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CHAPTER I
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ELDRIDGE WALCOTT paused in front of the great building; he looked up and hesitated and went in. He crossed the marble lobby and passed through the silent, swinging doors on the opposite side and stepped into a softly lighted café. He had never been in Merwin’s before, though he had often heard of it, and he was curious as to what it would be like. There was a sound of music somewhere and low voices and the tinkle1 of silver and glass behind the little green curtains. He entered an alcove2 at the left and sat down. The restfulness of the place soothed3 him, and he sat listening to the distant music and looking out between the parted curtains of the alcove to the room with its little tables filling the space beyond the green-curtained alcoves4 on either side and the people seated at the tables. They were laughing and eating and talking and drinking from delicate cups or turning slender-stemmed glasses in their fingers as they talked. Beyond the tables rose a small platform; a woman had just mounted it and was bowing to the scattered5 tables. The sound of voices ceased an instant and hands clapped faintly here and there. The woman on the platform bowed again and looked at the accompanist, who struck the opening bars. It was a light, trivial song with more personality than art in the singing of it, and the audience applauded perfunctorily, hardly breaking off its talk to acknowledge that it was done. The woman stepped down from the platform and joined a group at a table near by, and waiters moved among the tables, refilling cups and glasses and taking orders.
 
A waiter paused by the alcove where Eldridge Walcott was sitting and pushed back the little curtain and looked in and waited. Eldridge took up the card on the table before him; he fingered it a little awkwardly and laid it down: “Bring me cigars,” he said.
 
The waiter scribbled6 on a card and passed on. When he had completed the alcoves on the left he turned and went back along the right, pausing before each one and bending forward to listen and take the order on his card. As he approached the third alcove he pushed back the curtain that half concealed7 it at the back and bent8 forward. When he passed on the curtain did not fall into place; it remained caught on the back of the seat. From where Eldridge sat he could see the woman seated in the alcove. She was alone, her back to him, her head a little bent as if in thought.
 
He glanced at her carelessly and along the row of green curtains to the tables beyond. It was all much as he had imagined it—a place where one could spend time and money without too much exertion9. It was the money part of it that interested Eldridge. His client had asked him to look into it for him as an investment, and he had decided10 on this informal way of appraising11 it. To-morrow he was to go over the books and accounts. The owners wanted a stiff price for the goodwill12. It was probably worth what they were asking he decided as he watched the careless, happy crowd. People who came here were not thinking how much they could save.... It was not the sort of place he should care to come to often himself. Life to Eldridge was a serious, drab affair compared with Merwin’s. He liked to think how much he could save; and when he had saved it he liked to invest it where it would breed more.... He might take a few shares of the capital stock himself—his client had suggested it.
 
The waiter brought the cigars and Eldridge lighted one and leaned back, smoking and enjoying the relaxed air of the place. He could understand dimly how people liked this sort of thing and would come day after day for music and talk and the purposelessness of it all; it was a kind of huge, informal club with a self-elected membership.
 
As a prospective13 investor14 the charm of it pleased him. They ought to be able to make a good thing of it. He fell to making little calculations; it was part of his power as a successful man of business that he understood detail and the value of small things.
 
He was not a financier, but he handled small interests well and he had built up a comfortable fortune. From being in debt before he married, he had advanced slowly until now his investments made a good showing. He could probably live on the income to-morrow if he chose.... He blew a little ring of smoke.... His investments and what they were mounting to was a kind of epic15 poem to Eldridge’s slow-moving mind.... Yes—he would take a few shares of the café stock. He looked thoughtfully at his cigar and calculated how many, and what they would be worth.... The music had taken the form of a young boy with a violin who stood absorbed in his playing, a kind of quick fervor16 in his face and figure. The voices had ceased and only now and then a cup clicked.
 
Eldridge lifted his eyes from the cigar. The woman in the alcove had moved nearer the end of the seat and was watching the boy, her lips parted on a half smile.
 
