Once or twice he gave a sleepy shout, scarcely loud enough to scare the birds in the branches above his head, or the trout4 in the stream at his feet: but receiving no answer, grew tired of the exertion5, and dawdled6 on, yawning as he went, and still looking for George Talboys.
By-and-by he took out his watch, and was surprised to find that it was a quarter past four.
"Why, the selfish beggar must have gone home to his dinner!" he muttered, reflectively; "and yet that isn't much like him, for he seldom remembers even his meals unless I jog his memory."
Even a good appetite, and the knowledge that his dinner would very likely suffer by this delay, could not quicken Mr. Robert Audley's constitutional dawdle7, and by the time he strolled in at the front door of the Sun, the clocks were striking five. He so fully8 expected to find George Talboys waiting for him in the little sitting-room9, that the absence of that gentleman seemed to give the apartment a dreary10 look, and Robert groaned11 aloud.
"This is lively!" he said. "A cold dinner, and nobody to eat it with!"
The landlord of the Sun came himself to apologize for his ruined dishes.
"As fine a pair of ducks, Mr. Audley, as ever you clapped eyes on, but burnt up to a cinder12, along of being kep' hot."
"Never mind the ducks," Robert said impatiently; "where's Mr. Talboys?"
"He ain't been in, sir, since you went out together this morning."
"What!" cried Robert. "Why, in heaven's name, what has the man done with himself?"
He walked to the window and looked out upon the broad, white high road. There was a wagon13 laden14 with trusses of hay crawling slowly past, the lazy horses and the lazy wagoner drooping15 their heads with a weary stoop under the afternoon's sunshine. There was a flock of sheep straggling about the road, with a dog running himself into a fever in the endeavor to keep them decently together. There were some bricklayers just released from work—a tinker mending some kettles by the roadside; there was a dog-cart dashing down the road, carrying the master of the Audley hounds to his seven o'clock dinner; there were a dozen common village sights and sounds that mixed themselves up into a cheerful bustle16 and confusion; but there was no George Talboys.
"Of all the extraordinary things that ever happened to me in the whole course of my life," said Mr. Robert Audley, "this is the most miraculous17!"
The landlord still in attendance, opened his eyes as Robert made this remark. What could there be extraordinary in the simple fact of a gentleman being late for his dinner?
"I shall go and look for him," said Robert, snatching up his hat and walking straight out of the house.
But the question was where to look for him. He certainly was not by the trout stream, so it was no good going back there in search of him. Robert was standing18 before the inn, deliberating on what was best to be done, when the landlord came out after him.
"I forgot to tell you, Mr. Audley, as how your uncle called here five minutes after you was gone, and left a message, asking of you and the other gentleman to go down to dinner at the Court."
"Then I shouldn't wonder," said Robert, "if George Talboys has gone down to the Court to call upon my uncle. It isn't like him, but it's just possible that he has done it."
It was six o'clock when Robert knocked at the door of his uncle's house. He did not ask to see any of the family, but inquired at once for his friend.
Yes, the servant told him; Mr. Talboys had been there at two o'clock or a little after.
"And not since?"
"No, not since."
Was the man sure that it was at two Mr. Talboys called? Robert asked.
Yes, perfectly19 sure. He remembered the hour because it was the servants' dinner hour, and he had left the table to open the door to Mr. Talboys.
"Why, what can have become of the man?" thought Robert, as he turned his back upon the Court. "From two till six—four good hours—and no signs of him!"
If any one had ventured to tell Mr. Robert Audley that he could possibly feel a strong attachment20 to any creature breathing, that cynical21 gentleman would have elevated his eyebrows22 in supreme23 contempt at the preposterous24 notion. Yet here he was, flurried and anxious, bewildering his brain by all manner of conjectures25 about his missing friend; and false to every attribute of his nature, walking fast.
"I haven't walked fast since I was at Eton," he murmured, as he hurried across one of Sir Michael's meadows in the direction of the village; "and the worst of it is, that I haven't the most remote idea where I am going."
Here he crossed another meadow, and then seating himself upon a stile, rested his elbows upon his knees, buried his face in his hands, and set himself seriously to think the matter out.
"I have it," he said, after a few minutes' thought; "the railway station!" He sprang over the stile, and started off in the direction of the little red brick building.
There was no train expected for another half hour, and the clerk was taking his tea in an apartment on one side of the office, on the door of which was inscribed26 in large, white letters, "Private."
But Mr. Audley was too much occupied with the one idea of looking for his friend to pay any attention to this warning. He strode at once to the door, and rattling27 his cane28 against it, brought the clerk out of his sanctum in a perspiration29 from hot tea, and with his mouth full of bread and butter.
"Do you remember the gentleman that came down to Audley with me, Smithers?" asked Robert.
"Well, to tell you the real truth, Mr. Audley, I can't say that I do. You came by the four o'clock, if you remember, and there's always a good many passengers by that train."
"You don't remember him, then?"
"Not to my knowledge, sir."
"That's provoking! I want to know, Smithers, whether he has taken a ticket for London since two o'clock to-day. He's a tall, broad-chested young fellow, with a big brown beard. You couldn't well mistake him."
"There was four or five gentlemen as took tickets for the 3.30 up," said the clerk rather vaguely30, casting an anxious glance over his shoulder at his wife, who looked by no means pleased at this interruption to the harmony of the tea-table.
"Four or five gentlemen! But did either of them answer to the description of my friend?"
"Well, I think one of them had a beard, sir."
"A dark-brown beard?"
"Well, I don't know, but it was brownish-like."
"Was he dressed in gray?"
"I believe it was gray; a great many gents wear gray. He asked for the ticket sharp and short-like, and when he'd got it walked straight out onto the platform whistling."
"That's George," said Robert. "Thank you, Smithers; I needn't trouble you any more. It's as clear as daylight," he muttered, as he left the station; "he's got one of his gloomy fits on him, and he's gone back to London without saying a word about it. I'll leave Audley myself to-morrow morning; and for to-night—why, I may as well go down to the Court and make the acquaintance of my uncle's young wife. They don't dine till seven; if I get back across the fields I shall be in time. Bob—otherwise Robert Audley—this sort of thing will never do; you are falling over head and ears in love with your aunt."
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1
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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trout
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| n.鳟鱼；鲑鱼(属) | |
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exertion
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| n.尽力，努力 | |
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dawdled
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| v.混（时间）( dawdle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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7
dawdle
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| vi.浪费时间；闲荡 | |
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8
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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sitting-room
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| n.（BrE）客厅，起居室 | |
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dreary
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| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
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groaned
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| v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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12
cinder
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| n.余烬，矿渣 | |
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wagon
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| n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车 | |
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laden
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| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
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drooping
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| adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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bustle
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| v.喧扰地忙乱，匆忙，奔忙；n.忙碌；喧闹 | |
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17
miraculous
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| adj.像奇迹一样的，不可思议的 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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attachment
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| n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附 | |
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cynical
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| adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的，不信世道向善的 | |
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eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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preposterous
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| adj.荒谬的，可笑的 | |
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conjectures
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| 推测，猜想( conjecture的名词复数 ) | |
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inscribed
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| v.写，刻( inscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；内接 | |
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27
rattling
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| adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词 | |
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28
cane
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| n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的 | |
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29
perspiration
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| n.汗水；出汗 | |
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vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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