"I married at twenty—the usual fashionable marriage. Mr. Cleaver was the last of a fine old family of wealth and position, and I was considered to have done well for myself. But I loved him in a heedless, unthinking sort of way. He was young like myself, and extremely good-looking.
"My first real experience of life came with the death of my father, four years after my marriage. It was discovered that he had lived up to every cent of his great income. He left nothing but debts and an art collection. The proceeds of that went to purchase my mother a modest annuity2. Even that was wasted, for she lived less than a year after my father.
"That left me with no one in the world to turn to but my husband. The tragedy of self-made people is that they have no lifelong friends. My husband was good to me in his way; we got along together well enough, but in his disappointment and chagrin3 at the disclosure of my father's affairs, I received my first suspicion that all was not well with our own.
"But I closed my eyes to it, and we continued to live as before, denying ourselves nothing. It was the only way I knew how to live. We had our big houses in town and in the country, a mob of servants, automobiles4, horses. I knew nothing about business and my husband never spoke5 of it. One thing that helped to ease my mind was the fact that we were never bothered by creditors6 as I knew some of my friends were. My husband paid up everything on the nail. It was a point of pride with him.
"When he had spent his last dollar, literally7 his last, he shot himself.
"Well, there I was. Mr. Cleaver had no near relatives. His cousins had always frowned on our extravagance, and I could expect no aid from them. As for my so-called friends, at the first hint of disaster they began to melt away. I was so helpless I didn't even know how to close up my great house. I couldn't summon resolution enough to discharge the servants. I lived for a while on the proceeds of my dresses and jewels. It is tragic8 how much such things cost, and how little they bring!
"I was at the end of my rope, driven nearly frantic9 by worry. The unpaid10 servants were becoming impudent11, and that seemed like the last straw. I have always been so dependent on servants! I was actually considering taking my husband's way out—when this man came to see me.
"He sent up no name. But in the frightful12 state I was in, one jumps at anything for a moment's distraction13. I had him brought up. You have already described him; his silvery hair, brushed in an odd way, his sober, well-made clothes of no particular style. His old-fashioned manner prevented me from placing him socially; he might have been almost anybody. The piercing blue eyes were remarkable14. His was most kind and courteous15, fatherly one might say.
"Though it is three years ago, every detail of that interview is still fresh in my mind. He thanked me first for my indulgence in consenting to receive him incognito16. I would agree, he said, when I had learned the object of his visit, that it were better he should remain unknown. He asked me to think of him simply as 'Mr. B.'
"He went on to say that through mutual17 friends he had learned of my difficult situation, and had been much moved thereby18. It was the hardest case he had ever heard of, he said, and I had his sincerest sympathy. I was too desperate in my mind to even pretend to be indignant at the intrusion of a stranger into my affairs. Indeed I found his sympathy comforting. I hadn't received much. Most people had acted as if my misfortunes were due to my own fault. He soothed19 me like a nice old uncle.
"He said he was a very rich man, so rich in fact, that his money made him uneasy. He didn't want to die with it, he said, and he was looking around for some honorable way of getting rid of it. He used that very word, 'honorable'; it made me smile. He said it was easier to make a fortune than to get rid of it.
"Fancy how my heart began to beat at this. When one is desperate one cannot be particular. I could scarcely believe my ears. It seemed like the miracle I had been hoping for—like an answer to my prayer. He said that the more popular forms of philanthropy, such as colleges, hospitals, libraries, etc., were distasteful to him, as smacking20 too much of ostentation21 and publicity22. He wanted to make his distribution in secret.
"'Everybody looks after the poor,' he said, 'and nobody thinks of the rich when they are overtaken by misfortune. They are the worthiest23 objects of help, and I intend to devote myself to the relief of the impoverished24 rich. You are my first case. Will a thousand dollars a week be sufficient?'
"I thought I was dreaming. I managed to stammer25 out a question about what conditions were attached to the loan or gift.
"'No conditions! No conditions!' he said,—'that is only one condition; that you will preserve absolute secrecy26 concerning it.'
"I promised of course. I scarcely knew what I was saying. I thought perhaps he was harmlessly insane. I certainly never expected anything to come of it. But when he had gone I found on the table a little packet containing a thousand dollars in bills.
"I still thought I had been visited by an amiable27 lunatic. I used the money to pay some of my most pressing obligations. I discharged the insolent28 servants, and got others. I didn't expect to hear from him again.
"But one week from that day a messenger boy brought me a packet containing a similar sum, and it has been coming ever since with absolute regularity29.
"I can see that you are incredulous about there having been no conditions attached to the gift, but I have stated just what happened. I can see now that I was a fool, but then it was easy for me to believe that I had been relieved out of pure philanthropy. As if there was any such thing!
"At first the money came unaccompanied by any communication, but later, when he knew, I suppose, that I had become absolutely dependent on it, I began to receive instructions. In the beginning he still used the language of philanthropy—he wanted to help this young man or that young woman to gain a footing in good society—but latterly, feeling more sure of me, I suppose, he has become frankly30 peremptory31. Oh! if I had only sent the money back in the first place!"
"What sort of instructions?" asked Jack32.
"Principally for me to receive certain young people that he would send me, and introduce them to society; sometimes to introduce them to particular persons. This seemed harmless enough. People will do anything to get into society, you know."
