12. Old Sins Cast Long Shadows

Twelve
O LD S INS C AST L ONG S HADOWS
I“I think as I am on to something, man.”
“What’s that you say, Victoria?”
“I think I’m on to something. It may mean money. Big money.”
“Now look, girl, you be careful, you’ll not tangle¹ yourself up in something. Maybe I’d better tackle what it is.”
Victoria laughed, a deep rich chuckle².
“You wait and see,” she said. “I know how to play this hand. It’s money, man, it’s big money. Something I see, andsomething I guess. I think I guess right.”
And again the soft rich chuckle rolled out on the night.
II
“Evelyn….”
“Yes?”
Evelyn Hillingdon spoke³ mechanically, without interest. She did not look at her husband.
“Evelyn, would you mind if we chucked all this and went home to England?”
She had been combing her short dark hair. Now her hands came down from her head sharply. She turned towardshim.
“You mean—but we’ve only just come. We’ve not been out here in the islands for more than three weeks.”
“I know. But—would you mind?”
Her eyes searched him incredulously.
“You really want to go back to England? Back home?”
“Yes.”
“Leaving—Lucky?”
He winced⁴.
“You’ve known all the time, I suppose, that—that it was going on?”
“Pretty well. Yes.”
“You’ve never said anything.”
“Why should I? We had the whole thing out years ago. Neither of us wanted to make a break. So we agreed to goour separate ways—but keep up the show in public.” Then she added before he could speak, “But why are you so seton going back to England now?”
“Because I’m at breaking point. I can’t stick it any longer, Evelyn. I can’t.” The quiet Edward Hillingdon wastransformed. His hands shook, he swallowed, his calm unemotional face seemed distorted by pain.
“For God’s sake, Edward, what’s the matter?”
“Nothing’s the matter except that I want to get out of here—”
“You fell wildly in love with Lucky. And now you’ve got over it. Is that what you’re telling me?”
“Yes. I don’t suppose you’ll ever feel the same.”
“Oh let’s not go into that now! I want to understand what’s upsetting you so much, Edward.”
“I’m not particularly upset.”
“But you are. Why?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
“No, it isn’t,” said Evelyn. “Let’s put it in plain concrete terms. You’ve had an affair with a woman. That happensoften enough. And now it’s over. Or isn’t it over? Perhaps it isn’t over on her side. Is that it? Does Greg know aboutit? I’ve often wondered.”
“I don’t know,” said Edward. “He’s never said anything. He always seems friendly enough.”
“Men can be extraordinarily⁵ obtuse,” said Evelyn thoughtfully. “Or else—Perhaps Greg has got an outside interestof his own!”
“He’s made passes at you, hasn’t he?” said Edward. “Answer me—I know he has—”
“Oh yes,” said Evelyn, carelessly, “but he makes passes at everyone. That’s just Greg. It doesn’t ever really meanmuch, I imagine. It’s just part of the Greg he-man act.”
“Do you care for him, Evelyn? I’d rather know the truth.”
“Greg? I’m quite fond of him—he amuses me. He’s a good friend.”
“And that’s all? I wish I could believe you.”
“I can’t really see how it can possibly matter to you,” said Evelyn dryly.
“I suppose I deserve that.”
Evelyn walked to the window, looked out across the veranda⁶ and came back again.
“I wish you would tell me what’s really upsetting you, Edward.”
“I’ve told you.”
“I wonder.”
“You can’t understand, I suppose, how extraordinary a temporary madness of this kind can seem to you afteryou’ve got over it.”
“I can try, I suppose. But what’s worrying me now is that Lucky seems to have got some kind of stranglehold uponyou. She’s not just a discarded mistress. She’s a tigress with claws. You must tell me the truth, Edward. It’s the onlyway if you want me to stand by you.”
Edward said in a low voice: “If I don’t get away from her soon—I shall kill her.”
“Kill Lucky? Why?”
“Because of what she made me do….”
“What did she make you do?”
“I helped her to commit a murder—”
The words were out—There was silence—Evelyn stared at him.
“Do you know what you are saying?”
“Yes. I didn’t know I was doing it. There were things she asked me to get for her—at the chemist’s. I didn’t know—I hadn’t the least idea what she wanted them for—She got me to copy out a prescription⁷ she had….”
“When was this?”
“Four years ago. When we were in Martinique. When—when Greg’s wife—”
“You mean Greg’s first wife—Gail? You mean Lucky poisoned her?”
“Yes—and I helped her. When I realized—”
Evelyn interrupted him.
“When you realized what had happened, Lucky pointed⁸ out to you that you had written out the prescription, thatyou had got the drugs, that you and she were in it together? Is that right?”
“Yes. She said she had done it out of pity—that Gail was suffering—that she had begged Lucky to get somethingthat would end it all.”
“A mercy killing⁹! I see. And you believed that?”
Edward Hillingdon was silent a moment—then he said:
“No—I didn’t really—not deep down—I accepted it because I wanted to believe it—because I was infatuated withLucky.”
“And afterwards—when she married Greg—did you still believe it?”
“I’d made myself believe it by then.”
“And Greg—how much did he know about it all?”
“Nothing at all.”
“That I find hard to believe!”
Edward Hillingdon broke out—
“Evelyn, I’ve got to get free of it all! That woman taunts¹⁰ me still with what I did. She knows I don’t care for herany longer. Care for her?—I’ve come to hate her—But she makes me feel I’m tied to her—by the thing we didtogether—”
Evelyn walked up and down the room—then she stopped and faced him.
“The entire trouble with you, Edward, is that you are ridiculously sensitive—and also incredibly suggestible. Thatdevil of a woman has got you just where she wants you by playing on your sense of guilt¹¹—And I’ll tell you this inplain Bible terms, the guilt that weighs on you is the guilt of adultery—not murder—you were guilt-stricken aboutyour affair with Lucky—and then she made a cat’s-paw of you for her murder scheme, and managed to make you feelyou shared her guilt. You don’t.”
“Evelyn….” He stepped towards her—
She stepped back a minute—and looked at him searchingly.
“Is this all true, Edward—Is it? Or are you making it up?”
“Evelyn! Why on earth should I do such a thing?”
“I don’t know,” said Evelyn Hillingdon slowly—“It’s just perhaps—because I find it hard to trust—anybody. Andbecause—Oh! I don’t know—I’ve got, I suppose, so that I don’t know the truth when I hear it.”
“Let’s chuck all this—Go back home to England.”
“Yes—We will—But not now.”
“Why not?”
“We must carry on as usual—just for the present. It’s important. Do you understand, Edward? Don’t let Luckyhave an inkling of what we’re up to—”

