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CHAPTER SIXTEEN TINKER DISOWNS HIS GRANDMOTHER
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 On the eve of their departure for Arcachon, Tinker and Elsie were sitting in the gardens of the Temple of Fortune, taking a well-earned rest after a farewell bolt into the Salles de Jeu, in which Elsie also had played a gallant1 and successful part, for the somewhat obscure reason that it was the last bolt: so strengthening to her character had been companionship with Tinker. She was receiving, with modest pride, his congratulations on having penetrated2 deeper than himself, to the innermost shrine3, the Trente et Quarante table, in fact, when they saw coming towards them a large, majestic4, white-haired lady, a small, subdued5, mouse-haired lady, and a man of doubtful appearance.
 
Without causing him to pause in his congratulations, Tinker's active mind had placed the two women as a wealthy Englishwoman and her companion, and was hesitating whether to place the man in the class of Continental6 Guides or private detectives, when he pointed7 to the two children, and said something to the majestic lady.
 
"That's the little boy, is it? Then you two go and sit on the next seat while I talk to him," said the majestic lady in a voice which lost in pleasantness what it gained in loudness; and she came to the seat on which Tinker and Elsie sat, while her attendants walked on.
 
Now to call him a little boy was by no means the quickest way to Tinker's heart, and he watched her draw near with a cold eye. But all the same when she made as if to sit down, he rose and raised his hat with a charming smile. She sat down and looked him over with a cool consideration which provoked his fastidiousness to no admiration8 of her breeding. Then she said:
 
"Are you Sir Tancred Beauleigh's little boy?"
 
"I am Hildebrand Anne Beauleigh," said Tinker in a faintly corrective tone quite lost on her complacent9 mind.
 
"Hildebrand Anne! Hildebrand Anne! She called you Hildebrand Anne, did she? The impudence10 of these minxes!" said the majestic lady, and she sniffed11 like a lady of the lower-middle classes.
 
At once Tinker knew that she was Lady Beauleigh, and that she was speaking of his mother. But his face never changed; only the pupils of his eyes contracted a little; and he drew a quiet, deep breath of satisfaction. He had always hoped for an interview with her, his father's step-mother, and he knew that he had the advantage; for he was armed with a very fair knowledge of her, imparted to him by his father, who thought it well to put him on his guard; and of him she knew nothing.
 
"Who's this little girl?" said Lady Beauleigh, surveying Elsie with her insolent12 stare. "Send her away. I want to talk to you alone."
 
"This is my adopted sister, Elsie. You may talk before her; it doesn't matter how confidential13 it is. I always tell her everything," said Tinker in a tone of kindly14 but exasperating15 patronage16.
 
"I don't care! Go away, little girl!" said Lady Beauleigh, and Tinker was pleased to see the colour rise in her cheeks.
 
He stayed Elsie, who was rising to go, with a wave of his hand and said gently, "Is it important talk?"
 
"Yes; it is!" snapped Lady Beauleigh.
 
"Then I'd rather she stopped. My father says you should always have a witness to important talk," said Tinker, and he smiled at her.
 
"Stuff and nonsense! I'm your grandmother!" cried Lady Beauleigh angrily.
 
"Ah, then your name is Vane," said Tinker sweetly.
 
"Vane! Vane!" Lady Beauleigh gasped17 rather than spoke18 the hated name. "It's nothing of the kind! It's Beauleigh! I'm Lady Beauleigh!"
 
"I'm afraid there must be some mistake. You can't be my grandmother on my father's side. My father's mother is dead," said Tinker in a tone which almost seemed to apologise for her error.
 
"You must be very stupid, or very ignorant!" cried Lady Beauleigh. "I'm your grandfather's second wife, as you ought to know!"
 
"Oh, I know, now," said Tinker; and his face shone with his sudden enlightenment. "You keep a bank."
 
"I—keep—a—bank?" said Lady Beauleigh in a dreadful voice.
 
"Oh, not a roulette bank or baccarat bank," said Tinker with well-affected hastiness. "One of the shop kind—where they sell money—with glass doors."
 
"My father was a banker, if that's what you mean," said Lady Beauleigh. "But a bank isn't a shop."
 
"Oh, I always think it a kind of shop," said Tinker with the dispassionate air of a professor discussing a problem in the Higher Mathematics. "It's as well to lump all these—these commercial things together, isn't it?" And he was very pleased with the word commercial.
 
"No: it isn't! A bank isn't a shop, you stupid little boy!" cried Lady Beauleigh hotly.
 
"Well, just as you like," said Tinker with graceful19 surrender. "I only call it a shop because it's convenient."
 
