Tom walked to the fire and stood with his back to it. Possibly this was his friend Mainwaring come to visit him, but why did he bring so much baggage? Tom rather hoped that the unknown guest had come to his house in mistake for another's.
But a quick tread came across the hall and the door of the library was swept open. Hat in hand, the visitor stood before Tom, bowing.
"I am de trop, no?"
"Never in your life!" Tom assured him. "Stand up, child, and let me look at you!" Then, as Philip clicked his heels together and faced him, laughing, his eyes widened, and his lips formed a soundless whistle. "By the Lord Harry9, Philip, it's marvellous! How could you do it in six months——!"
"Fog, cold, damp! Brrh! The unspeakable climate! Tom, it is permitted that I stay with you until I find an abode11?"
With difficulty his uncle withdrew his gape12 from Philip's claret-coloured coat of fine cloth, laced with gold.
"Merci du compliment!" smiled Philip. "You perhaps admire the mixture of claret and biscuit as I wear it?"
Tom's eyes travelled down to the creaseless biscuit-coloured small-clothes.
"Ay. I admire everything. The boots most of all. The boots—Philip, where did you obtain them?"
Philip glanced carelessly down at his shapely leg.
"They were made for me. Me, I am not satisfied with them. I shall give them to Fran?ois."
"Give them to Fran?ois?" cried his uncle. "Ye wicked boy! Where is the fellow?"
"He and Jacques are struggling with my baggage and Moggat." He stretched out a detaining hand as Tom started forward to the door. "Ah, do not disturb yourself. I have spoken with ce bon Moggat, and all is well. He will arrange everything."
Tom came back.
"All—that baggage?" Philip spoke14 with uplifted brows. "It has arrived?" He went to the window and looked out. "But no, not yet."
"B—but—is there more to come?" asked Tom.
"But of course! The bulk follows me."
Tom sat down weakly.
"And you who six months ago thought yourself rich in the possession of three coats."
"Those far-off days! That is ended—completely!"
Tom cast him a shrewd glance.
"What, all of it? Cleone?"
"Ah!" Philip smiled. "That is—another—matter. I have to thank you for your letter, Tom."
"It brought you back?"
"En partie. She is here?"
"Ay, with Sally Malmerstoke. She is already noticed. Sally takes her everywhere. She is now looked for—and courted." His eyes twinkled.
"Oho!" said Philip. He poured out a glass of burgundy from the decanter that stood on a small table. "So she is furious with me, yes?"
"So I believe. Satterthwaite wrote that you and Bancroft fought over the fair name of some French lass. Did you?"
"Oh! You'll tell her that, of course?"
"Not at all."
Tom stared.
"What then? Have you some deep game in mind, Philip?"
"Perhaps. Oh, I don't know! I thank her for reforming me, but, being human, I am hurt and angry! Le petit Philippe se fache," he said, smiling suddenly. "He would see whether it is himself she loves, or—a painted puppet. It's foolish, but what would you?"
"So you are now a painted puppet?" said Tom politely.
"What else?"
"Dear me!" said Tom, and relapsed into profound meditation20.
"I want to have her love me for—myself, and not for my clothes, or my airs and graces. It's incomprehensible?"
"Not entirely," answered Tom. "I understand your feelings. What's to do?"
"Merely my baggage," said Philip, with another glance towards the window. "It is the coach that you hear."
"No, not that." Tom listened. Voices raised in altercation21 sounded in the hall.
Philip laughed.
"That is the inimitable Fran?ois. I do not think that Moggat finds favour in his eyes."
"I'll swear he does not find favour in Moggat's eyes! Who is the other one?"
"What would you?" shrugged25 Philip. He sat down opposite his uncle, and stretched his legs to the fire. "Heigh-ho! I do not like this weather."
"Nor anyone else. What are you going to do, now that you have returned?"
"Who knows? I make my bow to London Society, I amuse myself a little—ah yes! and I procure26 a house."
"Do you make your bow to Cleone?"
An impish smile danced into Philip's eyes.
"I present myself to Cleone—as she would have had me. A drawling, conceited27, and mincing28 fop. Which I am not, believe me!"
Tom considered him.
"No, you're not. You don't drawl."
"I shall drawl," promised Philip. "And I shall be very languid."
"It's the fashion, of course. You did not adopt it?"
"It did not entice29 me. I am le petit sans repos, and le petit Philippe au C?ur Perdu, and petit original. Hé, hé, I shall be homesick! It is inevitable30."
