On Tuesday Lewisham returned from Vigours' at five--at half-past six he would go on to his science class at Walham Green--and discovered Mrs. Chaffery and Ethel in tears. He was fagged and rather anxious for some tea, but the news they had for him drove tea out of his head altogether.
"He's gone," said Ethel.
"Who's gone? What! Not Chaffery?"
Mrs. Chaffery, with a keen eye to Lewisham's behaviour, nodded tearfully over an experienced handkerchief.
Lewisham grasped the essentials of the situation forthwith, and trembled on the brink1 of an expletive. Ethel handed him a letter.
For a moment Lewisham held this in his hand asking; questions. Mrs. Chaffery had come upon it in the case of her eight-day clock when the time to wind it came round. Chaffery, it seemed, had not been home since Saturday night. The letter was an open one addressed to Lewisham, a long rambling2 would-be clever letter, oddly inferior in style to Chaffery's conversation. It had been written some hours before Chaffery's last visit his talk then had been perhaps a sort of codicil3.
"The inordinate4 stupidity of that man Lagune is driving me out of the country," Lewisham saw. "It has been at last a definite stumbling block--even a legal stumbling block. I fear. I am off. I skedaddle. I break ties. I shall miss our long refreshing5 chats--you had found me out and I could open my mind. I am sorry to part from Ethel also, but thank Heaven she has you to look to! And indeed they both have you to look to, though the 'both' may be a new light to you."
Lewisham growled6, went from page 1 to page 3--conscious of their both looking to him now--even intensely--and discovered Chaffery in a practical vein7.
"There is but little light, and portable property in that house in Clapham that has escaped my lamentable8 improvidence9, but there are one or two things--the iron-bound chest, the bureau with a broken hinge, and the large air pump--distinctly pawnable if only you can contrive10 to get them to a pawnshop. You have more Will power than I--I never could get the confounded things downstairs. That iron-bound box was originally mine, before I married your mother-in-law, so that I am not altogether regardless of your welfare and the necessity of giving some equivalent. Don't judge me too harshly."
Lewisham turned over sharply without finishing that page.
"My life at Clapham," continued the letter, "has irked me for some time, and to tell you the truth, the spectacle of your vigorous young happiness--you are having a very good time, you know, fighting the world--reminded me of the passing years. To be frank in self-criticism, there is more than a touch of the New Woman about me, and I feel I have still to live my own life. What a beautiful phrase that is--to live one's own life!--redolent of honest scorn for moral plagiarism11. No _Imitatio Christi_ in that ... I long to see more of men and cities.... I begin late, I know, to live my own life, bald as I am and grey-whiskered; but better late than never. Why should the educated girl have the monopoly of the game? And after all, the whiskers will dye....
"There are things--I touch upon them lightly--that will presently astonish Lagune." Lewisham became more attentive12. "I marvel13 at that man, grubbing hungry for marvels14 amidst the almost incredibly marvellous. What can be the nature of a man who gapes15 after Poltergeists with the miracle of his own silly existence (inconsequent, reasonless, unfathomably weird) nearer to him than breathing and closer than hands and feet. What is _he_ for, that he should wonder at Poltergeists? I am astonished these by no means flimsy psychic16 phenomena17 do not turn upon their investigators19, and that a Research Society of eminent20 illusions and hallucinations does not pursue Lagune with sceptical! inquiries21. Take his house--expose the alleged22 man of Chelsea! _A priori_ they might argue that a thing so vain, so unmeaning, so strongly beset23 by cackle, could only be the diseased imagining of some hysterical24 phantom25. Do _you_ believe that such a thing as Lagune exists? I must own to the gravest doubts. But happily his banker is of a more credulous26 type than I.... Of all that Lagune will tell you soon enough."
Lewisham read no more. "I suppose he thought himself clever when he wrote that rot," said Lewisham bitterly, throwing the sheets forcibly athwart the table. "The simple fact is, he's stolen, or forged, or something--and bolted."
There was a pause. "What will become of Mother?" said Ethel.
Lewisham looked at Mother and thought for a moment. Then he glanced at Ethel.
"We're all in the same boat," said Lewisham.
