"Not to remember that man named Garth, in your regiment2, who was promoted from a private to be an officer, and won the V.C. I think it was Mums who asked you about him one day, when she'd read something in the Daily Mail, and you said he was a cad. Is this by any chance the same Garth?"
"By evil chance, it is."
Marise was interested. She was dramatic, and liked coincidences. Mrs. Sorel was interested too, with that part of her mind—the principal part—which was not reading Wells's Joan and Peter. It was quite easy, for two reasons, to unhook her attention from the book. One reason was that as a chaperon she was reading by discretion3, not inclination4. The other reason was, if she had to read at all, she would secretly have preferred a "smart society" novel. But when she read in public she always selected a book which could be talked about intellectually.
She knew how strong this feeling of Lord Severance against the regimental hero had been, and she wished that Marise would show a little tact5, and not vex6 him. He had not proposed yet!
But Marise went on. "How quaint7 that your Major Garth should be on board our ship!"
"For Heaven's sake, don't call him my Major Garth, dear girl! I loathe8 the brute9."
"But why, old thing? You might tell me why."
"I did, at the time your mother mentioned him."
"If you did, I've forgotten. Do tell me again. It sounds exciting."
Mary Sorel thought that intervention10 would now be more useful than detachment.
"You two are talking so loudly, I can't read!" she sweetly reproved the pair. "I caught the name of Garth, and the whole conversation we had that day, about him, came back to me. We were lunching with Lord Severance at the Carlton, and I showed him a paragraph I'd clipped from the Daily Mail. I thought as it was about his regiment he might be interested if he hadn't seen it. It was headed 'Romantic Career of a Hero. British-born American Wins the Victoria Cross.' But he wasn't interested, because he explained that the man was a blot11 on the Brigade; very common, not a gentleman."
"Yes, it comes back to me, too," said Marise. "But if he was a hero——"
"That's all newspaper tosh!" cut in Severance. "They must have headings! It's luck more than heroism12 that gets a chap the Victoria Cross. Soldiers all know that. Otherwise——"
His lips said no more. Only his eyes were eloquent13. The beautiful lavender-grey overcoat hid no ribbon-symbols of decorations on his breast. But how can a staff officer find the chance his soul yearns14 for, to show his mettle—except the metal on his expensive "brass15 hat"?
"Of course!" Mrs. Sorel breathed sympathetically.
"Garth was all right as a private, I dare say," Severance grudged16. "Even as an officer he might have passed in some regiments17. But not in the Guards. He ought never to have been let come in. And he ought certainly not to have stayed in, knowing how we felt. If he'd had any proper pride, he wouldn't have stopped a day."
"Perhaps it was pride made him stick," suggested Marise, led on somehow she hardly knew why—to defend the culprit.
"'Proper' pride was my word," Severance reminded her.
"Extraordinary that an American should be serving with the Guards, in the first place!" Mary Sorel flung herself into the breach18, hoping to stop the argument. Arguments made her anxious. She thought that they led to quarrels. And not for anything on earth would she have Marise quarrel with Severance, the only earl who had ever shown symptoms of proposing. It had been well enough for the girl to pique19 him when he was a handsome young man about town, whose good position was counterbalanced by the star's financial and face value. But since six weeks Severance had become a great catch. Other girls were digging bait in case the fish should wriggle20, or be coaxed21, off Marise Sorel's hook.
