Mr. Earlforward spoke1 benevolently2 but, for him, rather quickly and abruptly3. And Elsie was intimidated4. She worked for Mr. Earlforward only in the mornings, and to be in the shop in the darkening afternoon made her feel quite queer and apologetic. It was almost as if she had never been in the shop before and had no right there.
As the two approached each other the habitual5 heavenly kindness in the girl's gaze seemed to tranquillize Mr. Earlforward, who knew intimately her expression and her disposition6. And though he was still disturbed by apprehension7 he found, as usual, a mysterious comfort in her presence; and this influence of hers exercised itself even upon his fear of losing her for ever. A strange, exciting emotional equilibrium8 became established in the twilight9 of the shop.
Elsie was a strongly-built wench, plump, fairly tall, with the striking free, powerful carriage of one bred to various and hard manual labour. Her arms and bust10 were superb. She had blue-black hair and dark blue eyes, and a pretty curve of the lips. The face was square but soft. From the constant drawing together of the eyebrows11 into a pucker12 of the forehead, and the dropping of the corners of the large mouth, it could be deduced that she was, if anything, over-conscientious, with a tendency to worry about the right performance of her duty; but this warping14 of her features was too slight to be unpleasant; it was, indeed, a reassurance15. She was twenty-three years of age; solitude16, adversity and deprivation17 made her look[Pg 15] older. For four years she had been a widow, childless, after two nights of marriage and romance with a youth who went to the East in 1915 to die of dysentery. Her clothes were cheap, dirty, slatternly and dilapidated. Over a soiled white apron18 she wore a terribly coarse apron of sacking. This apron was an offence; it was an outrage19. But not to her; she regarded it as part of a uniform, and such an apron was, in fact, part of the regular uniform of thousands of women in Clerkenwell. If Elsie was slatternly, dirty, and without any grace of adornment20, the reason was that she had absolutely no inducement or example to be otherwise. It was her natural, respectable state to be so.
"It's for Mrs. Arb, sir," Elsie began.
"Mrs. Arb?" questioned Mr. Earlforward, puzzled for an instant by the unfamiliar21 name. "Yes, yes, I know. Well? What have you got to do with Mrs. Arb?"
"I work for her in my afternoons, sir."
"But I never knew this!"
"I only began to-day, sir. She sent me across, seeing as I'm engaged here, to see if you'd got a good, cheap, second-hand22 cookery-book."
Mr. Earlforward's demeanour reflected no change in his mood, but Elsie had raised him into heaven. It was not to give him notice that she had come! She would stay with him! She would stay for ever, or until he had no need of her. And she would make a link with Mrs. Arb, the new proprietress of the confectioner's shop across the way. Of course the name of the new proprietress was Arb. He had not thought of her name. He had thought only of herself. Even now he had no notion of her Christian23 name.
"Oh! So she wants a cookery-book, does she? What sort of a cookery-book?"
"She said she's thinking of going in for sandwiches, sir, and things, she said, and having a sign put up for it. Snacks, like."
The word "snacks" gave Mr. Earlforward an idea. He walked across to what he called the "modern side"[Pg 16] of the shop. In the course of the war, when food-rationed24 stay-at-homes really had to stay at home, and, having nothing else to do while waiting for air-raids, took to literature in desperation, he had done a very large trade in cheap editions of novels, and quite a good trade in cheap cookery-books that professed25 to teach rationed house-wives how to make substance out of shadow. Gently rubbing his little beard, he stood and gazed rather absently at a shelf of small paper-protected volumes, while Elsie waited with submission26.
Silence within, but the dulled and still hard rumble27 of ceaseless motion beyond the book-screened windows! A spell! An enchantment28 upon these two human beings, both commonplace and both marvellous, bound together and yet incurious each of the other and incurious of the mysteries in which they and all their fellows lived! Mr. Earlforward never asked the meaning of life, for he had a lifelong ruling passion. Elsie never asked the meaning of life, for she was dominated and obsessed29 by a tremendous instinct to serve. Mr. Earlforward, though a kindly30 man, had persuaded himself that Elsie would go on charing31 until she died, without any romantic recompense from fate for her early tragedy, and he was well satisfied that this should be so. Because the result would inconvenience him, he desired that she should not fall in love again and marry; he preferred that she should spend her strength and youth and should grow old for him in sterile32 celibacy33. He had absolutely no eye for the exciting effect of the white and the brown apron-strings crossing and recrossing round her magnificent waist. And Elsie knew only that Mr. Earlforward had material wants, which she satisfied as well as she could. She did not guess, nor come within a hundred miles of guessing, that he was subject to dreams and ideals and longings34. That the universe was enigmatic had not even occurred to her, nor to him; they were too busy with their share in working it out.
