Rags looked around her. They were on a roof-garden wide open to the April night. Overhead the true stars winked1 cold, and there was a lunar sliver2 of ice in the dark west. But where they stood it was warm as June, and the couples dining or dancing on the opaque3 glass floor were unconcerned with the forbidding sky.
"What makes it so warm?" she whispered as they moved toward a table.
"It's some new invention that keeps the warm air from rising. I don't know the principle of the thing, but I know that they can keep it open like this even in the middle of winter—"
"Where's the Prince of Wales?" she demanded tensely.
John looked around.
"He hasn't arrived yet. He won't be here for about half an hour."
She sighed profoundly.
"It's the first time I've been excited in four years."
Four years—one year less than he had loved her. He wondered if when she was sixteen, a wild lovely child, sitting up all night in restaurants with officers who were to leave for Brest next day, losing the glamour4 of life too soon in the old, sad, poignant5 days of the war, she had ever been so lovely as under these amber6 lights and this dark sky. From her excited eyes to her tiny slipper7 heels, which were striped with layers of real silver and gold, she was like one of those amazing ships that are carved complete in a bottle. She was finished with that delicacy8, with that care; as though the long lifetime of some worker in fragility had been used to make her so. John Chestnut9 wanted to take her up in his hands, turn her this way and that, examine the tip of a slipper or the tip of an ear or squint10 closely at the fairy stuff from which her lashes11 were made.
"That's Roderigo Minerlino, the movie and face-cream star. Perhaps he'll dance after a while."
Rags became suddenly aware of the sound of violins and drums, but the music seemed to come from far away, seemed to float over the crisp night and on to the floor with the added remoteness of a dream.
"The orchestra's on another roof," explained John. "It's a new idea— Look, the entertainment's beginning."
A negro girl, thin as a reed, emerged suddenly from a masked entrance into a circle of harsh barbaric light, startled the music to a wild minor13, and commenced to sing a rhythmic14, tragic15 song. The pipe of her body broke abruptly16 and she began a slow incessant17 step, without progress and without hope, like the failure of a savage18 insufficient19 dream. She had lost Papa Jack20, she cried over and over with a hysterical21 monotony at once despairing and unreconciled. One by one the loud horns tried to force her from the steady beat of madness but she listened only to the mutter of the drums which were isolating22 her in some lost place in time, among many thousand forgotten years. After the failure of the piccolo, she made herself again into a thin brown line, wailed23 once with sharp and terrible intensity24, then vanished into sudden darkness.
"If you lived in New York you wouldn't need to be told who she is," said John when the amber light flashed on. "The next fella is Sheik B. Smith, a comedian25 of the fatuous26, garrulous27 sort——"
He broke off. Just as the lights went down for the second number Rags had given a long sigh, and leaned forward tensely in her chair. Her eyes were rigid28 like the eyes of a pointer dog, and John saw that they were fixed29 on a party that had come through a side entrance, and were arranging themselves around a table in the half-darkness.
The table was shielded with palms, and Rags at first made out only three dim forms. Then she distinguished30 a fourth who seemed to be placed well behind the other three—a pale oval of a face topped with a glimmer31 of dark-yellow hair.
Her breath seemed to die murmurously in her throat. She was dimly aware that the comedian was now standing33 in a glow of white light on the dancing floor, that he had been talking for some moments, and that there was a constant ripple34 of laughter in the air. But her eyes remained motionless, enchanted35. She saw one of the party bend and whisper to another, and after the low glitter of a match the bright button of a cigarette end gleamed in the background. How long it was before she moved she did not know. Then something seemed to happen to her eyes, something white, something terribly urgent, and she wrenched36 about sharply to find herself full in the centre of a baby spot-light from above. She became aware that words were being said to her from somewhere, and that a quick trail of laughter was circling the roof, but the light blinded her, and instinctively37 she made a half-movement from her chair.
"Sit still!" John was whispering across the table. "He picks somebody out for this every night."
Then she realized—it was the comedian, Sheik B. Smith. He was talking to her, arguing with her—about something that seemed incredibly funny to every one else, but came to her ears only as a blur38 of muddled39 sound. Instinctively she had composed her face at the first shock of the light and now she smiled. It was a gesture of rare self-possession. Into this smile she insinuated40 a vast impersonality41, as if she were unconscious of the light, unconscious of his attempt to play upon her loveliness—but amused at an infinitely42 removed him, whose darts43 might have been thrown just as successfully at the moon. She was no longer a "lady"—a lady would have been harsh or pitiful or absurd; Rags stripped her attitude to a sheer consciousness of her own impervious44 beauty, sat there glittering until the comedian began to feel alone as he had never felt alone before. At a signal from him the spot-light was switched suddenly out. The moment was over.
