1B efore Mrs. Serrocold could say anything, her husband came in from the hall carrying some open letters in his hand.
Lewis Serrocold was a short man, not particularly impressive in appearance, but with a personality thatimmediately marked him out. Ruth had once said of him that he was more like a dynamo than a human being. Heusually concentrated entirely1 on what was immediately occupying his attention and paid no attention to the objects orpersons who were surrounding it.
“A bad blow, dearest,” he said. “That boy, Jackie Flint. Back at his tricks again. And I really did think he meant togo straight this time if he got a proper chance. He was most earnest about it. You know we found he’d always beenkeen on railways—and both Maverick2 and I thought that if he got a job on the railways he’d stick to it and make good.
But it’s the same story. Petty thieving from the parcels office. Not even stuff he could want or sell. That shows that itmust be psychological. We haven’t really got to the root of the trouble. But I’m not giving up.”
“Lewis—this is my old friend, Jane Marple.”
“Oh, how d’you do,” said Mr. Serrocold absently. “So glad—they’ll prosecute3, of course. A nice lad, too, not toomany brains but a really nice boy. Unspeakable home he came from. I—”
He suddenly broke off, and the dynamo was switched onto the guest.
“Why, Miss Marple, I’m so delighted you’ve come to stay with us for a while. It will make such a great differenceto Caroline to have a friend of old days with whom she can exchange memories. She has, in many ways, a grim timehere—so much sadness in the stories of these poor children. We do hope you’ll stay with us a very long time.”
Miss Marple felt the magnetism4 and realised how attractive it would have been to her friend. That Lewis Serrocoldwas a man who would always put causes before people she did not doubt for a moment. It might have irritated somewomen, but not Carrie Louise.
Lewis Serrocold sorted out another letter.
“At any rate we’ve some good news. This is from the Wiltshire and Somerset Bank. Young Morris is doingextremely well. They’re thoroughly5 satisfied with him and, in fact, are promoting him next month. I always knew thatall he needed was responsibility—that, and a thorough grasp of the handling of money and what it means.”
He turned to Miss Marple.
“Half these boys don’t know what money is. It represents to them going to the pictures or to the dogs, or buyingcigarettes—and they’re clever with figures and find it exciting to juggle6 them round. Well, I believe in—what shall Isay?—rubbing their noses in the stuff—train them in accountancy, in figures—show them the whole inner romance ofmoney, so to speak. Give them skill and then responsibility—let them handle it officially. Our greatest successes havebeen that way—only two out of thirty-eight have let us down. One’s head cashier in a firm of druggists—a reallyresponsible position—”
He broke off to say: “Tea’s in, dearest,” to his wife.
“I thought we were having it here. I told Jolly.”
“No, it’s in the Hall. The others are there.”
“I thought they were all going to be out.”
Carrie Louise linked her arm through Miss Marple’s and they went into the Great Hall. Tea seemed a ratherincongruous meal in its surroundings. The tea things were piled haphazard7 on a tray—while utility cups mixed withthe remnants of what had been Rockingham and Spode tea services. There was a loaf of bread, two pots of jam, andsome cheap and unwholesome-looking cakes.
A plump middle-aged8 woman with grey hair sat behind the tea table and Mrs. Serrocold said:
“This is Mildred, Jane. My daughter Mildred. You haven’t seen her since she was a tiny girl.”
Mildred Strete was the person most in tune9 with the house that Miss Marple had so far seen. She looked prosperousand dignified10. She had married late in her thirties a Canon of the Church of England and was now a widow. Shelooked exactly like a Canon’s widow, respectable and slightly dull. She was a plain woman with a large unexpressiveface and dull eyes. She had been, Miss Marple reflected, a very plain little girl.
“And this is Wally Hudd—Gina’s husband.”
Wally was a big young man, with hair brushed up on his head and a sulky expression. He nodded awkwardly andwent on cramming11 cake into his mouth.
Presently Gina came in with Stephen Restarick. They were both very animated12.
“Gina’s got a wonderful idea for that backcloth,” said Stephen. “You know, Gina, you’ve got a very definite flairfor theatrical14 designing.”
Gina laughed and looked pleased. Edgar Lawson came in and sat down by Lewis Serrocold. When Gina spoke15 tohim, he made a pretence16 of not answering.
Miss Marple found it all a little bewildering and was glad to go to her room and lie down after tea.
There were more people still at dinner, a young Doctor Maverick who was either a psychiatrist17 or a psychologist—Miss Marple was rather hazy18 about the difference—and whose conversation, dealing19 almost entirely with the jargon20 ofhis trade, was practically unintelligible21 to her. There were also two spectacled young men who held posts on theteaching side and a Mr. Baumgarten who was an occupational therapist and three intensely bashful youths who weredoing their “house guest” week. One of them, a fair-haired lad with very blue eyes was, Gina informed her in awhisper, the expert with the “cosh.”
