One evening Dick asked the others to sup with him; and since Alec had a public dinner to attend, and Lucy was going to the play with Lady Kelsey, he took Julia Crowley to the opera. To make an even number he invited Robert Boulger to join them at the Savoy. After brushing his hair with the scrupulous6 thought his thinning locks compelled, Dick waited in the vestibule for Mrs. Crowley. Presently she came, looking very pretty in a gown of flowered brocade which made her vaguely7 resemble a shepherdess in an old French picture. With her diamond necklace and a tiara in her dark hair, she looked like a dainty princess playing fantastically at the simple life.
'I think people are too stupid,' she broke out, as she joined Dick. 'I've just met a woman who said to me: "Oh, I hear you're going to America. Do go and call on my sister. She'll be so glad to see you." "I shall be delighted," I said, "but where does your sister live?" "Jonesville, Ohio," "Good heavens," I said, "I live in New York, and what should I be doing in Jonesville, Ohio?"'
'I shall not keep calm,' she answered. 'I hate to be obviously thought next door to a red Indian by a woman who's slab-sided and round-shouldered. And I'm sure she has dirty petticoats.'
'Why?'
'English women do.'
At that moment they saw Lady Kelsey come in with Lucy, and a moment later Alec and Robert Boulger joined them. They went in to supper and sat down.
'I hate Amelia,' said Mrs. Crowley emphatically, as she laid her long white gloves by the side of her.
'Amelia has everything that I thoroughly11 object to in a woman. She has no figure, and her legs are much too long, and she doesn't wear corsets. In the daytime she has a weakness for picture hats, and she can't say boo to a goose.'
'Who is Amelia?' asked Boulger.
'Amelia is Mr. Lomas' affianced wife,' answered the lady, with a provoking glance at him.
'I didn't know you were going to be married, Dick,' said Lady Kelsey, inclined to be a little hurt because nothing had been said to her of this.
'I'm not,' he answered. 'And I've never set eyes on Amelia yet. She is an imaginary character that Mrs. Crowley has invented as the sort of woman whom I would marry.'
'I know Amelia,' Mrs. Crowley went on. 'She wears quantities of false hair, and she'll adore you. She's so meek12 and so quiet, and she thinks you such a marvel13. But don't ask me to be nice to Amelia.'
'My dear lady, Amelia wouldn't approve of you. She'd think you much too outspoken14, and she wouldn't like your American accent. You must never forget that Amelia is the granddaughter of a baronet.'
'I shall hold her up to Fleming as an awful warning of the woman whom I won't let him marry at any price. "If you marry a woman like that, Fleming," I shall say to him, "I shan't leave you a penny. It shall all go the University of Pennsylvania."'
'If ever it is my good fortune to meet Fleming, I shall have great pleasure in kicking him hard,' said Dick. 'I think he's a most objectionable little beast.'
'How can you be so absurd? Why, my dear Mr. Lomas, Fleming could take you up in one hand and throw you over a ten-foot wall.'
'Fleming must be a sportsman,' said Bobbie, who did not in the least know whom they were talking about.
'He is,' answered Mrs. Crowley. 'He's been used to the saddle since he was three years old, and I've never seen the fence that would make him lift a hair. And he's the best swimmer at Harvard, and he's a wonderful shot—I wish you could see him shoot, Mr. MacKenzie—and he's a dear.'
'Fleming's a prig,' said Dick.
'I'm afraid you're too old for Fleming,' said Mrs. Crowley, looking at Lucy. 'If it weren't for that, I'd make him marry you.'
'Is Fleming your brother, Mrs. Crowley?' asked Lady Kelsey.
'No, Fleming's my son.'
'But you haven't got a son,' retorted the elder lady, much mystified.
'No, I know I haven't; but Fleming would have been my son if I'd had one.'
'You mustn't mind them, Aunt Alice,' smiled Lucy gaily15. 'They argue by the hour about Amelia and Fleming, and neither of them exists; but sometimes they go into such details and grow so excited that I really begin to believe in them myself.'
But Mrs. Crowley, though she appeared a light-hearted and thoughtless little person, had much common sense; and when their party was ended and she was giving Dick a lift in her carriage, she showed that, notwithstanding her incessant4 chatter16, her eyes throughout the evening had been well occupied.
'Good heavens, no. Why?'
'I hope Fleming won't be such a donkey as you are when he's your age.'
'I'm sure Amelia will be much more polite than you to the amiable18, middle-aged19 gentleman who has the good fortune to be her husband.'
'You might have noticed that the poor boy was eating his heart out with jealousy20 and mortification21, and Lucy was too much absorbed in Alec to pay the very smallest attention to him.'
