Gods had no pockets, and Lord Severance had many, beautifully flat yet containing banknotes with which he was generous when nobody looked. Since she could not marry him, Céline wanted Mademoiselle to do so, for Mademoiselle was her alter ego6. She shared Mademoiselle's glory and her dresses. She wished to be maid to a countess—a chic7 countess, as the wife of Milord Severance would be. It was desolating8 that Mademoiselle should throw everything over because of a silly quarrel (it must be a quarrel!) and fling herself away on a gawky giant whose clothes might have been made by a butcher!
Yes, it was easy to see that there had been an upheaval9 of some sort. Mademoiselle was not the same since Sunday afternoon, when this huge personage had arrived by appointment, and Céline had recalled seeing him on shipboard. To be sure, Milord had come in later, and outstayed the Monsieur. But it was then the quarrel must have occurred, for Mademoiselle had been in a state unequalled even after the most trying dress rehearsals10. Oh, it was a mystery—a mystery of the deepest blackness!
Céline moaned aloud, with a bleating11 noise, and gabbled argot12 as she tidied the belongings13 which Mademoiselle had flung everywhere.
"If I should call up Milord, how would that be?" she asked herself, and rushed to the 'phone.
Severance, as it happened, had been on the point of telephoning Mrs. Sorel, not daring to attempt direct communication with Marise. He had bad news and good news to give. The bad was that he must sail for England sooner than expected, in fact, on the following day, or perhaps not get a cabin for weeks.
The good news was that a friend had offered to lend him a wonderful house near Los Angeles for the next few months. He had spoken to a certain Lady Fytche (née Adêla Moyle, of California) about his marriage, and bringing ?none across for her health. Whereupon Adêla (who was at his hotel, and sailing on his ship) said, "I'd love to lend you Bell Towers. The house is standing14 empty, and you know it's rather nice."
Severance did know, for Bell Towers was a famous place, illustrated15 in magazines; and if Adêla Moyle had been prettier, it might have become his own before she fell back—figuratively speaking—upon a baronet.
If Marise would give up the stage (he couldn't bear to leave her behind the footlights in New York, admired, interviewed, gossipped about by Tom, Dick and Harry16!), he'd lend Bell Towers to Mrs. Sorel, and the girl could vanish from public view till time for her farcical marriage and his own return. If his uncle could be told by himself and the newspapers that Miss Sorel was engaged to Major Garth, it would be enough to cool the old boy's suspicions.
Then, as Tony's hand was stretched out for the receiver, came a ring at the telephone.
"The dentist!" he thought. For he had had to ask for a second appointment because of that loosened tooth, and was to be called up. It came as a surprise, therefore, to hear Céline's voice.
He could hardly believe the news which the French maid gave him. Marise wouldn't do such a thing! There must be a mistake, he told Céline. Or it was a clumsy joke.
"Milord, c'est la verité," came the answer. "Milord need not take my word. Let him go to the church. Milord may yet be in time. But he must make haste. It is a long way. I heard Madame telephone and talk."
"I will go—I'll do my best," Severance answered, to put the woman off. But—what could he do? What was his "best"?
Céline knew nothing of the secret pact17. She judged from what she had overheard, and he could not explain that he didn't see his way to stop the marriage.
The more he thought, the more clear it became that this sudden move by Marise was a caprice to spite him—to "hoist18 him from his own petard." Severance could almost hear the girl defend herself. "You ought to be pleased that I took you at your word, before you went away. Otherwise I might have changed my mind about the whole thing!"
She was sure to say this, and even if he reached the church in time he wouldn't dare stop the business when it had gone so far. That devil Garth had a beast of a temper; and a fellow can't at the same moment see red, and which side his bread is buttered!
Severance hated Garth venomously since the episode at the Belmore. But the brute19 was a hero in the States, and would pass in the public eye as a reasonable husband for Marise Sorel.
Nobody who didn't know the ugly truth would say, "How could that beautiful girl throw herself away on that worm?"
Whatever Garth was, he wasn't a worm. Though he had apparently20 made no bones of accepting a million-dollar bribe21, deep within his subconscious22 self Severance didn't believe that the million was the lure23. Garth was in love with the girl, in his loutish24 way. Perhaps, even, he might hope to win some affection from her in return. Tony felt that he need wish the fool no worse than an attempt to "try it on"!