"A boy of your age ought not to think about convenience. You ought to have been taught to keep things clear and distinct," said Lady Beauleigh in a heavy, didactic voice.
 
"Oh, it's quite clear to me, really, that a bank's a shop; but we won't talk about it, if you're ashamed of it. After all, one doesn't talk about trade, does one?" said Tinker with a return to his kindly but exasperating patronage.
 
"Ashamed of it? I'm not ashamed of it!" said Lady Beauleigh in the roar of a wounded lioness.
 
"No, no; of course not! I only thought you were! I made a mistake!" said Tinker quickly, with an infuriating show of humouring her.
 
"I'm proud of it! Proud of it!" said Lady Beauleigh thickly. "And when you grow up and understand things, you'll wish your father had been a banker, too!"
 
"I don't think so," said Tinker; and he smiled at her very pleasantly. "I'm quite satisfied with my father as he is. I'd really rather that he was a gentleman."
 
"A banker is a gentleman!" cried Lady Beauleigh.
 
"Yes, yes, of course," said Tinker, humouring her again. "He's—he's a commercial gentleman."
 
Lady Beauleigh could find no words. Never in the course of her domineering life had she been raised to such an exaltation of whole-souled exasperation20. She could only glare at the suave21 disposer of her long-cherished, long-asserted pretensions22; and she glared with a fury which made Elsie, who had edged little by little to the extreme edge of the seat, rise softly and take up a safer position, standing23 three yards away.
 
Tinker took advantage of Lady Beauleigh's helpless speechlessness to say thoughtfully, "But about your being my grandmother? If you're not my father's mother or my mother's mother, you can't really be my grandmother. You must be my step-grandmother.
 
"I should think," Tinker went on, and his thoughtfulness became a thoughtful earnestness, "that you must be what people call a connection by marriage; not quite one of the family."
 
The thoughtfulness cleared from Tinker's brow, and he said with a pleasant smile, "But that's got nothing to do with what you came to talk about. You said it was important. What did you want to say?"
 
Lady Beauleigh remembered suddenly that she had come on an errand connected with her promotion24 of the glory of the Beauleighs. She swallowed down her fury, wiped her face with her handkerchief, and said in a hoarse25 and somewhat shaky voice, "I came to make you an offer."
 
Tinker beamed on her.
 
"You must be tired of this beggarly life, going about from pillar to post, living in wretched Continental hotels, with no pocket money."
 
Tinker raised his eyebrows26.
 
"I know what your father's life is, just a mere27 penniless adventurer's."
 
Tinker beamed no more.
 
"And I came to offer to take you to live with me at Beauleigh Court. It's a beautiful big house in the country with woods all around it, and hunting and fishing and shooting and tennis-courts and fruit-gardens, and a cricket-ground, everything that a boy could want."
 
"And you," said Tinker in the expressionless tone of one adding an item to a catalogue.
 
"Yes; and me to look after you. You should have a bicycle." And she paused to let the splendour of the gift sink in.
 
"I have a bicycle," said Tinker.
 
"Well—two bicycles—and a pony——"
 
"I don't like ponies—they're too slow," said Tinker in a weary voice. "I always ride a horse."
 
"Well, you should have a horse—a horse of your own."
 
"What's the hunting like? But, there, I know; it can't be up to much; it never is in those southern counties. I always hunt in Leicestershire. I've got used to it."
 
"You hunt in Leicestershire?" said Lady Beauleigh with some surprise.
 
"Oh course. Where does one hunt?" said Tinker, echoing her surprise.
 
"But—but—where does your horse come from? I know your father can't afford to keep horses!"
 
"Sometimes he can," said Tinker. "And if he has had to sell them, a dozen people will always mount us."
 
Lady Beauleigh paused; and then she made the last, lavish28 bid. "And I would allow you a hundred a year pocket-money. Why—why, you would be a little Prince!"
 
"A little Prince! And learn geography! No, thank you!" said Tinker, startled out of his calm. "Besides," he added carelessly, "I've made five thousand in the last year."
 
"Five thousand what?"
 
"Pounds."
 
"Come, come," said Lady Beauleigh, shaking her head, "you mustn't tell me lies."
 
"It isn't a lie! Tinker never tells lies," broke in Elsie hotly.
 
"Hold your tongue, you impertinent little minx!" said Lady Beauleigh sharply. "Who asked you to speak?"
 
"I think you're a horrid29——" said Elsie, and was checked by Tinker's upraised hand.
 
"And when I died," Lady Beauleigh went on, turning again to Tinker, "I should leave you thirty thousand a year—think of it—thirty thousand a year!"
 
"It all sounds very nice," said Tinker in a painfully indifferent tone. "But I'm afraid it wouldn't do."
 
