All 3 Uses

vex
in
The House of the Seven Gables
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Worst of all, when the actual duties are comprised in such petty details as now vexed the brooding soul of the old gentlewoman.†
Chpt 4 *

vexed = annoyed
He was seeking to make himself more fully sensible of the scene around him; or, perhaps, dreading it to be a dream, or a play of imagination, was vexing the fair moment with a struggle for some added brilliancy and more durable illusion.†
Chpt 7

vexing = annoying
Something has strangely vexed the ancestor!†
Chpt 18

vexed = annoyed

Definitions:

(1) (vex)
to annoy, worry, or frustrate -- especially by being difficult or persistent
(2) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)