"Are you so much at home in Paris?" asked Tom, rather surprised. "You liked the Frenchies?"
"Liked them! Could I have disliked them?"
"I should have thought it possible—for you. Did you make many friends?"
"Did they indeed! Who do you count amongst your intimates?"
"Saint-Dantin—you know him?"
"I've met him. Tall and dark?"
"Ay. Paul de Vangrisse, Jules de Bergeret, Henri de Chatelin—oh, I can't tell you! They are all charming!"
"And the ladies?"
"Also charming. Did you ever meet Clothilde de Chaucheron, or Julie de Marcherand? Ah, voilà ce qui fait ressouvenir! I count that rondeau one of my most successful efforts. You shall hear it some time or other."
"That what?" ejaculated Tom, sitting upright in his surprise.
"A rondeau: 'To the Pearl that Trembles in her Ear.' I would you could have seen it."
"Which? The rondeau?"
"The pearl, man! The rondeau you shall most assuredly see."
"Merciful heaven!" gasped Tom. "A rondeau! Philip—poet! Sacr-ré mille petits cochons!"
"Monsieur dines at home this evening?" asked Fran?ois.
Philip sat at his dressing-table, busy with many pots and his face. He nodded.
"The uncle of Monsieur receives, without doubt?"
"The blue and silver ... un peu trop soigné. The orange ... peu convenable34. The purple the purple essayons!"
Philip opened the rouge-jar.
"The grey I wore at De Flaubert's last month."
Fran?ois clapped a hand to his head.
"Ah, sot!" he apostrophised himself. "Voilà qui est très bien." He dived into the wardrobe, emerging presently with the required dress. He laid it on the bed, stroking it lovingly, and darted35 away to a large chest. From it he brought forth the pink and silver waistcoat that De Bergeret had admired, and the silver lace. Then he paused. "Les bas?... Les bas aux oiseaux-mouches ... où sont-ils?" He peered into a drawer, turning over neat piles of stockings. A convulsion of fury seemed to seize him, and he sped to the door. "Ah, sapristi! Coquin! Jacques!"
In answer to his frenzied36 call came the cadaverous one, shivering. Fran?ois seized him by the arm and shook him.
"Thou misbegotten son of a toad37!" he raved38. "Where is the small box I bade you guard with your life? Where is it, I say. Thou—"
"I gave it into your hands," said Jacques sadly. "Into your hands, your very hands, in this room here by the door! I swear it."
"Swear it? What is it to me, your swear? I say I have not seen the box! At Dover, what did I do? Nom d'un nom, did I not say to you, lose thy head sooner than that box?" His voice rose higher and higher. "And now, where is it?"
"I tell you I gave it you! It is this bleak39 country that has warped40 your brain. Never did the box leave my hands until I gave it into yours!"
"And I say you did not! Saperlipopette, am I a fool that I should forget? Now listen to what you have done! You have lost the stockings of Monsieur! By your incalculable stupidity, the stupidity of a pig, an ass—"
"Sacré nom de Dieu! Am I to be disturbed by your shrieking41?" Philip had flung down the haresfoot. He slewed42 round in his chair. "Shut the door! Is it that you wish to annoy my uncle that you shout and scream in his house?" His voice was thunderous.
Fran?ois spread out his hands.
"M'sieur, I ask pardon! It is this ane, this careless gaillard—"
"Mais, m'sieur!" protested Jacques. "It is unjust; it is false!"
"Ecoutez donc, m'sieur!" begged Fran?ois, as the stern grey eyes went from his face to that of the unhappy Jacques. "It is the band-box that contains your stockings—the stockings aux oiseaux-mouches! Ah, would that I had carried it myself! Would that—"
"Would that you would be quiet!" said Philip severely44. "If either of you have lost those stockings ..." He paused, and once more his eyes travelled from one to the other. "I shall seek another valet."
Fran?ois became tearful.
"Ah, no, no, m'sieur! It is this imbécile, this crapaud—"
"M'sieu, je vous implore—"
Philip pointed45 dramatically across the room. Both men looked fearfully in the direction of that accusing finger.
"Ah!" Fran?ois darted forward. "La voilà! What did I say?" He clasped the box to his breast. "What did I say?"
"But it is not so!" cried Jacques. "What did you say? You said you had not seen the box! What did I say? I said—"
"Enough!" commanded Philip. "I will not endure this bickering46! Be quiet, Fran?ois! Little monkey that you are!"
