a gamut2 of emotions from self-pity to self-contempt for so unlady-like a method of extricating3 herself from a predicament that no lady would have got into. She
reproached herself for being some kind of miserable4 reptile5 to have inspired either the affection or the insolence6 of so loathsome7 another reptile as Reben.
Then she bewailed the ruin of her career. That was gone forever. She bewailed the destruction of Vickery’s hopes—such a nice boy! If she had not permitted Reben to
be so rude to Vickery he never would have been so rude to her. She would give up the stage and go live at her father’s house, and die an old maid or marry a preacher
or a milkman or something.
She wept herself out so completely that she slept till one o’clock the next afternoon. When she was up she stood at her window and gazed ruefully across the city. On
a distant roof she could just see the tall water-tanks marked “Odeon Theater,” and a wall of the theater carrying an enormous blazon9 of the play with Tom Brereton’s
name in huge letters and hers in large. She would never appear there again. She supposed Reben would send her understudy on to-night. Of course the reading of Vickery
’s play at three o’clock was all off.
It would be of no use to go to the office. Reben wouldn’t be there. He would doubtless be in a hospital with his face in splints.
She wondered if she had fractured his skull—and how many years they gave you for doing that to a man. She could claim that she did it in self-defense, of course, but
she had no witnesses to prove it.
She spent hours in putting herself into all imaginable disasters. The breakfast Pennock commanded her to eat she only dabbed10 at.
At half past three the telephone rang. The office-boy at Reben’s hailed her across the wire:
“That choo, M’Skemble? This is Choey. Say, M’Skemble, Mis’ Treben wantsa speak choo. Hola wire a min’t, please.”
Sheila reached out and hooked a chair with her foot and brought it up to catch her when the blow fell. Reben’s voice was full of restrained cheerfulness:
“That you, Sheila? Are you ill?”
“Why, no! Why?”
“You had an appointment here at three. We’re still waiting.”
“But you don’t want to see—me, do you?”
“And why not?”
“But last night you said—”
“Last night I was talking to you about personal affairs. This is business. That was at your home. This is my office. Hop8 in a cab and come on over. I’ll explain.”
She was in such a daze11 as she made ready to go that when she had her hat on she could not find it with her hat-pin. Pennock performed the office for her. When she
reached Reben’s office she meekly12 edged through the crowd of applicants13 waiting like the penniless souls on the wrong side of the River Styx. She thought that Eldon
must have been one of these once. Some of these were future Eldons, future Booths.
Joey, the office-boy, hailed her with pride, swung the gate open for her, and led her to Reben’s door. He did that only for stars or managers or playwrights15 of recent
success.
Reben was alone. He was dabbing16 his mumpsy cheek with a handkerchief he wet at a bottle. He smiled at her with a mixture of apology and rebuke17.
“There you are! the suffragette that took my face for a shop window. I told everybody I stumbled and hit my head on the edge of a table. If you will be kind enough
not to deny the story—”
“Of course not! I’m so sorry! I lost my head!”
“Thank you. So did I. Last night I made a fool of myself. To-day I’m a business man again. I made you a proposition or two. You declined both with emphasis. I ought
not to have insisted. You didn’t have to assassinate18 me. I’ll forgive you if you’ll forgive me.”
“Of course,” said Sheila, sheepishly.
Reben spoke19 with great dignity, yet with meekness20. “We understand each other better now, eh? I meant what I said about being crazy about you. If you’d let me, I
could love you very much. If you won’t, I’ll get over it, I suppose. But the proposition stands. If you would marry me—”
“I’m not going to marry anybody, I tell you.”
“You promise me that?”
Sheila felt it safer not to promise forever, but safe enough to say, “Not for a long time, anyway.”
Reben stared at her grimly. “Sheila, I’m a business man; you’re a business woman. I’ll play fair with you if you’ll play fair with me. I’ll make a star of you if
you’ll do your share. You wouldn’t flirt21 with me or let me make a fool of you. Then be a man and we’ll get along perfectly22. If you’ll stick to me, not quit me, not
hamper23 me, not play tricks on me, and abide24 by your contract, I’ll do the same for you. I’ll put you up in the big lights. Will you stand by me, Sheila, as man to
man—on your honor as a gentleman?”
She repeated his words with a kind of amused solemnity: “As man to man, on my honor as a gentleman, I’ll stand by you and fulfil my contract.”
“Then that’s all right. Shake hands on it.”
They shook hands. His grasp was hot and fierce and slow to let go. His eyes burned over her with a menace that belied25 his icy words.
When the bond was sealed with the clasp of hands Reben breathed heavily and pressed a button on his desk. “Now for the young Shakespeare. We’ve kept him waiting long
enough. He’s cooled his heels till he must have cold feet by now. Joey, show Mr. Vickery in; and then I don’t want to be disturbed by anybody for anything. I’ll
“Yes, sir; no, sir,” said Joey; and, holding the door ajar, he beckoned27 and whistled to Vickery, and, having admitted him, dispersed28 the rabble29 outside with brevity:
“Nothin’ doin’ to-day, folks. Mis’ Treben’s went home.”
