“COVER HER FACE …”
R aymond West and his wife did all they could to make young Giles’s wife feel welcome. It was not their fault thatGwenda found them secretly rather alarming. Raymond, with his odd appearance, rather like a pouncing1 raven2, hissweep of hair and his sudden crescendos of quite incomprehensible conversation, left Gwenda round- eyed andnervous. Both he and Joan seemed to talk a language of their own. Gwenda had never been plunged3 in a highbrowatmosphere before and practically all its terms were strange.
“We’ve planned to take you to a show or two,” said Raymond whilst Gwenda was drinking gin and rather wishingshe could have had a cup of tea after her journey.
Gwenda brightened up immediately.
“The Ballet tonight at Sadler’s Wells, and tomorrow we’ve got a birthday party on for my quite incredible AuntJane—the Duchess of Malfi with Gielgud, and on Friday you simply must see They Walked without Feet. Translatedfrom the Russian—absolutely the most significent piece of drama for the last twenty years. It’s at the little WitmoreTheatre.”
Gwenda expressed herself grateful for these plans for her entertainment. After all, when Giles came home, theywould go together to the musical shows and all that. She flinched4 slightly at the prospect5 of They Walked without Feet,but supposed she might enjoy it—only the point about “significant” plays was that you usually didn’t.
“You’ll adore my Aunt Jane,” said Raymond. “She’s what I should describe as a perfect Period Piece. Victorian tothe core. All her dressing6 tables have their legs swathed in chintz. She lives in a village, the kind of village wherenothing ever happens, exactly like a stagnant7 pond.”
“Something did happen there once,” his wife said drily.
“A mere8 drama of passion—crude—no subtlety9 to it.”
“You enjoyed it frightfully at the time,” Joan reminded him with a slight twinkle.
“I sometimes enjoy playing village cricket,” said Raymond, with dignity.
“Anyway, Aunt Jane distinguished10 herself over that murder.”
“Oh, she’s no fool. She adores problems.”
“Problems?” said Gwenda, her mind flying to arithmetic.
Raymond waved a hand.
“Any kind of problem. Why the grocer’s wife took her umbrella to the church social on a fine evening. Why a gillof pickled shrimps11 was found where it was. What happened to the Vicar’s surplice. All grist to my Aunt Jane’s mill.
So if you’ve any problem in your life, put it to her, Gwenda. She’ll tell you the answer.”
He laughed and Gwenda laughed too, but not very heartily12. She was introduced to Aunt Jane, otherwise MissMarple, on the following day. Miss Marple was an attractive old lady, tall and thin, with pink cheeks and blue eyes,and a gentle, rather fussy13 manner. Her blue eyes often had a little twinkle in them.
After an early dinner at which they drank Aunt Jane’s health, they all went off to His Majesty’s Theatre. Two extramen, an elderly artist and a young barrister were in the party. The elderly artist devoted14 himself to Gwenda and theyoung barrister divided his attentions between Joan and Miss Marple whose remarks he seemed to enjoy very much.
At the theatre, however, this arrangement was reversed. Gwenda sat in the middle of the row between Raymond andthe barrister.
The lights went down and the play began.
It was superbly acted and Gwenda enjoyed it very much. She had not seen very many first- rate theatricalproductions.
The play drew to a close, came to that supreme15 moment of horror. The actor’s voice came over the footlights filledwith the tragedy of a warped16 and perverted17 mentality18.
“Cover her face. Mine eyes dazzle, she died young….”
Gwenda screamed.
She sprang up from her seat, pushed blindly past the others out into the aisle19, through the exit and up the stairs andso to the street. She did not stop, even then, but half walked, half ran, in a blind panic up the Haymarket.
It was not until she had reached Piccadilly that she noticed a free taxi cruising along, hailed it and, getting in, gavethe address of the Chelsea house. With fumbling20 fingers she got out money, paid the taxi and went up the steps. Theservant who let her in glanced at her in surprise.
“You’ve come back early, miss. Didn’t you feel well?”
“I—no, yes—I—I felt faint.”
“Would you like anything, miss? Some brandy?”
“No, nothing. I’ll go straight up to bed.”
She ran up the stairs to avoid further questions.
She pulled off her clothes, left them on the floor in a heap and got into bed. She lay there shivering, her heartpounding, her eyes staring at the ceiling.
She did not hear the sound of fresh arrivals downstairs, but after about five minutes the door opened and MissMarple came in. She had two hot-water bottles tucked under her arm and a cup in her hand.
Gwenda sat up in bed, trying to stop her shivering.
“Oh, Miss Marple, I’m frightfully sorry. I don’t know what—it was awful of me. Are they very annoyed with me?”
“Now don’t worry, my dear child,” said Miss Marple. “Just tuck yourself up warmly with these hot-water bottles.”
“I don’t really need a hot-water bottle.”
“Oh yes, you do. That’s right. And now drink this cup of tea….”
It was hot and strong and far too full of sugar, but Gwenda drank it obediently. The shivering was less acute now.
“Just lie down now and go to sleep,” said Miss Marple. “You’ve had a shock, you know. We’ll talk about it in themorning. Don’t worry about anything. Just go to sleep.”
She drew the covers up, smiled, patted Gwenda and went out.
Downstairs Raymond was saying irritably21 to Joan: “What on earth was the matter with the girl? Did she feel ill, orwhat?”
“My dear Raymond, I don’t know, she just screamed! I suppose the play was a bit too macabre22 for her.”