"Wouldn't do? Why wouldn't it do? To live in a beautiful big house in the country, and have everything a boy could want! Why wouldn't it do?" cried Lady Beauleigh, excited by opposition30 to a feverish31 desire to compass the end on which her heart had been set for many months.
 
"Do you really want to know," said Tinker very gently, but with a dangerous gleam in his eyes.
 
"Yes; I insist on knowing!" cried Lady Beauleigh.
 
"Well," said Tinker slowly, pronouncing every word with a very deliberate distinctness, "we shouldn't get on, you and I. I don't know how it is; but I never get on with people who keep shops or banks. I'm afraid you're not quite—well-bred."
 
Stout32 Lady Beauleigh sprang to her feet.
 
"Ah, well," said Tinker quietly, "you treated my father and mother very cruelly, you've just said rude things about both of them, and you've been rude to Elsie. The fact is, I don't see that I want a step-grandmother at all; and I can't be expected to want an ill-bred one anyway. So—so—I disown you."
 
Lady Beauleigh's face quivered with rage; she gathered herself together as if to box Tinker's ears; thought better of it, and hurried away.
 
Tinker and Elsie looked at one another, and laughed softly.
 
"Horrid old woman," said Elsie.
 
"A dreadful person," said Tinker.
 
As Lady Beauleigh strode out of the gardens, she came full upon Sir Tancred and Dorothy. He raised his hat, she tried to glare through him, and glared at him.
 
"That's my step-mother," said Sir Tancred. "I wonder what's the matter with her. She looks upset."
 
"Upset! Why, she looked furious—malignant!" said Dorothy.
 
Then they saw Tinker and Elsie coming towards them.
 
"I see," said Sir Tancred softly.
 
"Oh, if she's met my young charges!" said Dorothy, and she threw out her hands.
 
"Have you been doing anything to your grandmother, Tinker?" cried Sir Tancred.
 
"Well—I disowned her," said Tinker.
 
"Disowned her!"
 
"Yes; I had to," said Tinker with a faint regret. "She was rude, and she was wearing a gown which would have stood up by itself if she had got out of it—at Monte Carlo—in April—it's impossible!"
 
