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CHAPTER XVI
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 That nearly a fortnight should have passed without any effort on Symington’s part to “get a hold” of Kitty may seem to the reader to require some explanation.  Possibly sufficient will be found in a conversation between Risk and Colin, which took place on the twelfth day after the latter’s call on the postmaster of Dunford.  Colin had returned from Scotland, only to be dispatched, within a few hours, to an address in Amsterdam with a belt full of finely broken bottle glass next his skin, which he believed to be a fortune in uncut precious stones.  Back from Holland he found written mstructions to proceed to Madrid to fetch a little box purporting1 to contain 3,000 sovereigns, and actually concealing2 about half a hundredweight of lead.
 
And now, a trifle fagged, he was sitting in Risk’s study, hoping to hear that he had done well.  Risk did not keep him long in suspense3.  p. 166After a few questions respecting the last journey he said, rather abruptly—
 
“Well, Hayward, you’ve been serving me so far pretty much with your eyes shut: I wonder if you care to continue with your eyes open.  I warn you that some of the work may be dull and most of it will be hard.  I have got plenty of young men who work well in their own particular grooves4, but I want one who is prepared to take on any job I put before him, just as I, with so many different interests, have had to do in the past for myself.  I don’t expect you to learn everything at once, but I should expect you to be interested in everything that interests me.  And I offer you £500 for the first year.”
 
Colin almost leapt from his seat.  “£500, Mr. Risk!  Why, I’ll never be worth that!”
 
“You’ll think differently six months hence.  Meantime, do you accept?”
 
“Oh, rather!—and thank you a—”
 
“Then let’s talk of something else.  For instance, I have word that your friend the postman has a chance of recovering, and I have to tell you about our friend Symington.”
 
“I’ve been wondering,” said Colin, “whether he accepted your invitation to call at the office.”
 
“He did—the morning after you left for p. 167Amsterdam.  Incidentally, I got rather a good snap-shot of him.  He seemed a trifle nervous until he received the new certificates, and then he coolly informed the secretary that he had purchased the old ones six years ago—an unmitigated lie, as we know.  It remains5 to be seen, of course, whether he is acting6 for himself or for Corrie, and if the former, how many of the 5,000 shares have come into his possession.”
 
“You can’t prevent him selling the shares?”
 
“I could do that by circularizing all the exchanges and brokers7, but sooner or later that would mean publicity8.  Besides, I want to give Mr. Symington rope just as I’ve given it to Mr. Corrie.”
 
“It may prove awfully9 expensive rope, Mr. Risk,” ventured Colin.
 
“I’m ready to pay for my amusement,” the other pleasantly returned, “and you don’t want me to tell you again that I will replace every share it may cost Miss Carstairs.”
 
“I didn’t mean that,” said Colin.  “Only—well, you have been so good to me that I’d hate to see you lose—”
 
“Money!  Yes, but think of the game, Hayward!  And we’re going to win that.  Why, it’s going to be the most tremendously interesting p. 168business I ever tackled.  You don’t mind danger, do you?”
 
Colin laughed.  “I’m afraid I’ve had no experience, but I’m at your service, Mr. Risk.  I suppose,” he went on, “Symington has already converted some of the 500 shares into cash.”
 
“We may assume that much.  To put it mildly, he has been on the spree since the day he got the new certificates.”
 
“You have had him watched?”
 
Risk nodded.  “And I have gone into his past to some extent.  He is not a desirable person, I fear.  But we shall leave him for the present.  My sister and Miss Carstairs, also your friend West, are dining with me to-night, and I hope you are free to join us.”
 
Colin flushed with pleasure.
 
“I should like you,” continued Risk, “to make your quarters here for the present.  Sharp has a room ready for you.  And now I’m going to ask you an impertinent question.  Have you any debts?”
 
“No—well, I owe my father £100,” the young man replied ruefully.
 
