CHAPTER 16 ROBES

 On the second following Friday evening, Audrey’s suite¹ of rooms at the Hôtel du Danube glowed in every corner with pink-shaded electricity. According to what Audrey had everywhere observed to be the French custom, there was in this flat the minimum of corridor and the maximum of doors. Each room communicated directly with all the other rooms. The doors were open, and three women continually in a feverish² elation³ passed to and fro. Empire chairs and sofas were covered with rich garments of every colour and form and material, from the transparent⁴ blue silk matinée to the dark heavy cloak of velvet⁵ ornamented⁶ with fur. The place was in fact very like the showrooms of a cosmopolitan⁷ dressmaker after a vast trying-on. Sundry⁸ cosmopolitan dressmakers had contributed to the rich confusion. None had hesitated for an instant to execute Audrey’s commands. They had all been waiting, apparently⁹ since the beginning of time, to serve her. All that district of Paris had been thus waiting. The flat had been waiting, the automobile¹⁰ had been waiting, the chauffeur¹¹ had been waiting, and purveyors of every sort. A word from her seemed to have released them from an enchantment¹². For the most part they were strange people, these magical attendants, never mentioning money, but rather deprecating the sound of it, and content to supply nothing but the finest productions of their unquestionable genius. Still, Audrey reckoned that she owed about twenty-five thousand francs to Paris.

 

The third woman was the maid, Elise. The hotel had invented and delivered Elise, and thereafter seemed easier in its mind. Elise was thirty years of age and not repellent of aspect. On a black dress she wore the smallest white muslin apron¹³ that either Audrey or Miss Ingate had ever seen. She kept pins in her mouth, but in other respects showed few eccentricities¹⁴ beyond an extreme excitability. When at eight o’clock Mademoiselle’s new gown, promised for seven, had not arrived, Elise begged permission to use Madame’s salts. When the bell rang at eight-thirty, and a lackey¹⁵ brought in an oval-shaped box with a long loop to it of leathern strap¹⁶, she only just managed not to kiss the lackey. The rapid movement of Mademoiselle and Elise with the contents of the box from the drawing-room into Mademoiselle’s bedroom was the last rushing and swishing that preceded a considerable peace.

 

Madame was absolutely ready, in her bedroom. In the large mirror of the dark wardrobe she surveyed her victoriously¹⁷ young face, the magnificent grey dress, the coiffure, the jewels, the spangled shoes, the fan; and the ensemble¹⁸ satisfied her. She was intensely and calmly happy. No thought of the past nor of the future, nor of what was going on in other parts of the earth’s surface could in the slightest degree impair¹⁹ her happiness. She had done nothing herself, she had neither earned money nor created any of the objects which adorned²⁰ her; nor was she capable of doing the one or the other. Yet she felt proud as well as happy, because she was young and superbly healthy, and not unattractive. These were her high virtues²¹. And her attitude was so right that nobody would have disagreed with her.

 

Her left ear was listening for the sound, through the unlatched window, of the arrival of the automobile with Musa and his fiddle²² inside it.

 

Then the door leading from Mademoiselle’s bedroom opened sharply, and Mademoiselle appeared, with her grey hair, her pale shining forehead, her sardonic²³ grin, and the new dress of those Empire colours, magenta²⁴ and green. Elise stood behind, trembling with satisfaction.

 

“Well——” Audrey began. But she heard the automobile, and told Elise to run and be ready to open the front door of the flat.

 

“Rather showy, isn’t it? Rather daring?” said Miss Ingate, advancing self-consciously and self-deprecating.

 

“Winnie,” answered Audrey. “It’s a nice question between you and the Queen of Sheba.”

 

Suddenly Miss Ingate beheld²⁵ in the mirror the masterpiece of an illustrious male dressmaker-a masterpiece in which no touch of the last fashion was abated-and little Essex Winnie grinning from within it.

 

She screamed. And forthwith putting her hands behind her neck she began to unhook the corsage.

 

“What are you doing, Winnie?”