"Little monkey," continued Philip inexorably, "with more thought for your chattering48 than for my welfare."
"Ah, no, no, m'sieur! I swear it is not so! By the—"
"I do not want your oaths," said Philip cruelly. "Am I to wait all night for my cravat49, while you revile50 the good Jacques?"
Fran?ois cast the box from him.
"Ah, misérable! The cravat! Malheureux, get thee gone!" He waved agitated51 hands at Jacques. "You hinder me! You retard52 me! You upset Monsieur! Va-t-en!"
Jacques obeyed meekly53, and Philip turned back to the mirror. To him came Fran?ois, wreathed once more in smiles.
"He means well, ce bon Jacques," he said, busy with the cravat. "But he is sot, you understand, très sot!" He pushed Philip's chin up with a gentle hand. "He annoys m'sieur, ah oui! But he is a good gar?on, when all is said."
"It is you who annoy me," answered Philip. "Not so tight, not so tight! Do you wish to choke me?"
"Pardon, m'sieur! No, it is not Fran?ois who annoys you! Ah, mille fois non! Fran?ois—perhaps he is a little monkey, if m'sieur says so, but he is a very good valet, n'est-ce pas? A monkey, if m'sieur pleases, but very clever with a cravat. M'sieur has said it himself."
"You are a child," said Philip. "Yes, that is very fair." He studied his reflection. "I am pleased with it."
"Aha!" Fran?ois clasped his hands delightedly. "M'sieur is no longer enraged54! Voyons, I go to fetch the vest of m'sieur!"
Presently, kneeling before his master and adjusting his stockings, he volunteered another piece of information.
"Me, I have been in this country before. I understand well the ways of it. I understand the English, oh, de part en part! I know them for a foolish race, en somme—saving always m'sieur, who is more French than English—but never, never have I had the misfortune to meet so terrible an Englishman as this servant of m'sieur's uncle, this Moggat. Si entêté, si impoli! He looks on me with a suspicion! I cannot tell m'sieur of his so churlish demeanour! He thinks, perhaps, that I go to take his fine coat. Bah! I spit upon it! I speak to him as m'sieur has bid me—très doucement. He pretends he cannot understand what it is I say! Me, who speak English aussi bien que le Fran?ais! Deign55 to enter into these shoes, m'sieur! I tell him I hold him in contempt! He makes a reniflement in his nose, and he mutters 'damned leetle frog-eater!' Grand Dieu, I could have boxed his ears, the impudent56!"
"I hope you did not?" said Philip anxiously.
"Ah, bah! Would I so demean myself, m'sieur? It is I who am of a peaceable nature, n'est-ce pas? But Jacques—voyons, c'est autre chose! He is possessed57 of the hot temper, ce pauvre Jacques. I fear for that Moggat if he enrages58 our Jacques." He shook his head solemnly, and picked up the grey satin coat. "If m'sieur would find it convenient to rise? Ah, bien!" He coaxed59 Philip into the coat, bit by bit. "I say to you, m'sieur, I am consumed of an anxiety. Jacques, he is a veritable fire-eater when he is roused, not like me, who am always doux comme un enfant. I think, perhaps, he will refuse to remain in the house with this pig of a Moggat."
"I have never noticed that Jacques showed signs of a so violent temper," he remarked.
"But no! Of a surety, he would not exhibit his terrible passion to m'sieur! Is it that I should permit him?"
"Well," Philip slipped a ring on to his finger, "I am sorry for Jacques, but he must be patient. Soon I shall go to a house of my own."
Fran?ois' face cleared as if by magic.
"M'sieur is kind! A house of his own. Je me rangerai bien! M'sieur contemplates61 a mariage, perhaps?"
Philip dropped his snuff-box.
"Que diable—?" he began, and checked himself. "Mind your own business, Fran?ois!"
"Ah, pardon, m'sieur!" replied the irrepressible Fran?ois. "I but thought that m'sieur had the desire to wed43, that he should return to England so hurriedly!"
"Hold your tongue!" said Philip sharply. "Understand me, Fran?ois, I'll have no meddling62 bavardage about me either to my face or below stairs! C'est entendu?"
"Yes, m'sieur!" Meekly he handed Philip his cane65 and handkerchief. Then, as his master still frowned, "M'sieur is still enraged?" he ventured.
Philip glanced down at him. At the sight of Fran?ois' anxious, na?ve expression, the frown faded, and he laughed.
