A thin, acute-faced woman with sandy hair appeared at the dining-room door as Dr. Little reached the hall. This lady with the sandy hair and freckles7 happened to be the most inquisitive8, suspicious, and unrebuffable of sisters that Dr. Little had ever encountered on guard over her brother’s domestic happiness.
“Good-morning.”
“Damn the woman—Ah, good-morning.”
Miss Murray’s attitude betrayed the inevitable9 catechisation. Dr. Little followed her into the dining-room.
“And how do you find my sister-in-law this morning. Dr. Little?”
Miss Murray had an aggressive, expeditious10 manner that disorganized any ordinary mortal’s sense of self-sufficiency and vain repose11. In action her hair seemed to become sandier in color, her freckles more yellow and independent. In speech she reminded the locum-tenens of a quick-firing gun whose exasperating12 detonations13 numbered so many snaps a minute.
“Mrs. Murray is no worse this morning. In fact—I can—”
“The temperature?”
“The temperature is a little above normal.”
Dr. Little’s “distinguished14 air” became ten times more distinguished. He articulated in his throat, and began to pull on his gloves with gestures of great finality.
“Did you notice that reddish rash?”
“It is our duty, Miss Murray, to notice such things.”
“And the throat? It seems very red and angry—”
“A certain degree of pharyngitis is present.”
“Well, and what’s the meaning of it all, Dr. Little?”
“Meaning, Miss Murray? Really—”
“There’s a cause for everything, I imagine.”
“Certainly. The problem—”
“You admit then that there is something problematic in the case, Dr. Little.”
“There is a problem in every—”
“Of course. But in my sister-in-law’s case, that is the matter under discussion.”
“Pardon me, madam, it is impossible to discuss certain—”
“My brother desires something definite. He was obliged to go to town to-day.”
“I should prefer to give my opinion—”
“Major Murray left instructions that I should wire to his club—”
“His club?”
“Whether any definite conclusion had been arrived at.”
The two disputants had been volleying and counter-volleying at point-blank range. Neither displayed any sign of giving ground or of surrender. The Scotch15 lady’s voice had harshened into a slight rasp of natural Gaelic. Dr. Little still fumbled16 at the buttons of his gloves, his words very much in his throat, his whole pose characteristic of the profession upon its dignity.
“It is quite impossible, Miss Murray, for me to discuss this case.”
The thin lady’s pupils were no bigger than pin-heads, so that her eyes looked like two circles of hard, blue glass.
“Very well, Dr. Little. I must telegraph to my brother that no conclusion has been reached—”
“Pardon me, that would be indiscreet—”
“To provide—me—with a solution!”
The distinguished gentleman had completed the buttoning of his gloves.
“I shall hope to see Major Murray in person to-morrow.”
“You shall see him, Dr. Little, without fail.”
The locum-tenens conducted a dignified17 retreat, fully18 aware of the fact that the sandy-haired lady believed him to be an ignoramus.
“Confound the woman! How can I tell her what I think?” he reflected. “It seems to me that there is half a ton of domestic dynamite19 waiting to be exploded in that house. I hardly relish20 the responsibility. If matters don’t clear in a day or two, I shall wire for Steel. It is his case, not mine.”
To a much-hustled man, whose temper had been chastened by a series of irritating incidents, the picture of a pretty woman smiling up at him from a neat luncheon-table revivified the more sensuous21 satisfactions of existence. Men who live to eat, smoke, and enjoy the curves of a woman’s figure are in the main very docile22 mortals. The savor23 of a well-cooked entrée will dispel24 despair and bring down heaven.
Dr. Little sat down with a grieved sigh, unfolded his napkin, and accepted Miss Ellison’s sympathy as though it were his just and sovereign due. He still had a vision of freckles and sandy hair, and echoes of an aggressive voice that revived memories of the dame25 school he had attended when in frocks.
“What a morning you must have had! It is nearly two.”
“A delightful26 morning, I can assure you. Excuse me, Miss Ellison, the cover of that magazine you have been reading reminds me of a certain female’s hair. Would you mind removing it from sight?”
“Is the memory so poignant27?”
“Poignant! And she has freckles the size of pease. Ugh! I wonder why it is that one’s patients always seem to conspire28 against one by being mulish and irritating all on the same day?”
“Something in the air, perhaps. Poor man!”
“Poor man, it is, I assure you, when you have had a series of cantankerous29 old ladies to blarney. I wonder if I might have a glass of sherry? Oh, don’t bother, let me get it.”
As though the mere30 offer absolved31 him from all further effort, Dr. Little sat still and fed while Madge Ellison rummaged32 in the sideboard for the decanter.
“How much, a tumblerful?”