 

“I’m taking it off.”

 

“But why?”

 

“Because I’m not going to wear it.”

 

“But you’ve nothing else to wear.”

 

“I can’t help that.”

 

“But you can’t come. What on earth shall you do?”

 

“I dare say I shall go to bed. Or I might shoot myself. But if you think that I’m going outside this room in this dress, you’re a perfect simpleton, Audrey. I don’t mind being a fool, but I won’t look one.”

 

Audrey heard Musa enter the drawing-room.

 

She pulled the door to, keeping her hand on the knob.

 

“Very well, Winnie,” she said coldly, and swept into the drawing-room.

 

As she and Musa left the pink rose-shaded flat, she heard a burst of tears from Elise in the bedroom.

 

“21 Rue²⁶ d’Aumale,” she curtly²⁷ ordered the chauffeur, who sat like a god obscurely in front of the illuminated²⁸ interior of the carriage. Musa’s violin case lay amid the cushions therein.

 

The chauffeur approvingly touched his hat. The Rue d’Aumale was a good street.

 

“I wonder what his surname is?” Audrey thought curiously²⁹. “And whether he’s in love or married, and has children.” She knew nothing of him save that his Christian³⁰ name was Michel.

 

She was taciturn and severe with Musa.

 

1 suite   

n.一套(家具)；套房；随从人员

参考例句：

• She has a suite of rooms in the hotel.她在那家旅馆有一套房间。
• That is a nice suite of furniture.那套家具很不错。

2 feverish   

adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的

参考例句：

• He is too feverish to rest.他兴奋得安静不下来。
• They worked with feverish haste to finish the job.为了完成此事他们以狂热的速度工作着。

3 elation   

n.兴高采烈，洋洋得意

参考例句：

• She showed her elation at having finally achieved her ambition.最终实现了抱负，她显得十分高兴。
• His supporters have reacted to the news with elation.他的支持者听到那条消息后兴高采烈。

4 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

5 velvet   

n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的

参考例句：

• This material feels like velvet.这料子摸起来像丝绒。
• The new settlers wore the finest silk and velvet clothing.新来的移民穿着最华丽的丝绸和天鹅绒衣服。

6 ornamented   

adj.花式字体的v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The desk was ornamented with many carvings. 这桌子装饰有很多雕刻物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She ornamented her dress with lace. 她用花边装饰衣服。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 cosmopolitan   

adj.世界性的，全世界的，四海为家的，全球的

参考例句：

• New York is a highly cosmopolitan city.纽约是一个高度世界性的城市。
• She has a very cosmopolitan outlook on life.她有四海一家的人生观。

8 sundry   

adj.各式各样的，种种的

参考例句：

• This cream can be used to treat sundry minor injuries.这种药膏可用来治各种轻伤。
• We can see the rich man on sundry occasions.我们能在各种场合见到那个富豪。

9 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

10 automobile   

n.汽车，机动车

参考例句：

• He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
• The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。

11 chauffeur   

n.(受雇于私人或公司的)司机；v.为…开车

参考例句：

• The chauffeur handed the old lady from the car.这个司机搀扶这个老太太下汽车。
• She went out herself and spoke to the chauffeur.她亲自走出去跟汽车司机说话。

12 enchantment   

n.迷惑，妖术，魅力

参考例句：

• The beauty of the scene filled us with enchantment.风景的秀丽令我们陶醉。
• The countryside lay as under some dread enchantment.乡村好像躺在某种可怖的魔法之下。

13 apron   

n.围裙；工作裙

参考例句：

• We were waited on by a pretty girl in a pink apron.招待我们的是一位穿粉红色围裙的漂亮姑娘。
• She stitched a pocket on the new apron.她在新围裙上缝上一只口袋。

14 eccentricities   

n.古怪行为( eccentricity的名词复数 )；反常；怪癖

参考例句：

• My wife has many eccentricities. 我妻子有很多怪癖。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His eccentricities had earned for him the nickname"The Madman". 他的怪癖已使他得到'疯子'的绰号。 来自辞典例句