"I don't want to give any trouble to a single human being," said Mrs. Chaffery.
"I think you might get a man his tea, Ethel," said Lewisham, sitting down suddenly; "anyhow." He drummed on the table with his fingers. "I have to get to Walham Green by a quarter to seven."
"We're all in the same boat," he repeated after an interval27, and continued drumming. He was chiefly occupied by the curious fact that they were all in the same boat. What an extraordinary faculty28 he had for acquiring responsibility! He looked up suddenly and caught Mrs. Chaffery's tearful eye directed to Ethel and full of distressful29 interrogation, and his perplexity was suddenly changed to pity. "It's all right, Mother," he said. "I'm not going to be unreasonable30. I'll stand by you."
"Ah!" said Mrs. Chaffery. "As if I didn't know!" and Ethel came and kissed him.
He seemed in imminent31 danger of universal embraces.
"I wish you'd let me have my tea," he said. And while he had his tea he asked Mrs. Chaffery questions and tried to get the new situation into focus.
But even at ten o'clock, when he was returning hot and jaded32 from Walham Green, he was still trying to get the situation into focus. There were vague ends and blank walls of interrogation in the matter, that perplexed33 him.
He knew that his supper would be only the prelude34 to an interminable "talking over," and indeed he did not get to bed until nearly two. By that time a course of action was already agreed upon. Mrs. Chaffery was tied to the house in Clapham by a long lease, and thither35 they must go. The ground floor and first floor were let unfurnished, and the rent of these practically paid the rent of the house. The Chafferys occupied basement and second floor. There was a bedroom on the second floor, formerly36 let to the first floor tenants37, that he and Ethel could occupy, and in this an old toilet table could be put for such studies as were to be prosecuted38 at home. Ethel could have her typewriter in the subterranean39 breakfast-room. Mrs. Chaffery and Ethel must do the catering40 and the bulk of the housework, and as soon as possible, since letting lodgings41 would not square with Lewisham's professional pride, they must get rid of the lease that bound them and take some smaller and more suburban42 residence. If they did that without leaving any address it might save their feelings from any return of the prodigal43 Chaffery.
Mrs. Chaffery's frequent and pathetic acknowledgments of Lewisham's goodness only partly relieved his disposition44 to a philosophical45 bitterness. And the practical issues were complicated by excursions upon the subject of Chaffery, what he might have done, and where he might have gone, and whether by any chance he might not return.
When at last Mrs. Chaffery, after a violent and tearful kissing and blessing46 of them both--they were "good dear children," she said--had departed, Mr. and Mrs. Lewisham returned into their sitting-room47. Mrs. Lewisham's little face was enthusiastic. "You're a Trump," she said, extending the willing arms that were his reward. "I know," she said, "I know, and all to-night I have been loving you. Dear! Dear! Dear...."
The next day Lewisham was too full of engagements to communicate with Lagune, but the following morning he called and found the psychic investigator18 busy with the proofs of _Hesperus_. He welcomed the young man cordially nevertheless, conceiving him charged with the questions that had been promised long ago--it was evident he knew nothing of Lewisham's marriage. Lewisham stated his case with some bluntness.
"He was last here on Saturday," said Lagune. "You have always been inclined to suspicion about him. Have you any grounds?"
"You'd better read this," said Lewisham, repressing a grim smile, and he handed Lagune Chaffery's letter.
He glanced at the little man ever and again to see if he had come to the personal portion, and for the rest of the time occupied himself with an envious48 inventory49 of the writing appointments about him. No doubt the boy with the big ears had had the same sort of thing ...
When Lagune came to the question of his real identity he blew out his cheeks in the most astonishing way, but made no other sign.
"Dear, dear!" he said at last. "My bankers!"
He looked at Lewisham with the exaggerated mildness of his spectacled eye. "What do you think it means?" he asked. "Has he gone mad? We have been conducting some experiments involving--considerable mental strain. He and I and a lady. Hypnotic--"
"I should look at my cheque-book if I were you."
Lagune produced some keys and got out his cheque book. He turned over the counterfoils50. "There's nothing wrong here," he said, and handed the book to Lewisham.
