8:30 AM
MIRANDA OXENFORD ordered a cappuccino Viennoise, with a pyramid of whipped cream on top. At the last moment she asked for a piece of carrot cake as well. She stuffed her change into the pocket of her skirt and carried her breakfast to the table where her thin sister Olga was seated with a double espresso and a cigarette. The place was bedecked with paper chains, and a Christmas tree twinkled over the panini toaster, but someone with a nice sense of irony1 had put the Beach Boys on the music system, and they were singing "Surfin' USA."
Miranda often ran into Olga first thing in the morning at this coffee bar in Sauchiehall Street, in the center of Glasgow. They worked nearby: Miranda was managing director of a recruitment agency specializing in IT personnel, and Olga was an advocate. They both liked to take five minutes to gather their thoughts before going into their offices.
They did not look like sisters, Miranda thought, catching2 a glimpse of her reflection in a mirror. She was short, with curly blond hair, and her figure was, well, cuddly3. Olga was tall like Daddy, but she had the same black eyebrows4 as their late mother, who had been Italian by birth and was always called Mamma Marta. Olga was dressed for work in a dark gray suit and sharply pointed5 shoes. She could have played the part of Cruella De Vil. She probably terrified juries.
Miranda took off her coat and scarf. She wore a pleated skirt and a sweater embroidered6 with small flowers. She dressed to charm, not to intimidate7. As she sat down, Olga said, "You're working on Christmas Eve?"
"Just for an hour," Miranda replied. "To make sure nothing's left undone8 over the holiday."
"Same here."
"Have you heard the news? A technician at the Kremlin died of a
virus."
"Oh, God, that's going to blight9 our Christmas."
Olga could seem heartless, but she was not really so, Miranda thought. "It was on the radio. I haven't spoken to Daddy yet, but it seems the poor boy became fond of a lab hamster and took it home."
"What did he do, have sex with it?"
"It probably bit him. He lived alone, so nobody called for help. At least that means he probably didn't pass the virus to anyone else. All the same, it's awful for Daddy. He won't show it, but he's sure to feel responsible."
"He should have gone in for a less hazardous11 branch of science— something like atomic weapons research."
Miranda smiled. She was especially pleased to see Olga today. She was glad of the chance of a quiet word. The whole family was about to gather at Steepfall, their father's house, for Christmas. She was bringing her fiance, Ned Hanley, and she wanted to make sure Olga would be nice to him. But she approached the subject in a roundabout way. "I hope this doesn't spoil the holiday. I've been looking forward to it so much. You know Kit12's coming?"
"I'm deeply sensible of the honor our little brother is doing us."
"He wasn't going to come, but I talked him round."
"Daddy will be pleased." Olga spoke10 with a touch of sarcasm13.
"He will, actually," Miranda said reproachfully. "You know it broke his heart to fire Kit."
"I know I've never seen him so angry. I thought he would kill someone."
"Then he cried."
"I didn't see that."
"Nor did I. Lori told me." Lori was Stanley's housekeeper14. "But now he wants to forgive and forget."
Olga stubbed her cigarette. "I know. Daddy's magnanimity is boundless15. Does Kit have a job yet?"
"No."
"Can't you find him something? It's your field, and he's good."
"Things are quiet—and people know he was sacked by his father."
"He must have. He promised Daddy he would. And he's got no money."
"Daddy paid his debts, didn't he?"
"I don't think we're supposed to know."
"Come on, Mandy." Olga was using Miranda's childhood name. "How much?"
"You should ask Daddy—or Kit."
"Was it ten thousand pounds?"
Miranda looked away.
"More than that? Twenty?"
Miranda whispered, "Fifty."
"Good God! That little bastard17 pissed away fifty grand of our inheritance? Wait till I see him."
"Anyway, enough of Kit. You're going to get to know Ned much better this Christmas. I want you to treat him as one of the family."
"Ned should be one of the family by now. When are you getting married? You're too old for a long engagement. You've both been married before—it's not as if you have to save up for your trousseau."
This was not the response Miranda was hoping for. She wanted Olga to feel warm toward Ned. "Oh, you know what Ned's like," she said defensively. "He's lost in his own world." Ned was editor of The Glasgow Review of Books, a respected cultural-political journal, but he was not practical.
"I don't know how you stand it. I can't abide18 vacillation19."
The conversation was not going the way Miranda wanted. "Believe me, it's a blessed relief after Jasper." Miranda's first husband had been a bully20 and a tyrant21. Ned was the opposite, and that was one of the reasons she loved him. "Ned will never be organized enough to boss me around— half the time he can't remember what day it is."
"Still, you managed perfectly22 well without a man for five years."
"I did, and I was proud of myself, especially when the economy turned down and they stopped paying me those big bonuses."
"So why do you want another man?"
"Well, you know ..."
"Sex? Oh, please. Haven't you heard of vibrators?"
Miranda giggled23. "It's not the same."
"Indeed it's not. A vibrator is bigger and harder and more reliable and, when you're done with it, you can put it back in the bedside table and forget about it."
Miranda began to feel attacked, as often happened when she talked to her sister. "Ned's very good with Tom," she said. Tom was her eleven-year-old son. "Jasper hardly ever spoke to Tom, except to give him orders. Ned takes an interest in him—asks him questions and listens to the answers."
