Twenty-two I

Twenty-two I

Frances Cary, carrying her overnight bag, walked down Mandeville Road, chattering¹ with thefriend she had just met on the corner, towards the bulk of Borodene Mansions².
“Really, Frances, it’s like living in a prison block, that building. Wormwood Scrubs orsomething.”
“Nonsense, Eileen. I tell you, they’re frightfully comfortable, these flats. I’m very lucky andClaudia is a splendid person to share with—never bothers you. And she’s got a wonderful daily.
The flat’s really very nicely run.”
“Are there just the two of you? I forget. I thought you had a third girl?”
“Oh, well, she seems to have walked out on us.”
“You mean she doesn’t pay her rent?”
“Oh, I think the rent’s all right. I think she’s probably having some affair with a boyfriend.”
Eileen lost interest. Boyfriends were too much a matter of course.
“Where are you coming back from now?”
“Manchester. Private view was on. Great success.”
“Are you really going to Vienna next month?”
“Yes, I think so. It’s pretty well fixed³ up by now. Rather fun.”
“Wouldn’t it be awful if some of the pictures got stolen?”
“Oh, they’re all insured,” said Frances. “All the really valuable ones, anyway.”
“How did your friend Peter’s show go?”
“Not terribly well, I’m afraid. But there was quite a good review by the critic of The Artist, andthat counts a lot.”
Frances turned into Borodene Mansions, and her friend went on her way to her own small mewshouse farther down the road. Frances said “Good evening” to the porter, and went up in the lift tothe sixth floor. She walked along the passage, humming a little tune⁴ to herself.
She inserted her key in the door of the flat. The light in the hall was not on yet. Claudia was notdue back from the office for another hour and a half. But in the sitting room, the door of whichwas ajar, the light was on.
Frances said aloud: “Light’s on. That’s funny.”
She slipped out of her coat, dropped her overnight bag, pushed the sitting room door fartheropen and went in….
Then she stopped dead. Her mouth opened and then shut. She stiffened⁵ all over—her eyesstaring at the prone⁶ figure on the floor; then they rose slowly to the mirror on the wall thatreflected back at her her own horror-stricken face….
Then she drew a deep breath. The momentary⁷ paralysis⁸ over, she flung back her head andscreamed. Stumbling over her bag on the hall floor and kicking it aside, she ran out of the flat andalong the passage and beat frenziedly at the door of the next flat.
An elderly woman opened it.
“What on earth—”
“There’s someone dead—someone dead. And I think it’s someone I know…David Baker⁹. He’slying there on the floor…I think he’s stabbed…he must have been stabbed. There’s blood—bloodeverywhere.”
She began to sob¹⁰ hysterically¹¹. Miss Jacobs shoved a glass into her hand. “Stay there and drinkit.”
Frances sipped¹² obediently. Miss Jacobs went rapidly out of the door along the passage andthrough the open door from which the light was pouring out. The living room door was wide openand Miss Jacobs went straight through it.
She was not the kind of woman who screams. She stood just within the doorway¹³, her lips pursedhard together.
What she was looking at had a nightmarish quality. On the floor lay a handsome young man, hisarms flung wide, his chestnut¹⁴ hair falling on his shoulders. He wore a crimson¹⁵ velvet¹⁶ coat, and hiswhite shirt was dappled with blood….
She was aware with a start that there was a second figure with her in the room. A girl wasstanding pressed back against the wall, the great Harlequin above seeming to be leaping across thepainted sky.
The girl had a white woollen shift dress on, and her pale brown hair hung limp on either side ofher face. In her hand she was holding a kitchen knife.
Miss Jacobs stared at her and she stared back at Miss Jacobs.
Then she said in a quiet reflective voice, as though she was answering what someone had said toher:
“Yes, I’ve killed him…The blood got on my hands from the knife…I went into the bathroom towash it off—but you can’t really wash things like that off, can you? And then I came back in hereto see if it was really true…But it is…Poor David…But I suppose I had to do it.”
Shock forced unlikely words from Miss Jacobs. As she said them, she thought how ridiculousthey sounded!
“Indeed? Why did you have to do anything of the kind?”
“I don’t know…At least—I suppose I do—really. He was in great trouble. He sent for me—andI came…But I wanted to be free of him. I wanted to get away from him. I didn’t really love him.”
She laid the knife carefully on the table and sat down on a chair.
“It isn’t safe, is it?” she said. “To hate anyone…It isn’t safe because you never know what youmight do…Like Louise….”
Then she said quietly, “Hadn’t you better ring up the police?”
Obediently, Miss Jacobs dialled 999.

1 chattering   

n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The teacher told the children to stop chattering in class. 老师叫孩子们在课堂上不要叽叽喳喳讲话。
• I was so cold that my teeth were chattering. 我冷得牙齿直打战。

2 mansions   

n.宅第，公馆，大厦( mansion的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Fifth Avenue was boarded up where the rich had deserted their mansions. 第五大道上的富翁们已经出去避暑，空出的宅第都已锁好了门窗，钉上了木板。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Oh, the mansions, the lights, the perfume, the loaded boudoirs and tables! 啊，那些高楼大厦、华灯、香水、藏金收银的闺房还有摆满山珍海味的餐桌！ 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

3 fixed   

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。

4 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

5 stiffened   

加强的

参考例句：

• He leaned towards her and she stiffened at this invasion of her personal space. 他向她俯过身去，这种侵犯她个人空间的举动让她绷紧了身子。
• She stiffened with fear. 她吓呆了。

6 prone   

adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的

参考例句：

• Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
• He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。

7 momentary   

adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的

参考例句：

• We are in momentary expectation of the arrival of you.我们无时无刻不在盼望你的到来。
• I caught a momentary glimpse of them.我瞥了他们一眼。

8 paralysis   

n.麻痹(症)；瘫痪(症)

参考例句：

• The paralysis affects his right leg and he can only walk with difficulty.他右腿瘫痪步履维艰。
• The paralysis affects his right leg and he can only walk with difficulty.他右腿瘫痪步履维艰。

9 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

10 sob   

n.空间轨道的轰炸机；呜咽，哭泣

参考例句：

• The child started to sob when he couldn't find his mother.孩子因找不到他妈妈哭了起来。
• The girl didn't answer,but continued to sob with her head on the table.那个女孩不回答，也不抬起头来。她只顾低声哭着。

11 hysterically   

ad. 歇斯底里地

参考例句：

• The children giggled hysterically. 孩子们歇斯底里地傻笑。
• She sobbed hysterically, and her thin body was shaken. 她歇斯底里地抽泣着，她瘦弱的身体哭得直颤抖。

12 sipped   

v.小口喝，呷，抿( sip的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He sipped his coffee pleasurably. 他怡然地品味着咖啡。
• I sipped the hot chocolate she had made. 我小口喝着她调制的巧克力热饮。 来自辞典例句

13 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

14 chestnut   

n.栗树，栗子

参考例句：

• We have a chestnut tree in the bottom of our garden.我们的花园尽头有一棵栗树。
• In summer we had tea outdoors,under the chestnut tree.夏天我们在室外栗树下喝茶。

15 crimson   

n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色

参考例句：

• She went crimson with embarrassment.她羞得满脸通红。
• Maple leaves have turned crimson.枫叶已经红了。

16 velvet   

n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的

参考例句：

• This material feels like velvet.这料子摸起来像丝绒。
• The new settlers wore the finest silk and velvet clothing.新来的移民穿着最华丽的丝绸和天鹅绒衣服。