“Then pay it; and if you think you have any grudge11 against him, forget it.  For this year I will pay your salary quarterly, in advance.  p. 169Don’t thank me.  I simply want you to be able to serve me with as free a mind, and as light a heart, as possible.  Frankly, you’re an experiment.”  With a kindly12 laugh Risk proceeded to write a cheque.
 
It was no shame to Colin then if his eyes were moist.  Surely his father would think kindlier of him now.
 
An hour later he and Kitty were face to face.  Ages long it seemed since their parting in the little wood, less than three weeks ago!  How much had happened since then!  Perhaps Kitty was more at her ease than he.  She had slipped into the new, pleasant life as though she belonged to it.  She was still a little shy, but not awkwardly so.  She had never been “countrified,” yet Colin had always thought of her as a country maid—and had loved her none the less for that.  In sunlight and moonlight he had deemed her the prettiest creature alive.  But now, under the shaded electric lamps of a London drawing-room in a white muslin frock that gave glimpses of her neck and arms, he beheld13 her, and his faithful heart ached at her fresh loveliness.
 
“Isn’t this wonderful?” she whispered, smiling, as they shook hands.
 
Poor Colin!  He managed to smile in return, p. 170but not a word could he find, for in that moment he realized that he loved her more than ever, and that if his love had been wellnigh hopeless before, it was utterly14 hopeless now.  For with all his resolutions to put her out of his life on coming to London, he had indulged a dream of fighting for success in order that he might one day rescue her from dreariness15 or hardship, and somehow win her for his own.  Alas, now he comprehended only too fully10 what the Zeniths meant to himself.  Kitty would be a very rich young woman.  He could serve her in nothing at all.  What an irony16 that the man who had given him his first step upwards—and a great step, too—should be the man to set his dearest desire beyond his reach!  Well, there was nothing for it but to cleave17 to duty and have done with dreams.
 
Nevertheless it was a cheerful little dinner-party, and during it the love-lorn young man and Hilda Risk laid the foundations of a lasting18 friendship.  Towards the close of the repast Kitty was telling the host of her father’s unfinished novel which Mr. West had just completed.
 
“He did it in six days, Mr. Risk,” she said warmly, “and I could not have told that it was not my father’s own work.  It was wonderful.”
 
p. 171“Not at all,” said West, in his matter-of-fact voice.  “There was next to nothing for me to do, for the last act was foreshadowed.  It’s a great play, Risk.  Craven of the Planet, whom I got to read it right away, admitted as much this very day, though he wouldn’t accept it.”
 
“Why?” asked Risk.
 
“Too much unlike recent successes, I suppose,” said West drily.  “And I believe it would draw all London.”
 
“Miss Carstairs,” said Risk kindly, “wouldn’t you like to see your father’s play performed?”
 
The girl’s shining eyes answered for her.
 
“I think I can persuade Craven,” remarked Risk, turning to West.  “Can you arrange a meeting between us for the day after to-morrow?”
 
“By jove!” said West softly.  “The thing’s done!  Miss Carstairs, take my word for it, that play will bring you a little fortune.  Risk, God bless you!”
 
Kitty looked from one to the other.  “Is it—is it really and truly going to be?” she asked, tremulously.
 
“Leave it to Mr. Risk,” cried West in high delight.
 
“I think you may, Miss Carstairs,” Risk said p. 172with that amused look of his.  “But don’t count on the fortune just yet.  Still, I’ll make the best terms I can for you—”
 
“And Mr. West,” she put in quickly.  “Please don’t think me ungrateful and horrid19, Mr. Risk, but I don’t wish you to—to trouble about the play at all unless Mr. West promises—on paper, too—to take half the profits—if any.”
 
“Never!” shouted West, indignant.
 
“Goodness me,” said Hilda, interrupting her talk with Colin, “what on earth is the matter, Anthony?”
 
“Nothing, my dear,” replied her brother.  “Merely Anthony’s little way of receiving a decent business proposition.”  He turned to Kitty.  “Never mind, Miss Carstairs; we three shall have a talk together later, and—”
 
Sharp came into the room with a note on a salver.
 
