“I saw you go upstairs,” he said excitedly. “Is he all right? When is the duel2 going to be?”
“I don’t know.” She resented his speaking of it as a circus, with McKisco as the tragic3 clown.
“Will you go with me?” he demanded, with the air of having seats. “I’ve hired the hotel car.”
“I don’t want to go.”
“Why not? I imagine it’ll take years off my life but I wouldn’t miss it for worlds. We could watch it from quite far away.”
“Why don’t you get Mr. Dumphry to go with you?”
His monocle fell out, with no whiskers to hide in — he drew himself up.
“I never want to see him again.”
“Well, I’m afraid I can’t go. Mother wouldn’t like it.”
As Rosemary entered her room Mrs. Speers stirred sleepily and called to her:
“Where’ve you been?”
“I just couldn’t sleep. You go back to sleep, Mother.”
“Come in my room.” Hearing her sit up in bed, Rosemary went in and told her what had happened.
“Why don’t you go and see it?” Mrs. Speers suggested. “You needn’t go up close and you might be able to help afterwards.”
Rosemary did not like the picture of herself looking on and she demurred4, but Mrs. Speer’s consciousness was still clogged5 with sleep and she was reminded of night calls to death and calamity6 when she was the wife of a doctor. “I like you to go places and do things on your own initiative without me — you did much harder things for Rainy’s publicity7 stunts8.”
Still Rosemary did not see why she should go, but she obeyed the sure, clear voice that had sent her into the stage entrance of the Odeon in Paris when she was twelve and greeted her when she came out again.
She thought she was reprieved9 when from the steps she saw Abe and McKisco drive away — but after a moment the hotel car came around the corner. Squealing10 delightedly Luis Campion pulled her in beside him.
“I hid there because they might not let us come. I’ve got my movie camera, you see.”
She laughed helplessly. He was so terrible that he was no longer terrible, only dehumanized.
“I wonder why Mrs. McKisco didn’t like the Divers11?” she said. “They were very nice to her.”
“Oh, it wasn’t that. It was something she saw. We never did find exactly what it was because of Barban.”
“Then that wasn’t what made you so sad.”
“Oh, no,” he said, his voice breaking, “that was something else that happened when we got back to the hotel. But now I don’t care — I wash my hands of it completely.”
They followed the other car east along the shore past Juan les Pins, where the skeleton of the new Casino was rising. It was past four and under a blue-gray sky the first fishing boats were creaking out into a glaucous sea. Then they turned off the main road and into the back country.
“It’s the golf course,” cried Campion, “I’m sure that’s where it’s going to be.”
He was right. When Abe’s car pulled up ahead of them the east was crayoned red and yellow, promising12 a sultry day. Ordering the hotel car into a grove13 of pines Rosemary and Campion kept in the shadow of a wood and skirted the bleached14 fairway where Abe and McKisco were walking up and down, the latter raising his head at intervals15 like a rabbit scenting16. Presently there were moving figures over by a farther tee and the watchers made out Barban and his French second — the latter carried the box of pistols under his arm.
Somewhat appalled17, McKisco slipped behind Abe and took a long swallow of brandy. He walked on choking and would have marched directly up into the other party, but Abe stopped him and went forward to talk to the Frenchman. The sun was over the horizon.
Campion grabbed Rosemary’s arm.
“I can’t stand it,” he squeaked18, almost voiceless. “It’s too much. This will cost me —”
“Let go,” Rosemary said peremptorily19. She breathed a frantic20 prayer in French.
The principals faced each other, Barban with the sleeve rolled up from his arm. His eyes gleamed restlessly in the sun, but his motion was deliberate as he wiped his palm on the seam of his trousers. McKisco, reckless with brandy, pursed his lips in a whistle and pointed21 his long nose about nonchalantly, until Abe stepped forward with a handkerchief in his hand. The French second stood with his face turned away. Rosemary caught her breath in terrible pity and gritted22 her teeth with hatred23 for Barban; then:
“One — two — three!” Abe counted in a strained voice.
They fired at the same moment. McKisco swayed but recovered himself. Both shots had missed.
“Now, that’s enough!” cried Abe.
The duellists walked in, and everyone looked at Barban inquiringly.
“I declare myself unsatisfied.”
“What? Sure you’re satisfied,” said Abe impatiently. “You just don’t know it.”
“Your man refuses another shot?”
“You’re damn right, Tommy. You insisted on this and my client went through with it.”
Tommy laughed scornfully.