"The fellow's luck again!" growled22 Severance. "I don't know what his job was in his own country. I don't interest myself in the private life of the lower classes. All I know is, he wasn't a soldier; but he had some bee in his bonnet23 about a future war, and a theory that there'd be trench24 fighting on a big scale. He contrived25 to invent and patent a motor entrenching26 tool, supposed to act fifty times quicker than anything else ever seen. Then he proceeded to experiment on his back-woods farm, or his wild west ranch27, or whatever it was. Washington wasn't 'taking any,' however (isn't that what you say in the States?), so Garth decided28 to try it on the British bulldog. Where his big stroke of luck came in was meeting our old C.O. on board ship crossing to England. The Colonel had been in New York with his American wife. He probably heard the blighter brag29 of his invention, and that would catch him as toasted cheese in a trap catches a hungry rat. You see, the old boy always had a craze of his own about trench warfare30, and I believe he used to bore the W.O. stiff, roaring for some such machine as this chap Garth invented. Naturally, Pobbles (that's what we call the C.O. behind his back)—Lord Pobblebrook, you know—took the man up. Not socially, of course. Garth's about on a social level with Lady Pobblebrook's foot-man, I should think. But he got the W.O. to look at the trench tool, and—as if that wasn't luck enough for the bounder!—the war broke out. The W.O. bought Garth's invention, as you saw in the Mail, and paid about tuppence for it, I suppose. He had a fancy to enlist31 in the British Army—feared the U.S.A. would be a bit late coming in, perhaps. I never heard of any American dropping into the Guards before, even as a Tommy, but it must have been easy enough with a push from Pobbles, especially as the chap's people had been English, I believe. If it hadn't been for Pobbles, Garth would certainly not have got a commission. Anyhow not with us."
"Oh, you Guardsmen think you're gods!" the girl teased him.
"Not gallery gods, in any case," Severance caught her up. "That's why we don't want that sort in our mess and clubs. Most regiments have had to put up with a mixture of these 'temporary gentlemen,' but not Ours. Besides, 'temporary' and 'permanent' are different words. The 'temporary' kind can't be permanent, don't you see? For their own sakes, they ought to step down and out when they cease to be useful, because they never can be ornamental32. We of the Brigade have a good deal to live up to, you must admit. I assure you, I'm not the only one who hasn't exactly encouraged Garth to wear out his welcome."
"How about the Colonel?" Marise inquired.
"Oh, Pobbles. He doesn't count in this scrap33. He's practically never in the mess, so the bad manners and bad boots of a cad don't interfere34 with his digestion35. Besides, he was responsible for landing us with the fellow. I don't suppose he ever dreamed for a moment that a man of that type would dare—or wish—to stay on as an officer of the regiment after the war. But there it is! To save his own face the C.O. could hardly give Garth the cold shoulder. Pobbles whitewashed36 himself by extolling37 the swine as a soldier, and quoting such stuff as 'hearts are more than coronets,' and so on."
"Aren't they?" murmured Marise.
"Oh, of course, in the way you mean. But not in the mess of a Guards regiment."
"I see," said the girl, with a blue twinkle beneath the admired lashes38. For some reason it amused her to wave a red flag, and play with the lordly Severance as with a baited bull, under her mother's cautioning glances. It was just a mood. Marise wasn't even sure that she did not agree with Tony; and she was certain that Mums agreed. No lady possessed39 of ancestral jewels, handed down from beheaded aristocrats40, could afford to hide the smallest coronet under the biggest bushel of hearts, in a mess, or a drawing-room, or anywhere! Poor Mums, she was being baited, too! But it was rather fun. And it could do no harm, since Marise counted Tony her own forever.
"So all of you younger officers have been doing your best to squeeze my poor countryman out?" she ventured on.
"Not because he's a countryman of yours. You must understand that! Because he's impossible. And for the honour of the regiment. I'm sorry to say, though, that we weren't unanimous in the matter. There have been two or three—er—not rows, but something in that line, a few men inclining to let Garth 'dree his own weird,' and learn for himself that he's a square peg41 in a round hole. But Billy Ravenswood and Cecil de Marchand and I took a firm stand."
"I can see you taking it!" giggled42 Marise. "You took the firm stand on one foot only, and kicked with the other! When you got tired of the exercise, and had to sit down, you sat on Major Garth, V.C.—sat hard!"
Severance laughed a little too, her giggle43 was so contagious44. Besides, at last, she did seem to be entering into the spirit of the game. "Something of the sort," he admitted, not without pride in remembered achievements. "The lot of an intruder among us isn't a happy one."
"I should think not, if the rest are like you," said Marise. "I've seen you perfectly45 horrid46 to quite inoffensive people you didn't happen to approve of."
"The person you force me to discuss, dear child, is the opposite of inoffensive," amended47 Severance. "Can't we drop him?"
"You seem to have done so successfully already," said she. "As he's on this ship, homeward bound, the regiment is rid of him, isn't it?"
