| A | B |
|---|
| gilt | gilded; gold in color; golden |
| reproach | to find fault with (a person, group, etc.); blame; censure |
| rejoinders | an answer to a reply; response |
| conspicuous | attracting special attention, as by outstanding qualities or eccentricities; easily seen or noticed; readily visible or observable |
| harbinger | anything that foreshadows a future event; omen; sign |
| indisposition | a slight illness; disinclination; unwillingness |
| capricious | subject to, led by, or indicative of caprice or whim; erratic |
| divine | to perceive by intuition or insight; conjecture; prophecy |
| agape | with mouth wide open, as in wonder, surprise, or eagerness |
| surreptitiously | obtained, done, made, etc., by stealth; secret or unauthorized; clandestine |
| deliverance | a thought or judgment expressed; a formal or authoritative pronouncement; salvation; liberation |
| heedlessly | carelessly; thoughtlessly; unmindfully |
| taut | tightly drawn; tense; not slack |
| congealed | changed from a soft or fluid state to a rigid or solid state, as by cooling or freezing; curdled; coagulated |
| conservatory | a school giving instruction in one or more of the fine or dramatic arts; specifically, a school of music |
| florin | a former gold coin of Austria, first issued in the middle of the 14th century |
| bolstered | added to, supported, or upheld |
| casement | a window sash opening on hinges that are generally attached to the upright side of its frame |
| deranged | to disturb the condition, action, or function of |
| fret saw | a long, narrow-bladed saw used to cut ornamental work from thin wood |
| mollify | to soften in feeling or temper, as a person; pacify; appease |
| credenza | a sideboard or buffet, esp. one without legs |
| stenography | the act or process of writing in shorthand by hand or machine |
| pristine | having its original purity; uncorrupted or unsullied |
| remonstrances | presentation of reasons in opposition to something; a protest or reproof |
| quill | a bird's feather made into a pen for writing |
| beck and call | 'Call' is used here with its usual meaning. 'Beck' is more interesting. The word, although current in English since the 14th century, isn't one that is found outside the phrase 'beck and call' these days. It is merely a shortened form of 'beckon', which we do still know well and understand to mean 'to signal silently, by a nod or motion of the hand or finger, indicating a request or command'. |
| beseechingly | entreatingly, imploringly, importunately, pleadingly |
| dung beetle | any of various scarab beetles that feed on or breed in dung |
| foray | a short raid or incursion; a first attempt or new undertaking |
| wistful | characterized by melancholy; longing; yearning; pensive |
| livery | characteristic dress, garb, or outward appearance; a uniform worn by servants |
| mawkishly | characterized by sickly sentimentality; weakly emotional; maudlin |
