"The men-servants are all in the cellars," said she perkily.
"And quite right, too. I'm glad someone's got some sense left."
Yet he did not really admire the men-servants for being in the cellars. Somehow it seemed mean of them not to be ready to take any risks, however unnecessary.
Robin, hiding her surprise and confusion in a nervous snigger, banged the heavy door, and led him through the halls and up the staircases. As she went forward she turned on electric lamps here and there in advance, turning them off by the alternative switches after she had passed them, so that in the vast, shadowed, echoing interior the two appeared to be preceded by light and pursued by a tide of darkness. She was mincingly4 feminine, and very conscious of the fact that G.J. was a fine gentleman. In the afternoon, and again to-night—at first, he had taken her for a mere girl; but as she halted under a lamp to hold a door for him at the entrance to the upper stairs, he perceived that it must have been a long time since she was a girl. Often had he warned himself that the fashion of short skirts and revealed stockings gave a deceiving youthfulness to the middle-aged5, and yet nearly every day he had to learn the lesson afresh.
He was just expecting to be shown into the boudoir when Robin stopped at a very small door.
"Her ladyship and Mrs. Carlos Smith are out on the roof. This is the ladder," she said, and illuminated6 the ladder.
G.J. had no choice but to mount. Luckily he had kept his hat. He put it on. As he climbed he felt a slight recurrence7 of the pain in his side which he had noticed in St. Martin's Street. The roof was a very strange, tempestuous8 place, and insecure. He had an impression similar to that of being at sea, for the wind, which he had scarcely observed in the street, made melancholy9 noises in the new protective wire-netting that stretched over his head. This bomb-catching contrivance, fastened on thick iron stanchions, formed a sort of second roof, and was a very solid and elaborate affair which must have cost much money. The upstreaming light from the ladder-shaft was suddenly extinguished. He could see nobody, and the loneliness was uncomfortable.
Somehow, when Robin had announced that the ladies were on the roof he had imagined the roof as a large, flat expanse. It was nothing of the kind. So far as he could distinguish in the deep gloom it had leaden pathways, but on either hand it sloped sharply up or sharply down. He might have fallen sheer into a chasm10, or stumbled against the leaden side of a slant11. He descried12 a lofty construction of carved masonry13 with an iron ladder clamped into it, far transcending14 the net. Not immediately did he comprehend that it was merely one of the famous Lechford chimney-stacks looming15 gigantic in the night. He walked cautiously onward16 and came to a precipice17 and drew back, startled, and took another pathway at right angles to the first one. Presently the protective netting stopped, and he was exposed to heaven; he had reached the roof of the servants' quarters towards the back of the house.
He stood still and gazed, accustoming18 himself to the night. The moon was concealed19, but there were patches of dim stars. He could make out, across the empty Green Park, the huge silhouette20 of Buckingham Palace, and beyond that the tower of Westminster Cathedral. To his left he could see part of a courtyard or small square, with a fore-shortened black figure, no doubt a policeman, carrying a flash-lamp. The tree-lined Mall seemed to be utterly21 deserted22. But Piccadilly showed a line of faint stationary23 lights and still fainter moving lights. A mild hum and the sounds of motor-horns and cab-whistles came from Piccadilly, where people were abroad in ignorance that the raid was not really over. All the heavens were continually restless with long, shifting rays from the anti-aircraft stations, but the rays served only to prove the power of darkness.
Then he heard quick, smooth footsteps. Two figures, one behind the other, approached him, almost running, eagerly, girlishly, with little cries. The first was Queen, who wore a white skirt and a very close-fitting black jersey24. Concepcion also wore a white skirt and a very close-fitting black jersey, but with a long mantle25 hung loosely from the shoulders. Both were bareheaded.
"Isn't it splendid, G.J.?" Queen burst out enthusiastically. Again G.J. had the sensation of being at sea—perhaps on the deck of a yacht. He felt that rain ought to have been beating on the face of the excited and careless girl. Before answering, he turned up the collar of his overcoat. Then he said:
"Won't you catch a chill?"
"I'm never cold," said Queen. It was true. "I shall always come up here for raids in future."
"You seem to be enjoying it."
"I love it. I love it. I only thought of it to-night. It's the next best thing to being a man and being at the Front. It is being at the Front."
Her face was little more than a pale, featureless oval to him in the gloom, but he could divine from the vibrations26 of her voice that she was as ecstatic as a young maid at her first dance.
"And what about that business interview that you've just asked for on the 'phone?" G.J. acidly demanded.
"Oh, we'll come to that later. We wanted a man here—not to save us, only to save us from ourselves—and you were the best we could think of, wasn't he, Con3? But you've not heard about my next bazaar27, G.J., have you?"
"I mean after that. A bazaar. I don't know yet what it will be for, but I've got lots of the most topping ideas for it. For instance, I'm going to have a First-Aid Station."
"What for? Air-raid casualties?"