"I'm not so sure. In fact, I'm not at all sure. He's in mufti, certainly—to insult the good old word! But I understand he still refuses to confess he's beaten, and is only on long leave."
"Oh, he's in mufti! But you'll point him out, if he comes on deck, won't you, boy? After all this talk, I pine to see what he's like. If he passes by——"
"Thank Heaven, he has passed by. He's gone inside, and we're rid of him for the moment."
"Tony, you don't mean—you can't!"
"What?"
"Samson?"
"Why, yes. Didn't you realise that? Now perhaps you'll understand why we don't want this particular Samson pulling down the pillars of our temples."
"He may have heard what we said! He was walking back and forth48 part of the time as we talked."
"Who cares if he did hear? It would do him good—be a douche to cool his conceit49."
At that instant the back of Severance's head was coldly douched. Something popped: something spurted50. A jet of water sprayed over him, fizzing with such force that it blew his gold-laced Guards' cap over his eyes.
Marise and her mother were petrified51. They could only gasp52.
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1
severance
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| n.离职金；切断 | |
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regiment
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| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
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discretion
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| n.谨慎；随意处理 | |
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inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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tact
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| n.机敏，圆滑，得体 | |
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vex
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| vt.使烦恼，使苦恼 | |
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7
quaint
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| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
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loathe
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| v.厌恶，嫌恶 | |
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brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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intervention
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| n.介入，干涉，干预 | |
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blot
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| vt.弄脏（用吸墨纸）吸干；n.污点，污渍 | |
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heroism
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| n.大无畏精神，英勇 | |
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eloquent
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| adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的 | |
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yearns
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| 渴望，切盼，向往( yearn的第三人称单数 ) | |
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brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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grudged
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| 怀恨（grudge的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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regiments
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| （军队的）团( regiment的名词复数 )； 大量的人或物 | |
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18
breach
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| n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破 | |
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pique
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| v.伤害…的自尊心，使生气 n.不满，生气 | |
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wriggle
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| v./n.蠕动，扭动；蜿蜒 | |
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21
coaxed
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| v.哄，用好话劝说( coax的过去式和过去分词 )；巧言骗取；哄劝，劝诱 | |
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22
growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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23
bonnet
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| n.无边女帽；童帽 | |
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trench
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| n./v.(挖)沟，(挖)战壕 | |
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contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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entrenching
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| v.用壕沟围绕或保护…( entrench的现在分词 )；牢固地确立… | |
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ranch
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| n.大牧场，大农场 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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brag
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| v./n.吹牛，自夸；adj.第一流的 | |
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warfare
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| n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突 | |
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31
enlist
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| vt.谋取(支持等)，赢得；征募；vi.入伍 | |
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ornamental
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| adj.装饰的；作装饰用的；n.装饰品；观赏植物 | |
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33
scrap
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| n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废 | |
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34
interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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digestion
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| n.消化，吸收 | |
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whitewashed
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| 粉饰，美化，掩饰( whitewash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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extolling
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| v.赞美( extoll的现在分词 )；赞颂，赞扬，赞美( extol的现在分词 ) | |
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38
lashes
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| n.鞭挞( lash的名词复数 )；鞭子；突然猛烈的一击；急速挥动v.鞭打( lash的第三人称单数 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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39
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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40
aristocrats
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| n.贵族( aristocrat的名词复数 ) | |
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41
peg
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| n.木栓，木钉；vt.用木钉钉，用短桩固定 | |
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42
giggled
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| v.咯咯地笑( giggle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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43
giggle
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| n.痴笑，咯咯地笑；v.咯咯地笑着说 | |
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44
contagious
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| adj.传染性的，有感染力的 | |
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45
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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46
horrid
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| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
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47
Amended
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| adj. 修正的 动词amend的过去式和过去分词 | |
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48
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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conceit
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| n.自负，自高自大 | |
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50
spurted
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| （液体，火焰等）喷出，（使）涌出( spurt的过去式和过去分词 )； （短暂地）加速前进，冲刺 | |
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51
petrified
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| adj.惊呆的；目瞪口呆的v.使吓呆，使惊呆；变僵硬；使石化(petrify的过去式和过去分词) | |
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52
gasp
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| n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说 | |
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