But between excusing and forgiving a brigand7 (who has not despoiled8 you), and sharing his plunder9, there was a gap, a chasm10.
Few facts gave Mr. Prohack a more serene11 and proud satisfaction than the fact that he had materially lost through the war. He was positively12 glad that he had lost, and that the Government, his employer, had treated him badly.... And now to become the heir of a profiteer! Nor was that all! To become the co-heir with a woman of dubious13 renown14, and with Mr. Softly Bishop! He knew nothing about the woman, and would think nothing. But he knew a little about Mr. Softly Bishop. Mr. Bishop, it used to be known and said in the club, had never had a friend. He had the usual number of acquaintances, but no relationship more intimate. Mr. Prohack, in the old days, had not for a long time actively15 disliked Mr. Bishop; but he had been surprised at the amount of active dislike which contact with Mr. Bishop engendered16 in other members of the club. Why such dislike? Was it due to his fat, red face, his spectacles, his conspiratorial17 manner, tone and gait, the evenness of his temper, his cautiousness, his mysteriousness? Nobody knew. In the end Mr. Prohack also had succeeded in disliking him. But Mr. Prohack produced a reason, and that reason was Mr. Bishop's first name. On it being pointed18 out to Mr. Prohack by argufiers that Mr. Bishop was not responsible for his first name, Mr. Prohack would reply that the mentality19 of parents capable of bestowing20 on an innocent child the Christian21 name of Softly was incomprehensible and in a high degree suspicious, and that therefore by the well-known laws of heredity there must be something devilish odd in the mentality of their offspring—especially seeing that the offspring pretended to glory in the Christian name as being a fine old English name. No! Mr. Prohack might stomach co-heirship with a far-off dubious woman; but could he stomach co-heirship with Softly Bishop? It would necessitate22 friendship with Mr. Bishop. It would bracket him for ever with Mr. Bishop.
These various considerations, however, had little to do with the immense inward anarchy that Mr. Prohack's tone had concealed23 as he musingly24 murmured: "Do I really?" The disturbance25 was due almost exclusively to a fierce imperial joy in the prospect26 of immediate27 wealth. The origin of the wealth scarcely affected28 him. The associations of the wealth scarcely affected him. He understood in a flash the deep wisdom of that old proverb (whose truth he had often hitherto denied) that money has no smell. Perhaps there might be forty good reasons against his accepting the inheritance, but they were all ridiculous. Was he to abandon his share of the money to Softly Bishop and the vampire-woman? Such a notion was idiotic29. It was contrary to the robust30 and matter-of-fact commonsense31 which always marked his actions—if not his theories. No more should his wife be compelled to scheme out painfully the employment of her housekeeping allowance. Never again should there be a question about a new frock for his daughter. He was conscious, before anything else, of a triumphant32 protective and spoiling tenderness for his women. He would be absurd with his women. He would ruin their characters with kindness and with invitations to be capricious and exacting33 and expensive and futile35. They nobly deserved it. He wanted to shout and to sing and to tell everybody that he would not in future stand any d——d nonsense from anybody. He would have his way.
"Why!" thought he, pulling himself up. "I've developed all the peculiarities36 of a millionaire in about a minute and a half."
And again, he cried to himself, in the vast and imperfectly explored jungle that every man calls his heart:
"Ah! I could not have borne to give up either of my clubs! No! I was deceiving myself. I could not have done it! I could not have done it! Anything rather than that. I see it now.... By the way, I wonder what all the fellows will say when they know! And how shall I break it to them? Not to-day! Not to-day! To-morrow!"
At the moment when Mr. Prohack ought to have been resuming his ill-remunerated financial toil37 for the nation at the Treasury38, Bishop suggested in his offhand39 murmuring style that they might pay a visit to the City solicitor40 who was acting34 in England for him and the Angmering estate. Mr. Prohack opposingly suggested that national duty called him elsewhere.
"Does that matter—now?" said Bishop, and his accents were charged with meaning.
Mr. Prohack saw that it did not matter, and that in future any nation that did not like his office-hours would have to lump them. He feared greatly lest he might encounter some crony-member on his way out of the club with Bishop. If he did, what should he say, how should he carry off the situation? (For he was feeling mysteriously guilty, just as he had felt guilty an hour earlier. Not guilty as the inheritor of profiteering in particular, but guilty simply as an inheritor. It might have been different if he had come into the money in reasonable instalments, say of five thousand pounds every six months. But a hundred thousand unearned increment41 at one coup42...!) Fortunately the cronies were still in the smoking-room. He swept Bishop from the club, stealthily, swiftly. Bishop had a big motor-car waiting at the door.