"But when you saw these young people didn't you begin to be suspicious?"
"Oh, I didn't want to be suspicious! Their manners were good enough. They didn't shame me. And nowadays society is such a go-as-you-please affair, nobody held me responsible."
"What other kind of instructions did you get?"
"To ask certain people, generally some well-known rich man, to my house. The hardest thing I ever had to do was to go to the Madagascar and scrape acquaintance with Bobo in the corridor. I nearly died at that, but it was too late to turn back. I was terrified by the way the man always knew instantly when I had not obeyed him."
"The spies he had in your house would keep him informed," said Jack. "How did you know that day which of the two of us was Bobo?"
"He had described him to me."
"Does 'Mr. B.' still come here?"
"No, I have never seen him but the once. He writes to me, and very often he calls me up to learn if I have anything to report. I have no way of communicating with him unless he calls up."
"Now about Miriam?" said Jack.
Mrs. Cleaver sat up, and her tired eyes sparkled with hatred33. "That woman!" she cried. "If you knew what I have had to put up with from her! I loathe34 her! Oh, I would like to see her brought low. What have you got against her? Tell me!"
Jack shook his head, smiling grimly. "All in good time," he said. "You're telling me your story now."
"Oh, Miriam's just another of them. She came the day before I received my instructions to get hold of Bobo. I was ordered to take her into my house, and give it out that she was a cousin. That was the final humiliation35!"
"Is that all you can tell me about Miriam?"
She nodded. "We don't confide36 in each other," she said with tight lips.
There was a considerable silence between the two before the fire.
"What are you thinking about?" asked Mrs. Cleaver nervously37 at last.
"Just trying to dope out a plan to get him—with your help."
"Oh, I'm afraid!" she wailed38. "When my income is cut off what shall I do?"
"I promised you—in Bobo's name—to take care of that."
"To the same amount?" she asked sharply.
Jack smiled dryly. "I'm afraid I'd hardly feel justified39 in recommending that Bobo keep up all this—but, say, ten thousand a year."
"Ten thousand!" she cried, aghast. "That's nothing!"
A grimmer tone crept into Jack's voice. "Sorry, but we don't owe you anything, you know. If you refuse to help me, I should have to have you arrested."
If she had defied him Jack's position would have been a little awkward, for he was not prepared to go as far as he had said. But Mrs. Cleaver's spirit was broken now. She only shuddered40 and wept the louder.
"Ten thousand!" she wailed. "I'll have to give up everything that makes life worth living!"
"You told me you were sick of all this."
"I'll have to move into a miserable41 apartment!"
"Come now, plenty of people have a whale of a time on ten thousand—or even the half of that."
"Suburbanites!" she said with the utmost scorn.
"Has 'Mr. B.' any regular time for calling up?" asked Jack.
"No. Every few days. I haven't heard in nearly a week. I shall probably hear to-morrow."
"Very good. Now listen. When he calls up, make out you're in great anxiety. But don't give him too many details over the 'phone. Suggest that it's not safe to do so. You can let him understand though that it has something to do with Bobo or me. Tell him that you think I am having you watched. Tell him that you must see him in order to find out how to act. Don't ask him to come here; that would surely excite his suspicions. Name some public place; a hotel would be the best."
"Will I have to face him?" she faltered42. "I'm afraid."
"I'll be there," said Jack. "You may leave him to me."
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1
cleaver
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| n.切肉刀 | |
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2
annuity
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| n.年金；养老金 | |
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chagrin
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| n.懊恼；气愤；委屈 | |
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automobiles
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| n.汽车( automobile的名词复数 ) | |
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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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creditors
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| n.债权人，债主( creditor的名词复数 ) | |
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7
literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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8
tragic
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| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
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frantic
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| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
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10
unpaid
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| adj.未付款的，无报酬的 | |
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impudent
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| adj.鲁莽的，卑鄙的，厚颜无耻的 | |
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12
frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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13
distraction
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| n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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courteous
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| adj.彬彬有礼的，客气的 | |
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incognito
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| adv.匿名地；n.隐姓埋名；adj.化装的，用假名的，隐匿姓名身份的 | |
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mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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soothed
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| v.安慰( soothe的过去式和过去分词 )；抚慰；使舒服；减轻痛苦 | |
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smacking
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| 活泼的，发出响声的，精力充沛的 | |
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ostentation
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| n.夸耀，卖弄 | |
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22
publicity
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| n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告 | |
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23
worthiest
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| 应得某事物( worthy的最高级 )； 值得做某事； 可尊敬的； 有（某人或事物）的典型特征 | |
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24
impoverished
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| adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化 | |
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25
stammer
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| n.结巴，口吃；v.结结巴巴地说 | |
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26
secrecy
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| n.秘密，保密，隐蔽 | |
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27
amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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28
insolent
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| adj.傲慢的，无理的 | |
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29
regularity
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| n.规律性，规则性；匀称，整齐 | |
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30
frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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31
peremptory
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| adj.紧急的，专横的，断然的 | |
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32
jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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33
hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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34
loathe
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| v.厌恶，嫌恶 | |
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35
humiliation
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| n.羞辱 | |
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36
confide
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| v.向某人吐露秘密 | |
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37
nervously
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| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
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38
wailed
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| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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39
justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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40
shuddered
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| v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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41
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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42
faltered
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| （嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃 | |
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