Sheila, Vickery, and Reben regarded one another with the utmost anxiety. They were embarking30 on a cruise to the Gold Coast. Success would mean a fortune for all; the
failure of any would mean disaster to all.
Usually it was next to impossible to persuade Reben to give three consecutive31 hours of his busy life to an audition32; but, once engaged, he listened with amazing
analysis. He tried to sit with an imaginary audience. He listened always for the human note. He criticized, as a woman criticizes with reference not to art or logic33 or
The virtuous35 and scholarly Vickery, as he read his masterwork, was astounded36 to find his ideals of conduct riddled37 by a manager, and especially by a Reben. He blushed
to be told that his hero was a cad and his heroine a cat. And he could hardly deny the justice of the criticism from Reben’s point of view, which was that of an
average audience.
Sheila, feeling that Vickery needed support, gave him only her praise, whatever she felt; little giggles38 of laughter, little gasps39 of “Delicious!” and cries of,
“Oh, charming!” When with the accidental rarity of a scholar he stumbled into the greatness of a homely40 sincerity41, he was amazed to see that tears were pearling at
His heart was melted into affection by the collaboration43 of her sympathy. Without it he would have folded up his manuscript and slunk away, for Reben’s comments were
When he finished the ordeal45 Vickery was exhausted46, parched47 of throat and of heart. Sheila flung him adjectives like flowers and his heart went out toward her, but
Reben was silent for a long and cruelly anxious while. Then he spoke harshly:
“A manager’s main business is to avoid producing plays. It’s my business to imagine what faults the public would find and then beat ’em to ’em. There will be
plenty of faults left. And don’t forget, Mr. Vickery, that every compliment I pay a playwright14 costs me a thousand dollars or more. Frankly48, Mr. Vickery, I don’t
think your play is right. The idea is there, but you haven’t got it.”
Vickery’s heart sickened. Reben revived it a little.
“Maybe you can fix it up. If you can’t I’ll have to get somebody to help you. It’s too late to produce it this season, anyway. Hot weather is coming on. You have
all summer to work at it.”
Vickery wondered if he should live so long.
Reben went on: “I—I’ve been thinking, Sheila—Miss Kemble, that it might be a good idea to try this play out in a stock company. Then Mr. Vickery could see its
faults.”
Sheila protested, “Oh, but I couldn’t let anybody else play it first.”
“You could join the company as a guest for a week and play the part yourself.”
“Fine!” Sheila exclaimed. “I’ve been planning to put in a good hard summer in stock. It’s such an education—limbers your mind up so, to play all sorts of parts.
See if you can find me a good, coolish sort of town with a decent stock company that will let me in.”
“Ay, ay, sir!” said Reben, with a salute49. “And now, Mr. Vickery, you’ve got your work cut out, too. See if you can get your play into shape for a stock production.
”
Reben was attempting to scare Vickery just enough to make him toil50, but he would have given up completely if Sheila had not begged him to go on, asked him to come to
see her now and then and “talk things over.”
He promised with gratitude51 and went, carrying that burden of delay which weighs down the playwright until he reaches the swift judgment52 of the critics. When he had
gone Reben spoke more confidently of the play. He was already considering the cast. He mentioned various names and discarded this actor or that actress because he or
she was a blond or too dark, too tall, or too short, lean, fat, commonplace, eccentric. Nobody quite fitted his pictures of Vickery’s people. At length he said:
“I’ll tell you a man I’ve had in mind for the lead. He’d be ideal, I think. He’s young, handsome, educated; he’s got breeding; he can wear a dress-suit; and he
hasn’t been on the stage long enough to be spoiled by the gush53 of fool women. He’s tall and athletic54 and a gentleman.”
“And who’s all that?” said Sheila. “The angel Gabriel?”
“Young fellow named—er—Elmore—no, Eldon; that’s it. You must know him. He was with you in the ‘Friend in Need’ company.”
“Oh yes,” Sheila murmured, “I know him.”
“How do you think he would do?”
“I think he would be—he would be splendid.”
“All right,” said Reben. “The stock experience would be good for him, too. He might make a good leading man for you. You could practise team-work together. If he
pans out, I could place him with the company we select for you.”
“Fine!” said Sheila.
Reben could never have suspected from her tone how deeply she was interested in Eldon. Unwittingly he had torn them asunder55 just as their romance was ripening56 into
As soon as she left Reben’s office Sheila hurried to her room to write Eldon of their reunion. She wrote glowingly and quoted their old phrases. When she had sent the
letter off she had a tremor58 of anxiety. “What if he finds me changed and doesn’t like me any more? How will he have changed after a season of success and—Dulcie
Ormerod?”
