But what struck him even more than the car was the fur coat, and the haughty10 and fastidious manner in which Miss Ingram accepted it from the chauffeur, and the disdainful, accustomed way in which she wore it—as though it were a cheap rag—when once it was on her back. In her gestures he glimpsed a new world. He had been secretly scorning the affairs of the luncheon11 and all that it implied, and he had been secretly scorning himself for his pitiful lack of brilliancy at the luncheon. These two somewhat contradictory12 sentiments were suddenly shrivelled in the fire of his ambition which had flared13 up anew at contact with a spark. And the spark was the sight of the girl's costly14 fur coat. He must have a costly fur coat, and a girl in it, and the girl must treat the fur coat like a cheap rag. Otherwise he would die a disappointed man.
"Hallo!" called Miss Ingram.
"Hallo!" She had climbed into the car, and turned her head to look at him. He saw that she was younger even than he had thought. She seemed quite mature when she was still, but when she moved she had the lithe15 motions of immaturity16. As a boy, he now infallibly recognized a girl.
"Which way are you going?"
"Well—Chelsea more or less."
"I'll give you a lift."
He ought to have said: "Are you sure I shan't be taking you out of your way?" But he said merely: "Oh! Thanks awfully18!"
The chauffeur held the door for him, and then arranged a fur rug over the knees of the boy and the girl. To be in the car gave George intense pleasure, especially when the contrivance thrilled into life and began to travel. He was thankful that his clothes were as smart as they ought to be. She could not think ill of his clothes—no matter who her friends were.
"This is a great car," he said. "Had it long?"
"Oh! It's not mine," answered Miss Ingram. "It's Miss Wheeler's."
"Who's Miss Wheeler, if I may ask?"
"Miss Wheeler! She's a friend of mine. She lives in Paris. But she has a flat in London too. I came over with her. We brought the car with us. She was to have come to the Orgreaves's to-day, but she had a headache. So I took the car—and her furs as well. They fit me, you see.... I say, what's your Christian19 name? I hate surnames, don't you?"
"George. What's yours?"
"Mine's Lois."
"What? How do you spell it?"
She spelt it, adding 'Of course.' He thought it was somehow a very romantic name. He decidedly liked the name. He was by no means sure, however, that he liked the girl. He liked her appearance, though she was freckled20; she was unquestionably stylish21; she had ascendancy22; she imposed herself; she sat as though the world was the instrument of her individuality. Nevertheless he doubted if she was kind, and he knew that she was patronizing. Further, she was not a conversationalist. At the luncheon she had not been at ease; but here in the car she was at ease absolutely, yet she remained taciturn.
"D'you drive?" he inquired.
" Yes," she said. "Look here, would you like to sit in front? And I'll drive."
"Good!" he agreed vigorously. But he had a qualm about the safety of being driven by a girl.
"I'm going to drive, Cuthbert," she said.
"Yes, miss," said the chauffeur willingly. "It's a bit side-slippy, miss."
She gave no answer to this remark, but got out of the car with a preoccupied25, frowning air, as if she was being obliged to take a responsible post, which she could fill better than anybody else, rather against her inclination26. A few persons paused to watch. She carefully ignored them; so did George.
As soon as she had seized the wheel, released the brake and started the car, she began to talk, looking negligently27 about her. George thought: "She's only showing off." Still, the car travelled beautifully, and there was a curious illusion that she must have the credit for that. She explained the function of handles, pedals, and switches, and George deemed it proper to indicate that he was not without some elementary knowledge of the subject. He leaned far back, as Lois leaned, and as the chauffeur had leaned, enjoying the brass28 fittings, the indicators29, and all the signs of high mechanical elaboration.
He noticed that Lois sounded her horn constantly, and often upon no visible provocation30. But once as she approached cross-roads at unslackened speed, she seemed to forget to sound it and then sounded it too late. Nothing untoward31 happened; Sunday traffic was thin, and she sailed through the danger-zone with grand intrepidity32.
"I say, George," she remarked, looking now straight in front of her. ("She's a bit of a caution," he reflected happily.) "Have you got anything special on this afternoon?"
"Nothing what you may call deadly special," he answered. He wanted to call her 'Lois,' but his volition33 failed at the critical moment.
"Well, then, won't you come and have tea with Miss Wheeler and me? There'll only be just a few people, and you must be introduced to Miss Wheeler."
"Oh! I don't think I'd better." He was timid.
"All right, then. Thanks. I should like to."
" By the way, what's your surname?"
("She is a caution," he reflected.)
"I wasn't quite sure," she said, when he had told her.
He was rather taken aback, but he reassured35 himself. No doubt girls of her environment did behave as she behaved. After all, why not?
They entered Hammersmith. It was a grand and inspiring sensation to swing through Hammersmith thus aristocratically repudiating36 the dowdy37 Sunday crowd that stared in ingenuous38 curiosity. And there was a wonderful quality in the spectacle of the great, formidable car being actuated and controlled by the little gloved hands and delicately shod feet of this frail39, pampered40, wilful41 girl.
In overtaking a cab that kept nearly to the middle of the road, Lois hesitated in direction, appeared to defy the rule, and then corrected her impulse.
"It's rather confusing," she observed, with a laugh. "You see, in France you keep to the right and overtake things on their left."
"Yes. But this is London," said George dryly.
