Chapter Two

Two
B efore catching¹ her train back to St. Mary Mead² (Wednesday special cheap day return) Miss Marple, in a precise andbusinesslike fashion, collected certain data.
“Carrie Louise and I have corresponded after a fashion, but it has largely been a matter of Christmas cards orcalendars. It’s just the facts I should like, Ruth dear—and also some idea as to whom exactly I shall encounter in thehousehold at Stonygates.”
“Well, you know about Carrie Louise’s marriage to Gulbrandsen. There were no children and Carrie Louise tookthat very much to heart. Gulbrandsen was a widower³, and had three grown-up sons. Eventually they adopted a child.
Pippa, they called her—a lovely little creature. She was just two years old when they got her.”
“Where did she come from? What was her background?”
“Really, now, Jane, I can’t remember—if I ever heard, that is. An adoption⁴ society, maybe? Or some unwantedchild that Gulbrandsen had heard about. Why? Do you think it’s important?”
“Well, one always likes to know the background, so to speak. But please go on.”
“The next thing that happened was that Carrie Louise found that she was going to have a baby after all. Iunderstand from doctors that that quite often happens.”
Miss Marple nodded.
“I believe so.”
“Anyway, it did happen, and in a funny kind of way, Carrie Louise was almost disconcerted, if you can understandwhat I mean. Earlier, of course, she’d have been wild with joy. As it was, she’d given such a devoted⁵ love to Pippathat she felt quite apologetic to Pippa for putting her nose out of joint⁶, so to speak. And then Mildred, when shearrived, was really a very unattractive child. Took after the Gulbrandsens—who were solid and worthy—but definitelyhomely. Carrie Louise was always so anxious to make no difference between the adopted child and her own child thatI think she rather tended to overindulge Pippa and pass over Mildred. Sometimes I think that Mildred resented it.
However I didn’t see them often. Pippa grew up a very beautiful girl and Mildred grew up a plain one. EricGulbrandsen died when Mildred was fifteen and Pippa eighteen. At twenty Pippa married an Italian, the Marchese diSan Severiano—oh quite a genuine Marchese—not an adventurer, or anything like that. She was by way of being anheiress (naturally, or San Severiano wouldn’t have married her—you know what Italians are!). Gulbrandsen left anequal sum in trust for both his own and his adopted daughter. Mildred married a Canon Strete—a nice man but givento colds in the head. About ten or fifteen years older than she was. Quite a happy marriage, I believe.
“He died a year ago and Mildred has come back to Stonygates to live with her mother. But that’s getting on toofast; I’ve skipped a marriage or two. I’ll go back to them. Pippa married her Italian. Carrie Louise was quite pleasedabout the marriage. Guido had beautiful manners and was very handsome, and he was a fine sportsman. A year laterPippa had a daughter and died in childbirth. It was a terrible tragedy and Guido San Severiano was very cut up. CarrieLouise went to and fro between Italy and England a good deal and it was in Rome that she met Johnnie Restarick andmarried him. The Marchese married again and he was quite willing for his little daughter to be brought up in Englandby her exceedingly wealthy grandmother. So they all settled down at Stonygates, Johnnie Restarick and Carrie Louise,and Johnnie’s two boys, Alexis and Stephen (Johnnie’s first wife was a Russian), and the baby Gina. Mildred marriedher Canon soon afterwards. Then came all this business of Johnnie and the Yugoslavian woman and the divorce. Theboys still came to Stonygates for their holidays and were devoted to Carrie Louise and then in 1938, I think it was,Carrie Louise married Lewis.”
Mrs. Van Rydock paused for breath.
“You’ve not met Lewis?”
Miss Marple shook her head.
“No, I think I last saw Carrie Louise in 1928. She very sweetly took me to Covent Garden—to the Opera.”
“Oh yes. Well, Lewis was a very suitable person for her to marry. He was the head of a very celebrated⁷ firm ofchartered accountants. I think he met her first over some question of the finances of the Gulbrandsen Trust and theCollege. He was well off, just about her own age, and a man of absolutely upright life. But he was a crank. He wasabsolutely rabid on the subject of the redemption of young criminals.”
Ruth Van Rydock sighed.
“As I said just now, Jane, there are fashions in philanthropy. In Gulbrandsen’s time it was education. Before that itwas soup kitchens—”
Miss Marple nodded.
“Yes, indeed. Port wine jelly and calf’s head broth⁸ taken to the sick. My mother used to do it.”
“That’s right. Feeding the body gave way to feeding the mind. Everyone went mad on educating the lower classes.
Well, that’s passed. Soon, I expect, the fashionable thing to do will be not to educate your children, preserve theirilliteracy carefully until they’re eighteen. Anyway the Gulbrandsen Trust and Education Fund was in some difficultiesbecause the state was taking over its functions. Then Lewis came along with his passionate⁹ enthusiasm aboutconstructive training for juvenile¹⁰ delinquents¹¹. His attention had been drawn¹² to the subject first in the course of hisprofession—auditing accounts where ingenious young men had perpetrated frauds. He was more and more convincedthat juvenile delinquents were not subnormal—that they had excellent brains and abilities and only needed the rightdirection.”
“There is something in that,” said Miss Marple. “But it is not entirely¹³ true. I remember—”
She broke off and glanced at her watch.
“Oh dear—I mustn’t miss the 6:30.”
Ruth Van Rydock said urgently:
“And you will go to Stonygates?”
Gathering¹⁴ up her shopping bag and her umbrella Miss Marple said:
“If Carrie Louise asks me—”
“She will ask you. You’ll go? Promise, Jane?”
Jane Marple promised.

1 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

2 mead   

n.蜂蜜酒

参考例句：

• He gave me a cup of mead.他给我倒了杯蜂蜜酒。
• He drank some mead at supper.晚饭时他喝了一些蜂蜜酒。

3 widower   

n.鳏夫

参考例句：

• George was a widower with six young children.乔治是个带著六个小孩子的鳏夫。
• Having been a widower for many years,he finally decided to marry again.丧偶多年后，他终于决定二婚了。

4 adoption   

n.采用，采纳，通过；收养

参考例句：

• An adoption agency had sent the boys to two different families.一个收养机构把他们送给两个不同的家庭。
• The adoption of this policy would relieve them of a tremendous burden.采取这一政策会给他们解除一个巨大的负担。

5 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

6 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

7 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

8 broth   

n.原(汁)汤(鱼汤、肉汤、菜汤等)

参考例句：

• Every cook praises his own broth.厨子总是称赞自己做的汤。
• Just a bit of a mouse's dropping will spoil a whole saucepan of broth.一粒老鼠屎败坏一锅汤。

9 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

10 juvenile   

n.青少年，少年读物；adj.青少年的，幼稚的

参考例句：

• For a grown man he acted in a very juvenile manner.身为成年人，他的行为举止显得十分幼稚。
• Juvenile crime is increasing at a terrifying rate.青少年犯罪正在以惊人的速度增长。

11 delinquents   

n.（尤指青少年）有过失的人，违法的人( delinquent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The robbery was committed by a group of delinquents. 那起抢劫案是一群青少年干的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There is today general agreement that juvenile delinquents are less responsible than older offenders. 目前人们普遍认为青少年罪犯比成人罪犯的责任小些。 来自辞典例句

12 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

13 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

14 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。