CHAPTER 5

 It couldn't have been Walter that afternoon. It must have been one of the servants and after all they didn't matter. Chinese servants knew everything anyway. But they held their tongues.

 

Her heart beat a little faster as she remembered the way in which that white china knob¹ slowly turned. They mustn't take risks like that again. It was better to go to the curio shop. No one who saw her go in would think anything of it, and they were absolutely safe there. The owner of the shop knew who Charlie was and he was not such a fool as to put up the back of the Assistant Colonial² Secretary. What did anything matter really but that Charlie loved her?

 

She turned away from the verandah and went back into her sitting-room³. She threw herself down on the sofa and stretched out her hand to get a cigarette. Her eye caught sight of a note lying on the top of a book. She opened it. It was written in pencil.

 

 

 

Dear Kitty,

 

Here is the book you wanted. I was just going to send it when I met Dr. Fane and he said he'd bring it round himself as he was passing the house.

 

V.H.

 

 

 

She rang the bell and when the boy came asked him who had brought the book and when.

 

"Master bring it, missy, after tiffin," he answered.

 

Then it had been Walter. She rang up the Colonial Secretary's Office at once and asked for Charlie. She told him what she had just learned⁴. There was a pause before he answered.

 

"What shall I do?" she asked.

 

"I'm in the middle of an important consultation⁵. I'm afraid I can't talk to you now. My advice to you is to sit tight."

 

She put down the receiver. She understood that he was not alone and she was impatient⁶ with his business.

 

She sat down again, at a desk, and resting her face in her hands sought to think out the situation. Of course Walter might merely have thought she was sleeping: there was no reason why she should not lock herself in. She tried to remember if they had been talking. Certainly they had not been talking loud. And there was the hat. It was maddening of Charlie to have left it downstairs. But it was no use blaming him for that, it was natural enough, and there was nothing to tell that Walter had noticed it. He was probably in a hurry and had just left the book and the note on his way to some appointment connected with his work. The strange thing was that he should have tried the door and then the two windows. If he thought she was asleep it was unlike him to disturb her. What a fool she had been!

 

She shook herself a little and again she felt that sweet pain in her heart which she always felt when she thought of Charlie. It had been worth it. He had said that he would stand by her, and if the worse came to the worst, well. . . . Let Walter kick up a row if he chose. She had Charlie; what did she care? Perhaps it would be the best thing for him to know. She had never cared for Walter and since she had loved Charlie Townsend it had irked and bored her to submit⁷ to her husband's caresses⁸. She wanted to have nothing more to do with him. She didn't see how he could prove anything. If he accused her she would deny, and if it came to pass that she could deny no longer, well, she would fling⁹ the truth in his teeth, and he could do what he chose.

1 knob   

n.球形把手，球形柄，旋钮，小块

参考例句：

• There is a knob of butter on the table.桌子上有一小块黄油。
• This knob is only held on by sellotape.这个旋钮只是用透明胶带固定住的。

2 colonial   

adj.殖民地的，关于殖民的；n.殖民地，居民

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• The people of Africa have successfully fought against colonial rule.非洲人民成功地反抗了殖民统治。

3 sitting-room   

n.（BrE）客厅，起居室

参考例句：

• The sitting-room is clean.起居室很清洁。
• Each villa has a separate sitting-room.每栋别墅都有一间独立的起居室。

4 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

5 consultation   

n.咨询；商量；商议；会议

参考例句：

• The company has promised wide consultation on its expansion plans.该公司允诺就其扩展计划广泛征求意见。
• The scheme was developed in close consultation with the local community.该计划是在同当地社区密切磋商中逐渐形成的。

6 impatient   

adj.不耐烦的，急躁的；热切的，急切的

参考例句：

• He was so impatient that I could hardly hold him back.他是那样急躁，我简直拉不住他。
• With an impatient gesture he thrust the food away from him.他不耐烦地把吃的东西猛地推开。

7 submit   

vi.(to)屈服，听从vt.呈送，提交；主张

参考例句：

• He was losing the fight but he would not submit. 他战败了,但不屈服。
• I will not submit to such treatment. 我不甘心忍受这样的待遇。

8 caresses   

爱抚，抚摸( caress的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A breeze caresses the cheeks. 微风拂面。
• Hetty was not sufficiently familiar with caresses or outward demonstrations of fondness. 海蒂不习惯于拥抱之类过于外露地表现自己的感情。

9 fling   

vt.用力扔，使投身；n.尽情欢乐的一阵

参考例句：

• I really must fling out all these old newspapers.我真的该把这些旧报纸扔掉了。
• It's good to fling off heavy clothing now that spring is here.春天到了，脱去笨重的冬装真让人高兴。