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Chapter 10
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And while Bee sat and stared at the Ashby tablets in the church at Clare, Brat1 Farrar was standing2 in the back room in Pimlico in a brand-new suit and a state of panic.

How had he got himself into this? What could he have been thinking of? He, Brat Farrar. How did he ever think that he could go through with it? How had he ever in the first place consented to lend himself to such a plan?

It was the suit that had shocked him into realisation. The suit was wrong-doing made concrete and manifest. It was a wonderful suit. The kind of suit that he had dreamed of possessing; so unremarkable, so unmistakable once you had remarked it: English tailoring at its unobtrusive best. But he stood looking at himself in the mirror in a kind of horror.

He couldn’t do it, that was all. He just couldn’t do it.

He would duck, before it was too late.

He would send back the goddamned suit to the tailor, and send a letter to that woman who had been so nice, and just duck out of sight.

“What!” said the voice. “And pass up the greatest adventure of your life? The greatest adventure that has happened to any man within living memory?”

“Adventure my foot. It’s plain false pretences3.”

They wouldn’t bother to look for him. They would be too relieved to have him out of their hair. He could duck without leaving a ripple4.

“And leave a fortune behind?” said the voice.

“Yes, and leave a fortune behind. Who wants a fortune, anyhow?”

They would have his letter to insure them against any further nuisance from his side, and they would just let him go. He would write to that woman who, because she was kind, had kissed him before she was sure, and confess, and say he was sorry, and that would be that.

“And pass up the chance of owning a stud?”

“Who wants a stud? The world’s lousy with horses.”

“And you are going to own some, perhaps?”

“I may, some day. I may.”

“Pigs may fly.”

“Shut up.”

He would write to Loding and tell him that he would be no party to his criminal schemes.

“And waste all that knowledge? All that training?”

“I should never have started it.”

“But you did start it. You finished it. You are primed to the gills with knowledge worth a fortune. You can’t waste it, surely!”

Loding would have to whistle for that fifty per cent. How could he ever have thought of letting himself be an instrument in the hands of a crook5 like Loding!

“A very amusing and intelligent crook. On the highest level of crookery6. Nothing to be ashamed of, believe me.”

He would go to a travel agency to-morrow morning and get a berth7 out of the country. Anywhere out of the country.

“I thought you wanted to stay in England?”

He would put the sea between him and temptation.

“Did you say temptation? Don’t tell me that you’re still wavering!”

He hadn’t enough left for a fare to America, but he had enough to take him quite a distance. The travel agency would offer him a choice of places. The world was wide and there was a lot of fun left in it. By Tuesday morning he would be out of England, and this time he would stay out.

“And never see Latchetts at all?”

He would find some —— “What did you say?”

“I said: And never see Latchetts at all?”

He tried to think of an answer.

“Stumped you, haven’t I!”

There must be an answer.

“Money, and horses, and fun, and adventure are common change. You can have them anywhere in the world. But if you pass up Latchetts now you pass it up for good. There won’t be any going back.”

“But what has Latchetts to do with me?”

“You ask that? You, with your Ashby face, and your Ashby bones, and your Ashby tastes, and your Ashby colouring, and your Ashby blood.”

“I haven’t any evidence at all that ——”

“And your Ashby blood, I said. Why, you poor little brute8 of a foundling, Latchetts is your belonging-place, and you have the immortal9 gall10 to pretend that you don’t care a rap about it!”

“I didn’t say I didn’t care. Of course I care.”

“But you’ll walk out of this country to-morrow, and leave Latchetts behind? For always? Because that is what it amounts to, my boy. That is the choice before you. Take the road of high adventure and on Tuesday morning you will see Latchetts. Duck, and you will never see it at all.”

“But I’m not a crook! I can’t do something that is criminal.”

“Can’t you? You’ve been giving a pretty good imitation of it these last few weeks. And enjoying it too. Remember how you enjoyed that tight-rope business on that first visit to old Sandal? How you enjoyed all the others? Even with a K.C. sitting across the table and doing a sort of mental X-ray on you. You loved it. All that is wrong with you just now is cold feet. Nerves. You want to see Latchetts as you have never wanted anything before. You want to live at Latchetts as an Ashby. You want horses. You want adventure. You want a life in England. Go to Latchetts on Tuesday and they are all yours.”

“But ——”

“You came half across the world to that meeting with Loding. Was that just chance? Of course not. It was all meant. Your destiny is at Latchetts. Your destiny. What you were born for. Your destiny. At Latchetts. You’re an Ashby. Half across a world to a place you never heard of. Destiny. You can’t pass up destiny....”

Brat got slowly out of the brand-new suit, and hung it up with orphanage11 neatness on its fine new hanger12. Then he sat down on the edge of his bed and buried his face in his hands.

He was still sitting there when the darkness came.


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 brat asPzx     
n.孩子;顽童
参考例句:
  • He's a spoilt brat.他是一个被宠坏了的调皮孩子。
  • The brat sicked his dog on the passer-by.那个顽童纵狗去咬过路人。
2 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。
3 pretences 0d462176df057e8e8154cd909f8d95a6     
n.假装( pretence的名词复数 );作假;自命;自称
参考例句:
  • You've brought your old friends out here under false pretences. 你用虚假的名义把你的那些狐朋狗党带到这里来。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
  • There are no pretences about him. 他一点不虚伪。 来自辞典例句
4 ripple isLyh     
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
参考例句:
  • The pebble made a ripple on the surface of the lake.石子在湖面上激起一个涟漪。
  • The small ripple split upon the beach.小小的涟漪卷来,碎在沙滩上。
5 crook NnuyV     
v.使弯曲;n.小偷,骗子,贼;弯曲(处)
参考例句:
  • He demanded an apology from me for calling him a crook.我骂他骗子,他要我向他认错。
  • She was cradling a small parcel in the crook of her elbow.她用手臂挎着一个小包裹。
6 crookery 8a7d9f524498ee94e9b30be0318d9358     
n.不正当行为
参考例句:
7 berth yt0zq     
n.卧铺,停泊地,锚位;v.使停泊
参考例句:
  • She booked a berth on the train from London to Aberdeen.她订了一张由伦敦开往阿伯丁的火车卧铺票。
  • They took up a berth near the harbor.他们在港口附近找了个位置下锚。
8 brute GSjya     
n.野兽,兽性
参考例句:
  • The aggressor troops are not many degrees removed from the brute.侵略军简直象一群野兽。
  • That dog is a dangerous brute.It bites people.那条狗是危险的畜牲,它咬人。
9 immortal 7kOyr     
adj.不朽的;永生的,不死的;神的
参考例句:
  • The wild cocoa tree is effectively immortal.野生可可树实际上是不会死的。
  • The heroes of the people are immortal!人民英雄永垂不朽!
10 gall jhXxC     
v.使烦恼,使焦躁,难堪;n.磨难
参考例句:
  • It galled him to have to ask for a loan.必须向人借钱使他感到难堪。
  • No gall,no glory.没有磨难,何来荣耀。
11 orphanage jJwxf     
n.孤儿院
参考例句:
  • They dispensed new clothes to the children in the orphanage.他们把新衣服发给孤儿院的小孩们。
  • They gave the proceeds of the sale to the orphanage.他们把销售的收入给了这家孤儿院。
12 hanger hanger     
n.吊架,吊轴承;挂钩
参考例句:
  • I hung my coat up on a hanger.我把外衣挂在挂钩上。
  • The ship is fitted with a large helicopter hanger and flight deck.这艘船配备有一个较大的直升飞机悬挂装置和飞行甲板。


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