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CHAPTER IX. A PACKET OF CIGARETTES
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 Following their dismissal by Chief Inspector1 Kerry, Seton and Gray walked around to the latter's chambers2 in Piccadilly. They proceeded in silence, Gray too angry for speech, and Seton busy with reflections. As the man admitted them:
 
“Has anyone 'phoned, Willis?” asked Gray.
 
“No one, sir.”
 
They entered a large room which combined the characteristics of a library with those of a military gymnasium. Gray went to a side table and mixed drinks. Placing a glass before Seton, he emptied his own at a draught3.
 
“If you'll excuse me for a moment,” he said, “I should like to ring up and see if by any possible chance there's news of Rita.”
 
He walked out to the telephone, and Seton heard him making a call. Then:
 
“Hullo! Is that you, Hinkes?” he asked.... “Yes, speaking. Is Mrs. Irvin at home?”
 
A few moments of silence followed, and:
 
“Thanks! Good-bye,” said Gray.
 
He rejoined his friend.
 
“Nothing,” he reported, and made a gesture of angry resignation. “Evidently Hinkes is still unaware4 of what has happened. Irvin hasn't returned yet. Seton, this business is driving me mad.”
 
He refilled his glass, and having looked in his cigarette-case, began to ransack5 a small cupboard.
 
“Damn it all!” he exclaimed. “I haven't got a cigarette in the place!”
 
“I don't smoke them myself,” said Seton, “but I can offer you a cheroot.”
 
“Thanks. They are a trifle too strong. Hullo! here are some.”
 
From the back of a shelf he produced a small, plain brown packet, and took out of it a cigarette at which he stared oddly. Seton, smoking one of the inevitable6 cheroots, watched him, tapping his teeth with the rim7 of his eyeglass.
 
“Poor old Pyne!” muttered Gray, and, looking up, met the inquiring glance. “Pyne left these here only the other day,” he explained awkwardly. “I don't know where he got them, but they are something very special. I suppose I might as well.”
 
He lighted one, and, uttering a weary sigh, threw himself into a deep leather-covered arm-chair. Almost immediately he was up again. The telephone bell had rung. His eyes alight with hope, he ran out, leaving the door open so that his conversation was again audible to the visitor.
 
“Yes, yes, speaking. What?” His tone changed “Oh, it's you, Margaret. What?... Certainly, delighted. No, there's nobody here but old Seton Pasha. What? You've heard the fellows talk about him who were out East.... Yes, that's the chap.... Come right along.”
 
“You don't propose to lionise me, I hope, Gray?” said Seton, as Gray returned to his seat.
 
The other laughed.
 
“I forgot you could hear me,” he admitted. “It's my cousin, Margaret Halley. You'll like her. She's a tip-top girl, but eccentric. Goes in for pilling.”
 
“Pilling?” inquired Seton gravely.
 
“Doctoring. She's an M.R.C.S., and only about twenty-four or so. Fearfully clever kid; makes me feel an infant.”
 
“Flat heels, spectacles, and a judicial8 manner?”
 
“Flat heels, yes. But not the other. She's awfully9 pretty, and used to look simply terrific in khaki. She was an M.O. in Serbia, you know, and afterwards at some nurses' hospital in Kent. She's started in practice for herself now round in Dover Street. I wonder what she wants.”
 
Silence fell between them; for, although prompted by different reasons, both were undesirous of discussing the tragedy; and this silence prevailed until the ringing of the doorbell announced the arrival of the girl. Willis opening the door, she entered composedly, and Gray introduced Seton.
 
“I am so glad to have met you at last, Mr. Seton,” she said laughingly. “From Quentin's many accounts I had formed the opinion that you were a kind of Arabian Nights myth.”
 
“I am glad to disappoint you,” replied Seton, finding something very refreshing10 in the company of this pretty girl, who wore a creased11 Burberry, and stray locks of whose abundant bright hair floated about her face in the most careless fashion imaginable.
 
She turned to her cousin, frowning in a rather puzzled way.
 
“Whatever have you been burning here?” she asked. “There is such a curious smell in the room.”
 
Gray laughed more heartily12 than he had laughed that night, glancing in Seton's direction.
 
“So much for your taste in cigars!” he cried
 
“Oh!” said Margaret, “I'm sure it's not Mr. Seton's cigar. It isn't a smell of tobacco.”
 