"Um," said Lewisham. "I suppose this--I say, is _this_ right?"
He handed back the book to Lagune, open at the blank counterfoil51 of a cheque that had been removed. Lagune stared and passed his hand over his forehead in a confused way. "I can't see this," he said.
Lewisham had never heard of post hypnotic suggestion and he stood incredulous. "You can't see that?" he said. "What nonsense!"
"I can't see it," repeated Lagune.
For some seconds Lewisham could not get away from stupid repetitions of his inquiry52. Then he hit upon a collateral53 proof. "But look here! Can you see _this_ counterfoil?"
"Plainly," said Lagune.
"Can you read the number?"
"Five thousand two hundred and seventy-nine."
"Well, and this?"
"Five thousand two hundred and eighty-one."
"Well--where's five thousand two hundred and eighty?"
Lagune began to look uncomfortable. "Surely," he said, "he has not--Will you read it out--the cheque, the counterfoil I mean, that I am unable to see?"
"It's blank," said Lewisham with an irresistible54 grin.
"Surely," said Lagune, and the discomfort55 of his expression deepened. "Do you mind if I call in a servant to confirm--?"
Lewisham did not mind, and the same girl who had admitted him to the _seance_ appeared. When she had given her evidence she went again. As she left the room by the door behind Lagune her eyes met Lewisham's, and she lifted her eyebrows56, depressed57 her mouth, and glanced at Lagune with a meaning expression.
"I'm afraid," said Lagune, "that I have been shabbily treated. Mr. Chaffery is a man of indisputable powers--indisputable powers; but I am afraid--I am very much afraid he has abused the conditions of the experiment. All this--and his insults--touch me rather nearly."
He paused. Lewisham rose. "Do you mind if you come again?" asked Lagune with gentle politeness.
Lewisham was surprised to find himself sorry.
"He was a man of extraordinary gifts," said Lagune. "I had come to rely upon him.... My cash balance has been rather heavy lately. How he came to know of that I am unable to say. Without supposing, that is, that he had very remarkable58 gifts."
When Lewisham saw Lagune again he learnt the particulars of Chaffery's misdeed and the additional fact that the "lady" had also disappeared. "That's a good job," he remarked selfishly. "There's no chance of _his_ coming back." He spent a moment trying to imagine the "lady"; he realised more vividly59 than he had ever done before the narrow range of his experience, the bounds of his imagination. These people also--with grey hair and truncated60 honour--had their emotions I Even it may be glowing! He came back to facts. Chaffery had induced Lagune when hypnotised to sign a blank cheque as an "autograph." "The strange thing is," explained Lagune, "it's doubtful if he's legally accountable. The law is so peculiar61 about hypnotism and I certainly signed the cheque, you know."
The little man, in spite of his losses, was now almost cheerful again on account of a curious side issue. "You may say it is coincidence," he said, "you may call it a fluke, but I prefer to look for some other interpretation62! Consider this. The amount of my balance is a secret between me and my bankers. He never had it from _me_, for I did not know it--I hadn't looked at my passbook63 for months. But he drew it all in one cheque, within seventeen and sixpence of the total. And the total was over five hundred pounds!"
He seemed quite bright again as he culminated64.
"Within seventeen and sixpence," he said. "Now how do you account for that, eh? Give me a materialistic65 explanation that will explain away all that. You can't. Neither can I."
"I think I can," said Lewisham.
"Well--what is it?"
Lewisham nodded towards a little drawer of the bureau. "Don't you think--perhaps"--a little ripple66 of laughter passed across his mind--"he had a skeleton key?"
Lagune's face lingered amusingly in Lewisham's mind as he returned to Clapham. But after a time that amusement passed away. He declined upon the extraordinary fact that Chaffery was his father-in-law, Mrs. Chaffery his mother-in-law, that these two and Ethel constituted his family, his clan67, and that grimy graceless house up the Clapham hillside was to be his home. Home! His connexion with these things as a point of worldly departure was as inexorable now as though he had been born to it. And a year ago, except for a fading reminiscence of Ethel, none of these people had existed for him. The ways of Destiny! The happenings of the last few months, foreshortened in perspective, seemed to have almost a pantomimic rapidity. The thing took him suddenly as being laughable; and he laughed.