"No. First-Aid to lovely complexions31. Help for Distressed32 Beauties. I shall get Roger Fry to design the Station and the costumes of my attendants. It will be marvellous, and I tell you there'll always be a queue waiting for admittance. I shall have all the latest dodges33 in the sublime34 and fatal art of make-up, and if any of the Bond Street gang refuse to help me I'll damn well ruin them. But they won't refuse because they know what I'll do. Gontran is coming in with his new steaming process for waving. Con, you must try that. It's a miracle. Waving's no good for my style of coiffure, but it would suit you. You always wouldn't wave, but you've got to now, my seraph35. The electric heater works in sections. No danger. No inconvenience to the poor old scalp. The waves will last for six months or more. It has to be seen to be believed, and even then you can't believe it. Its only fault is that it's too natural to be natural. But who wants to be natural? This modern craze for naturalness seems to me to be rather unwholesome, not to say perverted36. What?"
She seized G.J.'s arm convulsively.
Concepcion had said nothing. G.J. sought her eyes in the darkness, but did not find them.
"So much for the bazaar!" he said.
Queen suddenly cried aloud:
"What is it, Robin? Has Captain Brickly telephoned?"
"Yes, my lady," came a voice faintly across the gloom from the region of the ladder-shaft.
"They're coming! They'll be here directly!" exclaimed Queen, loosing G.J. and clapping her hands.
G.J. thought of Robin affixed37 to the telephone, and some scarlet-shouldered officer at the War Office quitting duty for the telephone, in order to keep the capricious girl informed of military movements simply because she had taken the trouble to be her father's daughter, and in so doing had acquired the right to treat the imperial machine as one of her nursery toys. And he became unreasonably38 annoyed.
"Yes," G.J. briefly41 answered. Once more he was aware of a strong instinctive42 disinclination to relate what had happened to him. He was too proud to explain, and perhaps too tired.
"You ought to have been up here. They dropped two bombs close to the National Gallery; pity they couldn't have destroyed a Landseer or two while they were so near! There were either seven or eight killed and eighteen wounded, so far as is known. But there were probably more. There was quite a fire, too, but that was soon got under. We saw it all except the explosion of the bombs. We weren't looking in the right place—no luck! However, we saw the Zepp. What a shame the moon's disappeared again! Listen! Listen!... Can't you hear the engines?"
G.J. shrugged43 his shoulders. Nothing could be heard above the faint hum of Piccadilly. The wind seemed to have diminished to a chill, fitful zephyr44.
Concepcion had sat down on a coping.
To the south, down among the trees, a red light flashed and was gone. The faint, irregular hum of Piccadilly persisted for a couple of seconds, and then was drowned in the loud report, which seemed to linger and wander in the great open spaces. G.J.'s flesh crept. He comprehended the mad ecstasy46 of Queen, and because he comprehended it his anger against her increased.
"Can you see the Zepp?" murmured Queen, as it were ferociously47. "It must be within range, or they wouldn't have fired. Look along the lines of the searchlights. One of them, at any rate, must have got on to it. We saw it before. Can't you see it? I can hear the engines, I think."
Another flash was followed by another resounding48 report. More guns spoke49 in the distance. Then a glare arose on the southern horizon.
"Incendiary bomb!" muttered Queen. She stood stock-still, with her mouth open, entranced.
The Zeppelin or the Zeppelins remained invisible and inaudible. Yet they must be aloft there, somewhere amid the criss-cross of the unresting searchlights. G.J. waited, powerfully impressed, incapable50 of any direct action, gazing blankly now at the women and now at the huge undecipherable heaven and earth, and receiving the chill zephyr on his face. The nearmost gun had ceased to fire. Occasionally there was perfect silence—for no faintest hum came from Piccadilly, and nothing seemed to move there. The further guns recommenced, and then the group heard a new sound, rather like the sound of a worn-out taxi accelerating before changing gear. It grew gradually louder. It grew very loud. It seemed to be ripping the envelope of the air. It seemed as if it would last for ever—till it finished with a gigantic and intimidating51 plop quite near the front of Lechford House. Queen said:
"Shrapnel—and a big lump!"
G.J. could see the quick heave of her bosom52 imprisoned53 in the black. She was breathing through her nostrils54.
"Come downstairs into the house," he said sharply—more than sharply, brutally55. "Where in the name of God is the sense of stopping up here? Are you both mad?"
Queen laughed lightly.
"Oh, G.J.! How funny you are! I'm really surprised you haven't left London for good before now. By rights you ought to belong to the Hook-it Brigade. Do you know what they do? They take a ticket to any station north or west, and when they get out of the train they run to the nearest house and interview the tenant56. Has he any accommodation to let? Will he take them in as boarders? Will he take them as paying guests? Will he let the house furnished? Will he let it unfurnished? Will he allow them to camp out in the stables? Will he sell the blooming house? So there isn't a house to be had on the North Western nearer than Leighton Buzzard."
"Are you going? Because I am," said G.J.
Concepcion murmured:
"Don't go."
"I shall go—and so will you, both of you."