III
He offered no remark as to the car, and Mr. Prohack offered no remark. But Mr. Prohack was very interested in the car—he who had never been interested in cars. And he was interested in the clothes and in the deportment of the chauffeur43. He was indeed interested in all sorts of new things. The window of a firm of house-agents who specialised in country houses, the jewellers' shops, the big hotels, the advertisements of theatres and concerts, the establishments of trunk-makers and of historic second-hand44 booksellers and of equally historic wine-merchants. He saw them all with a fresh eye. London suddenly opened to him its possibilities as a bud opens its petals45.
"Not a bad car they; hired out to me," said Bishop at length, with casual approval.
"You've hired it?"
"Oh, yes!"
And shortly afterwards Bishop said:
"It's fantastic the number of cars there are in use in America. You know it's a literal fact that almost every American family has a car. For instance, whenever there's a big meeting of strikers in New York, all the streets near the hall are blocked with cars."
Mr. Prohack had food for reflection. His outlook upon life was changed.
"Of course it's only too true that the value of money has fallen by about half. But on the other hand interest has about doubled. You can get ten per cent on quite safe security in these days. Even Governments have to pay about seven—as you know."
Ten thousand pounds a year!
And then he thought:
"What an infernal nuisance it would be if there was a revolution! Oh! But there couldn't be. It's unthinkable. Revolution everywhere, yes; but not in England or America!"
And he saw with the most sane48 and steady insight that the final duty of a Government was to keep order. Change there must be, but let change come gradually. Injustices49 must be remedied, naturally, but without any upheaval50! Yet in the club some of the cronies (and he among them), after inveighing51 against profiteers and against the covetousness52 of trades unions, had often held that "a good red revolution" was the only way of knocking sense into the heads of these two classes.
The car got involved in a block of traffic near the Mansion53 House, and rain began to fall. The two occupants of the car watched each other surreptitiously, mutually suspicious, like dogs. Scraps54 of talk were separated by long intervals55. Mr. Prohack wondered what the deuce Softly Bishop had done that Angmering should leave him a hundred thousand pounds. He tried to feel grief for the tragic57 and untimely death of his old friend Angmering, and failed. No doubt the failure was due to the fact that he had not seen Angmering for so many years.
At last Mr. Prohack, his hands in his pockets, his legs stretched out, his gaze uplifted, he said suddenly:
"I suppose it'll hold water?"
"What? The roof of the car?"
"No. The will."
Mr. Softly Bishop gave a short laugh, but made no other answer.
IV
The car halted finally before an immense new block of buildings, and the inheritors floated up to the fifth floor in a padded lift manned by a brilliantly-uniformed attendant. Mr. Prohack saw "Smathe and Smathe" in gilt58 on a glass door. The enquiry office resembled the ante-room of a restaurant, as the whole building resembled a fashionable hotel. Everywhere was mosaic59 flooring.
"Mr. Percy Smathe?" demanded Bishop of a clerk whose head glittered in the white radiance of a green-shaded lamp.
"I'll see, sir. Please step into the waiting-room." And he waved a patronising negligent60 hand. "What name?" he added.
"Have you forgotten my name already?" Mr. Bishop retorted sharply. "Bishop. Tell Mr. Percy Smathe I'm here. At once, please."
And he led Mr. Prohack to the waiting-room, which was a magnificent apartment with stained glass windows, furnished in Chippendale similar to, but much finer than, the furnishing of Mr. Prohack's own house. On the table were newspapers and periodicals. Not The Engineering Times of April in the previous year or a Punch of the previous decade, and The Vaccination61 Record; but such things as the current Tatler, Times, Economist62, and La Vie Parisienne.
Mr. Prohack had uncomfortable qualms63 of apprehension64. For several minutes past he had been thinking: "Suppose there is something up with that will!" He had little confidence in Mr. Softly Bishop. And now the aspect of the solicitors65' office frightened him. It had happened to him, being a favourite trustee of his relations and friends, to visit the offices of some of the first legal firms in Lincoln's Inn Fields. You entered these lairs66 by a dirty door and a dirty corridor and another dirty door. You were interrogated67 by a shabby clerk who sat on a foul68 stool at a foul desk in a foul office. And finally after an interval56 in a cubby hole that could not boast even The Anti-Vaccination Record, you were driven along a dirtier passage into a dirtiest room whose windows were obscured by generations of filth69, and in that room sat a spick and span lawyer of great name who was probably an ex-president of the Incorporated Law Society. The offices of Smathe and Smathe corresponded with alarming closeness to Mr. Prohack's idea of what a bucket-shop might be. Mr. Prohack had the gravest fears for his hundred thousand pounds.
"This is the solicitor's office new style," said Bishop, who seemed to have an uncanny gift of reading thoughts. "Very big firm. Anglo-American. Smathe and Smathe are two cousins. Percy's American. English mother. They specialise in what I may call the international complication business, pleasant and unpleasant."
Mr. Prohack was not appreciably70 reassured71. Then a dapper, youngish man with a carnation72 in his buttonhole stepped neatly73 into the room, and greeted Bishop in a marked American accent.