“Messenger boy brought it, sir; said it was immediate,” he murmured to his master, as he presented the salver to Kitty.  “No answer, madam,” he said aloud, and retired20.
 
Kitty had taken the note mechanically, but now as she sat staring at it, the colour ebbed21 from her face.  The plain envelope was directed to her—in rather shaky writing—care of Miss p. 173Risk, 366 Long Acre; apparently22 Hilda’s servant had sent the messenger on to Aberdare Mansions23.
 
Anthony West alone made any effort to sustain the conversation, but then he was the only person present to whom the incident appeared ordinary, and he, too, soon fell silent at the sight of the girl’s pallor.
 
At last the host said gently: “Hadn’t you better open it, Miss Carstairs?  It may be nothing so very serious after all.”
 
Kitty seemed to nerve herself; she even smiled faintly—as she tore away the flap.  She took out a piece of ruled paper folded once—a page torn from a note-book—opened it, and forced herself to read the two lines scrawled24 upon it in pencil.
 
Then the paper fell from her fingers, and with a little cry of pain she put up her hands and hid her face.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 purporting 662e1eb2718c2773c723dc9acb669891     
v.声称是…,(装得)像是…的样子( purport的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • Cindy Adams (Columnist) : He's purporting to be Mother Teresa. 辛迪?亚当斯(专栏作家):他无意成为德兰修女。 来自互联网
  • To prohibit certain practices purporting to be sales by auction. 本条例旨在对看来是以拍卖方式作出的售卖中某些行为予以禁止。 来自互联网
2 concealing 0522a013e14e769c5852093b349fdc9d     
v.隐藏,隐瞒,遮住( conceal的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • Despite his outward display of friendliness, I sensed he was concealing something. 尽管他表现得友善,我还是感觉到他有所隐瞒。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • SHE WAS BREAKING THE COMPACT, AND CONCEALING IT FROM HIM. 她违反了他们之间的约定,还把他蒙在鼓里。 来自英汉文学 - 三万元遗产
3 suspense 9rJw3     
n.(对可能发生的事)紧张感,担心,挂虑
参考例句:
  • The suspense was unbearable.这样提心吊胆的状况实在叫人受不了。
  • The director used ingenious devices to keep the audience in suspense.导演用巧妙手法引起观众的悬念。
4 grooves e2ee808c594bc87414652e71d74585a3     
n.沟( groove的名词复数 );槽;老一套;(某种)音乐节奏v.沟( groove的第三人称单数 );槽;老一套;(某种)音乐节奏
参考例句:
  • Wheels leave grooves in a dirt road. 车轮在泥路上留下了凹痕。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Sliding doors move in grooves. 滑动门在槽沟中移动。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
5 remains 1kMzTy     
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹
参考例句:
  • He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
  • The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。
6 acting czRzoc     
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的
参考例句:
  • Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她,她只是假装的。
  • During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代,她的表演生涯黯然失色。
7 brokers 75d889d756f7fbea24ad402e01a65b20     
n.(股票、外币等)经纪人( broker的名词复数 );中间人;代理商;(订合同的)中人v.做掮客(或中人等)( broker的第三人称单数 );作为权力经纪人进行谈判;以中间人等身份安排…
参考例句:
  • The firm in question was Alsbery & Co., whiskey brokers. 那家公司叫阿尔斯伯里公司,经销威士忌。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
  • From time to time a telephone would ring in the brokers' offices. 那两排经纪人房间里不时响着叮令的电话。 来自子夜部分
8 publicity ASmxx     
n.众所周知,闻名;宣传,广告
参考例句:
  • The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
  • He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事,只当它是一种宣传手法。
9 awfully MPkym     
adv.可怕地,非常地,极端地
参考例句:
  • Agriculture was awfully neglected in the past.过去农业遭到严重忽视。
  • I've been feeling awfully bad about it.对这我一直感到很难受。
