What a mysterious thing sleep is. You go to bed worrying about gipsiesand secret enemies, and detectives planted in your house and the possibil-ities of kidnapping and a hundred other things; and sleep whisks youaway from it all. You travel very far and you don’t know where you’vebeen, but when you wake up, it’s to a totally new world. No worries, noapprehensions. Instead, when I woke up on the 17th September I was in amood of boisterous1 excitement.
“A wonderful day,” I said to myself with conviction. “This is going to bea wonderful day.” I meant it. I was like those people in advertisementsthat offer to go anywhere and do anything. I went over plans in my head. Ihad arranged to meet Major Phillpot at a sale at a country house about fif-teen miles away. They had some very nice stuff there and I’d alreadymarked down two or three items in the catalogue. I was quite excitedabout the whole thing.
Phillpot was very knowledgeable2 about period furniture and silver andthings of that kind, not because he was artistic—he was entirely3 a sportingman—but simply because he knew. His whole family was knowledgeable.
I looked over the catalogue at breakfast. Ellie had come down in a ridinghabit. She rode most mornings now—sometimes alone, sometimes withClaudia. She had the American habit of drinking coffee and a glass of or-ange juice and nothing much else for breakfast. My tastes, now that Ihadn’t got to restrain them in any way, were very much those of a Vic-torian squire4! I liked lots of hot dishes on the sideboard. I ate kidneys thismorning and sausages and bacon as well. Delicious.
“What are you doing, Greta?” I asked.
Greta said she was meeting Claudia Hardcastle at the station at MarketChadwell and they were going up to London to a white sale. I asked what awhite sale was.
“Does there really have to be white in it?” I asked.
Greta looked scornful and said that a white sale meant a sale of house-hold linen5 and blankets and towels and sheets, etc. There were some verygood bargains at a special shop in Bond Street of which she had been senta catalogue.
I said to Ellie, “Well, if Greta is going to London for the day, why don’tyou drive in and meet us at the George in Bartington. The food there’svery good, so old Phillpot said. He suggested you might come. One o’clock.
You go through Market Chadwell and then you take a turning about threemiles after that. It’s sign-posted, I think.”
“All right,” said Ellie, “I’ll be there.”
I mounted her and she went off riding through the trees. Ellie loved rid-ing. She usually rode up one of the winding6 tracks and came out on theDowns and had a gallop7 before returning home. I left the smaller car forEllie as it was easier to park and took the big Chrysler myself. I got to Bart-ington Manor8 just before the sale began. Phillpot was there already andhad kept a place for me.
“Some quite nice stuff here,” he said. “One or two good pictures. A Rom-ney and a Reynolds. I don’t know if you’re interested?”
I shook my head. My taste at the moment was entirely for modernartists.
“Several dealers9 here,” Phillpot went on, “a couple down from London.
See that thin man over there with the pinched lips? That’s Cressington.
Pretty well known. Not brought your wife?”
“No,” I said, “she’s not awfully10 keen on sales. Anyway, I didn’t particu-larly want her to come this morning.”
“Oh? Why not?”
“There’s going to be a surprise for Ellie,” I said. “Did you notice Lot 42?”
He took a glance at the catalogue and then looked across the room.
“Hm. That papier m?ché desk? Yes. Rather a beautiful little piece. One ofthe best examples of papier m?ché I’ve seen. Desk rather rare too. Plentyof hand desks to stand on tables. But this is an early example. Never seenone quite like it before.”
The little piece was inlaid with a design of Windsor Castle and the sidesof it had bouquets11 of roses and thistles and shamrock.
“Beautiful condition,” said Phillpot. He looked at me curiously12. “Ishouldn’t have thought it was your taste but—”
“Oh, it isn’t,” I said. “It’s a little too flowery and ladylike for me. But Ellieloves the stuff. It’s her birthday next week and I want it as a present forher. A surprise. That’s why I didn’t want her to know I was bidding for ittoday. But I know there’s nothing I could give her that she’d like more.
She’ll be really surprised.”
We went in and took seats and the sale began. Actually, the piece Iwanted was run up pretty high. Both the London dealers seemed keen onit although one of them was so practised and reserved about it that youcould hardly notice the almost infinitesimal motion of his catalogue whichthe auctioneer was observing closely. I bought a carved Chippendale chairas well which I thought would look well in our hall and some enormousbrocade curtains in good condition.
“Well, you seem to have enjoyed yourself all right,” said Phillpot, risingto his feet when the auctioneer completed the morning’s sale. “Want tocome back this afternoon?”
I shook my head.
“No, there’s nothing in the second half of the sale that I want. Mostlybedroom furniture and carpets and things like that.”
