She said:
"Do not be vexed3. I have my migraine—am good for nothing. But I gave the order that thou shouldst be admitted."
She lifted her arms, and the long sleeves fell away. G.J. bent4 down and kissed her. She joined her hands on the nape of his neck, and with this leverage5 raised her whole body for an instant, like a child, smiling; then dropped back with a fatigued6 sigh, also like a child. He found satisfaction in the fact that she was laid aside. It was providential. It set him right with himself. For, to put the thing crudely, he had left the tragic7 Concepcion to come to Christine, a woman picked up in a Promenade8.
True, Sara Trevise had agreed with him that he could accomplish no good by staying at Concepcion's; Concepcion had withdrawn9 from the vision of men. True, it could make no difference to Concepcion whether he retired11 to his flat for the rest of the day and saw no one, or whether, having changed his ceremonious clothes there, he went out again on his own affairs. True, he had promised Christine to see her that afternoon, and a promise was a promise, and Christine was a woman who had behaved well to him, and it would have been impossible for him to send her an excuse, since he did not know her surname. These apparently12 excellent arguments were specious13 and worthless. He would, anyhow, have gone to Christine. The call was imperious within him, and took no heed14 of grief, nor propriety15, nor the secret decencies of sympathy. The primitive16 man in him would have gone to Christine.
He sat down with a profound and exquisite18 relief. The entrance to the house was nearly opposite the entrance to a prim17 but fashionable and expensive hotel. To ring (and ring the right bell) and wait at Christine's door almost under the eyes of the hotel was an ordeal19.... The fat and untidy Italian had opened the door, and shut it again—quick! He was in another world, saved, safe! On the dark staircase the image of Concepcion with her temperament20 roused and condemned21 to everlasting22 hunger, the unconquerable Concepcion blasted in an instant of destiny—this image faded. She would re-marry.... She ought to re-marry.... And now he was in Christine's warm room, and Christine, temporary invalid23, reclined before his eyes. The lights were turned on, the blinds drawn10, the stove replenished24, the fire replenished. He was enclosed with Christine in a little world with no law and no conventions except its own, and no shames nor pretences25. He was, as it were, in the East. And the immanence of a third person, the Italian, accepting naturally and completely the code of the little world, only added to the charm. The Italian was like a slave, from whom it is necessary to hide nothing and never to blush.
A stuffy26 little world with a perceptible odour! Ordinarily he had the common insular27 appetite for ventilation, but now stuffiness28 appealed to him; he scented29 it almost voluptuously30. The ugliness of the wallpaper, of the furniture, of everything in the room was naught31. Christine's profession was naught. Who could positively32 say that her profession was on her face, in her gestures, in her talk? Admirable as was his knowledge of French, it was not enough to enable him to criticise33 her speech. Her gestures were delightful34. Her face—her face was soft; her puckered35 brow was touching36 in its ingenuousness37. She had a kind and a trustful eye; it was a lewd38 eye, indicative of her incomparable endowment; but had he not encountered the lewd eye in the very arcana of the respectability of the world outside? On the sofa, open and leaves downward, lay a book with a glistening39 coloured cover, entitled Fantomas. It was the seventh volume of an interminable romance which for years had had a tremendous vogue40 among the concierges41, the workgirls, the clerks, and the cocottes of Paris. An unreadable affair, not even indecent, which nevertheless had enchanted42 a whole generation. To be able to enjoy it was an absolute demonstration43 of lack of taste; but did not some of his best [73] friends enjoy books no better? And could he not any day in any drawing-room see martyred books dropped open and leaves downwards44 in a manner to raise the gorge45 of a person of any bookish sensibility?
"But the headache?"
"It will do me good. I adore music, such music as thou playest."
He was flattered. The draped piano was close to him. Stretching out his hand he took a little pile of music from the top of it.
"But you play, then!" he exclaimed, pleased.
"No, no! I tap—only. And very little."