10 fully Gfuzd     
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地
参考例句:
  • The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气,然后全部呼出。
  • They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。
11 grudge hedzG     
n.不满,怨恨,妒嫉;vt.勉强给,不情愿做
参考例句:
  • I grudge paying so much for such inferior goods.我不愿花这么多钱买次品。
  • I do not grudge him his success.我不嫉妒他的成功。
12 kindly tpUzhQ     
adj.和蔼的,温和的,爽快的;adv.温和地,亲切地
参考例句:
  • Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
  • A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。
13 beheld beheld     
v.看,注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 );瞧;看呀;(叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现)哎哟
参考例句:
  • His eyes had never beheld such opulence. 他从未见过这样的财富。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The soul beheld its features in the mirror of the passing moment. 灵魂在逝去的瞬间的镜子中看到了自己的模样。 来自英汉文学 - 红字
14 utterly ZfpzM1     
adv.完全地,绝对地
参考例句:
  • Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民,把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
  • I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。
15 dreariness 464937dd8fc386c3c60823bdfabcc30c     
沉寂,可怕,凄凉
参考例句:
  • The park wore an aspect of utter dreariness and ruin. 园地上好久没人收拾,一片荒凉。
  • There in the melancholy, in the dreariness, Bertha found a bitter fascination. 在这里,在阴郁、倦怠之中,伯莎发现了一种刺痛人心的魅力。
16 irony P4WyZ     
n.反语,冷嘲;具有讽刺意味的事,嘲弄
参考例句:
  • She said to him with slight irony.她略带嘲讽地对他说。
  • In her voice we could sense a certain tinge of irony.从她的声音里我们可以感到某种讥讽的意味。
17 cleave iqJzf     
v.(clave;cleaved)粘着,粘住;坚持;依恋
参考例句:
  • It examines how the decision to quit gold or to cleave to it affected trade policies.论文分析了放弃或坚持金本位是如何影响贸易政策的。
  • Those who cleave to the latter view include many conservative American politicians.坚持后一种观点的大多是美国的保守派政客。
18 lasting IpCz02     
adj.永久的,永恒的;vbl.持续,维持
参考例句:
  • The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
  • We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。
19 horrid arozZj     
adj.可怕的;令人惊恐的;恐怖的;极讨厌的
参考例句:
  • I'm not going to the horrid dinner party.我不打算去参加这次讨厌的宴会。
  • The medicine is horrid and she couldn't get it down.这种药很难吃,她咽不下去。
20 retired Njhzyv     
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。
21 ebbed d477fde4638480e786d6ea4ac2341679     
(指潮水)退( ebb的过去式和过去分词 ); 落; 减少; 衰落
参考例句:
  • But the pain had ebbed away and the trembling had stopped. 不过这次痛已减退,寒战也停止了。
  • But gradually his interest in good causes ebbed away. 不过后来他对这类事业兴趣也逐渐淡薄了。
22 apparently tMmyQ     
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎
参考例句:
  • An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽,豁然开朗。
  • He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。
23 mansions 55c599f36b2c0a2058258d6f2310fd20     
n.宅第,公馆,大厦( mansion的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Fifth Avenue was boarded up where the rich had deserted their mansions. 第五大道上的富翁们已经出去避暑,空出的宅第都已锁好了门窗,钉上了木板。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
  • Oh, the mansions, the lights, the perfume, the loaded boudoirs and tables! 啊,那些高楼大厦、华灯、香水、藏金收银的闺房还有摆满山珍海味的餐桌! 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
24 scrawled ace4673c0afd4a6c301d0b51c37c7c86     
乱涂,潦草地写( scrawl的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • I tried to read his directions, scrawled on a piece of paper. 我尽量弄明白他草草写在一片纸上的指示。
  • Tom scrawled on his slate, "Please take it -- I got more." 汤姆在他的写字板上写了几个字:“请你收下吧,我多得是哩。”


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