He shrugged33 his shoulders.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 gallant 66Myb     
adj.英勇的,豪侠的;(向女人)献殷勤的
参考例句:
  • Huang Jiguang's gallant deed is known by all men. 黄继光的英勇事迹尽人皆知。
  • These gallant soldiers will protect our country.这些勇敢的士兵会保卫我们的国家的。
2 penetrated 61c8e5905df30b8828694a7dc4c3a3e0     
adj. 击穿的,鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式
参考例句:
  • The knife had penetrated his chest. 刀子刺入了他的胸膛。
  • They penetrated into territory where no man had ever gone before. 他们已进入先前没人去过的地区。
3 shrine 0yfw7     
n.圣地,神龛,庙;v.将...置于神龛内,把...奉为神圣
参考例句:
  • The shrine was an object of pilgrimage.这处圣地是人们朝圣的目的地。
  • They bowed down before the shrine.他们在神龛前鞠躬示敬。
4 majestic GAZxK     
adj.雄伟的,壮丽的,庄严的,威严的,崇高的
参考例句:
  • In the distance rose the majestic Alps.远处耸立着雄伟的阿尔卑斯山。
  • He looks majestic in uniform.他穿上军装显得很威风。
5 subdued 76419335ce506a486af8913f13b8981d     
adj. 屈服的,柔和的,减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词
参考例句:
  • He seemed a bit subdued to me. 我觉得他当时有点闷闷不乐。
  • I felt strangely subdued when it was all over. 一切都结束的时候,我却有一种奇怪的压抑感。
6 continental Zazyk     
adj.大陆的,大陆性的,欧洲大陆的
参考例句:
  • A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
  • The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。
7 pointed Il8zB4     
adj.尖的,直截了当的
参考例句:
  • He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
  • She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。
8 admiration afpyA     
n.钦佩,赞美,羡慕
参考例句:
  • He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
  • We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。
9 complacent JbzyW     
adj.自满的;自鸣得意的
参考例句:
  • We must not become complacent the moment we have some success.我们决不能一见成绩就自满起来。
  • She was complacent about her achievements.她对自己的成绩沾沾自喜。
10 impudence K9Mxe     
n.厚颜无耻;冒失;无礼
参考例句:
  • His impudence provoked her into slapping his face.他的粗暴让她气愤地给了他一耳光。
  • What knocks me is his impudence.他的厚颜无耻使我感到吃惊。
11 sniffed ccb6bd83c4e9592715e6230a90f76b72     
v.以鼻吸气,嗅,闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 );抽鼻子(尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气);抱怨,不以为然地说
参考例句:
  • When Jenney had stopped crying she sniffed and dried her eyes. 珍妮停止了哭泣,吸了吸鼻子,擦干了眼泪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The dog sniffed suspiciously at the stranger. 狗疑惑地嗅着那个陌生人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
12 insolent AbGzJ     
adj.傲慢的,无理的
参考例句:
  • His insolent manner really got my blood up.他那傲慢的态度把我的肺都气炸了。
  • It was insolent of them to demand special treatment.他们要求给予特殊待遇,脸皮真厚。
13 confidential MOKzA     
adj.秘(机)密的,表示信任的,担任机密工作的
参考例句:
  • He refused to allow his secretary to handle confidential letters.他不让秘书处理机密文件。
  • We have a confidential exchange of views.我们推心置腹地交换意见。
14 kindly tpUzhQ     
adj.和蔼的,温和的,爽快的;adv.温和地,亲切地
参考例句:
  • Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
  • A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。
15 exasperating 06604aa7af9dfc9c7046206f7e102cf0     
adj. 激怒的 动词exasperate的现在分词形式
参考例句:
  • Our team's failure is very exasperating. 我们队失败了,真是气死人。
  • It is really exasperating that he has not turned up when the train is about to leave. 火车快开了, 他还不来,实在急人。
16 patronage MSLzq     
n.赞助,支援,援助;光顾,捧场
参考例句:
  • Though it was not yet noon,there was considerable patronage.虽然时间未到中午,店中已有许多顾客惠顾。
  • I am sorry to say that my patronage ends with this.很抱歉,我的赞助只能到此为止。
17 gasped e6af294d8a7477229d6749fa9e8f5b80     
v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 );喘息;倒抽气;很想要
参考例句:
  • She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
  • People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
18 spoke XryyC     
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
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
19 graceful deHza     
adj.优美的,优雅的;得体的
参考例句:
  • His movements on the parallel bars were very graceful.他的双杠动作可帅了!
  • The ballet dancer is so graceful.芭蕾舞演员的姿态是如此的优美。
20 exasperation HiyzX     
n.愤慨
参考例句:
  • He snorted with exasperation.他愤怒地哼了一声。
  • She rolled her eyes in sheer exasperation.她气急败坏地转动着眼珠。
21 suave 3FXyH     
adj.温和的;柔和的;文雅的
参考例句:
  • He is a suave,cool and cultured man.他是个世故、冷静、有教养的人。
  • I had difficulty answering his suave questions.我难以回答他的一些彬彬有礼的提问。
22 pretensions 9f7f7ffa120fac56a99a9be28790514a     
自称( pretension的名词复数 ); 自命不凡; 要求; 权力
参考例句:
  • The play mocks the pretensions of the new middle class. 这出戏讽刺了新中产阶级的装模作样。
  • The city has unrealistic pretensions to world-class status. 这个城市不切实际地标榜自己为国际都市。
23 standing 2hCzgo     
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
参考例句:
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
24 promotion eRLxn     
n.提升,晋级;促销,宣传
参考例句:
  • The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
  • The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级,加了薪。
25 hoarse 5dqzA     
adj.嘶哑的,沙哑的
参考例句:
  • He asked me a question in a hoarse voice.他用嘶哑的声音问了我一个问题。
  • He was too excited and roared himself hoarse.他过于激动,嗓子都喊哑了。
26 eyebrows a0e6fb1330e9cfecfd1c7a4d00030ed5     
眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Eyebrows stop sweat from coming down into the eyes. 眉毛挡住汗水使其不能流进眼睛。
  • His eyebrows project noticeably. 他的眉毛特别突出。
27 mere rC1xE     
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过
参考例句:
  • That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
  • It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。
28 lavish h1Uxz     
adj.无节制的;浪费的;vt.慷慨地给予,挥霍
参考例句:
  • He despised people who were lavish with their praises.他看不起那些阿谀奉承的人。
  • The sets and costumes are lavish.布景和服装极尽奢华。
29 horrid arozZj     
adj.可怕的;令人惊恐的;恐怖的;极讨厌的
参考例句:
  • I'm not going to the horrid dinner party.我不打算去参加这次讨厌的宴会。
  • The medicine is horrid and she couldn't get it down.这种药很难吃,她咽不下去。
30 opposition eIUxU     
n.反对,敌对
参考例句:
  • The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
  • The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。
31 feverish gzsye     
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。
32     
参考例句:
33 shrugged 497904474a48f991a3d1961b0476ebce     
vt.耸肩(shrug的过去式与过去分词形式)
参考例句:
  • Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀,什么也没说。
  • She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩,装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》


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