“My congratulations upon your speedy recovery,” he murmured.
She was mistress of herself at once. She raised her eyebrows4 very slightly.
“Oh, my headache,” she remarked. “A hot bath and an aspirin5 disposed of that. Mr. Lymane was a perfect dear and called just as I was wondering whether I should get up and try my luck at the Club, or go to bed. He suggested some supper and a dance here. I am so glad I came. I love this place, and I haven’t been here this season. And you? Where are your friends?”
“I came here with the very interesting young man whom I met on the tennis courts,” Grant replied. “They tell me that he plays tennis like a pro6. Harris, our new secretary, says that he could give me fifteen and owe fifteen. In the other walks of life he is to be taken a little differently. His name is Itash and he is, I understand, devoted7 to the little danseuse who sits at this table.”
The smile had faded from Gertrude’s lips. She was looking into Grant’s face as though her eyes would bore their way into the back of his brain.
“I should not have thought that a party of three would be very amusing for you,” she remarked.
“The little danseuse is only a temporary addition,” Grant explained. “I am certainly not making my host jealous, for he takes his protegee away whenever he chooses, and he insisted upon my coming. Still the position is not without its embarrassments8. I am seriously thinking of cultivating one of these ladies for myself. There is a divine being opposite, with vermilion-coloured hair and eyes of the most enchanting9 shade of blue, I think I had better throw myself upon her mercy.”
“Come and sit with us,” Gertrude invited shortly.
“Not on any account,” was the firm refusal. “I am already a troisième here. When I leave it will not be to accept a similar place elsewhere. Go and choose your table, you two. I am hurt, but not offended. I will even come and pay my respects later on. But at present, when my friends here have returned, I have an unconquerable desire to introduce myself to the young person with vermilion hair.”
“What shall you say to her?” Gertrude asked.
“I shall say,” he confided, “‘Mademoiselle, I have these few recommendations to your favour. I am an American, as you see me, a millionaire, with a yacht in the harbour and a cheque book which I too seldom use. May I have the pleasure of this dance?’”
“It sounds interesting,” Gertrude admitted. “She will probably refuse you. She will think you have drunk too much wine. Such good fortune would be incredible.”
He rose to his feet.
“That remains10 to be seen,” he said, taking leave of them with a little bow.
They watched him approach the girl whom he had pointed11 out, watched her rise with alacrity12 to her feet, and the commencement of the dance. Gertrude bit her lip as she followed Lymane to a table.
“Monte Carlo,” she observed coldly, “is too small a place for these enterprises.”
“Life is too short an affair to take notice of them,” Lymane rejoined.
They chose their table, ordered wine and danced. Lymane murmured all the time in his companion’s ear. Gertrude sometimes listened, sometimes watched the danseuse with the red hair. She seemed to be interested in Itash, but her eyes seldom left Grant and his partner.
“I wonder whether it is my fancy,” she confided to her escort, as they sat down presently, “but it seems to me—I suppose it is because of this Nice Conference going on so near—that there is an electrical atmosphere everywhere. I feel as though there were rumblings underneath13 the earth, as though we were on the brink14, all the time, of portentous15 events.”
He smiled indulgently, yet in a slightly superior fashion.
“I don’t think that you need be afraid,” he said. “I think I can assure you that there are no cataclysms16 imminent18 at the moment.”
“How can you tell?” she asked.
“Well,” he pointed out, “for one thing, England, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, Spain, and a few of the smaller powers are linked hand in hand to preserve the peace of the world. There is no sign of war, no threat of war anywhere. We are all a little jealous of Germany, but industrially she deserves her success. Now, tell me, what form of cataclysm17 could descend19 upon the earth to justify20 your depression?”
“I think,” she sighed, sipping21 her champagne22, “that I am afraid of the end of the world.”
“The end of the world,” he observed, “is but a picturesque23 fable24. The scientists have the matter well in hand. We are likely to have at least a thousand years of warning. My own apprehensions25 do not extend thus far.”
She looked through the menu, which a hovering26 waiter had handed to her.
“Notwithstanding our wonderful dinner,” she decided27, “I should like a sandwich. And as it is not the end of the world which is coming and I honestly don’t believe I have indigestion, will you tell me why I am so depressed28?”
“I can only suggest,” he ventured politely, “that it is because of your husband’s arrival to-morrow.”
“That,” she declared, “is a crude remark, the sort of speech which betrays your youth. A man of the world, like Grant Slattery for instance, would never have made it.”
“He would probably have hinted at it,” was the somewhat sullen29 rejoinder, “and it would probably have been the truth.”
“Well, I don’t know,” she murmured. “At any rate I am not going to discuss my husband’s coming with you. I prefer a little consolation30 for these vague fears of mine. Do you honestly mean to tell me,” she went on, “that the peace of the world is so wonderfully assured? Take these meetings of the Pact31, for instance. Is there nothing there which gives cause for a moment’s anxiety?”
“Princess!” he expostulated, “You will remember!”
“Heavens! Am I forgetting again!” she exclaimed. “You see, you’re such a child, I always forget that you have an official connection with the great world. Of course you can say nothing. But then, as it happens, I know as much as you do. Prince Lutrecht is my husband’s cousin. He came to my rooms for a few minutes this evening. I know all that transpires32 that can be told without an absolute breach33 of confidence. And I know that as yet there has been nothing serious.”
“But you know there are rumours34 abroad?”
“Prince Lutrecht gave me a hint to-night. There is just one apple of discord35 that your Chief might throw upon the board.”
“Shall we dance?” he begged.
She rose at once, quite willingly,
“You are a thoroughly36 irritating young man,” she declared. “I shall send for Mr. Grant Slattery to come and talk to me. He seems to pick up a wonderful amount of information, and so does Prince Lutrecht. Even my husband hears things sometimes. No one has refused me information—only you. It is either because you don’t like me or you don’t trust me.”
“I am not my own master,” he reminded her, as they started off to dance. “As it is, I have spoken more freely with you than with any one else before in my life.”
They danced until the music ceased. Gertrude clapped for the encore, and they went on until the finish. Then, as they walked towards their table, she continued their conversation.
“There is something you could tell me,” she said, “because, if it is true, the whole world will know it in a day or so. Does Lord Yeovil mean to once more invite America to join the Pact?”
“You have heard that spoken of?”
“I have heard it stated for a fact.”
“I believe it is true,” he told her.
Grant’s farewell shake of the hand possessed37 a particular significance for Mademoiselle with the red hair, whose rent was a little in arrears38. She felt the crisp paper in her palm and flashed her thanks across at him.
“This is too good of Monsieur,” she murmured. “Because he dances so beautifully. He has no need of a lesson. I am always at his disposition39.”
They separated, Mademoiselle to glance at her note and find her most sanguine40 hopes more than realised, Grant to rejoin Itash and his imperturbable41 companion.
“I am in danger here,” he declared. “I am of so susceptible42 a temperament43 and Mademoiselle aux cheveux roux has spoken to me of the loneliness of her life. I think I shall go back to my hotel. The sea air to-day was very invigorating but it also makes one inclined to sleepiness. Besides, I am like an uneasy spirit to-night. Wherever I descend I find myself that terrible third. What happens to him in French fiction and on the stage, one knows. I think I’ll depart quickly.”
Itash smiled, showing his wonderful white teeth. He was more at ease now, and he was not without a sense of humour.
“Fetch Mademoiselle here,” he suggested. “She is a very charming young woman and we will make a partie carree. We will see the night through and end it in my rooms with breakfast.”
Grant shook his head.
“I am no longer of the age when such things attract,” he sighed. “Besides which, I detest44 an aftermath. The nights which end with bacon and eggs and coffee offend me. I prefer they terminate with the playing of the violin to the door, the bow of the Commissionaire, the little voiture.”
“Monsieur has sentiment,” Cleo murmured.
“I cling to what remains of it,” Grant assured her earnestly. “When sentiment goes, then life is like the dust which the Persian poet tells us about. And so, all you young people, farewell.”
He made his bow, collected his hat and coat, and departed. He left the place with the air of a conqueror45. He looked back at it, metaphorically46 shaking his fist.
“This is a sorry triumph,” he muttered, as he lit a cigarette. “There is that ass2 Lymane gassing away to Gertrude—thank heavens he doesn’t know much—and Mademoiselle Cleo, back again under the thrall47, close-lipped, close-tongued, with enough locked up at the back of her brain to make the way easy for all of us.”
“Monsieur desires something?” the Commissionaire asked him wonderingly.
“Nothing in the world,” Grant replied, slipping a five-franc note into his hand. “I am perfectly48 happy. I am going home to bed.”
The man took off his hat and bowed.
“A pleasant repose49 to Monsieur,” he said.
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1
reticence
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| n.沉默，含蓄 | |
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ass
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| n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人 | |
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confided
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| v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的过去式和过去分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等） | |
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eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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aspirin
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| n.阿司匹林 | |
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pro
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| n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者 | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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embarrassments
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| n.尴尬( embarrassment的名词复数 )；难堪；局促不安；令人难堪或耻辱的事 | |
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enchanting
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| a.讨人喜欢的 | |
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10
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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alacrity
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| n.敏捷，轻快，乐意 | |
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underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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brink
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| n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿 | |
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portentous
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| adj.不祥的，可怕的，装腔作势的 | |
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cataclysms
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| n.（突然降临的）大灾难( cataclysm的名词复数 ) | |
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cataclysm
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| n.洪水，剧变，大灾难 | |
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imminent
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| adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的 | |
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descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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justify
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| vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护 | |
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sipping
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| v.小口喝，呷，抿( sip的现在分词 ) | |
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champagne
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| n.香槟酒；微黄色 | |
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picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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fable
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| n.寓言；童话；神话 | |
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apprehensions
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| 疑惧 | |
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hovering
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| 鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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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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sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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pact
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| n.合同，条约，公约，协定 | |
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transpires
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| （事实，秘密等）被人知道( transpire的第三人称单数 )； 泄露； 显露； 发生 | |
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33
breach
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| n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破 | |
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rumours
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| n.传闻( rumour的名词复数 )；风闻；谣言；谣传 | |
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35
discord
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| n.不和，意见不合，争论，（音乐）不和谐 | |
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36
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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arrears
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| n.到期未付之债，拖欠的款项；待做的工作 | |
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disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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sanguine
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| adj.充满希望的，乐观的，血红色的 | |
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imperturbable
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| adj.镇静的 | |
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42
susceptible
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| adj.过敏的，敏感的；易动感情的，易受感动的 | |
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temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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detest
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| vt.痛恨，憎恶 | |
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45
conqueror
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| n.征服者，胜利者 | |
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metaphorically
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| adv. 用比喻地 | |
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thrall
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| n.奴隶；奴隶制 | |
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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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49
repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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