1 tangle   

n.纠缠；缠结；混乱；v.(使)缠绕；变乱

参考例句：

• I shouldn't tangle with Peter.He is bigger than me.我不应该与彼特吵架。他的块头比我大。
• If I were you, I wouldn't tangle with them.我要是你，我就不跟他们争吵。

2 chuckle   

vi.／n.轻声笑，咯咯笑

参考例句：

• He shook his head with a soft chuckle.他轻轻地笑着摇了摇头。
• I couldn't suppress a soft chuckle at the thought of it.想到这个，我忍不住轻轻地笑起来。

3 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。

4 winced   

赶紧避开，畏缩( wince的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He winced as the dog nipped his ankle. 狗咬了他的脚腕子，疼得他龇牙咧嘴。
• He winced as a sharp pain shot through his left leg. 他左腿一阵剧痛疼得他直龇牙咧嘴。

5 extraordinarily   

adv.格外地；极端地

参考例句：

• She is an extraordinarily beautiful girl.她是个美丽非凡的姑娘。
• The sea was extraordinarily calm that morning.那天清晨，大海出奇地宁静。

6 veranda   

n.走廊；阳台

参考例句：

• She sat in the shade on the veranda.她坐在阳台上的遮荫处。
• They were strolling up and down the veranda.他们在走廊上来回徜徉。

7 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。

8 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

9 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

10 taunts   

嘲弄的言语，嘲笑，奚落( taunt的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He had to endure the racist taunts of the crowd. 他不得不忍受那群人种族歧视的奚落。
• He had to endure the taunts of his successful rival. 他不得不忍受成功了的对手的讥笑。

11 guilt   

n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责

参考例句：

• She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
• Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。