He glanced through the pieces of music. They were all, without exception, waltzes, by the once popular waltz-kings of Paris and Vienna, including several by the king of kings, Berger. He seated himself at the piano and opened the first waltz that came.
"Oh! I adore the waltzes of Berger," she murmured. "There is only he. You don't think so?"
He said he had never heard any of this music. Then he played every piece for her. He tried to see what it was in this music that so pleased the simple; and he saw it, or he thought he saw it. He abandoned himself to the music, yielding to it, accepting its ideals, interpreting it as though it moved him, until in the end it did produce in him a sort of factitious emotion. After all, it was no worse than much of the music he was forced to hear in very refined circles.
She said, ravished:
"You decipher music like an angel."
And hummed a fragment of the waltz from The Rosenkavalier which he had played for her two evenings earlier. He glanced round sharply. Had she, then, real taste?
"It is like that, isn't it?" she questioned, and hummed it again, flattered by the look on his face.
While, at her invitation, he repeated the waltz on the piano, whose strings47 might have been made of zinc48, he heard a ring at the outer door and then the muffled49 sound of a colloquy50 between a male voice and the voice of the Italian. "Of course," he admitted philosophically51, "she has other clients already." Such a woman was bound to have other clients. He felt no jealousy52, nor even discomfort53, from the fact that she lent herself to any male with sufficient money and a respectable appearance. The colloquy expired.
"Ring, please," she requested, after thanking him. He hoped that she was not going to interrogate54 the Italian in his presence. Surely she would be incapable55 of such clumsiness! Still, women without imagination—and the majority of women were without imagination—did do the most astounding56 things.
There was no immediate57 answer to the bell; but in a few minutes the Italian entered with a tea-tray. Christine sat up.
"I will pour the tea," said she, and to the Italian: "Marthe, where is the evening paper?" And when Marthe returned with a newspaper damp from the press, Christine said: "To Monsieur...."
Not a word of curiosity as to the unknown visitor!
G.J. was amply confirmed in his original opinion of Christine. She was one in a hundred. To provide the evening paper.... It was nothing, but it was enormous.
"Sit by my side," she said. She made just a little space for him on the sofa—barely enough so that he had to squeeze in. The afternoon tea was correct, save for the extraordinary thickness of the bread-and-butter. But G.J. said to himself that the French did not understand bread-and-butter, and the Italians still less. To compensate58 for the defects of the bread-and-butter there was a box of fine chocolates.
"I perfect my English," she said. Tea was finished; they were smoking, the Evening News spread between them over the tea-things. She articulated with a strong French accent the words of some of the headings. "Mistair Carlos Smith keeled at the front," she read out. "Who is it, that woman there? She must be celebrated59."
There was a portrait of the illustrious Concepcion, together with some sympathetic remarks about her, remarks conceived very differently from the usual semi-ironic, semi-worshipping journalistic references to the stars of Concepcion's set. G.J. answered vaguely60.
"I do not like too much these society women. They are worse than us, and they cost you more. Ah! If the truth were known—" Christine spoke61 with a queer, restrained, surprising bitterness. Then she added, softly relenting: "However, it is sad for her.... Who was he, this monsieur?"
G.J. replied that he was nobody in particular, so far as his knowledge went.
"Ah! One of those who are husbands of their wives!" said Christine acidly.
The disturbing intuition of women!
A little later he said that he must depart.
"But why? I feel better."
"I have a committee."
"A committee?"
"It is a work of charity—for the French wounded."
"Ah! In that case.... But, beloved!"
"Yes?"
She lowered her voice.
"How dost thou call thyself?"
"Gilbert."
"Thou knowest—I have a fancy for thee."
"No, no. It is true. Say! Return. Return after thy committee. Take me out to dinner—some gentle little restaurant, discreet. There must be many of them in a city like London. It is a city so romantic. Oh! The little corners of London!"