'What are you talking about?'
'Haven't you noticed that Lucy is desperately23 in love with Mr. MacKenzie, and it doesn't move her in the least that poor Bobbie has fetched and carried for her for ten years, done everything she deigned24 to ask, and been generally nice and devoted25 and charming?'
'You amaze me,' said Dick. 'It never struck me that Lucy was the kind of girl to fall in love with anyone. Poor thing. I'm so sorry.'
'Why?'
'Because Alec wouldn't dream of marrying. He's not that sort of man.'
'Nonsense. Every man is a marrying man if a woman really makes up her mind to it.'
'Don't say that. You terrify me.'
'You need not be in the least alarmed,' answered Mrs. Crowley, coolly, 'because I shall refuse you.'
'It's very kind of you to reassure26 me,' he answered, smiling. 'But all the same I don't think I'll risk a proposal.'
'Why?'
'It must be obvious to the meanest intelligence that you've been on the verge28 of proposing to me for the last four years.'
'Nothing will induce me to be false to Amelia.'
'I don't believe that Amelia really loves you.'
'I never said she did; but I'm sure she's quite willing to marry me.'
'I think that's detestably vain.'
'Not at all. However old, ugly, and generally undesirable29 a man is, he'll find a heap of charming girls who are willing to marry him. Marriage is still the only decent means of livelihood30 for a really nice woman.'
'Don't let's talk about Amelia; let's talk about me,' said Mrs. Crowley.
'I don't think you're half so interesting.'
'Then you'd better take Amelia to the play to-morrow night instead of me.'
'I'm afraid she's already engaged.'
'What have you ordered?'
'Potage bisque.'
Mrs. Crowley made a little face.
'Sole Normande.'
'Wild duck.'
'With an orange salad?'
'Yes.'
'I don't positively35 dislike that.'
'And I've ordered a souffle with an ice in the middle of it.'
'I shan't come.'
'Why?'
'You're not being really nice to me.'
'I shouldn't have thought you kept very well abreast36 of dramatic art if you insist on marrying everyone who takes you to a theatre,' he said.
She gave him a ravishing smile as he took leave of her. She knew that he was quite prepared to marry her, and she had come to the conclusion that she was willing to have him. Neither much wished to hurry the affair, and each was determined38 that he would only yield to save the other from a fancied desperation. Their love-making was pursued with a light heart.
At Whitsuntide the friends separated. Alec went up to Scotland to see his house and proposed afterwards to spend a week in Lancashire. He had always taken a keen interest in the colliery which brought him so large an income, and he wanted to examine into certain matters that required his attention. Mrs. Crowley went to Blackstable, where she still had Court Leys, and Dick, in order to satisfy himself that he was not really a day older, set out for Paris. But they all arranged to meet again on the day, immediately after the holidays, which Lady Kelsey, having persuaded Lucy definitely to renounce39 her life of comparative retirement40, had fixed41 for a dance. It was the first ball she had given for many years, and she meant it to be brilliant. Lady Kelsey had an amiable weakness for good society, and Alec's presence would add lustre42 to the occasion. Meanwhile she went with Lucy to her little place on the river, and did not return till two days before the party. They were spent in a turmoil43 of agitation44. Lady Kelsey passed sleepless45 nights, fearing at one moment that not a soul would appear, and at another that people would come in such numbers that there would not be enough for them to eat. The day arrived.
But then happened an event which none but Alec could in the least have expected; and he, since his return from Africa, had been so taken up with his love for Lucy, that the possibility of it had slipped his memory.
Fergus Macinnery, the man whom three years before he had dismissed ignominiously46 from his service, found a way to pay off an old score.
Of the people most nearly concerned in the matter, it was Lady Kelsey who had first news of it. The morning papers were brought into her boudoir with her breakfast, and as she poured out her coffee, she ran her eyes lazily down the paragraphs of the Morning Post in which are announced the comings and goings of society. Then she turned to the Daily Mail. Her attention was suddenly arrested. Staring at her, in the most prominent part of the page, was a column of printed matter headed: The Death of Mr. George Allerton. It was a letter, a column long, signed by Fergus Macinnery. Lady Kelsey read it with amazement47 and dismay. At first she could not follow it, and she read it again; now its sense was clear to her, and she was overcome with horror. In set words, mincing48 no terms, it accused Alec MacKenzie of sending George Allerton to his death in order to save himself. The words treachery and cowardice49 were used boldly. The dates were given, and the testimony50 of natives was adduced.
