FIVE, SIX, PICKING UP STICKS 7

VII
Poirot arrived home to be informed by George that a lady was waiting to see him.
“She is—ahem—a little nervous, sir,” said George.
Since the lady had given no name Poirot was at liberty to guess. He guessed wrong, for the
young woman who rose agitatedly¹ from the sofa as he entered was the late Mr. Morley’s secretary,
Miss Gladys Nevill.
“Oh, dear, M. Poirot. I am so sorry to worry you like this—and really I don’t know how I had
the courage to come—I’m afraid you’ll think it very bold of me—and I’m sure I don’t want to
take up your time—I know what time means to a busy professional man—but really I have been
so unhappy—only I daresay you will think it all a waste of time—”
Profiting by a long experience of the English people, Poirot suggested a cup of tea. Miss
Nevill’s reaction was all that could be hoped for.
“Well, really, M. Poirot, that’s very kind of you. Not that it’s so very long since breakfast, but
one can always do with a cup of tea, can’t one?”
Poirot, who could always do without one, assented² mendaciously³. George was instructed to this
effect, and in a miraculously⁴ short time Poirot and his visitor faced each other across a tea tray.
“I must apologize to you,” said Miss Nevill, regaining⁵ her aplomb⁶ under the influence of the
beverage⁷, “but as a matter of fact the inquest yesterday upset me a good deal.”
“I’m sure it must have done,” said Poirot kindly⁸.
“There was no question of my giving evidence, or anything like that. But I felt somebody ought
to go with Miss Morley. Mr. Reilly was there, of course—but I meant a woman. Besides, Miss
Morley doesn’t like Mr. Reilly. So I thought it was my duty to go.”
“That was very kind of you,” said Poirot encouragingly.
“Oh, no, I just felt I had to. You see, I have worked for Mr. Morley for quite a number of years
now—and the whole thing was a great shock to me—and of course the inquest made it worse—”
“I’m afraid it must have done.”
Miss Nevill leaned forward earnestly.
“But it’s all wrong, M. Poirot. It really is all wrong.”
“What is wrong, Mademoiselle?”
“Well, it just couldn’t have happened — not the way they make out — giving a patient an
overdose in injecting the gum, I mean.”
“You think not.”
“I’m sure about it. Occasionally patients do suffer ill effects, but that is because they are
physiologically⁹ unfit subjects—their heart action isn’t normal. But I’m sure that an overdose is a
very rare thing. You see practitioners¹⁰ get so into the habit of giving the regulation amount that it is
absolutely mechanical—they’d give the right dose automatically.”
Poirot nodded approvingly. He said:
“That is what I thought myself, yes.”
“It’s so standardized¹¹, you see. It’s not like a chemist who is making up different amounts the
whole time, or multiplying dosage where an error might creep in through inattention. Or a doctor
who writes a great many different prescriptions¹². But a dentist isn’t like that at all.”
Poirot asked:
“You did not ask to be allowed to make these observations in the Coroner’s Court?”
Gladys Nevill shook her head. She twisted her fingers uncertainly.
“You see,” she broke out at last, “I was afraid of—of making things worse. Of course I know
that Mr. Morley wouldn’t do such a thing—but it might make people think that he had done it
deliberately¹³.”
Poirot nodded.
Gladys Nevill said:
“That’s why I came to you, M. Poirot. Because with you it—it wouldn’t be official in any way.
But I do think somebody ought to know how—how unconvincing the whole thing is!”
“Nobody wants to know,” said Poirot.
She stared at him, puzzled.
Poirot said:
“I should like to know a little more about that telegram you received, summoning you away that
day.”
“Honestly, I don’t know what to think about that, M. Poirot. It does seem so queer. You see, it
must have been sent by someone who knew all about me—and Aunt—where she lived and
everything.”
“Yes, it would seem as though it must have been sent by one of your intimate friends, or by
someone who lived in the house and knew all about you.”
“None of my friends would do such a thing, M. Poirot.”
“You have no ideas yourself on the subject?”
The girl hesitated. She said slowly:
“Just at first, when I realized that Mr. Morley had shot himself, I wondered if he could possibly
have sent it.”
“You mean, out of consideration for you, to get you out of the way?”
The girl nodded.
“But that really seemed a fantastic idea, even if he had got the idea of suicide in his mind that
morning. It’s really very odd. Frank—my friend, you know—was quite absurd at first about it. He
accused me of wanting to go off for the day with somebody else—as though I would do such a
thing.”
“Is there somebody else?”
“No, of course there isn’t. But Frank has been so different lately—so moody¹⁴ and suspicious.
Really, you know, it was losing his job and not being able to get another. Just hanging about is so
bad for a man. I’ve been very worried about Frank.”
“He was upset, was he not, to find you had gone away that day?”
“Yes, you see, he came round to tell me he had got a new job—a marvellous job—ten pounds a
week. And he couldn’t wait. He wanted me to know right away. And I think he wanted Mr.
Morley to know, too, because he’d been very hurt at the way Mr. Morley didn’t appreciate him,
and he suspected Mr. Morley of trying to influence me against him.”
“Which was true, was it not?”
“Well, yes, it was, in a way! Of course, Frank has lost a good many jobs and he hasn’t been,
perhaps, what most people would call very steady. But it will be different now. I think one can do
so much by influence, don’t you, M. Poirot? If a man feels a woman expects a lot of him, he tries
to live up to her ideal of him.”
Poirot sighed. But he did not argue. He had heard many hundreds of women produce that same
argument, with the same blithe¹⁵ belief in the redeeming¹⁶ power of a woman’s love. Once in a
thousand times, he supposed, cynically¹⁷, it might be true.
He merely said:
“I should like to meet this friend of yours.”
“I’d love to have you meet him, M. Poirot. But just at present Sunday is his only free day. He’s
away in the country all the week, you see.”
“Ah, on the new job. What is the job, by the way?”
“Well, I don’t exactly know, M. Poirot. Something in the secretarial line, I imagine. Or some
government department. I know I have to send letters to Frank’s London address and they get
forwarded.”
“That is a little odd, is it not?”
“Well, I thought so—but Frank says it is often done nowadays.”
Poirot looked at her for a moment or two without speaking.
Then he said deliberately:
“Tomorrow is Sunday, is it not? Perhaps you would both give me the pleasure of lunching with
me—at Logan’s Corner House? I should like to discuss this sad business with you both.”
“Well—thank you, M. Poirot. I—yes, I’m sure we’d like to lunch with you very much.”