"You are quite ridiculous," he said.
Fran?ois broke into responsive smiles at once.
But when Philip had rustled away to join his uncle, the little valet nodded shrewdly to himself and clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth.
"En vérité, c'est une femme," he remarked. "C'est ce que j'ai cru."
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收听单词发音
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1
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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muffled
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| adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
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lank
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| adj.瘦削的；稀疏的 | |
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depressed
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| adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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revered
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| v.崇敬，尊崇，敬畏( revere的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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7
gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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8
wriggled
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| v.扭动，蠕动，蜿蜒行进( wriggle的过去式和过去分词 )；（使身体某一部位）扭动；耍滑不做，逃避（应做的事等） | |
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harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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rustled
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| v.发出沙沙的声音( rustle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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11
abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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gape
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| v.张口，打呵欠，目瞪口呆地凝视 | |
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13
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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14
spoke
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| 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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15
frenzy
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| n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动 | |
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grimace
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| v.做鬼脸，面部歪扭 | |
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17
sipped
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| v.小口喝，呷，抿( sip的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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whit
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| n.一点，丝毫 | |
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dire
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| adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的 | |
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meditation
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| n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录 | |
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altercation
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| n.争吵，争论 | |
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groom
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| vt.给（马、狗等）梳毛，照料，使...整洁 | |
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23
tout
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| v.推销，招徕；兜售；吹捧，劝诱 | |
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retinue
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| n.侍从；随员 | |
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25
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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26
procure
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| vt.获得，取得，促成；vi.拉皮条 | |
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conceited
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| adj.自负的，骄傲自满的 | |
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mincing
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| adj.矫饰的；v.切碎；切碎 | |
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entice
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| v.诱骗，引诱，怂恿 | |
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30
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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31
bosoms
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| 胸部( bosom的名词复数 )； 胸怀； 女衣胸部（或胸襟）； 和爱护自己的人在一起的情形 | |
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32
eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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33
meditated
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| 深思，沉思，冥想( meditate的过去式和过去分词 )； 内心策划，考虑 | |
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convenable
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| 可召集的，可召唤的 | |
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35
darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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frenzied
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| a.激怒的；疯狂的 | |
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toad
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| n.蟾蜍，癞蛤蟆 | |
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38
raved
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| v.胡言乱语( rave的过去式和过去分词 )；愤怒地说；咆哮；痴心地说 | |
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39
bleak
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| adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的 | |
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40
warped
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| adj.反常的；乖戾的；（变）弯曲的；变形的v.弄弯，变歪( warp的过去式和过去分词 )；使（行为等）不合情理，使乖戾， | |
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41
shrieking
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| v.尖叫( shriek的现在分词 ) | |
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42
slewed
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| adj.喝醉的v.杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去式 )( slew的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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43
wed
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| v.娶，嫁，与…结婚 | |
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44
severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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45
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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46
bickering
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| v.争吵( bicker的现在分词 )；口角；（水等）作潺潺声；闪烁 | |
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47
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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48
chattering
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| n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式 | |
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49
cravat
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| n.领巾，领结；v.使穿有领结的服装，使结领结 | |
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50
revile
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| v.辱骂，谩骂 | |
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51
agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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52
retard
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| n.阻止，延迟；vt.妨碍，延迟，使减速 | |
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53
meekly
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| adv.温顺地，逆来顺受地 | |
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54
enraged
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| 使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 )； 歜； 激愤 | |
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55
deign
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| v. 屈尊, 惠允 ( 做某事) | |
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56
impudent
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| adj.鲁莽的，卑鄙的，厚颜无耻的 | |
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57
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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58
enrages
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| 使暴怒( enrage的第三人称单数 ) | |
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59
coaxed
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| v.哄，用好话劝说( coax的过去式和过去分词 )；巧言骗取；哄劝，劝诱 | |
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60
ruffles
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| 褶裥花边( ruffle的名词复数 ) | |
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61
contemplates
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| 深思，细想，仔细考虑( contemplate的第三人称单数 )； 注视，凝视； 考虑接受（发生某事的可能性）； 深思熟虑，沉思，苦思冥想 | |
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62
meddling
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| v.干涉，干预（他人事务）( meddle的现在分词 ) | |
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63
abashed
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| adj.窘迫的，尴尬的v.使羞愧，使局促，使窘迫( abash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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64
curtly
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| adv.简短地 | |
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65
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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