She was very pretty and prettily5 dressed and sure of herself; there were evidences of temper and determination mixed with disquietude in her manner; and there was no one in her present neighbourhood (except possibly her chauffeur6) of whose existence she considered it worth her while to be aware. None the less, she was conscious that she was visible. . . .
A faint puff7 of vapour bellied8 above the distant screen of pines. Immediately a far, mellow9, prolonged hoot10 turned all faces toward the west. A rakish, low-lying locomotive with a long tail of coaches emerged from the woodland and, breathing forth11 vast volumes of smoke, fled a pursuing cloud of dust, straight as an arrow to the station; where, panting with triumph and relief, as one having won a race, it drew in beside the platform.
Incontinently, upwards12 of two hundred people, the majority of them men in apparently13 comfortable circumstances, well dressed to the standards of summer negligence14, swarmed15 out of the cars and ran hither and yon, heedlessly elbowing one another and gabbling vociferously16 as they sought accommodation in the long rank of station-wagons, 'buses, surreys, smartly appointed traps, and motor-cars.
Helena, bending forward, overlooked them all with imperceptible disdain17. The face she sought was not among those that swam in review beneath her. And presently encountering an overbold glance, she drew back with a little frown of annoyance18. Already the throng19 was thinning; conveyances20 laden21 to the guards were drawing out of the rank and rattling22 and rumbling23 off through stifling24 drifts of dust; no more passengers were issuing from the coaches; and already the parlour-car porters were picking up their stools and preparing to swing back aboard the train. The conductor waved his final signal. The bell tolled25 its warning. The locomotive belched26 black smoke and cinders27 and amid stentorian28 puffings began to move, the coaches following to their tune29 of clanking couplings. No sign of her refractory30 nephew. And still Helena hesitated to give the order to drive home; John had telephoned; it wasn't like him to be delinquent31 in his promises.
The end of the last car was passing her when she saw him. He appeared suddenly on the rearmost platform, with the startled expression and air of a Jack32-in-the-box; dropped his suit-case over the rear rail; ran down the steps; delayed an instant to gauge33 distance and speed: and with nice calculation dropped lightly to the ground.
Pausing only to recover his luggage, he approached the motor-car with a sheepish smile for his handsome young aunt, who regarded him with an air of mingled34 bewilderment and despair.
"Wel-l!" she exclaimed, as soon as he was near enough to hear—"of all things—!"
"Right you are!" he affirmed gravely, tossing his handbag into the car and following it. "Kick along, Davy," he added, with a nod to the chauffeur; and gracefully35 sank back upon the seat beside Helena.
Purring, the car began to grope its way through the dust-fog. Matthias turned twinkling eyes to his aunt. She compressed her lips and shook her head helplessly.
"Words inadequate36, aunty?"
"Quite!" she said. "What were you doing on that train, to come so near forgetting the station?"
"Thinking," he explained: "wrapped in profound and exhaustive meditation37. I say, how stunning38 you look!"
She gave him up; or one inferred as much from her gesture.
"You're impossible," she said in a tragic39 voice. "Thinking!... While I had to wait there and be ogled40 by all those odious41 men!"
"You must've been ready to sink through the ground."
She eyed him stonily42. "You didn't care—!"
"Even if I hadn't been preoccupied43, it would never have entered my head that you seriously objected to being admired."
She received this in injured silence. Matthias chuckled44 to himself and settled more comfortably into his seat. The motor-car turned off the main road from the station to the village of Port Madison, down which the greater number of its predecessors45 had clattered46, and found unclouded air on a well-metalled lane bordered with aged47 oaks and maples48. Through a funnel-like dip between hills, Matthias, looking past his aunt, caught a fleeting49 glimpse of the cluttered50 roofs of Port Madison, its shallow, land-locked harbour set with a little fleet of pleasure boats, and the ineffable51, burning blue of the distant Sound....
"I presume," Helena returned to the charge, disarmingly aggrieved52, "you think I ought to be grateful for your condescending53 to return at all!"
"Forgive me," he pleaded, not altogether insincerely; "I know it wasn't right of me to run away like that, but I couldn't help it."
"You couldn't help it!" she murmured despairingly.
"That's just the way of it. I got to thinking about a play I wanted to write, yesterday afternoon, and—well, along about ten o'clock it got too strong for me. I just had to get back to my typewriter. You know how that is."
"I? What do I know about your silly playwriting?"
