One

One
I first came to know Sophia Leonides in Egypt towards the end of the war.
She held a fairly high administrative¹ post in one of the Foreign Office de-partments out there. I knew her first in an official capacity, and I soon ap-preciated the efficiency that had brought her to the position she held, inspite of her youth (she was at that time just twenty-two).
Besides being extremely easy to look at, she had a clear mind and a drysense of humour that I found very delightful². We became friends. She wasa person whom it was extraordinarily³ easy to talk to and we enjoyed ourdinners and occasional dances very much.
All this I knew; it was not until I was ordered East at the close of theEuropean war that I knew something else—that I loved Sophia and that Iwanted to marry her.
We were dining at Shepheard’s when I made this discovery. It did notcome to me with any shock of surprise, but more as the recognition of afact with which I had been long familiar. I looked at her with new eyes—but I saw what I had already known for a long time. I liked everything Isaw. The dark crisp hair that sprang up proudly from her forehead, thevivid blue eyes, the small square fighting chin, and the straight nose. Iliked the well-cut light-grey tailor-made, and the crisp white shirt. Shelooked refreshingly⁴ English and that appealed to me strongly after threeyears without seeing my native land. Nobody, I thought, could be moreEnglish—and even as I was thinking exactly that, I suddenly wondered if,in fact, she was, or indeed could be, as English as she looked. Does the realthing ever have the perfection of a stage performance?
I realized that much and freely as we had talked together, discussingideas, our likes and dislikes, the future, our immediate⁵ friends and ac-quaintances—Sophia had never mentioned her home or her family. Sheknew all about me (she was, as I have indicated, a good listener) but abouther I knew nothing. She had, I supposed, the usual background, but shehad never talked about it. And until this moment I had never realized thefact.
Sophia asked me what I was thinking about.
I replied truthfully: “You.”
“I see,” she said. And she sounded as though she did see.
“We may not meet again for a couple of years,” I said. “I don’t knowwhen I shall get back to England. But as soon as I do get back, the firstthing I shall do will be to come and see you and ask you to marry me.”
She took it without batting an eyelash. She sat there, smoking, not look-ing at me.
For a moment or two I was nervous that she might not understand.
“Listen,” I said. “The one thing I’m determined⁶ not to do, is to ask you tomarry me now. That wouldn’t work out anyway. First you might turn medown, and then I’d go off miserable⁷ and probably tie up with some ghastlywoman just to restore my vanity. And if you didn’t turn me down whatcould we do about it? Get married and part at once? Get engaged andsettle down to a long waiting period? I couldn’t stand your doing that. Youmight meet someone else and feel bound to be ‘loyal’ to me. We’ve beenliving in a queer hectic⁸ get-on-with-it-quickly atmosphere. Marriages andlove affairs making and breaking all round us. I’d like to feel you’d gonehome, free and independent, to look round you and size up the new post-war world and decide what you want out of it. What is between you andme, Sophia, has got to be permanent. I’ve no use for any other kind of mar-riage.”
“No more have I,” said Sophia.
“On the other hand,” I said, “I think I’m entitled to let you know how I—well—how I feel.”
“But without undue⁹ lyrical expression?” murmured Sophia.
“Darling—don’t you understand? I’ve tried not to say I love you—”
She stopped me.
“I do understand, Charles. And I like your funny way of doing things.
And you may come and see me when you come back—if you still want to—”
It was my turn to interrupt.
“There’s no doubt about that.”
“There’s always a doubt about everything, Charles. There may always besome incalculable factor that upsets the applecart. For one thing, youdon’t know much about me, do you?”
“I don’t even know where you live in England.”
“I live at Swinly Dean.”
I nodded at the mention of the well- known outer suburb of Londonwhich boasts three excellent golf courses for the city financier.
She added softly in a musing¹⁰ voice: “In a little crooked¹¹ house….”
I must have looked slightly startled, for she seemed amused, and ex-plained by elaborating the quotation¹². “‘And they all lived together in a littlecrooked house.’ That’s us. Not really such a little house either. But defin-itely crooked—running to gables and half timbering!”
“Are you one of a large family? Brothers and sisters?”
“One brother, one sister, a mother, a father, an uncle, an aunt by mar-riage, a grandfather, a great-aunt, and a step-grandmother.”
“Good gracious!” I exclaimed, slightly overwhelmed.
She laughed.
“Of course we don’t normally all live together. The war and blitzes havebrought that about—but I don’t know”—she frowned reflectively—“per-haps spiritually the family has always lived together—under my grand-father’s eye and protection. He’s rather a Person, my grandfather. He’sover eighty, about four-foot ten, and everybody else looks rather dim be-side him.”
“He sounds interesting,” I said.
“He is interesting. He’s a Greek from Smyrna. Aristide Leonides.” Sheadded, with a twinkle, “He’s extremely rich.”
“Will anybody be rich after this is over?”
“My grandfather will,” said Sophia with assurance. “No soak-the-richtactics would have any effect on him. He’d just soak the soakers.
“I wonder,” she added, “if you’ll like him?”
“Do you?” I asked.
“Better than anyone in the world,” said Sophia.

1 administrative   

adj.行政的，管理的

参考例句：

• The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
• He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。

2 delightful   

adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的

参考例句：

• We had a delightful time by the seashore last Sunday.上星期天我们在海滨玩得真痛快。
• Peter played a delightful melody on his flute.彼得用笛子吹奏了一支欢快的曲子。

3 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。

4 refreshingly   

adv.清爽地，有精神地

参考例句：

• Hers is less workmanlike than the other books and refreshingly unideological. 她的书不像其它书那般精巧，并且不涉及意识形态也让人耳目一新。 来自互联网
• Skin is left refreshingly clean with no pore-clogging residue. 皮肤留下清爽干净，没有孔隙堵塞残留。 来自互联网

5 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

6 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

7 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

8 hectic   

adj.肺病的；消耗热的；发热的；闹哄哄的

参考例句：

• I spent a very hectic Sunday.我度过了一个忙乱的星期天。
• The two days we spent there were enjoyable but hectic.我们在那里度过的两天愉快但闹哄哄的。

9 undue   

adj.过分的；不适当的；未到期的

参考例句：

• Don't treat the matter with undue haste.不要过急地处理此事。
• It would be wise not to give undue importance to his criticisms.最好不要过分看重他的批评。

10 musing   

n. 沉思，冥想 adj. 沉思的, 冥想的 动词muse的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• "At Tellson's banking-house at nine," he said, with a musing face. “九点在台尔森银行大厦见面，”他想道。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
• She put the jacket away, and stood by musing a minute. 她把那件上衣放到一边，站着沉思了一会儿。

11 crooked   

adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He crooked a finger to tell us to go over to him.他弯了弯手指，示意我们到他那儿去。
• You have to drive slowly on these crooked country roads.在这些弯弯曲曲的乡间小路上你得慢慢开车。

12 quotation   

n.引文，引语，语录；报价，牌价，行情

参考例句：

• He finished his speech with a quotation from Shakespeare.他讲话结束时引用了莎士比亚的语录。
• The quotation is omitted here.此处引文从略。