The cigar dropped from Eldridge’s fingers. He stared at the woman—stared—and stirred vaguely17.
 
She turned a little and Eldridge reached out his hand and drew a quick curtain between them.
 
Through the slit18 he could still see the figure of the woman, her head thrown a little back, her eyes following the bow of music as it rose and fell, and the lips smiling in happy content—He drew a quick breath.
 
Slowly a deep flush came into his face—How dared Rosalind come here! It was a respectable place—of course—but how dared she spend her time and money—his money and time that belonged to her home and her children—in a place like this?... Her hands were folded in her lap, and her eyes followed the music.
 
She had barely touched the glass on the table before her, he noted19, or the plate of little biscuit. She seemed to sit in a dream.... His mind whirled. Six hours before he had said good-by to her at the breakfast table—a plain, drab woman in shabby clothes, with steel-rimmed spectacles that looked at him with a little line between the eyes and reminded him that he needed to order coal for the range and a new clothes-line.... He had ordered the coal, but he recalled suddenly that he had forgotten the clothes-line; he had intended to see if he could get one cheaper at a wholesale20 place he knew of; his memory held the clothes-line fast in the left lobe21 of his brain while the grey matter of the right lobe whirled excitedly about the woman in the alcove.
 
She had raised a lorgnette to her eyes and was looking at the boy violinist, a little, happy, wistful smile on her lips.... Eldridge had not seen her smile like that for years. His left lobe abandoned the clothes-line and recalled to him when it was he saw the little smile, half wistful, half happy, on her face.... They were standing22 by the gate, and he was saying good night; the moon had just come up, and there was a fragrant23 bush beside the path that gave out the smell of spring; the left lobe yielded up fragrance24 and moonlight and the little wistful smile while his quick eye followed the lorgnette; it had dropped to her lap, and her hands were folded on it.... Rosalind—! A gold lorgnette—and draperies, soft, gauzy lines and folds of silk—and a hat on her shining, lifted hair, like a vague coronet! Eldridge Walcott held his cigar grimly between his teeth; the cigar had gone out—both lobes25 had ceased to whirl.... A kind of frozen light held his face. His hand groped for his hat. Why should he not step across the aisle26 and sit down in the chair opposite her and confront her?—the green curtains would shut them in.... Both lobes stared at the thought and held it tight—to face Rosalind, a grey, frightened woman in her finery, behind the little green curtains! He shook himself loose and stood up. Softly his hand drew back the curtain, and he stepped out. They were clapping the boy violinist, who had played to the end, and Eldridge moved toward the swinging doors and passed out and stood in the lobby. He wiped his forehead.... A sound of moving chairs came from behind the doors, and he crossed the lobby quickly and plunged27 into the crowd. It was five o’clock, and the streets were filled with people hurrying home. Eldridge turned against the tide and crossed a side street and pressed east, his feet seeming to find a way of their own. He was not thinking where he would go—except that it must be away from her. He could not face her yet—Who was she? There was the drab woman of the morning, waiting for him to come home with the clothesline, and there was the woman of the alcove, splendid, gentle, with the little smile and the gold lorgnette.... Rosalind—Fifteen years he had lived with her, and he had known her ten years before that—there was nothing queer about Rosalind! He lifted his head a little proudly—The woman he had just left was very beautiful! It struck him for the first time that she was beautiful, and he half stopped.
 
