

• This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body. 这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。
• The adrenals produce a large per cent of a man's sex hormones. 肾上腺分泌人体的大部分性激素。

12 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

13 rehearsals   

n.练习( rehearsal的名词复数 )；排练；复述；重复

参考例句：

• The earlier protests had just been dress rehearsals for full-scale revolution. 早期的抗议仅仅是大革命开始前的预演。
• She worked like a demon all through rehearsals. 她每次排演时始终精力过人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

15 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

16 intentionally   

ad.故意地，有意地

参考例句：

• I didn't say it intentionally. 我是无心说的。
• The local authority ruled that he had made himself intentionally homeless and was therefore not entitled to be rehoused. 当地政府裁定他是有意居无定所，因此没有资格再获得提供住房。