PART THREE DECEMBER 24TH

PART THREE DECEMBER 24TH

“Do you really want me to stay on here, Father?” asked Harry¹. He tilted² his head back. “I’m

stirring up rather a hornet’s nest, you know.”

“What do you mean?” asked Simeon sharply.

“Brother Alfred,” said Harry. “Good brother Alfred! He, if I may say so, resents my presence

here.”

“The devil he does!” snapped Simeon. “I’m master in this house.”

“All the same, sir, I expect you’re pretty dependent on Alfred. I don’t want to upset—”

“You’ll do as I tell you,” snapped his father.

Harry yawned.

“Don’t know that I shall be able to stick a stay-at-home life. Pretty stifling³ to a fellow who’s

knocked about the world.”

His father said: “You’d better marry and settle down.”

Harry said: “Who shall I marry? Pity one can’t marry one’s niece. Young Pilar is devilish

attractive.”

“You’ve noticed that?”

“Talking of settling down, fat George has done well for himself as far as looks go. Who was

she?”

Simeon shrugged⁴ his shoulders.

“How should I know? George picked her up at a mannequin parade, I believe. She says her

father was a retired⁵ naval⁶ officer.”

Harry said:

“Probably a second mate of a coasting steamer. George will have a bit of trouble with her if

he’s not careful.”

“George,” said Simeon Lee, “is a fool.”

Harry said: “What did she marry him for—his money?”

Simeon shrugged his shoulders.

Harry said: “Well, you think that you can square Alfred all right?”

“We’ll soon settle that,” said Simeon grimly.

He touched a bell that stood on a table near him.

Horbury appeared promptly⁷. Simeon said:

“Ask Mr. Alfred to come here.”

Horbury went out and Harry drawled:

“That fellow listens at doors!”

Simeon shrugged his shoulders.

“Probably.”

Alfred hurried in. His face twitched⁸ when he saw his brother. Ignoring Harry, he said

pointedly⁹:

“You wanted me, Father?”

“Yes, sit down. I was just thinking we must reorganize things a bit now that we have two

more people living in the house.”

“Two?”

“Pilar will make her home here, naturally. And Harry is home for good.”

Alfred said: “Harry is coming to live here?”

“Why not, old boy?” said Harry.

Alfred turned sharply to him.

“I should think that you yourself would see that!”

“Well, sorry—but I don’t.”

“After everything that has happened? The disgraceful way you behaved. The scandal—”

Harry waved an easy hand.

“All that’s in the past, old boy.”

“You behaved abominably¹⁰ to Father, after all he’s done for you.”

“Look here, Alfred, it strikes me that’s Father’s business, not yours. If he’s willing to forgive

and forget—”

“I’m willing,” said Simeon. “Harry’s my son, after all, you know, Alfred.”

“Yes, but—I resent it—for Father’s sake.”

Simeon said: “Harry’s coming here! I wish it.” He laid a hand gently on the latter’s shoulder.

“I’m very fond of Harry.”

Alfred got up and left the room. His face was white. Harry rose too and went after him,

laughing.

Simeon sat chuckling¹¹ to himself. Then he started and looked round. “Who the devil’s that?

Oh, it’s you, Horbury. Don’t creep about that way.”

“I beg your pardon, sir.”

“Never mind. Listen, I’ve got some orders for you. I want everybody to come up here after

lunch—everybody.”

“Yes, sir.”

“There’s something else. When they come, you come with them. And when you get halfway¹²

along the passage raise your voice so that I can hear. Any pretext¹³ will do. Understand?”

“Yes, sir.”

Horbury went downstairs. He said to Tressilian:

“If you ask me, we are going to have a Merry Christmas.”

Tressilian said sharply: “What d’you mean?”

“You wait and see, Mr. Tressilian. It’s Christmas Eve today, and a nice Christmas spirit

abroad—I don’t think!”

1 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

2 tilted   

v. 倾斜的

参考例句：

• Suddenly the boat tilted to one side. 小船突然倾向一侧。
• She tilted her chin at him defiantly. 她向他翘起下巴表示挑衅。

3 stifling   

a.令人窒息的

参考例句：

• The weather is stifling. It looks like rain. 今天太闷热，光景是要下雨。
• We were stifling in that hot room with all the windows closed. 我们在那间关着窗户的热屋子里，简直透不过气来。

4 shrugged   

vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。
• She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

6 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

7 promptly   

adv.及时地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
• She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。

8 twitched   

vt.& vi.（使）抽动，（使）颤动（twitch的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Her lips twitched with amusement. 她忍俊不禁地颤动着嘴唇。
• The child's mouth twitched as if she were about to cry. 这小孩的嘴抽动着，像是要哭。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 pointedly   

adv.尖地，明显地

参考例句：

• She yawned and looked pointedly at her watch. 她打了个哈欠，又刻意地看了看手表。
• The demand for an apology was pointedly refused. 让对方道歉的要求遭到了断然拒绝。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 abominably   

adv. 可恶地，可恨地，恶劣地

参考例句：

• From her own point of view Barbara had behaved abominably. 在她看来，芭芭拉的表现是恶劣的。
• He wanted to know how abominably they could behave towards him. 他希望能知道他们能用什么样的卑鄙手段来对付他。

11 chuckling   

轻声地笑( chuckle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I could hear him chuckling to himself as he read his book. 他看书时，我能听见他的轻声发笑。
• He couldn't help chuckling aloud. 他忍不住的笑了出来。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子

12 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

13 pretext   

n.借口，托词

参考例句：

• He used his headache as a pretext for not going to school.他借口头疼而不去上学。
• He didn't attend that meeting under the pretext of sickness.他以生病为借口，没参加那个会议。