CHAPTER VII THE UNEXPLAINED

It was just as well she refused the tea, for there was no one to make it. She had hypnotised Belinda, and Belinda coming out of the hypnotic state was having hysterical¹ convulsions in the kitchen, assisted by the charwoman.

"Belinda," cried Leavesley down the kitchen stairs, he had rung his bell vainly, "are you there?"

"She's hill, sir," replied a hoarse² voice, "I'm a-lookin' arter her."

"Oh, well, if a Mr Verneede calls, will you ask him to wait for me? I'll be back soon."

"Yessir."

He left the house and proceeded as fast[Pg 264] as omnibuses could take him to Southampton Row.

Bridgewater was out, but Mr Wolf, the second in command, ushered³ him into Hancock's room.

"Well," said Hancock, who was writing a letter—"Oh, it's you. Sit down, sit down for a minute."

He went on with his letter, and Leavesley took his seat and sat in a simmering state listening to the squeaking⁴ of the quill⁵ pen, and framing in his mind indictments⁶ against Bridgewater.

If he had been in a state of mind to absorb details he might have noticed that his uncle was looking younger and brighter. But the youthfulness or brightness of Mr Hancock were indifferent to him absorbed as he was with his own thoughts.

"Well," said Hancock, finishing his letter with a flourish and leaning back in his chair.

"Aunt came to see me to-day," said Leavesley, "and I came on here at once. It's most disgraceful."

"What?"

"Bridgewater. You've got a man in your[Pg 265] office who is not to be trusted, a mischief-making old——"

"Dear me, what's all this? A man in the office not to be trusted? To whom do you refer?"

"Bridgewater."

"Bridgewater?"

"Yes."

"What has he been doing?"

"Doing! He has been sneaking⁷ round to my aunt telling tales about a lady; that's what he has been doing."

"What lady?"

"A Miss Lambert. He told her she had been to the Zoological Gardens with——"

Hancock raised his hand. "Don't go on," he said, "I know it all."

"You know it all?"

"Yes, and I have given Bridgewater a right good dressing⁸ down—meddling old stupid!"

Leavesley was greatly taken back at this.

"It's not his fault," continued Hancock. "It's your aunt's fault; she put him on to spy. However, it's rather a delicate subject, and we won't pursue it, but"—suddenly and in a friendly tone—"I take it very kindly⁹ of you to come round and tell me this."

[Pg 266]

"I thought I'd better come," said the young man; "besides, the thing put me in such a wax. Of course, if he was egged on by aunt, it's not so much his fault."

"I take it very kindly of you, and we'll say no more about it." He lapsed¹⁰ into meditation¹¹, and Leavesley sat filled with a vague feeling of surprise.

Every one seemed a little out of the ordinary to-day. Why on earth did his uncle take this news so very kindly?

"I've been thinking," said Hancock suddenly—then abruptly¹²: "How are you financially, now?"

"Oh, pretty bad. I had to sell a picture of John the Baptist for five pounds the other day; it was worth twenty."

"When your mother married your father," said Hancock, leaning back in his chair, "she flew in the face of her family. He was penniless and a painter."

"I don't want to hear anything against my father," said Leavesley tartly¹³. "Yes, he was penniless and a painter, and she married him, and I'm glad she did. She loved him, that was quite enough."

[Pg 267]

"If you will excuse me," said Hancock, "I was going to say nothing against your father. I think a love-match—er—um—well, no matter. I am only stating the facts. She flew in the face of her family, and as a result the money that might have been hers, went to your aunt."

"And a nice use she makes of it."

"The hundred a year left you by your parents," resumed the lawyer, ignoring this reply, "is, I admit, a pittance¹⁴. I offered you, however, as the head of the family, and feeling that your mother had not received exactly justice, I offered you the choice of a profession. I offered to take you into this office. You refused, preferring to be a painter. Now, I am not stingy, but I have seen much of the world, and in my experience, the less money a young man has in starting in life, the more likely is he to arrive at the top of the tree. You have, however, now started; I have been making enquiries, and you seem to be working, and I am pleased with you for two things. Firstly, when you came to me the other day for money for a—foolish purpose you didn't lie over the matter and say you[Pg 268] wanted the money for your landlady¹⁵, as nine out of ten young men would have done. Secondly¹⁶, for coming to me to-day and apprising¹⁷ me of the unpleasant intelligence, to which we will not again refer. I appreciate loyalty¹⁸."

He put his hand in his pocket and pulled out his note-case.

"What's your present liabilities?"