"Now here's a book that ought to suit Mrs. Arb," said Mr. Earlforward, picking a volume from the shelf[Pg 17] and moving towards the entrance, where the clear daylight was. "'Snacks and Titbits.' Let me see. Sandwiches." He turned over leaves. "Sandwiches. There's nearly seven pages about sandwiches."
"How much would it be, sir?"
"One shilling."
"Oh! She said she couldn't pay more than sixpence, sir, she said."
Mr. Earlforward looked up with a fresh interest. He was exhilarated, even inspired, by the conception of a woman who, wishing to brighten her business with a new line of goods, was not prepared to spend more than sixpence on the indispensable basis of the enterprise. The conception powerfully appealed to him, and his regard for Mrs. Arb increased.
"See here, Elsie. Take this over for Mrs. Arb to look at. And tell her, with my compliments, that you can't get cookery-books—not any that are any good—for sixpence in these days."
"Yes, sir."
"She sends you her compliments, and she says she can't pay more than sixpence, sir. I'm that sorry, sir," Elsie announced, returning.
Mr. Earlforward blandly36 replaced the book on its shelf, and Elsie waited in vain for any comment, then left.
"I say, Elsie," he recalled her. "It's not raining much, but it might soon. As you're here, you'd better help me in with the stand. That'll save me taking the books out before it's moved, and it'll save you trouble in the morning."
"Yes, sir," Elsie eagerly agreed.
One at either end of it, they lugged37 within the heavy bookstand that stretched along the length of the window on the flagstones outside the shop. The books showed scarcely a trace of the drizzle38.
"Thank you, Elsie."
"Don't mention it, sir."[Pg 18]
Mr. Earlforward switched on one electric light in the middle of the shop, switched off the light in his den13, and lit a candle there. Then he took a thermos39 flask40, a cup, and two slices of bread on a plate from the interior of the grandfather's clock, poured steaming tea into the cup, and enjoyed his evening meal. When the bell of St. Andrew's jangled six, he shut and darkened the shop. The war habit of closing early suited him very well for several reasons. Then, blowing out the candle, he began again to burn electricity in the den, and tapped slowly and moved to and fro with deliberation, examining book-titles, tapping out lists, tapping out addresses on envelopes, licking stamps, and performing other pleasant little tasks of routine. And all the time he dwelt with exquisite41 pleasure on the bodily appearance and astonishing moral characteristics of Mrs. Arb. What a woman! He had been right about that woman from the first glance. She was a woman in a million.
At a quarter to seven he put his boots on and collected his letters for the post. But before leaving to go to the post he suddenly thought of a ten-shilling Treasury42 note received from Dr. Raste, and took it from his waistcoat pocket. It was a beautiful new note, a delicate object, carefully folded by someone who understood that new notes deserve good treatment. He put it, with other less brilliant cash, into the safe. As he departed from the shop for the post office at Mount Pleasant, he picked out "Snacks and Titbits" from its shelf again, and slipped it into his side-pocket.
The rain had ceased. He inhaled43 the fresh, damp air with an innocent and genuine delight. Mrs. Arb's shop was the sole building illuminated44 in Riceyman Steps; it looked warm and feminine; it attracted. The church rose darkly, a formidable mass, in the opening at the top of the steps. The little group of dwelling-houses next to his own establishment showed not a sign of life; they seldom did; he knew nothing of their tenants45, and felt absolutely no curiosity concerning them. His little yard abutted46 on the yard of the nearest house, but the wall[Pg 19] between them was seven feet high; no sound ever came over it.
He turned into the main road. Although he might have dropped his correspondence into the pillar-box close by, he preferred to go to the mighty47 Mount Pleasant organism, with its terrific night-movement of vans and flung mailbags, because it seemed surer, safer, for his letters.
Like many people who live alone, he had a habit of talking to himself in the street. His thoughts would from time to time suddenly burst almost with violence into a phrase. Then he would smile to himself. "Me at my age!" ... "Yes, and of course there's that!" ... "Want some getting used to!" ... He would laugh rather sheepishly.