Laughing, he bent54 nearer and patted the gloved hand on the cushions beside him. "You know perfectly55 well, Helena dear, what it is to want to do something so bad you simply can't help yourself. It's the Matthias blood in both of us. That's why you ran off and married Tankerville against everybody's advice. Of course, it did turn out beautifully; but you didn't stop to wonder whether it would or not when you took it into your head to marry him. The same with me: you decide that it's high time for your delightful56 sister-in-law to get married, and you look round and fix on your dutiful nephew for the bridegroom-elect—wholly because you want it to be that way."
"Don't you?" she demanded sharply.
He took a moment to think this over. "I suppose I do," he admitted almost reluctantly. "But—"
"You're in love with her!" Helena declared with spirit.
"Quite true, but—"
"Then why," she begged in tones of moderate exasperation—"why do you object—hang fire—run away like a silly, frightened schoolboy as soon as I get everything arranged for you?"
"But, you see, I'm not in a position to get married yet," he argued. "I haven't—"
"How's that—'not in a position'?" she interrupted testily57.
"You keep forgetting I'm the family pauper58, the poor relation, whereas Venetia has all the money there is, more or less."
"There you are!" Helena turned her palms out expressively59; folded them in resignation. "What more can you ask?"
"Something more nearly approaching an equal footing, at least."
"Jack!"—she turned to him with a fine air of innocence—"how much money have you got, anyway?"
"Thirty-six hundred per annum, as you know very well," he replied. "But, my dear, dear aunty (you're one of the most beautiful creatures alive and I'm awfully61 proud and fond of you) surely you must understand that no decent fellow wants to go to the girl he's in love with and make a proposition like this: 'I've got thirty-six hundred and you've got three hundred and sixty thousand; let's marry and divide.'"
"How long have you been writing plays?"
"Oh ... several years."
"And how many have you written?"
"Quite a few."
"And how much have you made at it?"
"Next to nothing, but—"
"Then why do you persist?"
"Because it's the thing I want to do."
"But you can't make any money at it—"
"I may make a lot before long. Meanwhile, I like it."
"But if you'd only listen to reason and let Tankerville—"
"With all the best intentions in the world, dear Helena, Tankerville couldn't make me a successful business man. It isn't in me. Permit me to muddle62 along in my own, 'special, wrong-headed way, and the chances are I'll make good in the end. But, once and for all, I refuse positively63 to give up my trade and try to make sense of Wall Street methods."
Helena moved her shoulders impatiently. For an instant she was silenced. Then: "But marriage needn't necessarily put an end to your playwriting. A good marriage—as with Venetia—ought even to help, I should think."
"But you persist in forgetting I'm not a fortune hunter."
"But," she countered smartly, "Marbridge is."
He said: "Oh—Marbridge!" as if dumbfounded.
She smiled quietly, a very wise and superior smile.
To this point the car had been steadily64 ascending65; the noise of the motor, together with the frequent stutterings of the exhaust with the muffler cut-out, had been sufficient to disguise the substance of their communication from the ears of the operator. Now, however, they surmounted66 the highest point and began the more gradual descent to the Tankerville estate. And with less noise there was consequently very little talking on the part of the two on the rear seat. For which Matthias wasn't altogether sorry. He wanted time to think—to think about Venetia Tankerville in the new light cast upon her by his aunt's concluding remark: as affected67 by her friendship with Vincent Marbridge.
In the natural swing of events, it would never have occurred to him to consider Marbridge's attentions seriously. Nobody ever took Marbridge seriously, he believed, aside from a few exceptionally foolish women....
Noiselessly the car slipped down a mile-long avenue to the brow of a promontory68. On either hand Tanglewood's long parked terraces fell away to the water: on the left the harbour of Port Madison, on the right, Long Island Sound.
Matthias was barely conscious of these things; his mood was haunted by an extraordinarily69 clear vision of Vincent Marbridge: not tall, but by no means short; a trifle stout70, but none the less a well-knit figure of a man, and tremendously alive; dark, with a broad, blunt, good-humoured face and seal-brown eyes that were exceedingly handsome and expressive60; keen-witted and accomplished71, knowing almost everybody and every place and thing worth knowing; hedonist and egoist, selfish, unscrupulous, magnetic, fascinating.
Impressed, Matthias frowned. His aunt eyed him covertly72, with a sly, semi-affectionate, semi-malicious smile shadowing her mouth.
Slackening its pace, the car took the wide semicircle of the drive and slid sedately73 to a dead stop by the carriage-block. Matthias pulled himself together, jumped out, and gave his hand to his aunt. They turned toward the house.