He walked more slowly, taking it in—Rosalind was not beautiful; she had not been beautiful—even as a girl—only pretty, with a kind of freshness and freedom about her and something in her eyes that he had not understood—It was the look that had drawn28 him—He was always wondering about it. Sometimes he saw it in the night—as if it flitted when he woke. He had not thought of it for years. Something in the woman’s shoulder and the line of her head was like it. But the woman was very beautiful!—Suppose it were not Rosalind after all! He gave a quick breath, and his feet halted and went on. Then a thought surged at him, and he walked fast—he almost ran. No—No—! It was as if he put his hands over his ears to shut it out. Other women—but not his wife! She had children—three children! He tried to think of the children to steady himself. He pictured her putting them to bed at night, bending above Tommie and winding29 a flannel30 bandage tight around his throat for croup; he could see her quite plainly, the quick, efficient fingers and firm, roughened hands drawing the bed-clothes in place and tucking them in.... The woman’s hands had rested so quietly in her lap! Were they rough?—She had worn gloves—he remembered now—soft gloves, like the color in her gown.... He stared at the gloves—they were long—they came to the elbow—yes, there was a kind of soft, lacy stuff that fell away from them—yes, they were long gloves.... They must have cost——
 
He tried to think what the gloves must have cost, but he had nothing to go by. Rosalind had never worn such gloves, nor his mother or sisters. Only women who were very rich wore gloves like that—or women——
 
He faced the thought at last. He had come out where the salt air struck him; the town and its lights had fallen behind; there was the marsh31 to cross, and he was on a long beach, the wind in his face, the water rolling up in spray and sweeping32 slowly back—He strode forward, his head to the wind.... There was no one that she knew—no man.... How should she know any one that he did not know!
 
She was never away.... But was he—sure! How did he know what went on—all day... half past seven till seven at night? In the evenings she mended the children’s clothes and he looked over the paper. Sometimes they talked about things and planned how they could get along. Rosalind was a good manager. He saw her sitting beside the lamp, in her cheap dress, her head bent over the figures, working it out with him—and he saw the woman in the alcove—the clothes she wore—he drew back before it—more than the whole family spent in a year!... The gloves alone might have bought her Sunday suit—Sunday was, after all, the only day he knew where she was—in church with him and, in the afternoon, lying down in her room while he took the children for a walk.... He was a good father—he set his teeth to it defiantly33, against the wind. She could not accuse him of neglect.... Suddenly a hurt feeling stirred somewhere deep down—He did not look at it; he did not know it was there. But the first shock had passed. He was not bewildered any more. He could think steadily34, putting point to point, building up the “case”.... Then, suddenly, he would see her in the great spectacles, reminding him of the clothes-line—and his “case” collapsed35 like a foolish little card house.... Not Rosalind—other women, perhaps—but not Rosalind.... He turned slowly back, the wind behind him urging him on. He would go home—to her. Perhaps when he saw her he should know what to think.... But perhaps she had not yet come home. If he hurried he might get there before her and face her as she came in. He hurried fast, he almost ran, and when he reached the streets he signalled a cab; he had not used a cab for years; it would cost a dollar, at least—He looked out at the half-deserted street—the crowd had thinned. He held his watch where the light of the street arc flashed across it—six-thirty. Half an hour before his usual time. He paid the fare and went quickly up the steps.... The children were talking in the dining-room. There was no other sound. He opened the door and looked in. She was standing by the table looking at Tommie’s coat—There was a rent in the shoulder and the face bent above it had a look of quiet patience—The grey-drab hair was parted exactly in the middle and combed smoothly36 down; the eyes behind the spectacles looked up—with the little line between them. When she saw who it was she glanced for a moment at the clock and then back at him—“Did you bring the clothesline?” she asked.
 
