She went upstairs to the kitchen and to her conspiracies5 and to the secret half of her double life which had recently commenced. Although apparently6 she had accomplished7 little in the way of modifying the daily routine of the establishment and household, that little amounted spiritually to a great deal. And it had been done almost without increased expense—save for gas. Her achievement generally was symbolized8 and figured in the abolition9 of the thermos10 flask11 from which Henry was used to take his tea, made many hours earlier when the gas was "going." The abolition of the thermos flask had been an event in the domestic annals. (Henry afterwards sold the contrivance for half a crown.) Violet would have tea set on the table in the dining-room; she would have fresh tea; she refused to drink thermos-[Pg 141]preserved tea; she would have plates and bread and margarine on the table. And, considering that tea—now served immediately on the closing of the shop—was the last meal or snack of the day in that abode12, none could fairly accuse her of innovating13 in an extravagant14 manner. Still, the disappearance15 of the thermos flask was regarded by everybody in the house as the crown of a sort of revolution. Such was the force of the individuality of Mr. Earlforward, who had scarcely complained, scarcely argued, scarcely protested! He had opposed simply his quiet blandness16 and had yielded—and the revolutionary yet marvelled17 at her own courage and her success, and had a sensation akin18 to being out of breath.
She had never been able to reorganize the kitchen department fundamentally; the problem of doing so was insoluble. In the young days of the house what was now the office had been a parlour-kitchen-scullery. The site of a little range was still distinguishable in it. Henry's bachelor uncle had transferred the kitchen to the top floor; it could not possibly be brought down again; there was no other room capable of serving as a kitchen. But Violet had humanized the long, narrow cubicle19 a little by means of polished utensils20 and white wood, and she had hung a tiny wire-cage larder21 outside the window, where it was the exasperation22 of foiled cats. The gas-ring remained, solitary23 cooker. She had not dared to suggest a small gas-stove or even an oil-stove, and two mere24 rings would not, in her opinion, have been much better than one. There were things she could dare and things she could not dare. For another example, she could not dare to bring in a plumber25 to cure the water-tap, which still ceaselessly dripped on to the sink. But the kitchen, with all its defects, had one great quality—it was gratefully warm in the cold months. Violet came into it again now, after hours in the haunting chill of the shop, with a feeling of deep physical relief. Elsie stood warm and supine, her back to the window. The two women filled the room. Violet had gradually come to find pleasure, chiefly no doubt unconsciousness, in Elsie's mere[Pg 142] presence and nearness. Elsie was so young, so massive, so mild, so honest, so calm. She might be somewhat untidy in her methods and forgetful, but Violet was extremely well content with her. And Elsie, though she liked Violet less, liked her. They mutually suspected one another of occasional insincerity and ruse26, and for Elsie's taste Violet was a bit over-sugary when she had an end to gain; but, then, common self-devotion to the welfare of Henry drew them together quite as fast as suspicions pushed them apart.
"Is that all right?" Violet asked, pointing to a bright contraption perched on the gas-ring and emitting the first hints of a lovely odour.
This contraption, new in Elsie's experience, and doubtfully regarded by her, was an important item in the double life of Violet, who had bought it exclusively with her own money, and, far from letting it appear in the household accounts which Henry expected from her as a matter of course, had not even mentioned it to him. Henry seldom or never entered the kitchen nowadays, being somehow aware that women did not welcome men in kitchens.
"Oh, yes, 'm," Elsie cheerfully and benevolently27 answered. She had not quite seen the point of the contraption. She knew that it was divided into two compartments29, one above another, but why it should be so divided she had not fully1 understood, despite explanations administered to her.
Violet thought:
"How nice this is! How warm! What a comfort Elsie is! What a dear Henry is! And I shall have my way with him to-night, and having my way with him will make us both happier. And we're very happy, I'm sure; much happier than most people; and everything's so secure; and we've got plenty to fall back on. And how lovely and warm it is in here. And what a lovely smell. ... I hope he won't smell it till I'm ready for him." She looked to see that the door was shut and the window a little open.[Pg 143]
Thus did Violet's thoughts run. And then she noticed, by chance as it seemed, a particle of something or other detach itself from the lower rim30 of the contraption and fall on the wooden shelf on which the gas-ring stood. Then another particle; then another. She was spellbound for a moment.
"Elsie!" she cried, aghast, desperate, and whipped the contraption off the ring.
"What, 'm?"
"You've not put any water in the bottom part and the solder's melted. You've ruined it! You've ruined it! How any girl can be so stupid, so stupid—after all the trouble I took to tell you—I cannot imagine. No, I cannot!"
And she could not. She knew that Elsie was stupid. In two days Violet had learnt more about the contents of the shop than Elsie had ever learnt or ever could learn. She knew that Elsie was conservative, set hard in her ways, and opposed to new knowledge. But she had not guessed that even Elsie could be so stupid as to leave the lower compartment28 of the contraption without water and then stick it on a lighted gas-ring! The phenomenon passed her comprehension.
