3-58

58.

It kept on and on. One story after another. I thought at times of Mr. Marston ceaselessly ringing

his insane bell.

Who can ever forget the spate¹ of front-page stories making Meg out to be singlehandedly

responsible for the End Times? Specifically, she’d been “caught” eating avocado toast, and many

stories explained breathlessly that the harvesting of avocados was hastening the destruction of the

rainforests, destabilizing developing countries, and helping² to fund state terrorism. Of course the

same media had recently swooned over Kate’s love of avocados. (Oh, how they make Kate’s skin

glow!)

Notably³, it was around this time that the super-narrative embedded⁴ within each story began to

shift. It was no longer about two women fighting, two duchesses at odds⁵, or even two households.

It was now about one person being a witch and causing everyone to run from her, and that one

person was my wife. And in building this super-narrative the press was clearly being assisted by

someone or multiple someones inside the Palace.

Someone who had it in for Meg.

One day it was: Yuck—Meg’s bra strap⁶ was showing. (Classless Meghan.)

The next day: Yikes—she’s wearing that dress? (Trashy Meghan.)

The next day: God save us, her fingernails are painted black! (Goth Meghan.)

The next day: Goodness—she still doesn’t know how to curtsy properly. (American Meghan.)

The next day: Crikey, she shut her own car door again! (Uppity Meghan.)

1 spate   

n.泛滥，洪水，突然的一阵

参考例句：

• Police are investigating a spate of burglaries in the area.警察正在调查这一地区发生的大量盗窃案。
• Refugees crossed the border in full spate.难民大量地越过了边境。

2 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

3 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

4 embedded   

a.扎牢的

参考例句：

• an operation to remove glass that was embedded in his leg 取出扎入他腿部玻璃的手术
• He has embedded his name in the minds of millions of people. 他的名字铭刻在数百万人民心中。

5 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

6 strap   

n.皮带，带子；v.用带扣住，束牢；用绷带包扎

参考例句：

• She held onto a strap to steady herself.她抓住拉手吊带以便站稳。
• The nurse will strap up your wound.护士会绑扎你的伤口。