"Speaking of stepchildren, how does Tom get along with Sophie?" Ned's daughter by his first marriage was fourteen.
"She's coming to Steepfall, too—I'm picking her up later this morning. Tom looks at Sophie the way the Greeks regarded the gods, as supernatural beings who are dangerous unless pacified24 by constant sacrifices. He's always trying to give her sweets. She'd rather have cigarettes. She's as thin as a stick and prepared to die to stay that way." Miranda looked pointedly25 at Olga's pack of Marlboro Lights.
"We all have our weaknesses," said Olga. "Have some more carrot cake."
Miranda put down her fork and took a sip26 of coffee. "Sophie can be difficult, but it's not her fault. Her mother resents me, and the child is bound to pick up that attitude."
"I bet Ned leaves you to deal with the problem."
"I don't mind."
"Now that he's living in your flat, does he pay you rent?"
"He can't afford it. That magazine pays peanuts. And he's still carrying the mortgage on the house his ex lives in. He's not comfortable about being financially dependent, believe you me."
"I can't think why he wouldn't be comfortable. He can have a bonk whenever he feels like it, he's got you to look after his difficult daughter, and he's living rent-free."
Miranda was hurt. "That's a bit harsh."
"You shouldn't have let him move in without committing to a date for the wedding."
The same thought had occurred to Miranda, but she was not going to admit it. "He just thinks everyone needs more time to get used to the idea of his remarriage."
"Who's 'everyone,' then?"
"Well, Sophie, for a start."
"And she reflects her mother's attitudes, you've already admitted. So what you're saying is that Ned won't marry you until his ex gives permission."
"Olga, please take off your advocate's wig27 when you're talking to me."
"Someone's got to tell you these things."
"You oversimplify everything. I know it's your job, but I'm your sister, not a hostile witness."
"I'm sorry I spoke."
"I'm glad you spoke, because this is just the kind of thing I don't want you to say to Ned. He's the man I love, and I want to marry him, so I'm asking you to be nice to him over Christmas."
"I'll do my best," Olga said lightly.
Miranda wanted her sister to understand how important this was. "I need him to feel that he and I can build a new family together, for ourselves and the two children. I'm asking you to help me convince him we can do that."
"All right. Okay."
"If this holiday goes well, I think he'll agree to a date for the wedding."
Olga touched Miranda's hand. "I get the message. I know how much it means to you. I'll be good."
Miranda had made her point. Satisfied, she turned her mind to another area of friction28. "I hope things go all right between Daddy and Kit."
"So do I, but there's not much we can do about it."
"Kit called me a few days ago. For some reason, he's dead keen to sleep in the guest cottage at Steepfall."
Olga bridled29. "Why should he have the cottage all to himself? That means you and Ned and Hugo and I will all have to squeeze into two poky bedrooms in the old house!"
Miranda had expected Olga to resist this. "I know it's unreasonable30, but I said it was okay by me. It was difficult enough to persuade him to come—I didn't want to put an obstacle in the way."
"He's a selfish little bastard. What reason did he give you?"
"I didn't question him."
"Well, I will." Olga took her mobile phone from her briefcase31 and pressed a number.
"Don't make an issue of this," Miranda pleaded.
"I just want to ask him the question." Speaking into the phone, she said: "Kit—what's this about you sleeping in the cottage? Don't you think it's a bit—" She paused. "Oh. Why not? ... I see ... but why don't you—" She stopped abruptly32, as if he had hung up on her.
Miranda thought, sadly, that she knew what Kit had said. "What is it?"
Olga put the phone back into her bag. "We don't need to argue about the cottage. He's changed his mind. He's not coming to Steepfall after all."
收听单词发音 |
1
irony
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| n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄 | |
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catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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cuddly
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| adj.抱着很舒服的，可爱的 | |
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eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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embroidered
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| adj．绣花的 | |
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intimidate
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| vt.恐吓，威胁 | |
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undone
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| a.未做完的，未完成的 | |
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blight
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| n.枯萎病；造成破坏的因素；vt.破坏，摧残 | |
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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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hazardous
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| adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的 | |
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kit
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| n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物 | |
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sarcasm
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| n.讥讽，讽刺，嘲弄，反话 （adj.sarcastic） | |
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14
housekeeper
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| n.管理家务的主妇，女管家 | |
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boundless
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| adj.无限的；无边无际的；巨大的 | |
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gambling
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| n.赌博；投机 | |
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bastard
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| n.坏蛋，混蛋；私生子 | |
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abide
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| vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受 | |
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vacillation
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| n.动摇；忧柔寡断 | |
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bully
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| n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮 | |
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tyrant
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| n.暴君，专制的君主，残暴的人 | |
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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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giggled
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| v.咯咯地笑( giggle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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pacified
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| 使（某人）安静( pacify的过去式和过去分词 )； 息怒； 抚慰； 在（有战争的地区、国家等）实现和平 | |
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pointedly
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| adv.尖地，明显地 | |
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sip
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| v.小口地喝，抿，呷；n.一小口的量 | |
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wig
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| n.假发 | |
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friction
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| n.摩擦，摩擦力 | |
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29
bridled
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| 给…套龙头( bridle的过去式和过去分词 )； 控制； 昂首表示轻蔑（或怨忿等）； 动怒，生气 | |
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unreasonable
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| adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的 | |
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briefcase
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| n.手提箱，公事皮包 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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