“I don't believe they're made of tobacco!” cried Gray, laughing louder yet, although his merriment was forced.
 
Seton smiled good-naturedly at the joke, but he had perceived at the moment of Margaret's entrance the fact that her gaiety also was assumed. Serious business had dictated13 her visit, and he wondered the more to note how deeply this odor, real or fancied, seemed to intrigue14 her.
 
She sat down in the chair which Gray placed by the fireside, and her cousin unceremoniously slid the brown packet of cigarettes across the little table in her direction.
 
“Try one of these, Margaret,” he said. “They are great, and will quite drown the unpleasant odor of which you complain.”
 
Whereupon the observant Seton saw a quick change take place in the girl's expression. She had the same clear coloring as her cousin, and now this freshness deserted15 her cheeks, and her pretty face became quite pale. She was staring at the brown packet. “Where did you get them?” she asked quietly.
 
A smile faded from Gray's lips. Those five words had translated him in spirit to that green-draped room in which Sir Lucien Pyne was lying dead. He glanced at Seton in the appealing way which sometimes made him appear so boyish.
 
“Er—from Pyne,” he replied. “I must tell you, Margaret—”
 
“Sir Lucien Pyne?” she interrupted.
 
“Yes.”
 
“Not from Rita Irvin?”
 
Quentin Gray started upright in his chair.
 
“No! But why do you mention her?”
 
Margaret bit her lip in sudden perplexity.
 
“Oh, I don't know.” She glanced apologetically toward Seton. He rose immediately.
 
“My dear Miss Halley,” he said, “I perceive, indeed I had perceived all along, that you have something of a private nature to communicate to your cousin.”
 
But Gray stood up, and:
 
“Seton!... Margaret!” he said, looking from one to the other. “I mean to say, Margaret, if you've anything to tell me about Rita... Have you? Have you?”
 
He fixed16 his gaze eagerly upon her.
 
“I have—yes.”
 
Seton prepared to take his leave, but Gray impetuously thrust him back, immediately turning again to his cousin.
 
“Perhaps you haven't heard, Margaret,” he began. “I have heard what has happened tonight—to Sir Lucien.”
 
Both men stared at her silently for a moment.
 
“Seton has been with me all the time,” said Gray. “If he will consent to stay, with your permission, Margaret, I should like him to do so.”
 
“Why, certainly,” agreed the girl. “In fact, I shall be glad of his advice.”
 
Seton inclined his head, and without another word resumed his seat. Gray was too excited to sit down again. He stood on the tiger-skin rug before the fender, watching his cousin and smoking furiously.
 
“Firstly, then,” continued Margaret, “please throw that cigarette in the fire, Quentin.”
 
Gray removed the cigarette from between his lips, and stared at it dazedly17. He looked at the girl, and the clear grey eyes were watching him with an inscrutable expression.
 
“Right-o!” he said awkwardly, and tossed the cigarette in the fire. “You used to smoke like a furnace, Margaret. Is this some new 'cult'?”
 
“I still smoke a great deal more than is good for me,” she confessed, “but I don't smoke opium18.”
 
The effect of these words upon the two men who listened was curious. Gray turned an angry glance upon the brown packet lying on the table, and “Faugh!” he exclaimed, and drawing a handkerchief from his sleeve began disgustedly to wipe his lips. Seton stared hard at the speaker, tossed his cheroot into the fire, and taking up the packet withdrew a cigarette and sniffed19 at it critically. Margaret watched him.
 
He tore the wrapping off, and tasted a strand20 of the tobacco.
 
“Good heavens!” he whispered. “Gray, these things are doped!”

