But, quite soon enough for his hosts, as he considered them,—his guests, according to Miss Penny,—he appeared at the cottage, bodily and mentally prepared for the feast, and showing both in manner and attire8 due sense of the honour conferred upon him.
It was a festive9, and for one of them at all events, a never-to-be-forgotten meal. The strong Sark air had got into all their heads, and whatever prudish10 notions might have been working in Margaret, she had bidden them to heel and took her pleasure as it came.
Her mood, however, for the moment was receptive rather than expressive11. Miss Penny and Graeme still did most of the talking, and Margaret sat and listened and laughed, not a little astonished at finding herself in that galley12.
"What is the penalty for aiding and abetting13 a criminal in an evasion14 of the law, Mr. Graeme?" chirped15 Miss Penny one time, and took Margaret's energetic below-table expostulation without a wince16.
"It would depend, I should say, on the particular dye of criminal. What has your friend been up to, Miss Penny? Is he a particularly black specimen17?"
"In the first place he's a she, and in the next place her complexion18 has a decided19 tendency towards blonde. As to dye—I am in a position to state on oath that she does not."
For a moment he was mystified, then his eye fell on Margaret's face, full of glorious confusion at this base betrayal by her bosom21 friend.
"The Sark air does get into people's heads like that at times," he said diplomatically. "It's just in the first few days. But you soon get used to it. I felt just the same myself—losing faith in things and thinking ill of my friends, and so on. You'll be quite all right in a day or two, Miss Penny,"—with a touch of sympathetic commiseration22 in his voice.
"Oh, I'm quite all right now," said Miss Penny enjoyably. "I thought it only right and proper to let you know where you stand. At the present moment you are as likely as not aiding and abetting a breaker of the British laws and her accomplice23. You may become involved in serious complications, you see."
"If that means that I can be of any service in the matter I shall be only too delighted,—if you will not look upon me as an intruder." He spoke24 to Miss Penny but looked at Margaret.
"Ah-ha! Qualms25 of conscience——"
"Hennie is a little raised, Mr. Graeme," broke in Margaret. "Please excuse her. A good night's rest will make her all right."
"Never felt better in my life," sparkled Miss Penny. "But seriously, Mr. Graeme, it is only right you should understand, for we don't quite know where we are ourselves, and I'm going to tell you even though Margaret kicks all the skin off my leg in the process. In a word,—we've bolted."
"Bolted?" he echoed, all aglow26 with hopeful interest.
"Yes—from Mr. Pixley and all his works. And as he had been threatening to make us a Ward20 of Court, you see—well, there you are, don't you know."
"I see," he said, and there was a new light in his eyes as he looked at Margaret, and his soul danced within him again as David's before the Ark.
"For reasons which seemed adequate to myself, Mr. Graeme,"—began Margaret, in more sober explanation.
"They were, they were. I am sure of it," sang his heart. And his brain asked eagerly, "Had Charles Svendt anything to do with it, I wonder?"
"—I thought it well to remove myself from the care of my guardian27 Mr. Pixley——"
"Splendid girl! Splendid girl!" sang his heart.
"—And as I have still some of my time to serve——"
"How long, O Lord, how long?" chaunted his heart, with no sense of impropriety, for it was sounding p?ans of joyful28 hope.
"—You see——" said Margaret.
"I see."
"Do you think they could make me go back to him?" she asked anxiously.
"To Mr. Pixley? Certainly not—that is if your reasons for leaving him seemed adequate to the Court, as I am sure they would."
She offered no explanation on this point. All that she left unsaid, and that he would have given much to hear, seemed dancing just inside Miss Penny's sparkling eyes, and as like as not to come dancing out at any moment.
"You see," said Graeme, "I happen to have been making some enquiries from a legal friend on that very point——"
"Oh!" said Margaret, and Miss Penny's eyes danced carmagnoles.
"In connection with a story, you know. One likes to get one's legal points all right. In any case, as I was just about to tell Miss Penny for the benefit of her criminal friend, there would be lots of red tape to unwind before they could do anything, and this little isle29 of Sark is the quaintest30 place in the world in the matter of its own old observances and their integrity, and the rejection31 of new ideas. Mr. Pixley does not know you are here, of course?"
"Not much, or he'd have been over by special boat long since," said Miss Penny. "We managed it splendidly."
"And how long?" began Graeme, in pursuance of his train of thought, but stopped short at sound of the words, since they bore distant resemblance to a curiosity which seemed to himself impertinent.
But Miss Penny knew no such compunctions. She did not want to miss one jot32 or tittle of her enjoyment33 of the situation.
"About six months," said she quickly.
"Well, I should think we"—how delightful34 to him that "we," and how Miss Penny rejoiced in it!—"could hold them at bay for that length of time. The machinery35 of the law is slow and cumbersome36 at best, and in this case, I imagine, it would not be difficult to put a few additional spokes37 in its wheels."
If his face was anything to go by there were many more questions he would have liked to put—judicial questions, you understand, for a fuller comprehension of the case. But he would not venture them yet. He had got ample food for reflection for the moment, and his hopes stood high.
Never for him had there been a dinner equal to that one. Better ones he had partaken of in plenty. But the full board and the quality of the faring are not the only things, nor by any means the chief things, that go to the making of a feast.
The nearest approach to it had been that dinner with the Whitefriars, at which he first met Margaret Brandt, and that did not come within measurable distance of this one.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
considerably
|
|
| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
anticipation
|
|
| n.预期，预料，期望 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
allotted
|
|
| 分配，拨给，摊派( allot的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
fervent
|
|
| adj.热的，热烈的，热情的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
blessings
|
|
| n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
disclaiming
|
|
| v.否认( disclaim的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
pretension
|
|
| n.要求；自命，自称；自负 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
attire
|
|
| v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
festive
|
|
| adj.欢宴的，节日的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
prudish
|
|
| adj.装淑女样子的，装规矩的，过分规矩的；adv.过分拘谨地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
expressive
|
|
| adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
galley
|
|
| n.（飞机或船上的）厨房单层甲板大帆船；军舰舰长用的大划艇； | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
abetting
|
|
| v.教唆（犯罪）( abet的现在分词 )；煽动；怂恿；支持 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
evasion
|
|
| n.逃避，偷漏(税) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
chirped
|
|
| 鸟叫，虫鸣( chirp的过去式 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
wince
|
|
| n.畏缩，退避，（因痛苦，苦恼等)面部肌肉抽动；v.畏缩，退缩，退避 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
specimen
|
|
| n.样本，标本 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
complexion
|
|
| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
decided
|
|
| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
ward
|
|
| n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
bosom
|
|
| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
commiseration
|
|
| n.怜悯，同情 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
accomplice
|
|
| n.从犯，帮凶，同谋 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
spoke
|
|
| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
qualms
|
|
| n.不安；内疚 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
aglow
|
|
| adj.发亮的；发红的；adv.发亮地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
guardian
|
|
| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
joyful
|
|
| adj.欢乐的，令人欢欣的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
isle
|
|
| n.小岛，岛 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
quaintest
|
|
| adj.古色古香的( quaint的最高级 )；少见的，古怪的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
rejection
|
|
| n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
jot
|
|
| n.少量；vi.草草记下；vt.匆匆写下 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
enjoyment
|
|
| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
delightful
|
|
| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
machinery
|
|
| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
cumbersome
|
|
| adj.笨重的，不便携带的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
spokes
|
|
| n.（车轮的）辐条( spoke的名词复数 )；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |