He continued scribbling10 at his desk, mentally considering the attitude he should assume, and hesitating between an air of infinite regret and a calm assumption of stoical responsibility. The door opened on him as he still studied his part. Mrs. Betty stood on the threshold, eyes a-glitter, an eager frown on her pale face.
She closed the door and approached her husband, leaning the palms of her hands on the edge of the table.
“Well, Parker, are you prepared with sal-volatile and a dozen handkerchiefs?”
Steel looked uneasy, a betrayal of weakness that his wife’s sharp eyes did not disregard.
“I suppose I must see the woman,” and he fastened the elastic11 band about his visiting-book with an irritable12 snap.
“See her? By all means, unless you are afraid of needing a tear bottle.”
“Perhaps you would prefer to interview—”
A flash of malicious13 amusement beaconed out from his wife’s eyes.
“No, no, sir, you must assume the responsibility. I shall enjoy myself by listening to your diplomatic irrelevances.”
Parker Steel pushed back his chair.
“Betty, you are a woman, what do you advise?”
“Advise!” and she laughed with delicious satisfaction. “Am I to advise infallible man?”
“Well, you know the tricks of the sex.”
“Do I, indeed! Firstly, then, my dear Parker, beware of tears.”
The physician gave an impatient twist to his mustache.
“Kate Murchison is not that sort of creature,” he retorted.
“No, perhaps not. But you may find her dangerous if she makes use of her emotions.”
“Hang it, Betty, I hate scenes!”
“Scenes are easily avoided.”
“How?”
“By a process of refrigeration. Be as ice. Do not give the lady an opportunity to melt. Compel her to restrain herself for the sake of her self-respect.”
Steel smiled ironically at his wife’s earnestness.
“An antagonistic14 attitude—”
“Exactly. Polite north-windedness. Be an iceberg15 of professional propriety16. Kate Murchison has pride; she will not catch you by the knees. Heavens, Parker”—and she brimmed with mischief—“I should like to see you trying to disentangle your legs from some hysterical17 lady’s embraces!”
Her husband glanced at himself in the glass, and adjusted his tie as a protest against his wife’s raillery.
“The sooner the interview is ended—the better,” he remarked.
“Wait, let me see you attempt the necessary stony18 stare!”
And she glided19 up and kissed him, much to the spruce physician’s sincere surprise.
Catherine had been moving restlessly to and fro in the drawing-room, glancing at the photographs and pictures, and listening to the murmur20 of voices that reached her from Parker Steel’s consulting-room. The air of the house seemed oppressive to her, and there was even an unwelcome strangeness about the furniture, as though the inanimate things could conspire21 against her and repel22 her sympathies. The environment was the environment of an unfamiliar23 spirit. The personality of the possessor impresses itself upon the home, and to Catherine there seemed superciliousness24 and a sense of antagonism25 in every corner. Her woman’s pride put on the armor of a warlike tenderness. She thought of her children, and was caught thinking of them by Parker Steel.
“Good-morning, Mrs. Murchison.”
“Good-morning.”
“Won’t you sit down?”
There was a questioning pause. Catherine remained standing26, her eyes studying the man’s smooth, clever, but soulless face.
“I have come, Dr. Steel, half as a friend—”
The physician’s smile completed the inimical portion of the sentence.
“I cannot but regret,” and he rested his white and manicured hands on the back of a Chippendale chair, “that you have thought fit to interview me, Mrs. Murchison, on such a matter.”
Catherine watched his face as he spoke27.
“Of course you realize—”
“The nature of the case? I realize it, Mrs. Murchison, too gravely to admit this meeting to be a pleasure.”
His chilly28 suavity29 reacted on Catherine as Betty Steel had promised. Individual antipathy30 comes quickly to the surface. Any display of feeling before Parker Steel would have been like throwing a burning torch down into the snow.
“I presume you realize the nature of the responsibility you are assuming?”
Her tone had nothing of pacification31 or appeal. The curve of her neck became the more haughty32 as she realized the purpose of the man to whom she spoke.
“It is my responsibility, Mrs. Murchison,” and he bent33 his slim and black-sheathed figure slightly over the rail of the chair, “that makes this interview the more painful to me.”
“You have accused my husband of gross incompetence34 and carelessness.”
“I have stated facts.”
“Dr. Murchison’s surgical35 experience is not that of a mere36 theorist. It has an established reputation. You understand me?”
Parker Steel understood her perfectly37, his nostrils38 lifting at the rebuff.
“My duty, Mrs. Murchison, is towards my own conscience.”
“I do not deny your sense of duty.”
“And the facts of the case—”
“Say—rather—your interpretation39 of those facts.”
“Madam!”
“For in the interpretation lies the meaning of your action. I can only warn you, for your own sake, to be careful.”
Parker Steel’s mask of unsympathetic suavity lost its unflurried coldness for the moment.
“My dear Mrs. Murchison, I have my day’s work before me, and I am a busy man. It is my misfortune to have earned your resentment40 by the discovery of a blunder. Please consider the question to be beyond our individual interests.”