1 agitatedly   

动摇，兴奋； 勃然

参考例句：

• "Where's she waiting for me?" he asked agitatedly. 他慌忙问道：“在哪里等我？” 来自子夜部分
• His agitatedly ground goes accusatorial accountant. 他勃然大怒地去责问会计。

2 assented   

同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The judge assented to allow the prisoner to speak. 法官同意允许犯人申辩。
• "No," assented Tom, "they don't kill the women -- they're too noble. “对，”汤姆表示赞同地说，“他们不杀女人——真伟大！

3 mendaciously   

参考例句：

4 miraculously   

ad.奇迹般地

参考例句：

• He had been miraculously saved from almost certain death. 他奇迹般地从死亡线上获救。
• A schoolboy miraculously survived a 25 000-volt electric shock. 一名男学生在遭受2.5 万伏的电击后奇迹般地活了下来。

5 regaining   

复得( regain的现在分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地

参考例句：

• She was regaining consciousness now, but the fear was coming with her. 现在她正在恢发她的知觉，但是恐怖也就伴随着来了。
• She said briefly, regaining her will with a click. 她干脆地答道，又马上重新振作起精神来。

6 aplomb   

n.沉着，镇静

参考例句：

• Carried off the difficult situation with aplomb.镇静地应付了困难的局面。
• She performs the duties of a princess with great aplomb.她泰然自若地履行王妃的职责。

7 beverage   

n.(水，酒等之外的)饮料

参考例句：

• The beverage is often colored with caramel.这种饮料常用焦糖染色。
• Beer is a beverage of the remotest time.啤酒是一种最古老的饮料。

8 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

9 physiologically   

ad.生理上，在生理学上

参考例句：

• Therefore, the liver and gallbladder cannot be completely separated physiologically and pathologically. 因此，肝胆在生理和病理上不能完全分离。
• Therefore, the liver and gallbladder are closely related physiologically and pathologically. 因此，肝胆在生理和病理上紧密联系。

10 practitioners   

n.习艺者，实习者( practitioner的名词复数 )；从业者（尤指医师）

参考例句：

• one of the greatest practitioners of science fiction 最了不起的科幻小说家之一
• The technique is experimental, but the list of its practitioners is growing. 这种技术是试验性的，但是采用它的人正在增加。 来自辞典例句

11 standardized   

adj.标准化的

参考例句：

• We use standardized tests to measure scholastic achievement. 我们用标准化考试来衡量学生的学业成绩。
• The parts of an automobile are standardized. 汽车零件是标准化了的。

12 prescriptions   

药( prescription的名词复数 )； 处方； 开处方； 计划

参考例句：

• The hospital of traditional Chinese medicine installed a computer to fill prescriptions. 中医医院装上了电子计算机来抓药。
• Her main job was filling the doctor's prescriptions. 她的主要工作就是给大夫开的药方配药。

13 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

14 moody   

adj.心情不稳的，易怒的，喜怒无常的

参考例句：

• He relapsed into a moody silence.他又重新陷于忧郁的沉默中。
• I'd never marry that girl.She's so moody.我决不会和那女孩结婚的。她太易怒了。

15 blithe   

adj.快乐的，无忧无虑的

参考例句：

• Tonight,however,she was even in a blithe mood than usual.但是，今天晚上她比往常还要高兴。
• He showed a blithe indifference to her feelings.他显得毫不顾及她的感情。

16 redeeming   

补偿的，弥补的

参考例句：

• I found him thoroughly unpleasant, with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. 我觉得他一点也不讨人喜欢，没有任何可取之处。
• The sole redeeming feature of this job is the salary. 这份工作唯其薪水尚可弥补一切之不足。

17 cynically   

adv.爱嘲笑地，冷笑地

参考例句：

• "Holding down the receiver,'said Daisy cynically. “挂上话筒在讲。”黛西冷嘲热讽地说。 来自英汉文学 - 盖茨比
• The Democrats sensibly (if cynically) set about closing the God gap. 民主党在明智（有些讽刺）的减少宗教引起的问题。 来自互联网