The vanquished48 were already beginning to creep into the mazes49 of Rowton House. They clicked through a turnstile—that was all he knew about existence in Rowton House, except that there were plants with large green leaves in the windows of the common-room. Some of the vanquished entered with boldness, but the majority walked furtively50. Just opposite Rowton House the wisdom and enterprise of two railway companies had filled a blank wall with a large poster exhibiting the question: "Why not take a winter holiday where sunshine reigns51?" etc. Beneath this blank wall a newsman displayed the posters of the evening papers, together with stocks of the papers. Mr. Earlforward always read the placards for news. There was nothing much to-night. "Death of a well-known statesman." Mr. Earlforward, as an expert in interpretation52, was aware that "well-known" on a newspaper placard meant exactly the opposite of what it meant in any other place; it meant not well-known. The placards always divided dead celebrities53, genuine and false, into three categories. If Blank was a supreme54 personage the placards said: "Blank dead." Two most impressive words. If Blank was a real personage, but not quite supreme, the placards said: "Death of Blank." Three words, not so impressive. All others nameless[Pg 20] were in the third category of "well-knowns." Nevertheless, Mr. Earlforward walked briskly back as far as the Free Library to glance at a paper—perhaps not because he was disturbed about the identity of a well-known statesman, but because he hesitated to carry out his resolution to enter Mrs. Arb's shop.
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1
spoke
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| 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 | |
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2
benevolently
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| adv.仁慈地，行善地 | |
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3
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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intimidated
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| v.恐吓；威胁adj.害怕的；受到威胁的 | |
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habitual
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| adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的 | |
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6
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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7
apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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8
equilibrium
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| n.平衡，均衡，相称，均势，平静 | |
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twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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10
bust
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| vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部 | |
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eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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12
pucker
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| v.撅起，使起皱；n.（衣服上的）皱纹，褶子 | |
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13
den
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| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
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14
warping
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| n.翘面，扭曲，变形v.弄弯，变歪( warp的现在分词 )；使（行为等）不合情理，使乖戾， | |
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15
reassurance
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| n.使放心，使消除疑虑 | |
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solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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17
deprivation
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| n.匮乏；丧失；夺去，贫困 | |
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apron
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| n.围裙；工作裙 | |
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outrage
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| n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒 | |
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20
adornment
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| n.装饰；装饰品 | |
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21
unfamiliar
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| adj.陌生的，不熟悉的 | |
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22
second-hand
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| adj.用过的，旧的，二手的 | |
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23
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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24
rationed
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| 限量供应，配给供应( ration的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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professed
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| 公开声称的，伪称的，已立誓信教的 | |
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submission
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| n.服从，投降；温顺，谦虚；提出 | |
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27
rumble
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| n.隆隆声；吵嚷；v.隆隆响；低沉地说 | |
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28
enchantment
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| n.迷惑，妖术，魅力 | |
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29
obsessed
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| adj.心神不宁的,鬼迷心窍的,沉迷的 | |
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30
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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31
charing
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| n.炭化v.把…烧成炭，把…烧焦( char的现在分词 )；烧成炭，烧焦；做杂役女佣 | |
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32
sterile
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| adj.不毛的，不孕的，无菌的，枯燥的，贫瘠的 | |
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33
celibacy
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| n.独身(主义) | |
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34
longings
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| 渴望，盼望( longing的名词复数 ) | |
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35
aprons
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| 围裙( apron的名词复数 )； 停机坪，台口（舞台幕前的部份） | |
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36
blandly
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| adv.温和地，殷勤地 | |
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37
lugged
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| vt.用力拖拉（lug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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38
drizzle
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| v.下毛毛雨；n.毛毛雨，蒙蒙细雨 | |
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39
thermos
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| n.保湿瓶，热水瓶 | |
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40
flask
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| n.瓶，火药筒，砂箱 | |
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41
exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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42
treasury
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| n.宝库；国库，金库；文库 | |
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43
inhaled
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| v.吸入( inhale的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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44
illuminated
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| adj.被照明的；受启迪的 | |
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45
tenants
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| n.房客( tenant的名词复数 )；佃户；占用者；占有者 | |
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46
abutted
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| v.（与…）邻接( abut的过去式和过去分词 )；（与…）毗连；接触；倚靠 | |
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47
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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48
vanquished
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| v.征服( vanquish的过去式和过去分词 )；战胜；克服；抑制 | |
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49
mazes
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| 迷宫( maze的名词复数 )； 纷繁复杂的规则； 复杂难懂的细节； 迷宫图 | |
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50
furtively
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| adv. 偷偷地, 暗中地 | |
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51
reigns
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| n.君主的统治( reign的名词复数 )；君主统治时期；任期；当政期 | |
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52
interpretation
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| n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理 | |
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53
celebrities
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| n.（尤指娱乐界的）名人( celebrity的名词复数 )；名流；名声；名誉 | |
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54
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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