Tankerville's pretentious74 marble palace crowned the brow of the headland with an effect as exquisite75 as a dream of an ancient French chateau76 realized in snow. For this its owner had his wife to thank. Helena, unable to curb77 her husband's desire for the most expensive and ostentatious place obtainable, had at least guided his choice of design. It was too magnificent, it was overpowering, but it was beautiful; and it was more than ever beautiful at this hour, with its walls in part bathed in a rose-pink light of sunset, in part shadowed as with a wash of violet, and with all its admirable proportions stark78 against the dusky sapphire79 of the Sound.
An unwonted stillness clung about the place. Matthias wondered.
"It might be the palace of the Sleeping Beauty," he said. "Why this deadly and benumbing silence? What—"
"Oh, simply that Tankerville decided80 this morning to take everybody down to Huntington for lunch. They got away quite early, in the Enchantress. Come out on the terrace; we'll look for them."
They passed through a wide, cool, panelled hallway.
"Why didn't you go?"
"You know I hate the water. Besides, I had a headache—at least, I had one until the Enchantress got under way; and furthermore I meant to stay at home and meet you and talk it out."
"Venetia went, of course?"
"Of course—and Marbridge—and everybody!"
He grunted81 thoughtfully. They descended82 to a terrace which jutted83 airily out over the edge of a cliff, with a sheer drop of a hundred and fifty feet to the beach.
Helena, dropping languidly into a wicker chair, motioned Matthias to the broad marble balustrade.
"Any sign of the Enchantress, O perturbed84 nephew?"
He lingered there for an instant, marvelling85 with an inexhaustible wonder at the magnificent sweep of the view, then remembering, raked the waters until he discovered Tankerville's power-cruiser standing86 in toward the dock from the bottle-neck mouth of Port Madison harbour.
Returning, he reported, seated himself near his aunt, lighted a cigarette.
"Why did you ask him here anyway?" he demanded abruptly87.
"Who?" she parried mischievously88.
"Marbridge, of course," he admitted, sulking in the face of her manifest amusement.
"Jealous, Jackie?"
"Oh—if you insist."
She laughed. "The most encouraging symptom you've yet betrayed!... I didn't ask him. Tankerville did. He likes him. The man's amusing, after all."
"But you like him?"
"He amuses me."
"He's not precisely89 a tame cat...."
"Dear boy!" she laughed again, "I didn't fetch you out here to worry about me. I'm fire-proof. Venetia's quite another pair of shoes. Fret90 about her as much as you like."
"When does he go—Marbridge, I mean?"
"Monday, I think. At least, I believe Tankerville asked him for a week only."
"And that's why you asked me, this particular week?"
"I thought you'd be a good counter-irritant; and hoped you'd come to your senses and secure Venetia against all Marbridges for all time to come. You gave me to understand you would."
"Pardon," he corrected a trifle stiffly: "I admitted to you in strict confidence that I was in love with Venetia. I never promised to ask her to marry me."
"Well, that's what I understood you to mean. And anyway, you'd better. Neither Tankerville nor I can control the girl; she's her own mistress and headstrong enough to be a good match for any Matthias that ever lived. If Marbridge ever convinces her that she likes him...."
She concluded with an eloquent91 ellipsis92.
"Probably," mused93 Matthias after prolonged deliberation, "I'd have lost my head before this if it hadn't been so full of that play."
Helena smiled indulgently. "It's not too late ... I hope."
Troubled, he rose, walked to the balustrade, jerked his cigarette into space, and returned.
"As between one fortune-hunter and another," he said gloomily, "I'm conceited94 enough to think myself the safer bet."
His aunt smiled more openly: "See what Venetia thinks."
"I will!" said Matthias with a fine air of inalterable determination.