15 lackey   

n.侍从；跟班

参考例句：

• I'm not staying as a paid lackey to act as your yes-man.我不要再做拿钱任你使唤的应声虫。
• Who would have thought that Fredo would become a lackey of women?谁能料到弗烈特竟堕落成女人脚下的哈叭狗？

16 strap   

n.皮带，带子；v.用带扣住，束牢；用绷带包扎

参考例句：

• She held onto a strap to steady herself.她抓住拉手吊带以便站稳。
• The nurse will strap up your wound.护士会绑扎你的伤口。

17 victoriously   

adv.获胜地，胜利地

参考例句：

• Our technical revolution is blazing its way forward through all the difficulties and advancing victoriously. 我们的技术革命正在披荆斩棘，胜利前进。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Ignace victoriously ascended the stairs and knocked on Kessler's door. 伊格内斯踌躇满志地登上楼梯，敲响了凯斯勒的房门。 来自辞典例句

18 ensemble   

n.合奏(唱)组；全套服装；整体，总效果

参考例句：

• We should consider the buildings as an ensemble.我们应把那些建筑物视作一个整体。
• It is ensemble music for up to about ten players,with one player to a part.它是最多十人演奏的合奏音乐，每人担任一部分。

19 impair   

v.损害，损伤；削弱，减少

参考例句：

• Loud noise can impair your hearing.巨大的噪音有损听觉。
• It can not impair the intellectual vigor of the young.这不能磨灭青年人思想活力。

20 adorned   

[计]被修饰的

参考例句：

• The walls were adorned with paintings. 墙上装饰了绘画。
• And his coat was adorned with a flamboyant bunch of flowers. 他的外套上面装饰着一束艳丽刺目的鲜花。

21 virtues   

美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处

参考例句：

• Doctors often extol the virtues of eating less fat. 医生常常宣扬少吃脂肪的好处。
• She delivered a homily on the virtues of family life. 她进行了一场家庭生活美德方面的说教。

22 fiddle   

n.小提琴；vi.拉提琴；不停拨弄，乱动

参考例句：

• She plays the fiddle well.她小提琴拉得好。
• Don't fiddle with the typewriter.不要摆弄那架打字机了。

23 sardonic   

adj.嘲笑的，冷笑的，讥讽的

参考例句：

• She gave him a sardonic smile.她朝他讥讽地笑了一笑。
• There was a sardonic expression on her face.她脸上有一种嘲讽的表情。

24 magenta   

n..紫红色（的染料）；adj.紫红色的

参考例句：

• In the one photo in which she appeared, Hillary Clinton wore a magenta gown.在其中一张照片中，希拉里身着一件紫红色礼服。
• For the same reason air information is printed in magenta.出于同样的原因，航空资料采用品红色印刷。

25 beheld   

v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟

参考例句：

• His eyes had never beheld such opulence. 他从未见过这样的财富。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The soul beheld its features in the mirror of the passing moment. 灵魂在逝去的瞬间的镜子中看到了自己的模样。 来自英汉文学 - 红字

26 rue   

n.懊悔，芸香，后悔；v.后悔，悲伤，懊悔

参考例句：

• You'll rue having failed in the examination.你会悔恨考试失败。
• You're going to rue this the longest day that you live.你要终身悔恨不尽呢。

27 curtly   

adv.简短地

参考例句：

• He nodded curtly and walked away. 他匆忙点了一下头就走了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The request was curtly refused. 这个请求被毫不客气地拒绝了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

28 illuminated   

adj.被照明的；受启迪的

参考例句：

• Floodlights illuminated the stadium. 泛光灯照亮了体育场。
• the illuminated city at night 夜幕中万家灯火的城市

29 curiously   

adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地

参考例句：

• He looked curiously at the people.他好奇地看着那些人。
• He took long stealthy strides. His hands were curiously cold.他迈着悄没声息的大步。他的双手出奇地冷。

30 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。