"Mr. Prohack, I'm delighted to make your acquaintance."
Mr. Prohack beheld75 the lawyer's candid76, honest face, heard his tones of extreme deference77, and noted78 that he had come to the enquiry room to fetch his clients.
"There's only one explanation of this," said Mr. Prohack to himself. "I'm a genuinely wealthy person."
And in Mr. Percy Smathe's private room he listened but carelessly to a long legal recital79. Details did not interest him. He knew he was all right.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
tranquil
|
|
| adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
anarchy
|
|
| n.无政府状态；社会秩序混乱，无秩序 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
sanity
|
|
| n.心智健全，神智正常，判断正确 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
bishop
|
|
| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
iniquity
|
|
| n.邪恶；不公正 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
condemned
|
|
| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
brigand
|
|
| n.土匪，强盗 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
despoiled
|
|
| v.掠夺，抢劫( despoil的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
plunder
|
|
| vt.劫掠财物，掠夺；n.劫掠物，赃物；劫掠 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
chasm
|
|
| n.深坑，断层，裂口，大分岐，利害冲突 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
serene
|
|
| adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
positively
|
|
| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
dubious
|
|
| adj.怀疑的，无把握的；有问题的，靠不住的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
renown
|
|
| n.声誉，名望 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
actively
|
|
| adv.积极地，勤奋地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
engendered
|
|
| v.产生（某形势或状况），造成，引起( engender的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
conspiratorial
|
|
| adj.阴谋的，阴谋者的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
pointed
|
|
| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
mentality
|
|
| n.心理，思想，脑力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
bestowing
|
|
| 砖窑中砖堆上层已烧透的砖 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
Christian
|
|
| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
necessitate
|
|
| v.使成为必要，需要 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
concealed
|
|
| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
musingly
|
|
| adv.沉思地，冥想地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
25
disturbance
|
|
| n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
prospect
|
|
| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
immediate
|
|
| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
affected
|
|
| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
idiotic
|
|
| adj.白痴的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
robust
|
|
| adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
commonsense
|
|
| adj.有常识的；明白事理的；注重实际的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
triumphant
|
|
| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
exacting
|
|
| adj.苛求的，要求严格的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
acting
|
|
| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
futile
|
|
| adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
peculiarities
|
|
| n. 特质, 特性, 怪癖, 古怪 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
toil
|
|
| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
treasury
|
|
| n.宝库；国库，金库；文库 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
offhand
|
|
| adj.临时，无准备的；随便，马虎的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
solicitor
|
|
| n.初级律师，事务律师 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
increment
|
|
| n.增值，增价；提薪，增加工资 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
coup
|
|
| n.政变；突然而成功的行动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
chauffeur
|
|
| n.(受雇于私人或公司的)司机；v.为…开车 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
second-hand
|
|
| adj.用过的，旧的，二手的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
petals
|
|
| n.花瓣( petal的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
apropos
|
|
| adv.恰好地；adj.恰当的；关于 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
concurred
|
|
| 同意（concur的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
sane
|
|
| adj.心智健全的，神志清醒的，明智的，稳健的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
injustices
|
|
| 不公平( injustice的名词复数 )； 非正义； 待…不公正； 冤枉 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
upheaval
|
|
| n.胀起，(地壳)的隆起；剧变，动乱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
inveighing
|
|
| v.猛烈抨击，痛骂，谩骂( inveigh的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
covetousness
|
|
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
mansion
|
|
| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
scraps
|
|
| 油渣 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
intervals
|
|
| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
interval
|
|
| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
tragic
|
|
| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
gilt
|
|
| adj.镀金的；n.金边证券 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
mosaic
|
|
| n./adj.镶嵌细工的，镶嵌工艺品的，嵌花式的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
negligent
|
|
| adj.疏忽的；玩忽的；粗心大意的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
vaccination
|
|
| n.接种疫苗，种痘 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
economist
|
|
| n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
qualms
|
|
| n.不安；内疚 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
apprehension
|
|
| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
solicitors
|
|
| 初级律师( solicitor的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
lairs
|
|
| n.（野兽的）巢穴，窝( lair的名词复数 )；（人的）藏身处 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
interrogated
|
|
| v.询问( interrogate的过去式和过去分词 )；审问；（在计算机或其他机器上）查询 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
foul
|
|
| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
filth
|
|
| n.肮脏，污物，污秽；淫猥 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
appreciably
|
|
| adv.相当大地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
reassured
|
|
| 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) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
carnation
|
|
| n.康乃馨（一种花） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
neatly
|
|
| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
curtly
|
|
| adv.简短地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
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： |
|
|
|
|
76
candid
|
|
| adj.公正的，正直的；坦率的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
deference
|
|
| n.尊重，顺从；敬意 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
noted
|
|
| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
recital
|
|
| n.朗诵，独奏会，独唱会 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |