English for Everybody - Advanced reading comprehension

Dracula

Page 61

Getting Lucy Home

 

She did not seem surprised to see me, as, of course, she did not realize all at once where she was. Lucy always wakes prettily, and even at such a time, when her body must have been chilled with cold, and her mind somewhat appalled at waking unclad in a churchyard at night, she did not lose her grace. She trembled a little, and clung to me. When I told her to come home at once with me, she rose without a word, with the obedience of a child. As we passed along, the gravel hurt my feet, and Lucy noticed me wince. She stopped and wanted to insist upon my taking back my shoes, but I would not.

However, when we got to the pathway outside the churchyard, where there was a puddle of water remaining from the storm I daubed my feet with mud so that as we went home, no one, in case we should meet any one, should notice my bare feet. Fortune favoured us, and we got home without meeting a soul. Once we saw a man, who seemed not quite sober, passing along a street in front of us. But we hid in a doorway till he had disappeared My heart beat so loud all the time sometimes I thought I should faint. I was filled with anxiety about Lucy, not only for her health, lest she should suffer from the exposure, but for her reputation in case the story should get out.

Vocabulary:

Appalled: Shocked and horrified
Grace: Elegant dignity
Gravel: Small sharp stones used on pathways
Wince: Twist your face from pain
Puddle: A small patch of water
Daub: To push on something liquid
Faint: To lose consciousness from fear or tiredness
Lest: If something should happen
Exposure: Here it means out unprotected in bad weather
Reputation: What people think of you

Click Me!
Please go on - press the blue button.