The moment was over, the comedian left the floor, and the far-away music began. John leaned toward her.
"I'm sorry. There really wasn't anything to do. You were wonderful."
She dismissed the incident with a casual laugh—then she started, there were now only two men sitting at the table across the floor.
"Don't worry—he'll be back. He's got to be awfully46 careful, you see, so he's probably waiting outside with one of his aides until it gets dark again."
"Why has he got to be careful?"
"Because he's not supposed to be in New York. He's even under one of his second-string names."
The lights dimmed again, and almost immediately a tall man appeared out of the darkness and approached their table.
"May I introduce myself?" he said rapidly to John in a supercilious47 British voice. "Lord Charles Este, of Baron48 Marchbanks' party." He glanced at John closely as if to be sure that he appreciated the significance of the name.
John nodded.
"That is between ourselves, you understand."
"Of course."
"Baron Marchbanks requests that your companion will join his party during this number."
Both men looked at Rags. There was a moment's pause.
"Very well," she said, and glanced back again interrogatively at John. Again he nodded. She rose and with her heart beating wildly threaded the tables, making the half-circuit of the room; then melted, a slim figure in shimmering50 gold, into the table set in half-darkness.
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1
winked
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| v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮 | |
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sliver
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| n.裂片，细片，梳毛；v.纵切，切成长片，剖开 | |
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opaque
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| adj.不透光的；不反光的，不传导的；晦涩的 | |
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glamour
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| n.魔力，魅力；vt.迷住 | |
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poignant
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| adj.令人痛苦的，辛酸的，惨痛的 | |
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amber
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| n.琥珀；琥珀色；adj.琥珀制的 | |
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slipper
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| n.拖鞋 | |
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delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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chestnut
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| n.栗树，栗子 | |
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squint
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| v. 使变斜视眼, 斜视, 眯眼看, 偏移, 窥视; n. 斜视, 斜孔小窗; adj. 斜视的, 斜的 | |
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11
lashes
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| n.鞭挞( lash的名词复数 )；鞭子；突然猛烈的一击；急速挥动v.鞭打( lash的第三人称单数 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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12
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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14
rhythmic
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| adj.有节奏的，有韵律的 | |
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tragic
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| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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incessant
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| adj.不停的，连续的 | |
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savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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insufficient
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| adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的 | |
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jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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21
hysterical
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| adj.情绪异常激动的，歇斯底里般的 | |
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22
isolating
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| adj.孤立的，绝缘的v.使隔离( isolate的现在分词 )；将…剔出（以便看清和单独处理）；使（某物质、细胞等）分离；使离析 | |
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23
wailed
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| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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24
intensity
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| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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comedian
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| n.喜剧演员；滑稽演员 | |
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fatuous
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| adj.愚昧的；昏庸的 | |
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garrulous
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| adj.唠叨的，多话的 | |
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28
rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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30
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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glimmer
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| v.发出闪烁的微光；n.微光，微弱的闪光 | |
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32
majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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33
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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34
ripple
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| n.涟波，涟漪，波纹，粗钢梳；vt.使...起涟漪，使起波纹； vi.呈波浪状，起伏前进 | |
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35
enchanted
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| adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
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36
wrenched
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| v.（猛力地）扭( wrench的过去式和过去分词 )；扭伤；使感到痛苦；使悲痛 | |
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instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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38
blur
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| n.模糊不清的事物；vt.使模糊，使看不清楚 | |
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39
muddled
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| adj.混乱的；糊涂的；头脑昏昏然的v.弄乱，弄糟( muddle的过去式)；使糊涂；对付，混日子 | |
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40
insinuated
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| v.暗示( insinuate的过去式和过去分词 )；巧妙或迂回地潜入；（使）缓慢进入；慢慢伸入 | |
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41
impersonality
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| n.无人情味 | |
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42
infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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43
darts
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| n.掷飞镖游戏；飞镖( dart的名词复数 )；急驰，飞奔v.投掷，投射( dart的第三人称单数 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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44
impervious
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| adj.不能渗透的，不能穿过的，不易伤害的 | |
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45
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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46
awfully
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| adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地 | |
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47
supercilious
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| adj.目中无人的，高傲的；adv.高傲地；n.高傲 | |
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48
baron
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| n.男爵；(商业界等)巨头，大王 | |
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49
champagne
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| n.香槟酒；微黄色 | |
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50
shimmering
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| v.闪闪发光，发微光( shimmer的现在分词 ) | |
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