His laugh marked an epoch68. Never before had Lewisham laughed at any fix in which he had found himself! The enormous seriousness of adolescence69 was coming to an end; the days of his growing were numbered. It was a laugh of infinite admissions.
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brink
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| n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿 | |
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rambling
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| adj.[建]凌乱的，杂乱的 | |
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codicil
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| n.遗嘱的附录 | |
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inordinate
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| adj.无节制的；过度的 | |
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refreshing
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| adj.使精神振作的，使人清爽的，使人喜欢的 | |
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growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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vein
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| n.血管，静脉；叶脉，纹理；情绪；vt.使成脉络 | |
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lamentable
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| adj.令人惋惜的，悔恨的 | |
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improvidence
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| n.目光短浅 | |
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contrive
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| vt.谋划，策划；设法做到；设计，想出 | |
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plagiarism
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| n.剽窃，抄袭 | |
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attentive
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| adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的 | |
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marvel
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| vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事 | |
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marvels
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| n.奇迹( marvel的名词复数 )；令人惊奇的事物（或事例）；不平凡的成果；成就v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的第三人称单数 ) | |
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gapes
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| v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的第三人称单数 )；张开，张大 | |
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psychic
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| n.对超自然力敏感的人；adj.有超自然力的 | |
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phenomena
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| n.现象 | |
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investigator
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| n.研究者，调查者，审查者 | |
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investigators
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| n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 ) | |
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eminent
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| adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的 | |
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inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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alleged
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| a.被指控的，嫌疑的 | |
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beset
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| v.镶嵌；困扰，包围 | |
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hysterical
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| adj.情绪异常激动的，歇斯底里般的 | |
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phantom
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| n.幻影，虚位，幽灵；adj.错觉的，幻影的，幽灵的 | |
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credulous
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| adj.轻信的，易信的 | |
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interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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faculty
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| n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
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distressful
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| adj.苦难重重的，不幸的，使苦恼的 | |
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unreasonable
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| adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的 | |
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imminent
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| adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的 | |
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jaded
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| adj.精疲力竭的；厌倦的；（因过饱或过多而）腻烦的；迟钝的 | |
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perplexed
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| adj.不知所措的 | |
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prelude
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| n.序言，前兆，序曲 | |
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thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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tenants
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| n.房客( tenant的名词复数 )；佃户；占用者；占有者 | |
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prosecuted
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| a.被起诉的 | |
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subterranean
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| adj.地下的，地表下的 | |
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catering
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| n. 给养 | |
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lodgings
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| n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍 | |
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suburban
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| adj.城郊的，在郊区的 | |
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prodigal
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| adj.浪费的，挥霍的，放荡的 | |
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disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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philosophical
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| adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的 | |
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blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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sitting-room
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| n.（BrE）客厅，起居室 | |
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envious
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| adj.嫉妒的，羡慕的 | |
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inventory
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| n.详细目录，存货清单 | |
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counterfoils
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| n.（支票、票据等的）存根，票根( counterfoil的名词复数 ) | |
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counterfoil
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| n.(支票、邮局汇款单、收据等的)存根，票根 | |
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inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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collateral
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| adj.平行的；旁系的；n.担保品 | |
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irresistible
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| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
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discomfort
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| n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便 | |
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eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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depressed
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| adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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vividly
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| adv.清楚地，鲜明地，生动地 | |
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truncated
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| adj.切去顶端的，缩短了的，被删节的v.截面的( truncate的过去式和过去分词 )；截头的；缩短了的；截去顶端或末端 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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interpretation
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| n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理 | |
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passbook
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| n.存折；顾客赊欠账簿 | |
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culminated
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| v.达到极点( culminate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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materialistic
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| a.唯物主义的，物质享乐主义的 | |
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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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clan
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| n.氏族，部落，宗族，家族，宗派 | |
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epoch
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| n.(新)时代；历元 | |
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adolescence
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| n.青春期，青少年 | |
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