He stared at her a moment—at her plain, cheap dress and homely37 face. Then he turned away. “I—forgot,” he said.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 tinkle 1JMzu     
vi.叮当作响;n.叮当声
参考例句:
  • The wine glass dropped to the floor with a tinkle.酒杯丁零一声掉在地上。
  • Give me a tinkle and let me know what time the show starts.给我打个电话,告诉我演出什么时候开始。
2 alcove EKMyU     
n.凹室
参考例句:
  • The bookcase fits neatly into the alcove.书架正好放得进壁凹。
  • In the alcoves on either side of the fire were bookshelves.火炉两边的凹室里是书架。
3 soothed 509169542d21da19b0b0bd232848b963     
v.安慰( soothe的过去式和过去分词 );抚慰;使舒服;减轻痛苦
参考例句:
  • The music soothed her for a while. 音乐让她稍微安静了一会儿。
  • The soft modulation of her voice soothed the infant. 她柔和的声调使婴儿安静了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
4 alcoves 632df89563b4b011276dc21bbd4e73dd     
n.凹室( alcove的名词复数 );(花园)凉亭;僻静处;壁龛
参考例句:
  • In the alcoves on either side of the fire were bookshelves. 火炉两边的凹室里是书架。 来自辞典例句
  • Tiny streams echo in enormous overhanging alcoves. 小溪流的回声在巨大而突出的凹壁中回荡。 来自互联网
5 scattered 7jgzKF     
adj.分散的,稀疏的;散步的;疏疏落落的
参考例句:
  • Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来,塞进文件夹里。
6 scribbled de374a2e21876e209006cd3e9a90c01b     
v.潦草的书写( scribble的过去式和过去分词 );乱画;草草地写;匆匆记下
参考例句:
  • She scribbled his phone number on a scrap of paper. 她把他的电话号码匆匆写在一张小纸片上。
  • He scribbled a note to his sister before leaving. 临行前,他给妹妹草草写了一封短信。
7 concealed 0v3zxG     
a.隐藏的,隐蔽的
参考例句:
  • The paintings were concealed beneath a thick layer of plaster. 那些画被隐藏在厚厚的灰泥层下面。
  • I think he had a gun concealed about his person. 我认为他当时身上藏有一支枪。
8 bent QQ8yD     
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的
参考例句:
  • He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
  • We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。
9 exertion F7Fyi     
n.尽力,努力
参考例句:
  • We were sweating profusely from the exertion of moving the furniture.我们搬动家具大费气力,累得大汗淋漓。
  • She was hot and breathless from the exertion of cycling uphill.由于用力骑车爬坡,她浑身发热。
10 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
11 appraising 3285bf735793610b563b00c395ce6cc6     
v.估价( appraise的现在分词 );估计;估量;评价
参考例句:
  • At the appraising meeting, experts stated this method was superior to others. 鉴定会上,专家们指出这种方法优于其他方法。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • The teacher is appraising the students' work. 老师正在评定学生的作业。 来自辞典例句
12 goodwill 4fuxm     
n.善意,亲善,信誉,声誉
参考例句:
  • His heart is full of goodwill to all men.他心里对所有人都充满着爱心。
  • We paid £10,000 for the shop,and £2000 for its goodwill.我们用一万英镑买下了这家商店,两千英镑买下了它的信誉。
13 prospective oR7xB     
adj.预期的,未来的,前瞻性的
参考例句:
  • The story should act as a warning to other prospective buyers.这篇报道应该对其他潜在的购买者起到警示作用。
  • They have all these great activities for prospective freshmen.这会举办各种各样的活动来招待未来的新人。
14 investor aq4zNm     
n.投资者,投资人
参考例句:
  • My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
  • The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。
15 epic ui5zz     
n.史诗,叙事诗;adj.史诗般的,壮丽的
参考例句:
  • I gave up my epic and wrote this little tale instead.我放弃了写叙事诗,而写了这个小故事。
  • They held a banquet of epic proportions.他们举行了盛大的宴会。
16 fervor sgEzr     
n.热诚;热心;炽热
参考例句:
  • They were concerned only with their own religious fervor.他们只关心自己的宗教热诚。
  • The speech aroused nationalist fervor.这个演讲喚起了民族主义热情。
17 vaguely BfuzOy     
adv.含糊地,暖昧地
参考例句:
  • He had talked vaguely of going to work abroad.他含糊其词地说了到国外工作的事。
  • He looked vaguely before him with unseeing eyes.他迷迷糊糊的望着前面,对一切都视而不见。
18 slit tE0yW     
n.狭长的切口;裂缝;vt.切开,撕裂
参考例句:
  • The coat has been slit in two places.这件外衣有两处裂开了。
