PART FOUR DECEMBER 25TH

PART FOUR DECEMBER 25TH

In the bright sun of Christmas noon, Poirot walked in the gardens of Gorston Hall. The Hall itself
was a large solidly built house with no special architectural pretensions¹.
Here, on the south side, was a broad terrace flanked with a hedge of clipped yew². Little plants
grew in the interstices of the stone flags and at intervals³ along the terrace there were stone sinks
arranged as miniature gardens.
Poirot surveyed them with benign⁴ approval. He murmured to himself:
“C’est bien imaginé, ça!”
In the distance he caught sight of two figures going towards an ornamental⁵ sheet of water
some three hundred yards away. Pilar was easily recognizable as one of the figures, and he thought
at first the other was Stephen Farr, then he saw that the man with Pilar was Harry⁶ Lee. Harry
seemed very attentive⁷ to his attractive niece. At intervals he flung his head back and laughed, then
bent⁸ once more attentively⁹ towards her.
“Assuredly, there is one who does not mourn,” Poirot murmured to himself.
A soft sound behind him made him turn. Magdalene Lee was standing¹⁰ there. She, too, was
looking at the retreating figures of the man and girl. She turned her head and smiled enchantingly
at Poirot. She said:
“It’s such a glorious sunny day! One can hardly believe in all the horrors of last night, can
one, M. Poirot?”
“It is difficult, truly, madame.”
Magdalene sighed.
“I’ve never been mixed up in tragedy before. I’ve—I’ve really only just grown up. I stayed a
child too long, I think—That’s not a good thing to do.”
Again she sighed. She said:
“Pilar, now, seems so extraordinarily¹¹ self-possessed—I suppose it’s the Spanish blood. It’s
all very odd, isn’t it?”
“What is odd, madame?”
“The way she turned up here, out of the blue!”
Poirot said:
“I have learned that Mr. Lee had been searching for her for some time. He had been in
correspondence with the Consulate¹² in Madrid and with the vice-consul at Aliquara, where her
mother died.”
“He was very secretive about it all,” said Magdalene. “Alfred knew nothing about it. No more
did Lydia.”
“Ah!” said Poirot.
Magdalene came a little nearer to him. He could smell the delicate perfume she used.
“You know, M. Poirot, there’s some story connected with Jennifer’s husband, Estravados. He
died quite soon after the marriage, and there’s some mystery about it. Alfred and Lydia know. I
believe it was something—rather disgraceful. . . .”
“That,” said Poirot, “is indeed sad.”
Magdalene said:
“My husband feels—and I agree with him—that the family ought to have been told more
about the girl’s antecedents. After all, if her father was a criminal—”
She paused, but Hercule Poirot said nothing. He seemed to be admiring such beauties of
nature as could be seen in the winter season in the grounds of Gorston Hall.
Magdalene said:
“I can’t help feeling that the manner of my father-in-law’s death was somehow significant. It
—it was so very unEnglish.”
Hercule Poirot turned slowly. His grave eyes met hers in innocent inquiry¹³.
“Ah,” he said. “The Spanish touch, you think?”
“Well, they are cruel, aren’t they?” Magdalene spoke¹⁴ with an effect of childish appeal. “All
those bullfights and things!”
Hercule Poirot said pleasantly:
“You are saying that in your opinion Señorita Estravados cut her grandfather’s throat?”
“Oh no, M. Poirot!” Magdalene was vehement¹⁵. She was shocked. “I never said anything of
the kind! Indeed I didn’t!”
“Well,” said Poirot. “Perhaps you did not.”
“But I do think that she is — well, a suspicious person. The furtive¹⁶ way she picked up
something from the floor of that room last night, for instance.”
A different note crept into Hercule Poirot’s voice. He said sharply:
“She picked up something from the floor last night?”
Magdalene nodded. Her childish mouth curved spitefully.
“Yes, as soon as we got into the room. She gave a quick glance round to see if anyone was
looking, and then pounced¹⁷ on it. But the superintendent¹⁸ man saw her, I’m glad to say, and made
her give it up.”
“What was it that she picked up, do you know, madame?”
“No. I wasn’t near enough to see.” Magdalene’s voice held regret. “It was something quite
small.”
Poirot frowned to himself.
“It is interesting, that,” he murmured to himself.
Magdalene said quickly:
“Yes, I thought you ought to know about it. After all, we don’t know anything about Pilar’s
upbringing and what her life has been like. Alfred is always so suspicious and dear Lydia is so
casual.” Then she murmured: “Perhaps I’d better go and see if I can help Lydia in any way. There
may be letters to write.”
She left him with a smile of satisfied malice¹⁹ on her lips.
Poirot remained lost in thought on the terrace.

1 pretensions   

自称( pretension的名词复数 )； 自命不凡； 要求； 权力

参考例句：

• The play mocks the pretensions of the new middle class. 这出戏讽刺了新中产阶级的装模作样。
• The city has unrealistic pretensions to world-class status. 这个城市不切实际地标榜自己为国际都市。

2 yew   

n.紫杉属树木

参考例句：

• The leaves of yew trees are poisonous to cattle.紫杉树叶会令牛中毒。
• All parts of the yew tree are poisonous,including the berries.紫杉的各个部分都有毒，包括浆果。

3 intervals   

n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息

参考例句：

• The forecast said there would be sunny intervals and showers. 预报间晴，有阵雨。
• Meetings take place at fortnightly intervals. 每两周开一次会。

4 benign   

adj.善良的，慈祥的；良性的，无危险的

参考例句：

• The benign weather brought North America a bumper crop.温和的气候给北美带来大丰收。
• Martha is a benign old lady.玛莎是个仁慈的老妇人。

5 ornamental   

adj.装饰的；作装饰用的；n.装饰品；观赏植物

参考例句：

• The stream was dammed up to form ornamental lakes.溪流用水坝拦挡起来,形成了装饰性的湖泊。
• The ornamental ironwork lends a touch of elegance to the house.铁艺饰件为房子略添雅致。

6 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。

7 attentive   

adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的

参考例句：

• She was very attentive to her guests.她对客人招待得十分周到。
• The speaker likes to have an attentive audience.演讲者喜欢注意力集中的听众。

8 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

9 attentively   

adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神

参考例句：

• She listened attentively while I poured out my problems. 我倾吐心中的烦恼时，她一直在注意听。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She listened attentively and set down every word he said. 她专心听着，把他说的话一字不漏地记下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 standing   

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。

11 extraordinarily   

adv.格外地；极端地

参考例句：

• She is an extraordinarily beautiful girl.她是个美丽非凡的姑娘。
• The sea was extraordinarily calm that morning.那天清晨，大海出奇地宁静。

12 consulate   

n.领事馆

参考例句：

• The Spanish consulate is the large white building opposite the bank.西班牙领事馆是银行对面的那栋高大的白色建筑物。
• The American consulate was a magnificent edifice in the centre of Bordeaux.美国领事馆是位于波尔多市中心的一座宏伟的大厦。

13 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

14 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

15 vehement   

adj.感情强烈的；热烈的；(人)有强烈感情的

参考例句：

• She made a vehement attack on the government's policies.她强烈谴责政府的政策。
• His proposal met with vehement opposition.他的倡导遭到了激烈的反对。

16 furtive   

adj.鬼鬼崇崇的，偷偷摸摸的

参考例句：

• The teacher was suspicious of the student's furtive behaviour during the exam.老师怀疑这个学生在考试时有偷偷摸摸的行为。
• His furtive behaviour aroused our suspicion.他鬼鬼祟祟的行为引起了我们的怀疑。

17 pounced   

v.突然袭击( pounce的过去式和过去分词 )；猛扑；一眼看出；抓住机会（进行抨击）

参考例句：

• As soon as I opened my mouth, the teacher pounced on me. 我一张嘴就被老师抓住呵斥了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The police pounced upon the thief. 警察向小偷扑了过去。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

18 superintendent   

n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长

参考例句：

• He was soon promoted to the post of superintendent of Foreign Trade.他很快就被擢升为对外贸易总监。
• He decided to call the superintendent of the building.他决定给楼房管理员打电话。

19 malice   

n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋

参考例句：

• I detected a suggestion of malice in his remarks.我觉察出他说的话略带恶意。
• There was a strong current of malice in many of his portraits.他的许多肖像画中都透着一股强烈的怨恨。