"G.J.," Queen mocked him, "you're in a funk."
"I've got courage enough to go, anyhow," said he. "And that's more than you have."
"You're losing your temper."
As a fact he was. He grabbed at Queen, but she easily escaped him. He saw the whiteness of her skirt in the distance of the roof, dimly rising. She was climbing the ladder up the side of the chimney. She stood on the top of the chimney, and laughed again. A gun sounded.
G.J. said no more. Using his flash-lamp he found his way to the ladder-shaft and descended57. He was in the warm and sheltered interior of the house; he was in another and a saner58 world. Robin was at the foot of the ladder; she blinked under his lamp.
"I've had enough of that," he said, and followed her to the illuminated boudoir, where after a certain hesitation59 she left him. Alone in the boudoir he felt himself to be a very shamed and futile60 person, and he was still extremely angry. The next moment Concepcion entered the boudoir.
"You're quite right," said Concepcion simply.
He said:
"Can you give me any reason, Con, why we should make a present of ourselves to the Hun?"
Concepcion repeated:
"You're quite right."
"Is she coming?"
Concepcion made a negative sign. "She doesn't know what fear is, Queen doesn't."
"She doesn't know what sense is. She ought to be whipped, and if I got hold of her I'd whip her."
"She'd like nothing better," said Concepcion.
G.J. removed his overcoat and sat down.
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1
robin
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| n.知更鸟，红襟鸟 | |
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sardonic
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| adj.嘲笑的，冷笑的，讥讽的 | |
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con
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| n.反对的观点，反对者，反对票，肺病；vt.精读，学习，默记；adv.反对地，从反面；adj.欺诈的 | |
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mincingly
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middle-aged
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| adj.中年的 | |
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illuminated
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| adj.被照明的；受启迪的 | |
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recurrence
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| n.复发，反复，重现 | |
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tempestuous
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| adj.狂暴的 | |
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melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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chasm
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| n.深坑，断层，裂口，大分岐，利害冲突 | |
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slant
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| v.倾斜，倾向性地编写或报道；n.斜面，倾向 | |
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descried
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| adj.被注意到的，被发现的，被看到的 | |
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masonry
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| n.砖土建筑；砖石 | |
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transcending
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| 超出或超越（经验、信念、描写能力等）的范围( transcend的现在分词 )； 优于或胜过… | |
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15
looming
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| n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近 | |
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onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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precipice
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| n.悬崖，危急的处境 | |
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accustoming
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| v.（使）习惯于( accustom的现在分词 ) | |
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concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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silhouette
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| n.黑色半身侧面影，影子，轮廓；v.描绘成侧面影，照出影子来，仅仅显出轮廓 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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stationary
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| adj.固定的，静止不动的 | |
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jersey
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| n.运动衫 | |
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mantle
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| n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红 | |
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vibrations
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| n.摆动( vibration的名词复数 )；震动；感受；（偏离平衡位置的）一次性往复振动 | |
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bazaar
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| n.集市，商店集中区 | |
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pageant
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| n.壮观的游行；露天历史剧 | |
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obtuseness
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| 感觉迟钝 | |
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cataract
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| n.大瀑布，奔流，洪水，白内障 | |
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complexions
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| 肤色( complexion的名词复数 )； 面色； 局面； 性质 | |
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distressed
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| 痛苦的 | |
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dodges
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| n.闪躲( dodge的名词复数 )；躲避；伎俩；妙计v.闪躲( dodge的第三人称单数 )；回避 | |
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sublime
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| adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的 | |
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seraph
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| n.六翼天使 | |
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perverted
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| adj.不正当的v.滥用( pervert的过去式和过去分词 )；腐蚀；败坏；使堕落 | |
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affixed
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| adj.[医]附着的，附着的v.附加( affix的过去式和过去分词 )；粘贴；加以；盖（印章） | |
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unreasonably
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| adv. 不合理地 | |
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cowering
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| v.畏缩，抖缩( cower的现在分词 ) | |
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vivacity
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| n.快活，活泼，精神充沛 | |
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briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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instinctive
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| adj.(出于)本能的；直觉的；(出于)天性的 | |
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shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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zephyr
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| n.和风，微风 | |
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erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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ecstasy
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| n.狂喜，心醉神怡，入迷 | |
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ferociously
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| 野蛮地，残忍地 | |
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resounding
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| adj. 响亮的 | |
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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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50
incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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51
intimidating
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| vt.恐吓，威胁( intimidate的现在分词) | |
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52
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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imprisoned
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| 下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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brutally
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| adv.残忍地，野蛮地，冷酷无情地 | |
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tenant
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| n.承租人；房客；佃户；v.租借，租用 | |
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descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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saner
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| adj.心智健全的( sane的比较级 )；神志正常的；明智的；稳健的 | |
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hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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futile
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| adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的 | |
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curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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appeased
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| 安抚，抚慰( appease的过去式和过去分词 )； 绥靖（满足另一国的要求以避免战争） | |
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