She bent34 over him as she poured out the wine, the gold chain she wore dangling35 against his cheek.
“Thanks. Three fingers. How angelic a thing is woman!”
“Even when she has freckles and straw-colored hair?”
“Forbear, forbear. Ah, now I began to revive a little.”
He drank the wine, wiped his mustache, and leaned back in his chair as though to reflect on the natural philosophy of life. Madge Ellison entered into the system as a pleasing and satisfactory protoplasmic development. To this bachelor, who already showed a tendency to plumpness below the heart, she was bracketed with good wine, nine-penny cigars, and well-cooked dishes, a thing pleasant to look at and pleasant perhaps to taste.
“How is Mrs. Steel?”
Cutlets and new pease were pushed aside. Dr. Little helped himself generously to sponge custard, his eyes fixed36 affectionately upon the dish.
“I am rather worried about Betty.”
“Worried?”
The bachelor began to look sleek37 and happy. His outlook upon life changed greatly after a few magical passes with a spoon and fork.
“I wish you would go up and see her after lunch.”
“Anything to oblige a lady who can show no freckles. What is the woe38? A cold in the head?”
Madge Ellison had returned to her chair, and was rocking it gracefully39 to and fro on two legs. She might have posed as a living metronome marking the rhythm for the epicure’s busy spoon.
“How frivolous40 you doctors are!”
Dr. Little wiped a streak41 of custard from his mustache with his dinner napkin.
“It is my hour of relaxation42. Haven’t you heard the tale of the two bishops43 who played leap-frog at the end of a church conference. But, to be serious, what are the symptoms?”
“She seems rather feverish44 and has a sore throat. I noticed something that looked like herpes on her lip.”
“Herpes, eh? Will she let me see her?”
“I’ll run up and ask.”
“Thanks. Is the paper reposing45 anywhere? Oh, don’t bother. On the window-sill? Thanks, much obliged.”
And he propped46 the paper against the decanter, and so consoled himself with the happy facility of a bachelor.
Betty Steel, in a richly laced dressing-jacket, was sitting up in bed with Persian Mignon in her lap.
“Bring the man up, dear, if it will give you any satisfaction. Any news in the town?”
Madge Ellison sat down and chatted for five minutes, while the cat purred under Betty’s hand.
“I saw Kate Murchison in Castle Gate this morning.”
“Alone?”
“No; being convoyed by the Canoness.”
Betty Steel’s mouth curved into a sneer47.
“A most respectable connection. Did you see any blue ribbon about?”
“You are rather hard on the poor wretches48, Betty.”
“Am I?” and she gave a short, sharp laugh; “every woman sides with her husband—I suppose. You might rub some scent49 on my forehead, dear.”
Dr. Little finished a cigar, and yawned in turn over every page of the paper before ascending50 to Mrs. Betty’s room. Madge Ellison opened the door to him. His shoulder brushed her arm as he entered, quite the professional Agag where the patient was a woman and under fifty.
Dr. Little remained some fifteen minutes beside Mrs. Betty’s bed. His air of lazy refinement51 left him by degrees, giving place to the interested and puzzled alertness of the physician. It was the curious nodular swelling52 on Parker Steel’s wife’s lip that led him to discover glandular53 enlargement under her round, white chin.
“Hair falling out at all?” he asked, casually54.
“Why refer to a woman’s one eternal woe?”
“Oh, nothing,” and he smiled a little stiffly; “the throat is sore, is it not?”
“Yes.”
“Let me look. Turn to the light, please. Open the mouth wide, and say ‘ah.’ Hum, yes, rather inflamed,” and Dr. Little, after moving his head from side to side, like a man peering down the bowl of a pipe, drew back from the bed, his eyes fixed momentarily on Betty Steel’s face with a peculiarly intent stare.
“I’ll send you up a gargle for the throat.”
“Thanks. I shall be all right for Saturday, I suppose?”
“I hope so.”
“It is the last rehearsal55. I must not miss it.”
“Have you heard from Dr. Steel to-day?”
Betty was holding Mignon’s head between her two hands, and looking into the cat’s yellow eyes. Something in the intonation56 of Dr. Little’s voice seemed to startle her. She glanced up at him with a questioning smile.
“I expect him back in a week or so. Madge, get me that letter, dear. I think he said next Wednesday. Is there anything—?”
Little had moved towards the door.
“I only wanted to know the date. I promised some months ago to do locum work for an old friend next week.”
Betty had glanced through her husband’s letter. She laid it aside when Dr. Little had gone, and took Mignon back into her lap.
“That man’s worried about something, Madge,” she said.
“Worried, not a bit of it, dear.”
“Why not?”