  • He began to slit open each envelope.他开始裁开每个信封。
19 noted 5n4zXc     
adj.著名的,知名的
参考例句:
  • The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
  • Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。
20 wholesale Ig9wL     
n.批发;adv.以批发方式;vt.批发,成批出售
参考例句:
  • The retail dealer buys at wholesale and sells at retail.零售商批发购进货物,以零售价卖出。
  • Such shoes usually wholesale for much less.这种鞋批发出售通常要便宜得多。
21 lobe r8azn     
n.耳垂,(肺,肝等的)叶
参考例句:
  • Tiny electrical sensors are placed on your scalp and on each ear lobe.小电器传感器放置在您的头皮和对每个耳垂。
  • The frontal lobe of the brain is responsible for controlling movement.大脑前叶的功能是控制行动。
22 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。
23 fragrant z6Yym     
adj.芬香的,馥郁的,愉快的
参考例句:
  • The Fragrant Hills are exceptionally beautiful in late autumn.深秋的香山格外美丽。
  • The air was fragrant with lavender.空气中弥漫薰衣草香。
24 fragrance 66ryn     
n.芬芳,香味,香气
参考例句:
  • The apple blossoms filled the air with their fragrance.苹果花使空气充满香味。
  • The fragrance of lavender filled the room.房间里充满了薰衣草的香味。
25 lobes fe8c3178c8180f03dd0fc8ae16f13e3c     
n.耳垂( lobe的名词复数 );(器官的)叶;肺叶;脑叶
参考例句:
  • The rotor has recesses in its three faces between the lobes. 转子在其凸角之间的三个面上有凹槽。 来自辞典例句
  • The chalazal parts of the endosperm containing free nuclei forms several lobes. 包含游离核的合点端胚乳部分形成几个裂片。 来自辞典例句
26 aisle qxPz3     
n.(教堂、教室、戏院等里的)过道,通道
参考例句:
  • The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
  • The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。
27 plunged 06a599a54b33c9d941718dccc7739582     
v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 );暴跌;骤降;突降
参考例句:
  • The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
  • She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳,从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。
28 drawn MuXzIi     
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的
参考例句:
  • All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
  • Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。
29 winding Ue7z09     
n.绕,缠,绕组,线圈
参考例句:
  • A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
  • The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。
30 flannel S7dyQ     
n.法兰绒;法兰绒衣服
参考例句:
  • She always wears a grey flannel trousers.她总是穿一条灰色法兰绒长裤。
  • She was looking luscious in a flannel shirt.她穿着法兰绒裙子,看上去楚楚动人。
31 marsh Y7Rzo     
n.沼泽,湿地
参考例句:
  • There are a lot of frogs in the marsh.沼泽里有许多青蛙。
  • I made my way slowly out of the marsh.我缓慢地走出这片沼泽地。
32 sweeping ihCzZ4     
adj.范围广大的,一扫无遗的
参考例句:
  • The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
  • Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗?
33 defiantly defiantly     
adv.挑战地,大胆对抗地
参考例句:
  • Braving snow and frost, the plum trees blossomed defiantly. 红梅傲雪凌霜开。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • She tilted her chin at him defiantly. 她向他翘起下巴表示挑衅。 来自《简明英汉词典》
34 steadily Qukw6     
adv.稳定地;不变地;持续地
参考例句:
  • The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
  • Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。
35 collapsed cwWzSG     
adj.倒塌的
参考例句:
  • Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
  • The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。
36 smoothly iiUzLG     
adv.平滑地,顺利地,流利地,流畅地
参考例句:
  • The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作,所以工作进展顺利。
  • Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。
37 homely Ecdxo     
adj.家常的,简朴的;不漂亮的
参考例句:
  • We had a homely meal of bread and cheese.我们吃了一顿面包加乳酪的家常便餐。
  • Come and have a homely meal with us,will you?来和我们一起吃顿家常便饭,好吗?


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