“No, I didn’t think you’d be interested. Well—” he looked at his watch,“we’d better be getting along. Is Ellie meeting us at the George?”
“Yes, she’ll be there.”
“And—er—Miss Andersen?”
“Oh, Greta’s gone to London,” I said. “She’s gone to what they call awhite sale. With Miss Hardcastle, I believe.”
“Oh yes, Claudia said something about it the other day. Price of sheetsand things are fantastic nowadays. Do you know what a linen pillow casecosts? Thirty-five shillings. Used to buy ’em for six bob.”
“You’re very knowledgeable on household purchases,” I said.
“Well, I hear my wife complaining about them.” Phillpot smiled. “You’relooking in the pink of condition, Mike. Happy as a sandboy.”
“That’s because I’ve got the papier m?ché desk,” I said, “or at any ratethat’s partly it. I just woke up feeling happy this morning. You know thosedays when everything in the world seems right.”
“Mm,” said Phillpot, “be careful. That’s what’s known as being fey.”
“Fey?” I said. “That’s something Scottish, isn’t it?”
“It comes before disaster, my boy,” said Phillpot. “Better curb14 your ex-uberance.”
“Oh, I don’t believe those silly superstitions,” I said.
“Nor in gipsies” prophecies, eh?”
“We haven’t seen our gipsy lately,” I said. “Well, not for a week at least.”
“Perhaps she’s away from the place,” said Phillpot.
He asked me if I’d give him a lift in my car and I said I would.
“No use taking the two of them. You can drop me here on your wayback, can’t you? What about Ellie, will she be bringing her car over?”
“Yes, she’s bringing the little one.”
“Hope the George will put on a good meal,” said Major Phillpot. “I’mhungry.”
“Did you buy anything?” I asked. “I was too excited to notice.”
“Yes, you’ve got to keep your wits about you when you’re bidding. Haveto notice what the dealers are doing. No. I made a bid or two buteverything went far above my price.”
I gathered that although Phillpot owned enormous quantities of landround about, his actual income did not amount to much. He was what youmight describe as a poor man though a large landowner. Only by selling agood portion of his land would he have had money to spend and he didn’twant to sell his land. He loved it.
We got to the George and found a good many cars standing15 therealready. Possibly some of the people from the auction13. I didn’t see Ellie’sthough. We went inside and I looked around for her but she hadn’t turnedup yet. However, it was only just past one.
We went and had a drink at the bar while we were waiting for Ellie toarrive. The place was pretty crowded. I looked into the dining room butthey were still holding our table. There were a good many local faces that Iknew and sitting at a table by the window was a man whose face seemedfamiliar to me. I was sure I knew him but I couldn’t remember when andwhere we’d met. I didn’t think he was a local, because his clothes didn’t fitin with these parts. Of course I’ve knocked up against a great many peoplein my time and it is unlikely that I can remember them all easily. Hehadn’t been at the sale as far as I could remember, though, oddly enough,there had been one face that I thought I’d recognized but couldn’t place.
Faces are tricky16 unless you can connect up when and where you’d seenthem.
The presiding goddess of the George, rustling17 in her usual black silk ofaffected Edwardian style which she always wore, came to me and said:
“Will you be coming to your table soon, Mr. Rogers? There’s one or twowaiting.”
“My wife will be here in a minute or two,” I said.
I went back to rejoin Phillpot. I thought perhaps that Ellie might havehad a puncture18.
“We’d better go in,” I said, “they seem to be getting rather upset about it.
They’ve got quite a crowd today. I’m afraid,” I added, “that Ellie isn’t themost punctual of people.”
“Ah,” said Phillpot in his old-fashioned style, “the ladies make a point ofkeeping us waiting, don’t they? All right, Mike, if that’s all right by you.
We’ll go in and start lunch.”
We went into the dining room, chose steak and kidney pie off the menuand started.
“It’s too bad of Ellie,” I said, “to stand us up like this.” I added that it waspossibly because Greta was in London. “Ellie’s very used, you know,” Isaid, “to Greta helping19 her to keep appointments, reminding her of them,and getting her off in time and all that.”
“Is she very dependent on Miss Andersen?”
“In that way, yes,” I said.
We went on eating and passed from the steak and kidney pie to appletart with a self-conscious piece of phoney pastry20 on top of it.
“I wonder if she’s forgotten all about it,” I said suddenly.
“Perhaps you’d better ring up.”
“Yes, I think I’d better.”
I went out to the phone and rang. Mrs. Carson, the cook, answered.
“Oh, it’s you, Mr. Rogers, Mrs. Rogers hasn’t come home yet.”
“What do you mean, hasn’t come home? Home from where?”
“She hasn’t come back from her ride yet.”
“But that was after breakfast. She can’t have been riding the wholemorning.”