Half a minute later, just beyond the node of Hammersmith, where bright hats and frocks were set off against the dark-shuttered fronts of shops, Lois at quite a good speed inserted the car between a tramcar and an omnibus, meeting the tram and overtaking the omnibus. The tram went by like thunder, all its glass and iron rattling42 and shaking; the noise deafened43, and the wind blew hard like a squall. There appeared to be scarcely an inch of space on either side of the car. George's heart stopped. For one horrible second he expected a tremendous smash. The car emerged safe. He saw the omnibus-driver gazing down at them with reproof44. After the roar of the tram died he heard the trotting45 of the omnibus horses and Lois's nervous giggle46. She tried, and did not fail, to be jaunty47; but she had had a shock, and the proof was that by mere17 inadvertence she nearly charged the posts of the next street-refuge.... George switched off the current. She herself had shown him how to do it. She now saw him do it. The engine stopped, and Lois, remembering in a flash that her dignity was at stake, raised her hand and drew up fairly neatly48 at the pavement.
"What's the matter?" she demanded imperiously.
"Are you going to drive this thing all the way into London, Lois?" he demanded in turn.
They looked at each other. The chauffeur got down. " Of course."
"Not with me in it, anyhow!"
"Perhaps not," he returned viciously. "Neither have you got any sense of danger. Girls like you never have. I've noticed that before." Even his mother with horses had no sense of danger.
"You're very rude," she replied. "And it was very rude of you to stop the car."
"I dare say. But you shouldn't have told me you could drive."
"Thanks so much," he said, raised his hat, and walked away. She spoke51, but he did not catch what she said. He was saying to himself: "Pluck indeed!" (He did not like her accusation52.) "Pluck indeed! Of all the damned cheek!... We might all have been killed—or worse. The least she could have done was to apologize. But no! Pluck indeed! Women oughtn't to be allowed to drive. It's too infernally silly for words."
He glanced backward. The chauffeur had started the car again, and was getting in by Lois's side. Doubtless he was a fatalist by profession. She drove off.
"Yes!" thought George. "And you'd drive home yourself now even if you knew for certain you'd have an accident. You're just that stupid kind."
The car looked superb as it drew away, and she reclined in the driver's seat with a superb effrontery53. George was envious54; he was pierced by envy. He hated that other people, and especially girls, should command luxuries which he could not possess. He hated that violently. "You wait!" he said to himself. "You wait! I'll have as good a car as that, and a finer girl than you in it. And she won't want to drive either. You wait." He was more excited than he knew by the episode.
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1
beheld
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| 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 | |
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chauffeur
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| n.(受雇于私人或公司的)司机；v.为…开车 | |
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deferentially
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| adv.表示敬意地，谦恭地 | |
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helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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automobiles
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| n.汽车( automobile的名词复数 ) | |
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arrogant
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| adj.傲慢的，自大的 | |
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unbearable
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| adj.不能容忍的；忍受不住的 | |
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humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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luxurious
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| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
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haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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luncheon
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| n.午宴，午餐，便宴 | |
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contradictory
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| adj.反驳的，反对的，抗辩的；n.正反对，矛盾对立 | |
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13
Flared
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| adj. 端部张开的, 爆发的, 加宽的, 漏斗式的 动词flare的过去式和过去分词 | |
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14
costly
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| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
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lithe
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| adj.(指人、身体)柔软的，易弯的 | |
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immaturity
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| n.不成熟；未充分成长；未成熟；粗糙 | |
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17
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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awfully
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| adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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20
freckled
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| adj.雀斑；斑点；晒斑；（使）生雀斑v.雀斑，斑点( freckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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21
stylish
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| adj.流行的，时髦的；漂亮的，气派的 | |
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ascendancy
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| n.统治权，支配力量 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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24
swerved
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| v.（使）改变方向，改变目的( swerve的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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25
preoccupied
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| adj.全神贯注的，入神的；被抢先占有的；心事重重的v.占据（某人）思想，使对…全神贯注，使专心于( preoccupy的过去式) | |
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26
inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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27
negligently
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brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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indicators
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| （仪器上显示温度、压力、耗油量等的）指针( indicator的名词复数 )； 指示物； （车辆上的）转弯指示灯； 指示信号 | |
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30
provocation
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| n.激怒，刺激，挑拨，挑衅的事物，激怒的原因 | |
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31
untoward
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| adj.不利的，不幸的，困难重重的 | |
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32
intrepidity
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| n.大胆，刚勇；大胆的行为 | |
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33
volition
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| n.意志；决意 | |
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34
pouted
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| v.撅（嘴）( pout的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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35
reassured
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| adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词) | |
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36
repudiating
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| v.（正式地）否认( repudiate的现在分词 )；拒绝接受；拒绝与…往来；拒不履行（法律义务） | |
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37
dowdy
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| adj.不整洁的；过旧的 | |
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38
ingenuous
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| adj.纯朴的，单纯的；天真的；坦率的 | |
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39
frail
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| adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的 | |
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40
pampered
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| adj.饮食过量的，饮食奢侈的v.纵容，宠，娇养( pamper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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41
wilful
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| adj.任性的，故意的 | |
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42
rattling
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| adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词 | |
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43
deafened
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| 使聋( deafen的过去式和过去分词 )； 使隔音 | |
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44
reproof
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| n.斥责，责备 | |
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45
trotting
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| 小跑，急走( trot的现在分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走 | |
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46
giggle
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| n.痴笑，咯咯地笑；v.咯咯地笑着说 | |
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47
jaunty
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| adj．愉快的，满足的；adv.心满意足地，洋洋得意地；n.心满意足；洋洋得意 | |
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48
neatly
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| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
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49
sneered
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| 讥笑，冷笑( sneer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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50
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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51
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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52
accusation
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| n.控告，指责，谴责 | |
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53
effrontery
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| n.厚颜无耻 | |
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54
envious
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| adj.嫉妒的，羡慕的 | |
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