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 inspector q6kxH     
n.检查员,监察员,视察员
参考例句:
  • The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
  • The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。
2 chambers c053984cd45eab1984d2c4776373c4fe     
n.房间( chamber的名词复数 );(议会的)议院;卧室;会议厅
参考例句:
  • The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间:Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网
3 draught 7uyzIH     
n.拉,牵引,拖;一网(饮,吸,阵);顿服药量,通风;v.起草,设计
参考例句:
  • He emptied his glass at one draught.他将杯中物一饮而尽。
  • It's a pity the room has no north window and you don't get a draught.可惜这房间没北窗,没有过堂风。
4 unaware Pl6w0     
a.不知道的,未意识到的
参考例句:
  • They were unaware that war was near. 他们不知道战争即将爆发。
  • I was unaware of the man's presence. 我没有察觉到那人在场。
5 ransack fALzi     
v.彻底搜索,洗劫
参考例句:
  • He began to ransack his mother's workbox for a piece of thread.他要找一根线,开始翻腾妈妈的针线盒。
  • She ransack my apartment for the bankbook.她在我公寓里到处搜索寻找存折。
6 inevitable 5xcyq     
adj.不可避免的,必然发生的
参考例句:
  • Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
  • The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。
7 rim RXSxl     
n.(圆物的)边,轮缘;边界
参考例句:
  • The water was even with the rim of the basin.盆里的水与盆边平齐了。
  • She looked at him over the rim of her glass.她的目光越过玻璃杯的边沿看着他。
8 judicial c3fxD     
adj.司法的,法庭的,审判的,明断的,公正的
参考例句:
  • He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
  • Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。
9 awfully MPkym     
adv.可怕地,非常地,极端地
参考例句:
  • Agriculture was awfully neglected in the past.过去农业遭到严重忽视。
  • I've been feeling awfully bad about it.对这我一直感到很难受。
10 refreshing HkozPQ     
adj.使精神振作的,使人清爽的,使人喜欢的
参考例句:
  • I find it'so refreshing to work with young people in this department.我发现和这一部门的青年一起工作令人精神振奋。
  • The water was cold and wonderfully refreshing.水很涼,特别解乏提神。
11 creased b26d248c32bce741b8089934810d7e9f     
(使…)起折痕,弄皱( crease的过去式和过去分词 ); (皮肤)皱起,使起皱纹; 皱皱巴巴
参考例句:
  • You've creased my newspaper. 你把我的报纸弄皱了。
  • The bullet merely creased his shoulder. 子弹只不过擦破了他肩部的皮肤。
12 heartily Ld3xp     
adv.衷心地,诚恳地,十分,很
参考例句:
  • He ate heartily and went out to look for his horse.他痛快地吃了一顿,就出去找他的马。
  • The host seized my hand and shook it heartily.主人抓住我的手,热情地和我握手。
13 dictated aa4dc65f69c81352fa034c36d66908ec     
v.大声讲或读( dictate的过去式和过去分词 );口授;支配;摆布
参考例句:
  • He dictated a letter to his secretary. 他向秘书口授信稿。
  • No person of a strong character likes to be dictated to. 没有一个个性强的人愿受人使唤。 来自《简明英汉词典》
14 intrigue Gaqzy     
vt.激起兴趣,迷住;vi.耍阴谋;n.阴谋,密谋
参考例句:
  • Court officials will intrigue against the royal family.法院官员将密谋反对皇室。
  • The royal palace was filled with intrigue.皇宫中充满了勾心斗角。
15 deserted GukzoL     
adj.荒芜的,荒废的,无人的,被遗弃的
参考例句:
  • The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
  • The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。
16 fixed JsKzzj     
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的
参考例句:
  • Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗?
  • Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定,我们就不应该随意改变。
17 dazedly 6d639ead539efd6f441c68aeeadfc753     
头昏眼花地,眼花缭乱地,茫然地
参考例句:
  • Chu Kuei-ying stared dazedly at her mother for a moment, but said nothing. 朱桂英怔怔地望着她母亲,不作声。 来自子夜部分
  • He wondered dazedly whether the term after next at his new school wouldn't matter so much. 他昏头昏脑地想,不知道新学校的第三个学期是不是不那么重要。
18 opium c40zw     
n.鸦片;adj.鸦片的
参考例句:
  • That man gave her a dose of opium.那男人给了她一剂鸦片。
  • Opium is classed under the head of narcotic.鸦片是归入麻醉剂一类的东西。
19 sniffed ccb6bd83c4e9592715e6230a90f76b72     
v.以鼻吸气,嗅,闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 );抽鼻子(尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气);抱怨,不以为然地说
参考例句:
  • When Jenney had stopped crying she sniffed and dried her eyes. 珍妮停止了哭泣,吸了吸鼻子,擦干了眼泪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The dog sniffed suspiciously at the stranger. 狗疑惑地嗅着那个陌生人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
20 strand 7GAzH     
vt.使(船)搁浅,使(某人)困于(某地)
参考例句:
  • She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ears.她把一缕散发夹到了耳后。
  • The climbers had been stranded by a storm.登山者被暴风雨困住了。


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