Force, Severance did not fear. Marise was no flapper. She had her eyes open. She'd know how to handle a man in Garth's position. Besides, Mums would be at her side, a pillar of strength. Tony even felt that in some ways Garth was ideal for the part he had to play. Marise would always contrast him unfavourably with the man she loved. And hating Garth, he—Severance—could enjoy the tortures which the paid dummy25 was doomed26 to suffer.
Severance could not keep away from the church. To go was undignified, yet he knew that he would go.... Five minutes after his talk with Céline, Tony was in the lift, descending27 ten storeys of his hotel to the gilding28 and marble of the ground floor. As in a dream, he ordered a taxi. It came; and—self-conscious, as if he were being married himself—he directed the chauffeur29 where to drive. Then, still as in a dream, he stared at his reflection in a small mirror, which bobbed as the taxi bounced. It was a consolation30 to see how handsome and superlatively smart he looked!
He had abandoned his uniform in New York for every-day life; but he was sure that no man in America had clothes to compare in cut with his, which had been built at just the right place in Savile Row. His silk hat was a masterpiece. His tie, his socks, and the orchid31 in his buttonhole were all of the same shade, and his opal pin repeated the lights and shades of colour.
Well, there was one good thing he could accomplish by turning up at the church. Silently he would show Marise the contrast between a man who was everything he ought to be, and a man who was everything no man should be and live!
The chauffeur slowed at last before a church which looked more English than American, and was perhaps a relic32 of colonial days. "You can wait," said Severance, getting out. "I may ..." But he forgot the rest. In the porch stood two men, who had evidently just arrived and were talking. It was more like a dream than ever to see a familiar uniform which at a glance took Severance home. Both men wore it. The fighting khaki of his own regiment33 of the Guards!
The shorter of the two tall officers turned and saw him. It was his own Colonel; and the other was Garth. Then a second taxi drove up, containing Marise Sorel and her mother.
Severance would have stepped to the door of their cab, but Garth was before him.
And so it was, with sunshine striking a line of decorations on the V.C.'s breast, that Marise got the contrast between the men. An orchid is beautiful; but the Victoria Cross, even expressed in ribbon, is better.
"Let me introduce my Colonel, Lord Pobblebrook," said Garth. "He has brought his wife, who is American, home to this country; and when we ran across each other this morning he offered to—to see me through here."
"Pobbles"—of whom Marise had heard from Tony—took her hand. "We're proud of Garth in the regiment," he said, and found time to nod to Severance. But he looked puzzled. Why was Severance here? To the best of Pobbles's recollection, Tony had been the ringleader in a set who wanted to snub Garth out of the Brigade. The Colonel's curiosity woke up.
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fervent
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| adj.热的，热烈的，热情的 | |
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severance
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| n.离职金；切断 | |
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adorning
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| 修饰，装饰物 | |
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salon
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| n.[法]沙龙；客厅；营业性的高级服务室 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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ego
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| n.自我，自己，自尊 | |
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chic
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| n./adj.别致(的)，时髦(的)，讲究的 | |
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desolating
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| 毁坏( desolate的现在分词 )； 极大地破坏； 使沮丧； 使痛苦 | |
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upheaval
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| n.胀起，(地壳)的隆起；剧变，动乱 | |
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rehearsals
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| n.练习( rehearsal的名词复数 )；排练；复述；重复 | |
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bleating
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| v.（羊，小牛）叫( bleat的现在分词 )；哭诉；发出羊叫似的声音；轻声诉说 | |
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argot
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| n.隐语，黑话 | |
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belongings
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| n.私人物品，私人财物 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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illustrated
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| adj. 有插图的，列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词 | |
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harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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pact
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| n.合同，条约，公约，协定 | |
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hoist
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| n.升高，起重机，推动；v.升起，升高，举起 | |
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brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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bribe
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| n.贿赂；v.向…行贿，买通 | |
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subconscious
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| n./adj.潜意识(的)，下意识(的) | |
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lure
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| n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引 | |
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loutish
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| adj.粗鲁的 | |
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dummy
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| n.假的东西；(哄婴儿的)橡皮奶头 | |
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doomed
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| 命定的 | |
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descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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gilding
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| n.贴金箔，镀金 | |
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chauffeur
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| n.(受雇于私人或公司的)司机；v.为…开车 | |
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consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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orchid
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| n.兰花，淡紫色 | |
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relic
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| n.神圣的遗物，遗迹，纪念物 | |
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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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