"Oh, I owe about ten pounds."

"Sure that's all?"

"Of course, I'd tell you if it was more; it's somewhere about that."

Hancock took a five-pound note and a ten-pound note out of the note-case, looked at them both, and then put the ten-pound note back.

"I'm going to lend you five pounds," he said. "It will serve for present expenses, and I expect you to pay me it back before the end of the week." He held out the note.

"You had better keep it," said his nephew, "for there's not the remotest chance of my paying you before the end of the week."

"Take the note," said Hancock testily¹⁹, "and don't keep me holding it out all day;[Pg 269] you don't know what may happen in the course of a week. Take the note."

"Well, I'll take it if you will have it so; and I'll pay you back some time if I don't this week."

"Now good day," said Hancock. "I'm busy."

1 hysterical   

adj.情绪异常激动的，歇斯底里般的

参考例句：

• He is hysterical at the sight of the photo.他一看到那张照片就异常激动。
• His hysterical laughter made everybody stunned.他那歇斯底里的笑声使所有的人不知所措。

2 hoarse   

adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的

参考例句：

• He asked me a question in a hoarse voice.他用嘶哑的声音问了我一个问题。
• He was too excited and roared himself hoarse.他过于激动，嗓子都喊哑了。

3 ushered   

v.引，领，陪同( usher的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The secretary ushered me into his office. 秘书把我领进他的办公室。
• A round of parties ushered in the New Year. 一系列的晚会迎来了新年。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 squeaking   

v.短促地尖叫( squeak的现在分词 )；吱吱叫；告密；充当告密者

参考例句：

• Squeaking floorboards should be screwed down. 踏上去咯咯作响的地板应用螺钉钉住。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Can you hear the mice squeaking? 你听到老鼠吱吱叫吗？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 quill   

n.羽毛管；v.给（织物或衣服）作皱褶

参考例句：

• He wrote with a quill.他用羽毛笔写字。
• She dipped a quill in ink,and then began to write.她将羽毛笔在墨水里蘸了一下，随后开始书写。

6 indictments   

n.（制度、社会等的）衰败迹象( indictment的名词复数 )；刑事起诉书；公诉书；控告

参考例句：

• A New York jury brought criminal indictments against the founder of the organization. 纽约的一个陪审团对这个组织的创始人提起了多项刑事诉讼。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• These two indictments are self-evident and require no elaboration. 这两条意义自明，无须多说。 来自互联网

7 sneaking   

a.秘密的，不公开的

参考例句：

• She had always had a sneaking affection for him. 以前她一直暗暗倾心于他。
• She ducked the interviewers by sneaking out the back door. 她从后门偷偷溜走，躲开采访者。

8 dressing   

n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料

参考例句：

• Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
• The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。

9 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

10 lapsed   

adj.流失的，堕落的v.退步( lapse的过去式和过去分词 )；陷入；倒退；丧失

参考例句：

• He had lapsed into unconsciousness. 他陷入了昏迷状态。
• He soon lapsed into his previous bad habits. 他很快陷入以前的恶习中去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 meditation   

n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录

参考例句：

• This peaceful garden lends itself to meditation.这个恬静的花园适于冥想。
• I'm sorry to interrupt your meditation.很抱歉，我打断了你的沉思。

12 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

13 tartly   

adv.辛辣地，刻薄地

参考例句：

• She finished by tartly pointing out that he owed her some money. 她最后刻薄地指出他欠她一些钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Kay said tartly, "And you're more Yankee than Italian. 恺酸溜溜他说：“可你哪，与其说是意大利人，还不如说是新英格兰人。 来自教父部分

14 pittance   

n.微薄的薪水，少量

参考例句：

• Her secretaries work tirelessly for a pittance.她的秘书们为一点微薄的工资不知疲倦地工作。
• The widow must live on her slender pittance.那寡妇只能靠自己微薄的收入过活。

15 landlady   

n.女房东，女地主

参考例句：

• I heard my landlady creeping stealthily up to my door.我听到我的女房东偷偷地来到我的门前。
• The landlady came over to serve me.女店主过来接待我。

16 secondly   

adv.第二，其次

参考例句：

• Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二，动脑筋提出自己的见解。
• Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次，需要确定所作用的载荷。

17 apprising   

v.告知，通知( apprise的现在分词 )；评价

参考例句：

18 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

19 testily   

adv. 易怒地, 暴躁地

参考例句：

• He reacted testily to reports that he'd opposed military involvement. 有报道称他反对军队参与，对此他很是恼火。 来自柯林斯例句