The meal was not a particularly appetizing one. It was indifferently cooked and indifferently served. A variety ofcostumes was worn. Miss Bellever wore a high black dress, Mildred Strete wore an evening dress and a woollencardigan over it. Carrie Louise had on a short dress of grey wool—Gina was resplendent in a kind of peasant getup.
Wally had not changed, nor had Stephen Restarick, Edgar Lawson had on a neat, dark blue suit. Lewis Serrocold worethe conventional dinner jacket. He ate very little and hardly seemed to notice what was on his plate.
After dinner Lewis Serrocold and Dr. Maverick went away to the latter’s office. The occupational therapist and theschoolmasters went away to some lair13 of their own. The three “cases” went back to the college. Gina and Stephenwent to the theatre to discuss Gina’s idea for a set. Mildred knitted an indeterminate garment and Miss Bellever darnedsocks. Wally sat in a chair gently tilted22 backwards23 and stared into space. Carrie Louise and Miss Marple talked aboutold days. The conversation seemed strangely unreal.
Edgar Lawson alone seemed unable to find a niche24. He sat down and then got up restlessly.
“I wonder if I ought to go to Mr. Serrocold,” he said rather loudly. “He may need me.”
Carrie Louise said gently, “Oh, I don’t think so. He was going to talk over one or two points with Dr. Maverick thisevening.”
“Then I certainly won’t butt25 in! I shouldn’t dream of going where I wasn’t wanted. I’ve already wasted time todaygoing down to the station when Mrs. Hudd meant to go herself.”
“She ought to have told you,” said Carrie Louise. “But I think she just decided26 at the last moment.”
“You do realise, Mrs. Serrocold, that she made me look a complete fool! A complete fool!”
“No, no,” said Carrie Louise, smiling. “You mustn’t have these ideas.”
“I know I’m not needed or wanted … I’m perfectly27 aware of that. If things had been different—if I’d had myproper place in life it would be very different. Very different indeed. It’s no fault of mine that I haven’t got my properplace in life.”
“Now, Edgar,” said Carrie Louise. “Don’t work yourself up about nothing. Jane thinks it was very kind of you tomeet her. Gina always has these sudden impulses—she didn’t mean to upset you.”
“Oh yes, she did. It was done on purpose—to humiliate28 me—”
“Oh Edgar—”
“You don’t know half of what’s going on, Mrs. Serrocold. Well, I won’t say anymore now except good night.”
Edgar went out shutting the door with a slam behind him.
Miss Bellever snorted:
“Atrocious manners.”
“He’s so sensitive,” said Carrie Louise vaguely29.
Mildred Strete clicked her needles and said sharply:
“He really is a most odious30 young man. You shouldn’t put up with such behavior, Mother.”
“Lewis says he can’t help it.”
Mildred said sharply:
“Everyone can help behaving rudely. Of course I blame Gina very much. She’s so completely scatterbrained ineverything she undertakes. She does nothing but make trouble. One day she encourages the young man and the nextday she snubs him. What can you expect?”
Wally Hudd spoke for the first time that evening.
He said:
“That guy’s crackers31. That’s all there is to it! Crackers!”
2In her bedroom that night, Miss Marple tried to review the pattern of Stonygates, but it was as yet too confused. Therewere currents and crosscurrents here—but whether they could account for Ruth Van Rydock’s uneasiness it wasimpossible to tell. It did not seem to Miss Marple that Carrie Louise was affected32 in any way by what was going onround her. Stephen was in love with Gina. Gina might or might not be in love with Stephen. Walter Hudd was clearlynot enjoying himself. These were incidents that might and did occur in all places and at most times. There was,unfortunately, nothing exceptional about them. They ended in the divorce court and everybody hopefully started again—when fresh tangles33 were created. Mildred Strete was clearly jealous of Gina and disliked her. That, Miss Marplethought, was very natural.
She thought over what Ruth Van Rydock had told her. Carrie Louise’s disappointment at not having a child—theadoption of little Pippa—and then the discovery that, after all, a child was on the way.
“Often happens like that,” Miss Marple’s doctor had told her. “Relief of tension, maybe, and then Nature can do itswork.”
He had added that it was usually hard lines on the adopted child.
But that had not been so in this case. Both Gulbrandsen and his wife had adored little Pippa. She had made herplace too firmly in their hearts to be lightly set aside. Gulbrandsen was already a father. Paternity meant nothing newto him. Carrie Louise’s maternal34 yearnings had been assuaged35 by Pippa. Her pregnancy36 had been uncomfortable andthe actual birth difficult and prolonged. Possibly Carrie Louise, who had never cared for reality, did not enjoy her firstbrush with it.