The letter adverted51 with scathing52 sarcasm53 to the rewards and congratulations which had fallen to MacKenzie as a result of his labours; and ended with a challenge to him to bring an action for criminal libel against the writer. At first the whole thing seemed monstrous to Lady Kelsey, it was shameful54, shameful; but in a moment she found there was a leading article on the subject, and then she did not know what to believe. It referred to the letter in no measured terms: the writer observed that prima facie the case was very strong and called upon Alec to reply without delay. Big words were used, and there was much talk of a national scandal. An instant refutation was demanded. Lady Kelsey did not know what on earth to do, and her thoughts flew to the dance, the success of which would certainly be imperilled by these revelations. She must have help at once. This business, if it concerned the world in general, certainly concerned Lucy more than anyone. Ringing for her maid, she told her to get Dick Lomas on the telephone and ask him to come at once. While she was waiting, she heard Lucy come downstairs and knew that she meant to wish her good-morning. She hid the paper hurriedly.
When Lucy came in and kissed her, she said:
'What is the news this morning?'
'I don't think there is any,' said Lady Kelsey, uneasily. 'Only the Post has come; we shall really have to change our newsagent.'
She waited with beating heart for Lucy to pursue the subject, but naturally enough the younger woman did not trouble herself. She talked to her aunt of the preparations for the party that evening, and then, saying that she had much to do, left her. She had no sooner gone than Lady Kelsey's maid came back to say that Lomas was out of town and not expected back till the evening. Distractedly Lady Kelsey sent messages to her nephew and to Mrs. Crowley. She still looked upon Bobbie as Lucy's future husband, and the little American was Lucy's greatest friend. They were both found. Boulger had gone down as usual to the city, but in consideration of Lady Kelsey's urgent request, set out at once to see her.
He had changed little during the last four years, and had still a boyish look on his round, honest face. To Mrs. Crowley he seemed always an embodiment of British philistinism; and if she liked him for his devotion to Lucy, she laughed at him for his stolidity55. When he arrived, Mrs. Crowley was already with Lady Kelsey. She had known nothing of the terrible letter, and Lady Kelsey, thinking that perhaps it had escaped him too, went up to him with the Daily Mail in her hand.
'Have you seen the paper, Bobbie?' she asked excitedly. 'What on earth are we to do?'
He nodded.
'What does Lucy say?' he asked.
'Oh, I've not let her see it. I told a horrid56 fib and said the newsagent had forgotten to leave it.'
'But she must know,' he answered gravely.
'Not to-day,' protested Lady Kelsey. 'Oh, it's too dreadful that this should happen to-day of all days. Why couldn't they wait till to-morrow? After all Lucy's troubles it seemed as if a little happiness was coming back into her life, and now this dreadful thing happens.'
'What are you going to do?' asked Bobbie.
'What can I do?' said Lady Kelsey desperately. 'I can't put the dance off. I wish I had the courage to write and ask Mr. MacKenzie not to come.'
Bobbie made a slight gesture of impatience57. It irritated him that his aunt should harp58 continually on the subject of this wretched dance. But for all that he tried to reassure her.
'I don't think you need be afraid of MacKenzie. He'll never venture to show his face.'
'You don't mean to say you think there's any truth in the letter?' exclaimed Mrs. Crowley.
He turned and faced her.
'I've never read anything more convincing in my life.'
Of those three it was only Lady Kelsey who did not know that Lucy was deeply in love with Alec MacKenzie.
'Perhaps you're inclined to be unjust to him,' said Mrs. Crowley.
'We shall see if he has any answer to make,' he answered coldly. 'The evening papers are sure to get something out of him. The city is ringing with the story, and he must say something at once.'
'It's quite impossible that there should be anything in it,' said Mrs. Crowley. 'We all know the circumstances under which George went out with him. It's inconceivable that he should have sacrificed him as callously60 as this man's letter makes out.'
'We shall see.'
'You never liked him, Bobbie,' said Lady Kelsey.
'I wish I'd never thought of giving this horrid dance,' she moaned.
Presently, however, they succeeded in calming Lady Kelsey. Though both thought it unwise, they deferred62 to her wish that everything should be hidden from Lucy till the morrow. Dick Lomas was arriving from Paris that evening, and it would be possible then to take his advice. When at last Mrs. Crowley left the elder woman to her own devices, her thoughts went to Alec. She wondered where he was, and if he already knew that his name was more prominently than ever before the public.