"But—of course. I should be enchanted—"
"Well, then."
He was standing64. She raised her smiling, seductive face. She was young—younger than Concepcion; less battered65 by the world's contacts than Concepcion. She had the inexpressible virtue66 and power of youth. He was nearing fifty. And she, perhaps half his age, had confessed his charm.
"And say! My Gilbert. Bring me a few flowers. I have not been able to go out to-day. Something very simple. I detest67 that one should squander68 money on flowers for me."
"Seven-thirty, then!" said he. "And you will be ready?"
"I shall be very exact. Thou wilt tell me all that concerns thy committee. That interests me. The English are extraordinary."
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1
discreet
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| adj.(言行)谨慎的；慎重的；有判断力的 | |
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cork
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| n.软木，软木塞 | |
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vexed
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| adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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leverage
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| n.力量，影响；杠杆作用，杠杆的力量 | |
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fatigued
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| adj. 疲乏的 | |
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tragic
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| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
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promenade
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| n./v.散步 | |
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9
withdrawn
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| vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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specious
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| adj.似是而非的；adv.似是而非地 | |
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heed
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| v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心 | |
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propriety
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| n.正当行为；正当；适当 | |
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primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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prim
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| adj.拘泥形式的，一本正经的；n.循规蹈矩，整洁；adv.循规蹈矩地，整洁地 | |
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18
exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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ordeal
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| n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验 | |
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temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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everlasting
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| adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的 | |
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invalid
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| n.病人，伤残人；adj.有病的，伤残的；无效的 | |
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replenished
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| 补充( replenish的过去式和过去分词 )； 重新装满 | |
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pretences
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| n.假装( pretence的名词复数 )；作假；自命；自称 | |
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26
stuffy
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| adj.不透气的，闷热的 | |
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insular
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| adj.岛屿的，心胸狭窄的 | |
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stuffiness
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| n.不通风，闷热；不通气 | |
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scented
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| adj.有香味的；洒香水的；有气味的v.嗅到(scent的过去分词) | |
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voluptuously
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| adv.风骚地，体态丰满地 | |
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naught
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| n.无，零 [=nought] | |
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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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criticise
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| v.批评，评论；非难 | |
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delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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puckered
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| v.（使某物）起褶子或皱纹( pucker的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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ingenuousness
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| n.率直；正直；老实 | |
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lewd
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| adj.淫荡的 | |
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glistening
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| adj.闪耀的，反光的v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的现在分词 ) | |
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40
Vogue
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| n.时髦，时尚；adj.流行的 | |
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concierges
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| n.看门人，门房( concierge的名词复数 ) | |
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42
enchanted
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| adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
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43
demonstration
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| n.表明，示范，论证，示威 | |
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downwards
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| adj./adv.向下的（地），下行的（地） | |
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45
gorge
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| n.咽喉，胃，暴食，山峡；v.塞饱，狼吞虎咽地吃 | |
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46
wilt
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| v.(使)植物凋谢或枯萎；(指人)疲倦，衰弱 | |
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47
strings
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| n.弦 | |
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48
zinc
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| n.锌；vt.在...上镀锌 | |
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49
muffled
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| adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
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50
colloquy
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| n.谈话，自由讨论 | |
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51
philosophically
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| adv.哲学上；富有哲理性地；贤明地；冷静地 | |
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52
jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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53
discomfort
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| n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便 | |
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54
interrogate
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| vt.讯问，审问，盘问 | |
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55
incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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56
astounding
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| adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊，使大吃一惊astound的现在分词) | |
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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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compensate
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| vt.补偿，赔偿；酬报 vi.弥补；补偿；抵消 | |
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59
celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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60
vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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61
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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sincerity
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| n.真诚，诚意；真实 | |
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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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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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65
battered
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| adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损 | |
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66
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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detest
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| vt.痛恨，憎恶 | |
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squander
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| v.浪费，挥霍 | |
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