There remained two little girls growing up, one pretty and amusing, the other plain and dull. Which again, MissMarple thought, was quite natural. For when people adopt a baby girl, they choose a pretty one. And though Mildredmight have been lucky and taken after the Martins who had produced handsome Ruth and dainty Carrie Louise,Nature elected that she should take after the Gulbrandsens who were large and stolid37 and uncompromisingly plain.
Moreover Carrie Louise was determined38 that the adopted child should never feel her position and in making sure ofthis she was overindulgent to Pippa and sometimes less than fair to Mildred.
Pippa had married and gone away to Italy, and Mildred, for a time, had been the only daughter of the house. Butthen Pippa had died and Carrie Louise had brought Pippa’s baby back to Stonygates and once more Mildred had beenout of it. There had been the new marriage—the Restarick boys. In 1934 Mildred had married Canon Strete, ascholarly antiquarian about ten or fifteen years older, and had gone away to live in the south of England. Presumablyshe had been happy—but one did not really know. There had been no children. And now here she was, back again inthe same house where she had been brought up. And once again, Miss Marple thought, not particularly happy in it.
Gina, Stephen, Wally, Mildred, Miss Bellever who liked an ordered routine and was unable to enforce it. LewisSerrocold, who was clearly blissfully and wholeheartedly happy, an idealist able to translate his ideals into practicalmeasures. In none of these personalities39 did Miss Marple find what Ruth’s words had led her to believe she might find.
Carrie Louise seemed secure, remote at the heart of the whirlpool—as she had been all her life. What then, in thatatmosphere, had Ruth felt to be wrong …? Did she, Jane Marple, feel it also?
What of the outer personalities of the whirlpool—the occupational therapists, the schoolmasters, earnest, harmlessyoung men, confident young Dr. Maverick, the three pink-faced, innocent-eyed young delinquents—Edgar Lawson….
And here, just before she fell asleep, Miss Marple’s thoughts stopped and revolved40 speculatively41 round the figureof Edgar Lawson. Edgar Lawson reminded her of someone or something. There was something a little wrong aboutEdgar Lawson—perhaps more than a little. Edgar Lawson was maladjusted—that was the phrase, wasn’t it? But surelythat didn’t, and couldn’t, touch Carrie Louise?
Mentally, Miss Marple shook her head.
What worried her was something more than that.
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1
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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maverick
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| adj.特立独行的；不遵守传统的；n.持异议者，自行其是者 | |
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prosecute
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| vt.告发；进行；vi.告发，起诉，作检察官 | |
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4
magnetism
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| n.磁性，吸引力，磁学 | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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6
juggle
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| v.变戏法，纂改，欺骗，同时做；n.玩杂耍，纂改，花招 | |
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7
haphazard
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| adj.无计划的，随意的，杂乱无章的 | |
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middle-aged
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| adj.中年的 | |
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tune
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| n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整 | |
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10
dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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cramming
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| n.塞满，填鸭式的用功v.塞入( cram的现在分词 )；填塞；塞满；（为考试而）死记硬背功课 | |
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animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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13
lair
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| n.野兽的巢穴；躲藏处 | |
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14
theatrical
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| adj.剧场的，演戏的；做戏似的，做作的 | |
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15
spoke
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| 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 | |
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pretence
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| n.假装，作假；借口，口实；虚伪；虚饰 | |
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psychiatrist
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| n.精神病专家；精神病医师 | |
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hazy
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| adj.有薄雾的，朦胧的；不肯定的，模糊的 | |
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dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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jargon
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| n.术语，行话 | |
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unintelligible
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| adj.无法了解的，难解的，莫明其妙的 | |
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tilted
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| v. 倾斜的 | |
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backwards
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| adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地 | |
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niche
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| n.壁龛；合适的职务(环境、位置等) | |
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butt
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| n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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humiliate
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| v.使羞辱，使丢脸[同]disgrace | |
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vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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odious
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| adj.可憎的，讨厌的 | |
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31
crackers
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| adj.精神错乱的，癫狂的n.爆竹( cracker的名词复数 )；薄脆饼干；（认为）十分愉快的事；迷人的姑娘 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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tangles
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| （使）缠结， （使）乱作一团( tangle的第三人称单数 ) | |
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maternal
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| adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的 | |
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assuaged
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| v.减轻( assuage的过去式和过去分词 )；缓和；平息；使安静 | |
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pregnancy
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| n.怀孕，怀孕期 | |
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stolid
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| adj.无动于衷的，感情麻木的 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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personalities
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| n. 诽谤，（对某人容貌、性格等所进行的）人身攻击； 人身攻击；人格, 个性, 名人( personality的名词复数 ) | |
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40
revolved
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| v.（使）旋转( revolve的过去式和过去分词 )；细想 | |
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speculatively
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| adv.思考地，思索地；投机地 | |
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