“Well, of course Webster is a bit grisly. But I shouldn’t have thought—” He broke off as Miss Marple came intothe room. “Is she all right?”
“Yes, I think so. She’d had a bad shock, you know.”
“Shock? Just seeing a Jacobean drama?”
“I think there must be a little more to it than that,” said Miss Marple thoughtfully.
Gwenda’s breakfast was sent up to her. She drank some coffee and nibbled23 a little piece of toast. When she got upand came downstairs, Joan had gone to her studio, Raymond was shut up in his workroom and only Miss Marple wassitting by the window, which had a view over the river; she was busily engaged in knitting.
She looked up with a placid24 smile as Gwenda entered.
“Good morning, my dear. You’re feeling better, I hope.”
“Oh yes, I’m quite all right. How I could make such an utter idiot of myself last night, I don’t know. Are they—arethey very mad with me?”
“Oh no, my dear. They quite understand.”
“Understand what?”
Miss Marple glanced up over her knitting.
“That you had a bad shock last night.” She added gently: “Hadn’t you better tell me all about it?”
Gwenda walked restlessly up and down.
“I think I’d better go and see a psychiatrist25 or someone.”
“There are excellent mental specialists in London, of course. But are you sure it is necessary?”
“Well—I think I’m going mad … I must be going mad.”
An elderly parlourmaid entered the room with a telegram on a salver which she handed to Gwenda.
“The boy wants to know if there’s an answer, ma’am?”
Gwenda tore it open. It had been retelegraphed on from Dillmouth. She stared at it for a moment or twouncomprehendingly, then screwed it into a ball.
“There’s no answer,” she said mechanically.
The maid left the room.
“Not bad news, I hope, dear?”
“It’s Giles—my husband. He’s flying home. He’ll be here in a week.”
Her voice was bewildered and miserable26. Miss Marple gave a gentle little cough.
“Well—surely—that is very nice, isn’t it?”
“Is it? When I’m not sure if I’m mad or not? If I’m mad I ought never to have married Giles. And the house andeverything. I can’t go back there. Oh, I don’t know what to do.”
Miss Marple patted the sofa invitingly27.
“Now suppose you sit down here, dear, and just tell me all about it.”
It was with a sense of relief that Gwenda accepted the invitation. She poured out the whole story, starting with herfirst view of Hillside and going onto the incidents that had first puzzled her and then worried her.
“And so I got rather frightened,” she ended. “And I thought I’d come up to London—get away from it all. Only,you see, I couldn’t get away from it. It followed me. Last night—” she shut her eyes and gulped28 reminiscently.
“Last night?” prompted Miss Marple.
“I dare say you won’t believe this,” said Gwenda, speaking very fast. “You’ll think I’m hysterical29 or queer orsomething. It happened quite suddenly, right at the end. I’d enjoyed the play. I’d never thought once of the house. Andthen it came—out of the blue—when he said those words—”
She repeated in a low quivering voice: “Cover her face, mine eyes dazzle, she died young.
“I was back there—on the stairs, looking down on the hall through the banisters, and I saw her lying there.
Sprawled30 out—dead. Her hair all golden and her face all—all blue! She was dead, strangled, and someone was sayingthose words in that same horrible gloating way—and I saw his hands—grey, wrinkled—not hands—monkey’s paws… It was horrible, I tell you. She was dead….”
Miss Marple asked gently: “Who was dead?”
The answer came back quick and mechanical.
“Helen….”
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收听单词发音
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1
pouncing
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| v.突然袭击( pounce的现在分词 )；猛扑；一眼看出；抓住机会（进行抨击） | |
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2
raven
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| n.渡鸟，乌鸦；adj.乌亮的 | |
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3
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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4
flinched
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| v.（因危险和痛苦）退缩，畏惧( flinch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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5
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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6
dressing
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| n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料 | |
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7
stagnant
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| adj.不流动的，停滞的，不景气的 | |
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8
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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9
subtlety
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| n.微妙，敏锐，精巧；微妙之处，细微的区别 | |
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10
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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11
shrimps
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| n.虾，小虾( shrimp的名词复数 )；矮小的人 | |
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12
heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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13
fussy
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| adj.为琐事担忧的，过分装饰的，爱挑剔的 | |
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14
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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15
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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16
warped
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| adj.反常的；乖戾的；（变）弯曲的；变形的v.弄弯，变歪( warp的过去式和过去分词 )；使（行为等）不合情理，使乖戾， | |
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17
perverted
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| adj.不正当的v.滥用( pervert的过去式和过去分词 )；腐蚀；败坏；使堕落 | |
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18
mentality
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| n.心理，思想，脑力 | |
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19
aisle
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| n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道 | |
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20
fumbling
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| n. 摸索,漏接 v. 摸索,摸弄,笨拙的处理 | |
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21
irritably
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| ad.易生气地 | |
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22
macabre
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| adj.骇人的，可怖的 | |
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23
nibbled
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| v.啃，一点一点地咬（吃）( nibble的过去式和过去分词 )；啃出（洞），一点一点咬出（洞）；慢慢减少；小口咬 | |
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24
placid
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| adj.安静的，平和的 | |
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25
psychiatrist
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| n.精神病专家；精神病医师 | |
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26
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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27
invitingly
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| adv. 动人地 | |
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28
gulped
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| v.狼吞虎咽地吃，吞咽( gulp的过去式和过去分词 )；大口地吸（气）；哽住 | |
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29
hysterical
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| adj.情绪异常激动的，歇斯底里般的 | |
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30
sprawled
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| v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的过去式和过去分词)；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着） | |
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