2020-10-11
208
I may briefly remark that the present Lord Marshmoreton is a widower of some forty-eight years: that he has two children — a son, Percy Wilbraham Marsh, Lord Belpher, who is on the brink of his twenty-first birthday, and a daughter, Lady Patricia Maud Marsh, who is just twenty: that the chatelaine of the castle is Lady Caroline Byng, Lord Marshmoreton's sister, who married the very wealthy colliery owner, Clifford Byng, a few years before his death (which unkind people say she hastened): and that she has a step-son, a certain Reginald. Give me time to mention these few facts and I am done. On the glorious past of the Marshmoretons I will not even touch.
Any Thursday, Belpher Castle is open to the public on payment of a fee of one shilling a head. The money is collected by Keggs the butler, and goes to a worthy local charity. At least, that is the idea. Of course, appearances are deceptive. Sherlock Holmes himself might have been misled.
That morning, Maud pulled a small newspaper clipping from her pocket. She had extracted it from yesterday's copy of the Morning Post's society column. It contained only a few words:
"Mr. Wilbur Raymond has returned to his residence at No. 11a Belgrave Square from a prolonged voyage in his yacht, the Siren."
Maud did not know Mr. Wilbur Raymond, and yet that paragraph had sent the blood tingling through every vein in her body. For as she had indicated to Reggie, when the Raymonds of this world return to their town residences, they bring with them their nephew and secretary, Geoffrey Raymond. And the specified Geoffrey Raymond was the man dear Maud had loved ever since the day when she had met him in Wales.
[abridged from A Damsel in Distress, by P. G. Wodehouse]
EXERCISE 2. Explain the articles in the following sentences.
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1. In a few days __ Mr. Bingley returned __Mr. Bennet’s visit, and sat about ten minutes with him in his library.
2. __Mother just loved crossword puzzles, and in the evening __Jeremiah and __ little Jackie were to experience the full power of that love.
3. __Mercutio is a close friend to ___Romeo and a blood relative to ___Prince Escalus and ___Count Paris. ___Mercutio is neither a Montague nor a Capulet, so both the Montagues and the Capulets admit him to their houses.
4. Later, __Van Gogh came under the care of the homeopathic doctor Paul Gachet, but nothing could help his depression. The celebrated Van Gogh died in poverty, forever the symbol of misunderstood genius.
5. The Tolkiens left England for South Africa when __Arthur was promoted to head the office of the British bank there. His wife __Mabel, née Suffield, gave birth to two children, the elder John and the younger Hilary.
6. ___Father Andrews who married ___ Lord Mortimer and a Miss Johnson in a small-town church was very friendly and helpful. He did not suspect what storms he was assisting to bring about.
7. The Taylor Swift from her first album is back with a new single, and back with a vengeance.
8. I was told that the Smithsons have a Rembrandt in their private collection. I intend to buy the Rembrandt.
9. But people who take control of a state, be it for good or evil – a Napoleon or a Ghengis Khan, a Caesar or a Charlemagne – are remembered for centuries.
10. The gentle, tender-hearted Amelia was sadly the only person to whom __Becky could attach herself.
EXERCISE 3. Fill in the gaps and explain your choice.
1. ___ Charles had never hoped that one day he will meet such a vibrant and exotic woman as ___Ms. Lacey.
2. On Sundays ___ Brackenridges visited ___ Grumptons, and sometimes ___ Grumptons paid the visit back.
3. ___ Marion promised that she would make an appointment with ___ Wilson immediately, but __ Sister Clair was not sure the promise had any value.
4. ___ English writer Agatha Christie, author of nearly a hundred mystery novels and stories, was born in 1891.
5. ___ Dr David Livingstone died of malaria in 1873 at the age of 60. His loyal attendants __ Chuma and ____Susi removed his heart and buried it under a tree near the spot where he died.
6. The last bridegroom to be married in this church was also ___ Carter, and then the mine died, the village died and the miners left, including ___ Carters.
7. I love you, ___ Savannah, and I always will; but ___ Savannah I could hug and shield from the world has grown up. __ dear Savannah, it is time to leave your sad parents and rise.
8. In that little tent in our garden, I was ___ Christopher Columbus, ___ Marco Polo, ___ Captain Cook. That rain that drummed all night was a tropical monsoon. It smelled of adventure.
9. In the play __Professor Henry Higgins teaches a poor girl called ___ Eliza Doolittle how to speak and behave like an upper-class lady.
10. ___ old Chester worked and worked. He sold a pound of cheese to __ Mrs. Green, a bag of teas to ___ Mrs. Stanford, a bottle of oil to ___ Miss Davis, all in the course of twenty minutes or so. They all introduced themselves and seemed to assume he was going to remember them next time they went shopping.
