THIRTEEN, FOURTEEN, MAIDS ARE COURTING 1

THIRTEEN, FOURTEEN, MAIDS ARE COURTING
I
“M. Reilly, is it not?”
The young Irishman started as the voice spoke¹ at his elbow.
He turned.
Standing² next to him at the counter of the Shipping³ Co. was a small man with large moustaches
and an egg-shaped head.
“You do not remember me, perhaps?”
“You do yourself an injustice⁴, M. Poirot. You’re not a man that’s easily forgotten.”
He turned back to speak to the clerk behind the counter who was waiting.
The voice at his elbow murmured:
“You are going abroad for a holiday?”
“It’s not a holiday I’m taking. And you yourself, M. Poirot? You’re not turning your back on
this country, I hope?”
“Sometimes,” said Hercule Poirot, “I return for a short while to my own country—Belgium.”
“I’m going farther than that,” said Reilly. “It’s America for me.” He added: “And I don’t think
I’ll be coming back, either.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, Mr. Reilly. You are, then, abandoning your practice in Queen Charlotte
Street.”
“If you’d say it was abandoning me, you’d be nearer the mark.”
“Indeed? That is very sad.”
“It doesn’t worry me. When I think of the debts I shall leave behind me unpaid⁵, I’m a happy
man.”
He grinned engagingly.
“It’s not I who’ll be shooting myself because of money troubles. Leave them behind you, I say,
and start afresh. I’ve got my qualifications and they’re good ones if I say so myself.”
Poirot murmured:
“I saw Miss Morley the other day.”
“Was that a pleasure to you? I’d say it was not. A more sour-faced woman never lived. I’ve
often wondered what she’d be like drunk—but that’s what no one will ever know.”
Poirot said:
“Did you agree with the verdict⁶ of the Coroner’s Court on your partner’s death?”
“I did not,” said Reilly emphatically.
“You don’t think he made a mistake in the injection?”
Reilly said:
“If Morley injected that Greek with the amount that they say he did, he was either drunk or else
he meant to kill the man. And I’ve never seen Morley drink.”
“So you think it was deliberate⁷?”
“I’d not like to be saying that. It’s a grave accusation⁸ to be making. Truly now, I don’t believe
it.”
“There must be some explanation.”
“There must indeed—but I’ve not thought of it yet.”
Poirot said:
“When did you last actually see Mr. Morley alive?”
“Let me see now. It’s a long time after to be asking me a thing like that. It would be the night
before—about a quarter to seven.”
“You didn’t see him on the actual day of the murder?”
Reilly shook his head.
“You are sure?” Poirot persisted⁹.
“Oh, I’d not say that. But I don’t remember—”
“You did not, for instance, go up to his room about eleven thirty five when he had a patient
there?”
“You’re right now. I did. There was a technical question I had to ask him about some
instruments I was ordering. They’d rung me up about it. But I was only there for a minute, so it
slipped my memory. He had a patient there at the time.”
Poirot nodded. He said:
“There is another question I always meant to ask you. Your patient, Mr. Raikes, cancelled his
appointment by walking out. What did you do during that half hour’s leisure?”
“What I always do when I have any leisure. Mixed myself a drink. And as I’ve been telling you,
I put through a telephone call and ran up to see Morley for a minute.”
Poirot said:
“And I also understand that you had no patient from half past twelve to one after Mr. Barnes
left. When did he leave, by the way?”
“Oh! Just after half past twelve.”
“And what did you do then?”
“The same as before. Mixed myself another drink!”
“And went up to see Morley again?”
Mr. Reilly smiled.
“Are you meaning did I go up and shoot him? I’ve told you already, long ago, that I did not. But
you’ve only my word for it.”
Poirot said:
“What did you think of the house-parlourmaid, Agnes?”
Reilly stared:
“Now that’s a funny question to be asking.”
“But I should like to know.”
“I’ll answer you. I didn’t think about her. Georgina kept a strict eye on the maids—and quite
right too. The girl never looked my way once—which was bad taste on her part.”
“I have a feeling,” said Hercule Poirot, “that that girl knows something.”
He looked inquiringly at Mr. Reilly. The latter smiled and shook his head.
“Don’t ask me,” he said. “I know nothing about it. I can’t help you at all.”
He gathered up the tickets which were lying in front of him and went off with a nod and a smile.
Poirot explained to a disillusioned¹⁰ clerk that he would not make up his mind about that cruise¹¹ to
the Northern Capitals after all.

1 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。

2 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。

3 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

4 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。

5 unpaid   

adj.未付款的，无报酬的

参考例句：

• Doctors work excessive unpaid overtime.医生过度加班却无报酬。
• He's doing a month's unpaid work experience with an engineering firm.他正在一家工程公司无偿工作一个月以获得工作经验。

6 verdict   

n.裁决，结论，定论，判断

参考例句：

• The verdict of the jury was given in his favour.陪审团作出了对他有利的结论。
• Not satisfied with the verdict,they decided to make an appeal.他们不服判决，决定申诉。

7 deliberate   

adj.故意的，深思熟虑的；v.仔细考虑

参考例句：

• You should deliberate over the question before you respond to it.回答问题之前你应该慎重考虑。
• His actions were clearly the result of deliberate calculation.他的行动显然是精心策划过的。

8 accusation   

n.控告，指责，谴责

参考例句：

• I was furious at his making such an accusation.我对他的这种责备非常气愤。
• She knew that no one would believe her accusation.她知道没人会相信她的指控。

9 persisted   

坚持( persist的过去式和过去分词 )； 维持； 保持； 持续存在

参考例句：

• They persisted in going there in spite of the bad weather. 尽管天气很坏，他们还是坚持去那里。
• She persisted that she was strong enough to go back to work. 她反复地说她身体已经好了，可以去上班了。

10 disillusioned   

a.不再抱幻想的，大失所望的，幻想破灭的

参考例句：

• I soon became disillusioned with the job. 我不久便对这个工作不再抱幻想了。
• Many people who are disillusioned in reality assimilate life to a dream. 许多对现实失望的人把人生比作一场梦。

11 cruise   

v.巡航，航游，缓慢巡行；n.海上航游

参考例句：

• They went on a cruise to Tenerife.他们乘船去特纳利夫岛。
• She wants to cruise the canals of France in a barge.她想乘驳船游览法国的运河。