“She didn’t say anything different. I was expecting her back.”
“Why didn’t you ring up sooner and let me know about it?” I asked.
“Well, I wouldn’t know where to get at you, you see. I didn’t knowwhere you’d gone.”
I told her I was at the George at Bartington and gave her the number.
She was to ring up the moment Ellie came in or she had news of her. ThenI went back to join Phillpot. He saw from my face at once that somethingwas wrong.
“Ellie hasn’t come home,” I said. “She went off riding this morning. Sheusually does most mornings but it only lasts half an hour to an hour.”
“Now don’t worry before you need to, boy,” he said kindly21. “Your placeis in a very lonely part, you know. Maybe her horse went lame22 and shemight be walking it home. All that moorland and downs above the woods.
There’s nobody much in that part to send a message by.”
“If she decided23 to change her plans and ride over and see anyone, any-thing like that,” I said, “she’d have rung here. She’d have left a message forus.”
“Well, don’t get het up yet,” Phillpot said. “I think we’d better go now,right away, and see what we can find out.”
As we went out to the car park, another car drove away. In it was theman I had noticed in the dining room and suddenly it came to me who itwas. Stanford Lloyd or someone just like him. I wondered what he couldbe doing down here. Could he be coming to see us? If so, it was odd hehadn’t let us know. In the car with him was a woman who had looked likeClaudia Hardcastle, but surely she was in London with Greta, shopping. Itall floored me rather….
As we drove away Phillpot looked at me once or twice. I caught his eyeonce and said rather bitterly:
“All right. You said I was fey this morning.”
“Well, don’t think of that yet. She may have had a fall and sprained24 anankle or something like that. She’s a good horse-woman, though,” he said.
“I’ve seen her. I can’t feel an accident is really likely.”
I said, “Accidents can happen at any time.”
We drove fast and came at last to the road over the downs above ourproperty, looking about us as we went. Now and again we stopped to askpeople. We stopped a man who was digging peat and there we got the firstnews.
“Seen a riderless horse I have,” he said. “Two hours ago maybe orlonger. I woulda caught it but it galloped25 off when I got near it. Didn’t seeanyone though.”
“Best drive home,” suggested Phillpot, “there may be news of her there.”
We drove home but there was no news. We got hold of the groom26 andsent him off to ride the moorland in search of Ellie. Phillpot telephonedhis own house and sent a man from there too. He and I went up a path to-gether and through the wood, the one that Ellie often took, and came outon the downs there.
At first there was nothing to be seen. Then we walked along the edge ofthe wood near where some of the other paths came out and so—we foundher. We saw what looked like a huddled27 heap of clothes. The horse hadcome back and was now standing cropping near that huddled heap. Ibegan to run. Phillpot followed me faster than I’d have thought a man ofhis age could have kept up.
She was there—lying in a crumpled-up heap, her little white face turnedup to the sky. I said:
“I can’t—I can’t—” and turned my face away.
Phillpot went and knelt down by her. He got up almost at once.
“We’ll get hold of a doctor,” he said. “Shaw. He’s the nearest. But—Idon’t think it’s any use, Mike.”
“You mean—she’s dead?”
“Yes,” he said, “it’s no good pretending anything else.”
“Oh God!” I said and turned away. “I can’t believe it. Not Ellie.”
“Here, have this,” said Phillpot.
He took a flask28 out of his pocket, unscrewed it and handed it to me. Itook a good deep pull at it.
“Thanks,” I said.
The groom came along then and Phillpot sent him off to fetch Dr. Shaw.
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1
boisterous
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| adj.喧闹的，欢闹的 | |
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2
knowledgeable
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| adj.知识渊博的；有见识的 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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squire
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| n.护卫, 侍从, 乡绅 | |
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linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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gallop
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| v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔；飞速发展 | |
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manor
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| n.庄园，领地 | |
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dealers
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| n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者 | |
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awfully
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| adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地 | |
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bouquets
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| n.花束( bouquet的名词复数 )；（酒的）芳香 | |
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curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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auction
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| n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖 | |
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curb
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| n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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tricky
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| adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的 | |
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rustling
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| n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的 | |
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puncture
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| n.刺孔，穿孔；v.刺穿，刺破 | |
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helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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pastry
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| n.油酥面团，酥皮糕点 | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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lame
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| adj.跛的，(辩解、论据等)无说服力的 | |
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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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sprained
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| v.&n. 扭伤 | |
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galloped
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| （使马）飞奔，奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 )； 快速做[说]某事 | |
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groom
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| vt.给（马、狗等）梳毛，照料，使...整洁 | |
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huddled
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| 挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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flask
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| n.瓶，火药筒，砂箱 | |
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