MacKenzie was travelling down from Lancashire. He was not a man who habitually63 read papers, and it was in fact only by chance that he saw a copy of the Daily Mail. A fellow traveller had with him a number of papers, and offered one of them to Alec. He took it out of mere64 politeness. His thoughts were otherwise occupied, and he scanned it carelessly. Suddenly he saw the heading which had attracted Lady Kelsey's attention. He read the letter, and he read the leading article. No one who watched him could have guessed that what he read concerned him so nearly. His face remained impassive. Then, letting the paper fall to the ground, he began to think. Presently he turned to the amiable stranger who had given him the paper, and asked him if he had seen the letter.
'Awful thing, isn't it?' the man said.
Alec fixed upon him his dark, firm eyes. The man seemed an average sort of person, not without intelligence.
'What do you think of it?'
'Pity,' he said. 'I thought MacKenzie was a great man. I don't know what he can do now but shoot himself.'
'Do you think there's any truth in it?'
'The letter's perfectly damning.'
Alec did not answer. In order to break off the conversation he got up and walked into the corridor. He lit a cigar and watched the green fields that fled past them. For two hours he stood motionless. At last he took his seat again, with a shrug34 of the shoulders, and a scornful smile on his lips.
The stranger was asleep, with his head thrown back and his mouth slightly open. Alec wondered whether his opinion of the affair would be that of the majority. He thought Alec should shoot himself?
'I can see myself doing it,' Alec muttered.
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收听单词发音
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1
fickle
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| adj.(爱情或友谊上)易变的，不坚定的 | |
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belied
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| v.掩饰( belie的过去式和过去分词 )；证明（或显示）…为虚假；辜负；就…扯谎 | |
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placid
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| adj.安静的，平和的 | |
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incessant
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| adj.不停的，连续的 | |
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incessantly
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| ad.不停地 | |
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scrupulous
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| adj.审慎的，小心翼翼的，完全的，纯粹的 | |
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vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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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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monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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deplore
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| vt.哀叹，对...深感遗憾 | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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12
meek
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| adj.温顺的，逆来顺受的 | |
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13
marvel
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| vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事 | |
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outspoken
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| adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的 | |
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gaily
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| adv.欢乐地，高兴地 | |
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chatter
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| vi.／n.喋喋不休；短促尖叫；(牙齿)打战 | |
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17
grudge
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| n.不满，怨恨，妒嫉；vt.勉强给，不情愿做 | |
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amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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middle-aged
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| adj.中年的 | |
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jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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mortification
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| n.耻辱，屈辱 | |
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disdain
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| n.鄙视，轻视；v.轻视，鄙视，不屑 | |
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desperately
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| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
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deigned
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| v.屈尊，俯就( deign的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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reassure
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| v.使放心，使消除疑虑 | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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verge
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| n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临 | |
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29
undesirable
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| adj.不受欢迎的，不良的，不合意的，讨厌的；n.不受欢迎的人，不良分子 | |
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livelihood
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| n.生计，谋生之道 | |
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fiddle
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| n.小提琴；vi.拉提琴；不停拨弄，乱动 | |
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exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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33
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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shrug
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| v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等) | |
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positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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abreast
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| adv.并排地；跟上(时代)的步伐，与…并进地 | |
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demurely
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| adv.装成端庄地，认真地 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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renounce
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| v.放弃；拒绝承认，宣布与…断绝关系 | |
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retirement
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| n.退休，退职 | |
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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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lustre
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| n.光亮，光泽；荣誉 | |
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43
turmoil
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| n.骚乱，混乱，动乱 | |
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44
agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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45
sleepless
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| adj.不睡眠的，睡不著的，不休息的 | |
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ignominiously
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| adv.耻辱地，屈辱地，丢脸地 | |
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47
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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48
mincing
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| adj.矫饰的；v.切碎；切碎 | |
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cowardice
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| n.胆小，怯懦 | |
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50
testimony
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| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
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51
adverted
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| 引起注意（advert的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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52
scathing
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| adj.（言词、文章）严厉的，尖刻的；不留情的adv.严厉地，尖刻地v.伤害，损害（尤指使之枯萎）( scathe的现在分词) | |
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53
sarcasm
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| n.讥讽，讽刺，嘲弄，反话 （adj.sarcastic） | |
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54
shameful
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| adj.可耻的，不道德的 | |
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55
stolidity
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| n.迟钝，感觉麻木 | |
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56
horrid
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| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
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57
impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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58
harp
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| n.竖琴；天琴座 | |
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59
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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60
callously
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61
briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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62
deferred
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| adj.延期的，缓召的v.拖延，延缓，推迟( defer的过去式和过去分词 )；服从某人的意愿，遵从 | |
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habitually
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| ad.习惯地，通常地 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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