SCENE III THE EXPECTED GUEST

 He sat very still, and waited.

He had miles to walk before he could reach an inn; but food and a night’s lodging¹ seemed unnecessary considerations in this strange hour.

She had asked him to wait until she should be alone; and he waited.

A motor came to the other side of the house; panted impatiently, for five minutes; then sped away into the distance.

He stood up and looked into the room.

It was empty. Fresh logs had been thrown upon the fire. The door into the hall was shut.

Even as he looked, it opened.

An elderly butler appeared, walked forward into the room, hesitated; then advanced to the garden door, touched a 50switch, and a couple of hanging lanterns shed a soft light over the veranda². He stood in the doorway³, as if momentarily uncertain; then saw the chair and its occupant in the corner on his left, came over to it and delivered his message, in deferential⁴ tones, without lifting his eyes.

“Her ladyship bids me say, sir, that dinner will be served in half an hour. If you will follow me, I will show you to your room.”

“To my room?”

“Yes, sir. Her ladyship understood you would be able to dine and sleep.”

The butler moved to the door, held it wide, and waited. There was nothing for it, but to rise and enter.

So the man who had all his life looked in from without, now stepped over the threshold and found himself within.

Feeling keenly alive and yet as if moving in a vivid dream, Luke Sparrow walked 51across the room, and followed the butler into the brightly-lighted hall, and up a wide staircase.

On a table in the hall stood a box of library books, addressed with a brush, in very black ink. Before he realised what he was doing he had read the name—

Lady Tintagel.

He repeated it to himself, as he mounted the stairs. It awakened⁵ memories of Camelot. He had never heard of it as a family name; but it seemed in keeping with this romance of an unexpected visit, as an expected guest.

At the top of the stairs the butler paused to say: “Her ladyship desires that you will please yourself, sir, as to whether you dress or not.”

Luke smiled. His knapsack held a clean shirt, a razor, a comb, a toothbrush, and half a dozen handkerchiefs.

“I am doing a walking tour,” he said. 52“You might explain to her ladyship that I have nothing with me but bare necessaries in a small knapsack.”

The butler opened a door, switched on the light and stood aside that he might enter.

“You will find all you need here, sir. The door to the left leads into a bath-room. A gong will sound at eight. It is now half-past seven. If you should require anything more, will you be so good as to ring, sir?” He retired⁶, closing the door softly behind him.

Luke looked around and laughed. He wondered what on earth he could find to ring for, which was not already there!

He walked over to the dressing-table, on which were silver-backed brushes, ivory razors, silver-topped bottles!

Laid out upon the bed was a complete suit of dress clothes.

If this was “Colin’s” room, he certainly did himself well! If these were “Colin’s” clothes, they certainly would not fit him!

Laughing again—he who never laughed—he 53turned to the bed, flung off his rough Norfolk jacket, and slipped on the smooth black coat with its silk lining⁷. It fitted him perfectly⁸; and he was fastidious about the cut of his clothes.

Should he?... Not he! He would never wear another man’s garments. He would never stand in another man’s shoes. If Lady Tintagel asked him to dine, she must have him as he was. If the lovely daughter looked askance at him, she must learn to understand that you don’t carry a dress suit in a knapsack.

But the bath? Yes, rather! That was quite another matter. His long sea swims had made him feel like a kipper.

What a bath-room! Every muscle relaxed in the steaming hot water. A bottle of fragrant⁹ aromatic¹⁰ stuff stood, temptingly handy. He poured it in, and luxuriated. “Colin” must feel a god, with all this at his command, whenever he came in fagged. He must descend¹¹ on his admiring womenfolk, like a giant refreshed.

54A cold shower—and then he blessed heaven he had put a clean shirt in his knapsack.

“Colin’s” ivory-handled razors made shaving a positive pastime.

One moment of indecision, as he caught sight of the dress suit upon the bed. Strange that it should fit. He remembered the beautiful rooms downstairs. He would be decidedly out of the picture in his tweeds. He remembered the full-length mirror at the Mayor’s party. “He should have come as the Black Prince.” How he had enjoyed the remark! His first lesson in vanity. He smiled to think how often he had repeated it to himself, and postured¹² in his shabby little suits. Do people realise how inordinately¹³ vain a small boy can be?... Should he? No! That was a fancy-dress masquerade; and so would this be. Whatever anybody said, whatever anybody thought, he must meet Lady Tintagel clad at least in the raiment of his own self-respect and independence. It was not as 55though he had arrived soaked through and had had to borrow dry things. He brushed his old tweeds vigorously with “Colin’s” silver-backed clothes-brush.

A gong boomed sonorously¹⁴ through the house.

As he walked down the stairs he was still thinking, with dream-like persistence¹⁵, of the dress difficulty. “I shall say: ‘Excuse this rig. One travels light on a walking tour.’”

In the hall the butler waited.

“This way, sir.”

1 lodging   

n.寄宿，住所；(大学生的)校外宿舍

参考例句：

• The bill is inclusive of the food and lodging. 账单包括吃、住费用。
• Where can you find lodging for the night? 你今晚在哪里借宿?

2 veranda   

n.走廊；阳台

参考例句：

• She sat in the shade on the veranda.她坐在阳台上的遮荫处。
• They were strolling up and down the veranda.他们在走廊上来回徜徉。

3 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

4 deferential   

adj. 敬意的，恭敬的

参考例句：

• They like five-star hotels and deferential treatment.他们喜欢五星级的宾馆和毕恭毕敬的接待。
• I am deferential and respectful in the presence of artists.我一向恭敬、尊重艺术家。

5 awakened   

v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到

参考例句：

• She awakened to the sound of birds singing. 她醒来听到鸟的叫声。
• The public has been awakened to the full horror of the situation. 公众完全意识到了这一状况的可怕程度。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

7 lining   

n.衬里，衬料

参考例句：

• The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
• Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。

8 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

9 fragrant   

adj.芬香的，馥郁的，愉快的

参考例句：

• The Fragrant Hills are exceptionally beautiful in late autumn.深秋的香山格外美丽。
• The air was fragrant with lavender.空气中弥漫薰衣草香。

10 aromatic   

adj.芳香的，有香味的

参考例句：

• It has an agreeable aromatic smell.它有一种好闻的香味。
• It is light,fruity aromatic and a perfect choice for ending a meal.它是口感轻淡，圆润，芳香的，用于结束一顿饭完美的选择。

11 descend   

vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降

参考例句：

• I hope the grace of God would descend on me.我期望上帝的恩惠。
• We're not going to descend to such methods.我们不会沦落到使用这种手段。

12 postured   

做出某种姿势( posture的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She postured before the camera. 她在相机前摆出做作的姿势。
• The painter postured his model. 画家使模特儿摆姿势。

13 inordinately   

adv.无度地，非常地

参考例句：

• But if you are determined to accumulate wealth, it isn't inordinately difficult. 不过，如果你下决心要积累财富，事情也不是太难。 来自互联网
• She was inordinately smart. 她非常聪明。 来自互联网

14 sonorously   

adv.圆润低沉地；感人地；堂皇地；朗朗地

参考例句：

• He pronounced sonorously as he shook the wet branch. 他一边摇动着湿树枝，一边用洪亮的声音说着。 来自辞典例句
• The congregation consisted chiefly of a few young folk, who snored sonorously. 教堂里的会众主要是些打盹睡觉并且鼾声如雷的年轻人。 来自互联网

15 persistence   

n.坚持，持续，存留

参考例句：

• The persistence of a cough in his daughter puzzled him.他女儿持续的咳嗽把他难住了。
• He achieved success through dogged persistence.他靠着坚持不懈取得了成功。