"Stand away, do!" she exclaimed, as Elsie, puckered31 and gloomy, approached the region of disaster. "I shall have to have it repaired. And I can't cook this now as I wanted to. And I shall have to begin it all over again. And your master comes home tired out and this is all you can manage to do!"
Elsie, though severely32 conscience-stricken, was confirmed in her opinion that these new-fangled dodges33 were worthless—you never knew where you were with them.
"I should like to pay for the repairing, 'm," she at last broke the silence.
"Yes! And I should think you would like to pay for the repairing, my girl! You shall pay for it, whether you like or not! But what would your master say to such careless waste if he knew?" And Violet proceeded with the heart-breaking work of salvage34.[Pg 144]
"Now pass me that saucer, do!"
Elsie passed the saucer. Violet stared at the saucer, withheld35 from taking it by a sudden thought.
"What did you do with that egg?"
"What egg, 'm?"
"You know what egg. The egg your master couldn't eat this morning at breakfast. I put it in that saucer, I'm sure I did."
"Have you put it in the cage?" No answer. "You don't mean to tell me you've eaten it!"
"Well, 'm. There it was all the time. And I felt so sinking like this afternoon. And I don't know what I was thinking of——"
"Elsie, your master always did say you were greedy! And I suppose you'll say I starve you. I suppose you'll say I don't give you enough to eat."
Violet burst into tears, to her own surprise and shame. Of late she had been less gay, less vivacious37 and more nervous than at the beginning of the year. She had not wanted the egg for her own need. But she had wanted to eat it, warmed up afresh, so as to keep Henry company while he ate the dish which Elsie's negligence38 had so nearly spoilt. And now Elsie had gluttonously39 swallowed the egg. Nobody could make out these servants. They might be very faithful and all that, but there was always something—always something. Yes, she cried openly! She was bowed down. And Elsie, seeing the proud, commanding spirit bowed down, melted and joined her in tears. And they were very close together in the narrow, warm cubicle and in the tragedy; and the contrast between the wrinkled, slim, mature woman and the sturdy, powerful ingenuous40 young widowed girl was strangely touching41 to both of them. And twilight42 was falling, and the gas-ring growing brighter.
And Elsie was thinking neither of the ruined contraption nor of the egg. She was most illogically crying because of her everlasting43 sorrow, and because, with con[Pg 145]stant folding and unfolding, Joe's letter, which she read every night, had begun to tear at the creases44. Her greed, and the accident due to her carelessness, and Mrs. Earlforward's breakdown45 had mystically reinforced her everlasting sorrow and eclipsed her silly, fond hope that on the approaching anniversary of his disappearance Joe would reappear.
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1
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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compassion
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| n.同情，怜悯 | |
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fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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5
conspiracies
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| n.阴谋，密谋( conspiracy的名词复数 ) | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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7
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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symbolized
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| v.象征，作为…的象征( symbolize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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9
abolition
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| n.废除，取消 | |
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thermos
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| n.保湿瓶，热水瓶 | |
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11
flask
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| n.瓶，火药筒，砂箱 | |
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12
abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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innovating
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| v.改革，创新( innovate的现在分词 )；引入（新事物、思想或方法）， | |
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14
extravagant
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| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
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disappearance
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| n.消失，消散，失踪 | |
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16
blandness
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| n.温柔，爽快 | |
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marvelled
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| v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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18
akin
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| adj.同族的，类似的 | |
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cubicle
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| n.大房间中隔出的小室 | |
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utensils
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| 器具，用具，器皿( utensil的名词复数 )； 器物 | |
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larder
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| n.食物贮藏室，食品橱 | |
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exasperation
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| n.愤慨 | |
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solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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plumber
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| n.(装修水管的)管子工 | |
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ruse
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| n.诡计，计策；诡计 | |
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benevolently
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| adv.仁慈地，行善地 | |
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28
compartment
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| n.卧车包房，隔间；分隔的空间 | |
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compartments
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| n.间隔( compartment的名词复数 )；（列车车厢的）隔间；（家具或设备等的）分隔间；隔层 | |
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30
rim
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| n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界 | |
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puckered
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| v.（使某物）起褶子或皱纹( pucker的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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33
dodges
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| n.闪躲( dodge的名词复数 )；躲避；伎俩；妙计v.闪躲( dodge的第三人称单数 )；回避 | |
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salvage
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| v.救助，营救，援救；n.救助，营救 | |
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35
withheld
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| withhold过去式及过去分词 | |
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36
crimsoned
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| 变为深红色（crimson的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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37
vivacious
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| adj.活泼的，快活的 | |
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38
negligence
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| n.疏忽，玩忽，粗心大意 | |
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39
gluttonously
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40
ingenuous
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| adj.纯朴的，单纯的；天真的；坦率的 | |
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41
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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42
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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43
everlasting
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| adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的 | |
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44
creases
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| （使…）起折痕，弄皱( crease的第三人称单数 )； （皮肤）皱起，使起皱纹 | |
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45
breakdown
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| n.垮，衰竭；损坏，故障，倒塌 | |
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