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收听单词发音
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1
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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conjure
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| v.恳求，祈求；变魔术，变戏法 | |
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overdue
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| adj.过期的，到期未付的；早该有的，迟到的 | |
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prettily
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| adv.优美地；可爱地 | |
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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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puff
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| n.一口(气)；一阵(风)；v.喷气，喘气 | |
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bellied
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| adj.有腹的，大肚子的 | |
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mellow
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| adj.柔和的；熟透的；v.变柔和；(使)成熟 | |
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hoot
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| n.鸟叫声，汽车的喇叭声； v.使汽车鸣喇叭 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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negligence
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| n.疏忽，玩忽，粗心大意 | |
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swarmed
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| 密集( swarm的过去式和过去分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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vociferously
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| adv.喊叫地，吵闹地 | |
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disdain
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| n.鄙视，轻视；v.轻视，鄙视，不屑 | |
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annoyance
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| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
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throng
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| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
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conveyances
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| n.传送( conveyance的名词复数 )；运送；表达；运输工具 | |
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laden
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| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
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rattling
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| adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词 | |
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rumbling
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| n. 隆隆声, 辘辘声 adj. 隆隆响的 动词rumble的现在分词 | |
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stifling
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| a.令人窒息的 | |
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tolled
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| 鸣钟（toll的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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belched
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| v.打嗝( belch的过去式和过去分词 )；喷出，吐出；打（嗝）；嗳（气） | |
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27
cinders
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| n.煤渣( cinder的名词复数 )；炭渣；煤渣路；煤渣跑道 | |
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stentorian
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| adj.大声的，响亮的 | |
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tune
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| n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整 | |
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refractory
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| adj.倔强的，难驾驭的 | |
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delinquent
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| adj.犯法的，有过失的；n.违法者 | |
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jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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gauge
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| v.精确计量；估计；n.标准度量；计量器 | |
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mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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gracefully
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| ad.大大方方地；优美地 | |
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inadequate
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| adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的 | |
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meditation
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| n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录 | |
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stunning
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| adj.极好的；使人晕倒的 | |
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tragic
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| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
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ogled
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| v.（向…）抛媚眼，送秋波( ogle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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odious
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| adj.可憎的，讨厌的 | |
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stonily
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| 石头地，冷酷地 | |
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preoccupied
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| adj.全神贯注的，入神的；被抢先占有的；心事重重的v.占据（某人）思想，使对…全神贯注，使专心于( preoccupy的过去式) | |
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44
chuckled
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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predecessors
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| n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身 | |
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46
clattered
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| 发出咔哒声（clatter的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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47
aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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maples
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| 槭树，枫树( maple的名词复数 )； 槭木 | |
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49
fleeting
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| adj.短暂的，飞逝的 | |
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50
cluttered
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| v.杂物，零乱的东西零乱vt.( clutter的过去式和过去分词 )；乱糟糟地堆满，把…弄得很乱；（以…） 塞满… | |
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51
ineffable
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| adj.无法表达的，不可言喻的 | |
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52
aggrieved
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| adj.愤愤不平的，受委屈的；悲痛的；（在合法权利方面）受侵害的v.令委屈，令苦恼，侵害( aggrieve的过去式)；令委屈，令苦恼，侵害( aggrieve的过去式和过去分词) | |
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53
condescending
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| adj.谦逊的,故意屈尊的 | |
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54
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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55
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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56
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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57
testily
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| adv. 易怒地, 暴躁地 | |
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58
pauper
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| n.贫民，被救济者，穷人 | |
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59
expressively
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| ad.表示(某事物)地；表达地 | |
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expressive
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| adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的 | |
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61
awfully
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| adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地 | |
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62
muddle
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| n.困惑，混浊状态；vt.使混乱，使糊涂，使惊呆；vi.胡乱应付，混乱 | |
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63
positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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64
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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65
ascending
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| adj.上升的，向上的 | |
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66
surmounted
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| 战胜( surmount的过去式和过去分词 )； 克服（困难）； 居于…之上； 在…顶上 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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68
promontory
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| n.海角；岬 | |
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69
extraordinarily
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| adv.格外地；极端地 | |
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71
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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covertly
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| adv.偷偷摸摸地 | |
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sedately
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| adv.镇静地，安详地 | |
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pretentious
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| adj.自命不凡的，自负的，炫耀的 | |
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exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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chateau
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| n.城堡，别墅 | |
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curb
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| n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制 | |
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stark
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| adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地 | |
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sapphire
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| n.青玉，蓝宝石；adj.天蓝色的 | |
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80
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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81
grunted
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| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说 | |
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descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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83
jutted
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| v.（使）突出( jut的过去式和过去分词 )；伸出；（从…）突出；高出 | |
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perturbed
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| adj.烦燥不安的v.使（某人）烦恼，不安( perturb的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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85
marvelling
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| v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的现在分词 ) | |
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86
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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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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mischievously
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| adv.有害地；淘气地 | |
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precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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fret
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| v.(使)烦恼；(使)焦急；(使)腐蚀，(使)磨损 | |
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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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ellipsis
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| n.省略符号，省略(语法结构上的) | |
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mused
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| v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
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conceited
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| adj.自负的，骄傲自满的 | |
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