The Blond Beast V

In the study a half hour later Mr. Spence, watch in hand, was doling¹ out his minutes again. The peril² conjured³, he had recovered his dominion⁴ over time. He turned his commanding eye-glasses on Millner.

“It’s all settled, then? Tell Draper I’m sorry not to see him again to-night — but I’m to speak at the dinner of the Legal Relief Association, and I’m due there in five minutes. You and he dine alone here, I suppose? Tell him I appreciate what he’s done. Some day he’ll see that to leave the world better than we find it is the best we can hope to do. (You’ve finished the notes for the Investigator⁵? Be sure you don’t forget that phrase.) Well, good evening: that’s all, I think.”

Smooth and compact in his glossy⁶ evening clothes, Mr. Spence advanced toward the study door; but as he reached it, his secretary stood there before him.

“It’s not quite all, Mr. Spence.”

Mr. Spence turned on him a look in which impatience⁷ was faintly tinged⁸ with apprehension⁹. “What else is there? It’s two and a half minutes to eight.”

Millner stood his ground. “It won’t take longer than that. I want to tell you that, if you can conveniently replace me, I’d like — there are reasons why I shall have to leave you.”

Millner was conscious of reddening as he spoke¹⁰. His redness deepened under Mr. Spence’s dispassionate scrutiny¹¹. He saw at once that the banker was not surprised at his announcement.

“Well, I suppose that’s natural enough. You’ll want to make a start for yourself now. Only, of course, for the sake of appearances — ”

“Oh, certainly,” Millner hastily agreed.

“Well, then: is that all?” Mr. Spence repeated.

“Nearly.” Millner paused, as if in search of an appropriate formula. But after a moment he gave up the search, and pulled from his pocket an envelope which he held out to his employer. “I merely want to give this back.”

The hand which Mr. Spence had extended dropped to his side, and his sand-coloured face grew chalky. “Give it back?” His voice was as thick as Millner’s. “What’s happened? Is the bargain off?”

“Oh, no. I’ve given you my word.”

“Your word?” Mr. Spence lowered at him. “I’d like to know what that’s worth!”

Millner continued to hold out the envelope. “You do know, now. It’s worth that. It’s worth my place.”

Mr. Spence, standing¹² motionless before him, hesitated for an appreciable¹³ space of time. His lips parted once or twice under their square-clipped stubble, and at last emitted: “How much more do you want?”

Millner broke into a laugh. “Oh, I’ve got all I want — all and more!”

“What — from the others? Are you crazy?”

“No, you are,” said Millner with a sudden recovery of composure. “But you’re safe — you’re as safe as you’ll ever be. Only I don’t care to take this for making you so.”

Mr. Spence slowly moistened his lips with his tongue, and removing his pince-nez, took a long hard look at Millner.

“I don’t understand. What other guarantee have I got?”

“That I mean what I say?” Millner glanced past the banker’s figure at his rich densely¹⁴ coloured background of Spanish leather and mahogany. He remembered that it was from this very threshold that he had first seen Mr. Spence’s son.

“What guarantee? You’ve got Draper!” he said.

1 doling   

救济物( dole的现在分词 )； 失业救济金

参考例句：

• "What are you doling?'she once demanded over the intercom. 有一次他母亲通过对讲机问他：“你在干什么？ 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史
• Many scrollbars are quite parsimonious in doling out information to users. 很多滚动条都很吝啬，给用户传递的信息太少。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

2 peril   

n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物

参考例句：

• The refugees were in peril of death from hunger.难民有饿死的危险。
• The embankment is in great peril.河堤岌岌可危。

3 conjured   

用魔术变出( conjure的过去式和过去分词 )； 祈求，恳求； 变戏法； （变魔术般地） 使…出现

参考例句：

• He conjured them with his dying breath to look after his children. 他临终时恳求他们照顾他的孩子。
• His very funny joke soon conjured my anger away. 他讲了个十分有趣的笑话，使得我的怒气顿消。

4 dominion   

n.统治，管辖，支配权；领土，版图

参考例句：

• Alexander held dominion over a vast area.亚历山大曾统治过辽阔的地域。
• In the affluent society,the authorities are hardly forced to justify their dominion.在富裕社会里，当局几乎无需证明其统治之合理。

5 investigator   

n.研究者，调查者，审查者

参考例句：

• He was a special investigator for the FBI.他是联邦调查局的特别调查员。
• The investigator was able to deduce the crime and find the criminal.调查者能够推出犯罪过程并锁定罪犯。

6 glossy   

adj.平滑的；有光泽的

参考例句：

• I like these glossy spots.我喜欢这些闪闪发光的花点。
• She had glossy black hair.她长着乌黑发亮的头发。

7 impatience   

n.不耐烦，急躁

参考例句：

• He expressed impatience at the slow rate of progress.进展缓慢，他显得不耐烦。
• He gave a stamp of impatience.他不耐烦地跺脚。

8 tinged   

v.（使）发丁丁声( ting的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• memories tinged with sadness 略带悲伤的往事
• white petals tinged with blue 略带蓝色的白花瓣

9 apprehension   

n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑

参考例句：

• There were still areas of doubt and her apprehension grew.有些地方仍然存疑，于是她越来越担心。
• She is a girl of weak apprehension.她是一个理解力很差的女孩。

10 spoke   

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

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

11 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

12 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

13 appreciable   

adj.明显的，可见的，可估量的，可觉察的

参考例句：

• There is no appreciable distinction between the twins.在这对孪生子之间看不出有什么明显的差别。
• We bought an appreciable piece of property.我们买下的资产有增值的潜力。

14 densely   

ad.密集地；浓厚地

参考例句：

• A grove of trees shadowed the house densely. 树丛把这幢房子遮蔽得很密实。
• We passed through miles of densely wooded country. 我们穿过好几英里茂密的林地。