“Then I am to understand—?”
“That I have already adopted the only course that seemed honest to me. I have declined to give a death certificate and I have communicated with the coroner.”
Catherine took the blow without flinching41, though a deep resentment stirred in her as she remembered how her husband had bulwarked Parker Steel.
“Then I think there is nothing more to be said between us.”
The physician made a step towards the door.
“Accept my regrets”—the vanity of the man, the desire to stand well in the eyes of a handsome woman, was not wholly to be suppressed.
“I accept no regrets, Dr. Steel—”
“Indeed.”
“For no regrets are given. My eyes are open to the truth.”
Steel turned the handle of the door.
“A sense of duty makes us enemies, Mrs. Murchison.”
“Perhaps, sir, your very lively sense of duty may lead you some day into a lane that has no turning.”
Whether by chance, or by premeditated malice42, Mrs. Betty crossed the hall as Catherine left the drawing-room. She halted, smiled, and extended a languid hand. Her eyes recalled to Catherine the eyes of the previous night.
“Ah, good-morning, Kate.”
There was not a quiver of emotion on Catherine Murchison’s face. She looked at Mrs. Betty as she would have looked at some pert shop-girl who assured her that some warranted material had been ruined by chemicals in the wash. Parker Steel’s wife was deprived of any suggestion of a triumph.
“I hope you are not tired after Mr. Cranston’s enthusiasm.”
“Intelligent partners never tire me. May I echo the inquiry43?”
Her feline44 spite marred45 the perfection of Mrs. Betty’s patronizing pity.
“Many thanks. You will excuse me, since I am a woman with responsibilities. You have no children to act as mother to, Betty.”
The barren woman’s lips tightened46. The words, with all their innocent irony47, went home.
“Oh, I detest48 children. All the philosophers will tell you that they are a doubtful blessing49.”
“A matter of temperament50, perhaps.”
“Some of us resemble rabbits, I suppose.”
Their mutual51 courtesy had reached the limit of extreme tension. Parker Steel, who had been watching the lightning flashes, the play between positive clouds and negative earth, opened the door to let the imminent52 storm disperse53.
Catherine passed out with a slight bending of the head.
“How beautiful these July days are!” she remarked.
“Superb,” and Steel took leave of her with a cynical54 smile.
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收听单词发音
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1
momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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annoyance
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| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
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sleek
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| adj.光滑的，井然有序的；v.使光滑，梳拢 | |
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devoid
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| adj.全无的，缺乏的 | |
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craving
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| n.渴望,热望 | |
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potent
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| adj.强有力的，有权势的；有效力的 | |
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logic
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| n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性 | |
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lava
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| n.熔岩，火山岩 | |
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passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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10
scribbling
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| n.乱涂[写]胡[乱]写的文章[作品]v.潦草的书写( scribble的现在分词 )；乱画；草草地写；匆匆记下 | |
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11
elastic
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| n.橡皮圈，松紧带；adj.有弹性的；灵活的 | |
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12
irritable
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| adj.急躁的；过敏的；易怒的 | |
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malicious
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| adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的 | |
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14
antagonistic
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| adj.敌对的 | |
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iceberg
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| n.冰山，流冰，冷冰冰的人 | |
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propriety
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| n.正当行为；正当；适当 | |
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hysterical
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| adj.情绪异常激动的，歇斯底里般的 | |
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stony
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| adj.石头的，多石头的，冷酷的，无情的 | |
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glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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conspire
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| v.密谋，（事件等）巧合，共同导致 | |
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repel
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| v.击退，抵制，拒绝，排斥 | |
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unfamiliar
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| adj.陌生的，不熟悉的 | |
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superciliousness
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| n.高傲，傲慢 | |
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antagonism
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| n.对抗，敌对，对立 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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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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chilly
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| adj.凉快的，寒冷的 | |
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suavity
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| n.温和；殷勤 | |
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antipathy
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| n.憎恶；反感，引起反感的人或事物 | |
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pacification
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| n. 讲和，绥靖，平定 | |
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haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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33
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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incompetence
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| n.不胜任，不称职 | |
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surgical
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| adj.外科的，外科医生的，手术上的 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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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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38
nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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interpretation
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| n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理 | |
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40
resentment
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| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
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flinching
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| v.（因危险和痛苦）退缩，畏惧( flinch的现在分词 ) | |
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42
malice
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| n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋 | |
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inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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feline
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| adj.猫科的 | |
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marred
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| adj. 被损毁, 污损的 | |
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46
tightened
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| 收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）变紧； （使）绷紧； 加紧 | |
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47
irony
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| n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄 | |
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48
detest
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| vt.痛恨，憎恶 | |
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49
blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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50
temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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51
mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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52
imminent
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| adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的 | |
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53
disperse
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| vi.使分散；使消失；vt.分散；驱散 | |
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54
cynical
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| adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的，不信世道向善的 | |
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