CHAPTER XXXVII

 Sheila went to the theater with the joyous¹ haste of a child going up to the teacher’s desk for punishment. She wondered how Reben could have learned of the marriage. 

 

She wished she had told him of it when it was celebrated². She felt that poor Reben had a just grievance³ against her. It would be only fair to let him scold his anger 

 

out, and bear his tirade⁴ in quiet resignation.

 

Bret thought that he might as well come along, since he had been unearthed⁵. But Sheila would not permit him to enter the theater lest Reben and he fall to blows. She 

 

did not want Reben to be beaten up. She left Bret in the alley⁶, and promised to call for him if she were attacked.

 

The theater was quite deserted⁷ at this hour. Sheila found Reben pacing the corridor before her dressing-room. She advanced toward him timidly with shame that he 

 

misinterpreted. He fairly lashed⁹ her with his glare and groaned¹⁰ in all contempt:

 

“My God, Sheila, I’d never have thought it of you!”

 

“Thought what?” Sheila gasped¹².

 

He laughed harshly: “And you called me down for insulting you! And you got away with it! But, say, you ought to use your brains if you’re going to play a game like 

 

that. Coarse work, Sheila; coarse work!”

 

Sheila bit her lip to keep back the resentment¹³ boiling up in her heart.

 

He went on with his denunciation: “I warned you that you would be known everywhere you went. I told you your picture was all over town. And now your name is. A 

 

stranger comes up to me and says he saw you and your—your ‘husband,’ Mr. Winfield? Who’s the man? What’s his real name?”

 

“Mr. Winfield, of course.”

 

“Oh, of course! Where did you meet him? Does he live here?”

 

“Live here! Indeed, he doesn’t!”

 

“He followed you here, then?”

 

“He preceded me here.”

 

“It’s as bad as that, eh? Well, you leave him here, at once. If he comes near you again I’ll break every bone in his body.”

 

Sheila laughed. “You haven’t seen my husband, have you?”

 

“Your husband?” Reben laughed. “Are you going to try to bluff¹⁴ it out with me, too?”

 

Sheila blenched¹⁵ at this. “He is my husband!” she stormed. “And you’d better not let him hear you talk so to me.”

 

Reben’s knees softened¹⁶ under him. “Sheila! you don’t mean that you’ve gone and got yourself married!”

 

“What else should I mean? How dare you think anything else?”

 

“Oh, you fool! you fool! you little damned fool!”

 

“Thanks!”

 

“You little sneaking¹⁷ traitor¹⁸. Didn’t you promise me, on your word of honor—”

 

“I promised to carry out my contract. And here I am.”

 

“I ought to break that contract myself.”

 

“You couldn’t please me better.”

 

He stood over her and glowered¹⁹ while his fingers twitched²⁰. She stared back at him pugnaciously²¹. Then he mourned over her. She was both his lost love and his lost ward⁸. 

 

His regret broke out in a groan¹¹:

 

“Why did you do this, Sheila? Why, why—in God’s name, why?”

 

Sheila had no answer. He might as well have shouted at her: “Why does the earth roll toward the east? Why does gravity haul the worlds together and keep them apart? 

 

Why are flowers? or June? what’s the reason for June?”

 

Sheila knew why no more than the rose knows why.

 

At length Reben’s business instinct came to the rescue of his heartbreak. He thought of his investment, of his contracts, of his hoped-for profits. His experience as 

 

a manager had taught him to be another Job. He ignored her challenge, and groaned, “How are we going to keep this crime a secret?”

 

Sheila, seeing that he had surrendered, forgot her anger. “Have we got to?”

 

“Of course we have. You know it won’t help you any to be known as a married woman. O Lord! what fools these mortals be! We’ve got to keep it dark at least till the 

 

play gets over in New York. If it’s a hit it won’t matter so much; if it’s a flivver, it will matter still less.”

 

He was heartsick at her folly²² and her double-dealing. Such things and worse had happened to him and to other managers. They force managers to be cynical²³ and to drive 

 

hard bargains while they can. Like captains of ships, they are always at the ultimate mercy of any member of the crew. But they must make voyages somehow.

 

Feeling the uselessness of wasting reproaches, Reben left Sheila and groped through the dark house to the lobby. There he found a most interesting spectacle—a line at 

 

the box-office. It was a convincing argument. Sheila had draught²⁴. Even with a poor play in an unready condition, she drew the people to the box-office. He must make 

 

the most of her treason.

 

But his heart was sick. He was managing a married star. This was double trouble with half the fun.