“The distance was ridiculous,” he said. “I’m not accustomed to such farces24 — your man must remember he’s not now in America.”
“No use cracking at America,” said Abe rather sharply. And then, in a more conciliatory tone, “This has gone far enough, Tommy.” They parleyed briskly for a moment — then Barban nodded and bowed coldly to his late antagonist25.
“No shake hand?” suggested the French doctor.
“They already know each other,” said Abe.
He turned to McKisco.
“Come on, let’s get out.”
As they strode off, McKisco, in exultation26, gripped his arm.
“Wait a minute!” Abe said. “Tommy wants his pistol back. He might need it again.”
McKisco handed it over.
“To hell with him,” he said in a tough voice. “Tell him he can —”
“Shall I tell him you want another shot?”
“Well, I did it,” cried McKisco, as they went along. “And I did it pretty well, didn’t I? I wasn’t yellow.”
“You were pretty drunk,” said Abe bluntly.
“No, I wasn’t.”
“All right, then, you weren’t.”
“Why would it make any difference if I had a drink or so?”
As his confidence mounted he looked resentfully at Abe.
“What difference does that make?” he repeated.
“If you can’t see it, there’s no use going into it.”
“Don’t you know everybody was drunk all the time during the war?”
“Well, let’s forget it.”
But the episode was not quite over. There were urgent footsteps in the heather behind them and the doctor drew up alongside.
“Pardon, Messieurs,” he panted. “Voulez-vous regler mes honorairies? Naturellement c’est pour soins médicaux seulement. M. Barban n’a qu’un billet de mille et ne peut pas les régler et l’autre a laissé son porte-monnaie chez lui.”
“Trust a Frenchman to think of that,” said Abe, and then to the doctor. “Combien?”
“Let me pay this,” said McKisco.
“No, I’ve got it. We were all in about the same danger.”
Abe paid the doctor while McKisco suddenly turned into the bushes and was sick there. Then paler than before he strutted27 on with Abe toward the car through the now rosy28 morning.
Campion lay gasping29 on his back in the shrubbery, the only casualty of the duel, while Rosemary suddenly hysterical30 with laughter kept kicking at him with her espadrille. She did this persistently31 until she roused him — the only matter of importance to her now was that in a few hours she would see the person whom she still referred to in her mind as “the Divers” on the beach.
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1
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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2
duel
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| n./v.决斗；(双方的)斗争 | |
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3
tragic
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| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
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demurred
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| v.表示异议，反对( demur的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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clogged
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| （使）阻碍( clog的过去式和过去分词 )； 淤滞 | |
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6
calamity
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| n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件 | |
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7
publicity
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| n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告 | |
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8
stunts
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| n.惊人的表演( stunt的名词复数 )；（广告中）引人注目的花招；愚蠢行为；危险举动v.阻碍…发育[生长]，抑制，妨碍( stunt的第三人称单数 ) | |
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9
reprieved
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| v.缓期执行（死刑）( reprieve的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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10
squealing
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| v.长声尖叫，用长而尖锐的声音说( squeal的现在分词 ) | |
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11
divers
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| adj.不同的；种种的 | |
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12
promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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13
grove
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| n.林子，小树林，园林 | |
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14
bleached
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| 漂白的，晒白的，颜色变浅的 | |
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15
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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16
scenting
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| vt.闻到（scent的现在分词形式） | |
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17
appalled
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| v.使惊骇，使充满恐惧( appall的过去式和过去分词)adj.惊骇的；丧胆的 | |
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18
squeaked
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| v.短促地尖叫( squeak的过去式和过去分词 )；吱吱叫；告密；充当告密者 | |
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19
peremptorily
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| adv.紧急地，不容分说地，专横地 | |
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20
frantic
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| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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22
gritted
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| v.以沙砾覆盖（某物），撒沙砾于( grit的过去式和过去分词 )；咬紧牙关 | |
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23
hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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24
farces
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| n.笑剧( farce的名词复数 )；闹剧；笑剧剧目；作假的可笑场面 | |
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25
antagonist
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| n.敌人，对抗者，对手 | |
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26
exultation
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| n.狂喜，得意 | |
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27
strutted
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| 趾高气扬地走，高视阔步( strut的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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28
rosy
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| adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的 | |
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29
gasping
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| adj. 气喘的, 痉挛的 动词gasp的现在分词 | |
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30
hysterical
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| adj.情绪异常激动的，歇斯底里般的 | |
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31
persistently
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| ad.坚持地；固执地 | |
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