“It’s not in the bachelor nature to worry, provided food is plentiful57 and work slack. Pins wouldn’t prick58 him. They’re selfish beasts.”
“I thought you liked the man, Madge.”
“The men we flirt59 with, dear, are not often the men we marry.”
Meanwhile, Dr. Little had descended the stairs, looking as serious as any middle aged33 demi-god who had been snubbed by a school-girl. He crossed the hall to Parker Steel’s consulting-room, took out a bottle containing tabloids60 of perchloride of mercury from the cabinet, dissolved two in the basin fixed in one corner of the room, and sedulously61 and carefully disinfected his hands.
“How the devil—!”
This meditative62 exclamation63 appeared to limit the gentleman’s reflections for the moment. He stood with bent shoulders, staring at his hands soaking in the rose-tinted water, like some medi?val wiseacre striving to foresee the future in a pot of ink.
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1
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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furtive
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| adj.鬼鬼崇崇的，偷偷摸摸的 | |
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rambling
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| adj.[建]凌乱的，杂乱的 | |
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sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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complexity
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| n.复杂(性)，复杂的事物 | |
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ego
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| n.自我，自己，自尊 | |
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freckles
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| n.雀斑，斑点( freckle的名词复数 ) | |
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inquisitive
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| adj.求知欲强的，好奇的，好寻根究底的 | |
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inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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expeditious
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| adj.迅速的，敏捷的 | |
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repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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exasperating
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| adj. 激怒的 动词exasperate的现在分词形式 | |
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13
detonations
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| n.爆炸 （声）( detonation的名词复数 ) | |
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14
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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15
scotch
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| n.伤口，刻痕；苏格兰威士忌酒；v.粉碎，消灭，阻止；adj.苏格兰(人)的 | |
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16
fumbled
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| （笨拙地）摸索或处理（某事物）( fumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 乱摸，笨拙地弄； 使落下 | |
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17
dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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18
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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19
dynamite
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| n./vt.(用)炸药(爆破) | |
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20
relish
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| n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味 | |
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21
sensuous
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| adj.激发美感的；感官的，感觉上的 | |
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22
docile
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| adj.驯服的，易控制的，容易教的 | |
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savor
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| vt.品尝，欣赏；n.味道，风味；情趣，趣味 | |
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24
dispel
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| vt.驱走，驱散，消除 | |
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25
dame
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| n.女士 | |
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delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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poignant
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| adj.令人痛苦的，辛酸的，惨痛的 | |
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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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cantankerous
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| adj.爱争吵的，脾气不好的 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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31
absolved
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| 宣告…无罪，赦免…的罪行，宽恕…的罪行( absolve的过去式和过去分词 )； 不受责难，免除责任 [义务] ,开脱（罪责） | |
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32
rummaged
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| 翻找，搜寻( rummage的过去式和过去分词 )； 已经海关检查 | |
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33
aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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35
dangling
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| 悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口 | |
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36
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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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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woe
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| n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
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39
gracefully
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| ad.大大方方地；优美地 | |
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40
frivolous
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| adj.轻薄的；轻率的 | |
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41
streak
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| n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动 | |
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42
relaxation
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| n.松弛，放松；休息；消遣；娱乐 | |
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43
bishops
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| （基督教某些教派管辖大教区的）主教( bishop的名词复数 )； （国际象棋的）象 | |
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44
feverish
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| adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的 | |
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45
reposing
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| v.将（手臂等）靠在某人（某物）上( repose的现在分词 ) | |
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46
propped
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| 支撑，支持，维持( prop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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47
sneer
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| v.轻蔑；嘲笑；n.嘲笑，讥讽的言语 | |
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48
wretches
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| n.不幸的人( wretch的名词复数 )；可怜的人；恶棍；坏蛋 | |
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49
scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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50
ascending
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| adj.上升的，向上的 | |
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51
refinement
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| n.文雅；高尚；精美；精制；精炼 | |
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52
swelling
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| n.肿胀 | |
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53
glandular
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| adj.腺体的 | |
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54
casually
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| adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地 | |
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55
rehearsal
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| n.排练，排演；练习 | |
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56
intonation
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| n.语调，声调；发声 | |
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57
plentiful
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| adj.富裕的，丰富的 | |
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prick
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| v.刺伤，刺痛，刺孔；n.刺伤，刺痛 | |
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59
flirt
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| v.调情，挑逗，调戏；n.调情者，卖俏者 | |
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60
tabloids
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| n.小报，通俗小报（版面通常比大报小一半，文章短，图片多，经常报道名人佚事）( tabloid的名词复数 )；药片 | |
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61
sedulously
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| ad.孜孜不倦地 | |
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meditative
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| adj.沉思的，冥想的 | |
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exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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