点击收听单词发音
1 invincible | |
adj.不可征服的,难以制服的 | |
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2 gamut | |
n.全音阶,(一领域的)全部知识 | |
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3 extricating | |
v.使摆脱困难,脱身( extricate的现在分词 ) | |
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4 miserable | |
adj.悲惨的,痛苦的;可怜的,糟糕的 | |
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5 reptile | |
n.爬行动物;两栖动物 | |
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6 insolence | |
n.傲慢;无礼;厚颜;傲慢的态度 | |
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7 loathsome | |
adj.讨厌的,令人厌恶的 | |
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8 hop | |
n.单脚跳,跳跃;vi.单脚跳,跳跃;着手做某事;vt.跳跃,跃过 | |
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9 blazon | |
n.纹章,装饰;精确描绘;v.广布;宣布 | |
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10 dabbed | |
(用某物)轻触( dab的过去式和过去分词 ); 轻而快地擦掉(或抹掉); 快速擦拭; (用某物)轻而快地涂上(或点上)… | |
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11 daze | |
v.(使)茫然,(使)发昏 | |
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12 meekly | |
adv.温顺地,逆来顺受地 | |
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13 applicants | |
申请人,求职人( applicant的名词复数 ) | |
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14 playwright | |
n.剧作家,编写剧本的人 | |
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15 playwrights | |
n.剧作家( playwright的名词复数 ) | |
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16 dabbing | |
石面凿毛,灰泥抛毛 | |
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17 rebuke | |
v.指责,非难,斥责 [反]praise | |
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18 assassinate | |
vt.暗杀,行刺,中伤 | |
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19 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 | |
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20 meekness | |
n.温顺,柔和 | |
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21 flirt | |
v.调情,挑逗,调戏;n.调情者,卖俏者 | |
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22 perfectly | |
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地 | |
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23 hamper | |
vt.妨碍,束缚,限制;n.(有盖的)大篮子 | |
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24 abide | |
vi.遵守;坚持;vt.忍受 | |
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25 belied | |
v.掩饰( belie的过去式和过去分词 );证明(或显示)…为虚假;辜负;就…扯谎 | |
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26 wring | |
n.扭绞;v.拧,绞出,扭 | |
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27 beckoned | |
v.(用头或手的动作)示意,召唤( beckon的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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28 dispersed | |
adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的 | |
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29 rabble | |
n.乌合之众,暴民;下等人 | |
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30 embarking | |
乘船( embark的现在分词 ); 装载; 从事 | |
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31 consecutive | |
adj.连续的,联贯的,始终一贯的 | |
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32 audition | |
n.(对志愿艺人等的)面试(指试读、试唱等) | |
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33 logic | |
n.逻辑(学);逻辑性 | |
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34 etiquette | |
n.礼仪,礼节;规矩 | |
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35 virtuous | |
adj.有品德的,善良的,贞洁的,有效力的 | |
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36 astounded | |
v.使震惊(astound的过去式和过去分词);愕然;愕;惊讶 | |
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37 riddled | |
adj.布满的;充斥的;泛滥的v.解谜,出谜题(riddle的过去分词形式) | |
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38 giggles | |
n.咯咯的笑( giggle的名词复数 );傻笑;玩笑;the giggles 止不住的格格笑v.咯咯地笑( giggle的第三人称单数 ) | |
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39 gasps | |
v.喘气( gasp的第三人称单数 );喘息;倒抽气;很想要 | |
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40 homely | |
adj.家常的,简朴的;不漂亮的 | |
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41 sincerity | |
n.真诚,诚意;真实 | |
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42 eyelids | |
n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 );眼睛也不眨一下;不露声色;面不改色 | |
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43 collaboration | |
n.合作,协作;勾结 | |
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44 cynical | |
adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的,不信世道向善的 | |
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45 ordeal | |
n.苦难经历,(尤指对品格、耐力的)严峻考验 | |
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46 exhausted | |
adj.极其疲惫的,精疲力尽的 | |
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47 parched | |
adj.焦干的;极渴的;v.(使)焦干 | |
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48 frankly | |
adv.坦白地,直率地;坦率地说 | |
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49 salute | |
vi.行礼,致意,问候,放礼炮;vt.向…致意,迎接,赞扬;n.招呼,敬礼,礼炮 | |
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50 toil | |
vi.辛劳工作,艰难地行动;n.苦工,难事 | |
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51 gratitude | |
adj.感激,感谢 | |
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52 judgment | |
n.审判;判断力,识别力,看法,意见 | |
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53 gush | |
v.喷,涌;滔滔不绝(说话);n.喷,涌流;迸发 | |
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54 athletic | |
adj.擅长运动的,强健的;活跃的,体格健壮的 | |
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55 asunder | |
adj.分离的,化为碎片 | |
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56 ripening | |
v.成熟,使熟( ripen的现在分词 );熟化;熟成 | |
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57 ardor | |
n.热情,狂热 | |
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58 tremor | |
n.震动,颤动,战栗,兴奋,地震 | |
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