 

1 joyous   

adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的

参考例句：

• The lively dance heightened the joyous atmosphere of the scene.轻快的舞蹈给这场戏渲染了欢乐气氛。
• They conveyed the joyous news to us soon.他们把这一佳音很快地传递给我们。

2 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

3 grievance   

n.怨愤，气恼，委屈

参考例句：

• He will not easily forget his grievance.他不会轻易忘掉他的委屈。
• He had been nursing a grievance against his boss for months.几个月来他对老板一直心怀不满。

4 tirade   

n.冗长的攻击性演说

参考例句：

• Her tirade provoked a counterblast from her husband.她的长篇大论激起了她丈夫的强烈反对。
• He delivered a long tirade against the government.他发表了反政府的长篇演说。

5 unearthed   

出土的（考古）

参考例句：

• Many unearthed cultural relics are set forth in the exhibition hall. 展览馆里陈列着许多出土文物。
• Some utensils were in a state of decay when they were unearthed. 有些器皿在出土时已经残破。

6 alley   

n.小巷，胡同；小径，小路

参考例句：

• We live in the same alley.我们住在同一条小巷里。
• The blind alley ended in a brick wall.这条死胡同的尽头是砖墙。

7 deserted   

adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的

参考例句：

• The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
• The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。

8 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：

• The hospital has a medical ward and a surgical ward.这家医院有内科病房和外科病房。
• During the evening picnic,I'll carry a torch to ward off the bugs.傍晚野餐时，我要点根火把，抵挡蚊虫。

9 lashed   

adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥

参考例句：

• The rain lashed at the windows. 雨点猛烈地打在窗户上。
• The cleverly designed speech lashed the audience into a frenzy. 这篇精心设计的演说煽动听众使他们发狂。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 groaned   

v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦

参考例句：

• He groaned in anguish. 他痛苦地呻吟。
• The cart groaned under the weight of the piano. 大车在钢琴的重压下嘎吱作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 groan   

vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音

参考例句：

• The wounded man uttered a groan.那个受伤的人发出呻吟。
• The people groan under the burden of taxes.人民在重税下痛苦呻吟。

12 gasped   

v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要

参考例句：

• She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
• People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

13 resentment   

n.怨愤，忿恨

参考例句：

• All her feelings of resentment just came pouring out.她一股脑儿倾吐出所有的怨恨。
• She cherished a deep resentment under the rose towards her employer.她暗中对她的雇主怀恨在心。

14 bluff   

v.虚张声势，用假象骗人；n.虚张声势，欺骗

参考例句：

• His threats are merely bluff.他的威胁仅仅是虚张声势。
• John is a deep card.No one can bluff him easily.约翰是个机灵鬼。谁也不容易欺骗他。

15 blenched   

v.（因惊吓而）退缩，惊悸( blench的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）变白，（使）变苍白

参考例句：

• She blenched before her accuser. 她在指控者面前畏缩了。 来自互联网

16 softened   

（使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰

参考例句：

• His smile softened slightly. 他的微笑稍柔和了些。
• The ice cream softened and began to melt. 冰淇淋开始变软并开始融化。

17 sneaking   

a.秘密的，不公开的

参考例句：

• She had always had a sneaking affection for him. 以前她一直暗暗倾心于他。
• She ducked the interviewers by sneaking out the back door. 她从后门偷偷溜走，躲开采访者。

18 traitor   

n.叛徒，卖国贼

参考例句：

• The traitor was finally found out and put in prison.那个卖国贼终于被人发现并被监禁了起来。
• He was sold out by a traitor and arrested.他被叛徒出卖而被捕了。

19 glowered   

v.怒视( glower的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He just glowered without speaking. 他一言不发地皱眉怒视我。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He glowered at me but said nothing. 他怒视着我，却一言不发。 来自辞典例句

20 twitched   

vt.& vi.（使）抽动，（使）颤动（twitch的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Her lips twitched with amusement. 她忍俊不禁地颤动着嘴唇。
• The child's mouth twitched as if she were about to cry. 这小孩的嘴抽动着，像是要哭。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 pugnaciously   

参考例句：

22 folly   

n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话

参考例句：

• Learn wisdom by the folly of others.从别人的愚蠢行动中学到智慧。
• Events proved the folly of such calculations.事情的进展证明了这种估计是愚蠢的。

23 cynical   

adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的，不信世道向善的

参考例句：

• The enormous difficulty makes him cynical about the feasibility of the idea.由于困难很大，他对这个主意是否可行持怀疑态度。
• He was cynical that any good could come of democracy.他不相信民主会带来什么好处。

24 draught   

n.拉，牵引，拖；一网（饮，吸，阵)；顿服药量，通风；v.起草，设计

参考例句：

• He emptied his glass at one draught.他将杯中物一饮而尽。
• It's a pity the room has no north window and you don't get a draught.可惜这房间没北窗，没有过堂风。