Twenty-two ANOTHER VICTIM

Twenty-two ANOTHER VICTIM
“No,” said Roger. “I don’t. After all, there are heaps of other places wherehe can be treated. The really important thing is to get Henry to agree.”
“Do you think that will be difficult?” asked Frankie.
“I’m afraid it may be. You heard him the other night. On the other hand,if we just catch him in the repentant¹ mood, that’s very different. Hullo—here comes Sylvia.”
Mrs. Bassington-ffrench emerged from the house and looked about her,then seeing Roger and Frankie, she walked across the grass towards them.
They could see that she was looking terribly worried and strained.
“Roger,” she began, “I’ve been looking for you everywhere.” Then, asFrankie made a movement to leave them—“No, my dear, don’t go. Of whatuse are concealments? In any case, I think you know all there is to know.
You’ve suspected this business for some time, haven’t you?”
Frankie nodded.
“While I’ve been blind—blind—” said Sylvia bitterly. “Both of you sawwhat I never even suspected. I only wondered why Henry had changed soto all of us. It made me very unhappy, but I never suspected the reason.”
She paused, then went on again with a slight change of tone.
“As soon as Dr. Nicholson had told me the truth, I went straight toHenry. I’ve only just left him now.” She paused, swallowing a sob².
“Roger—it’s going to be all right. He’s agreed. He will go to the Grangeand put himself in Dr. Nicholson’s hands tomorrow.”
“Oh! no —” The exclamation³ came from Roger and Frankie simultan-eously. Sylvia looked at them—astonished.
Roger spoke⁴ awkwardly.
“Do you know, Sylvia, I’ve been thinking it over, and I don’t believe theGrange would be a good plan, after all.”
“You think he can fight it by himself?” asked Sylvia doubtfully.
“No, I don’t. But there are other places—places not—so—well, not sonear at hand. I’m convinced that staying in this district would be a mis-take.”
“I’m sure of it,” said Frankie, coming to his rescue.
“Oh! I don’t agree,” said Sylvia. “I couldn’t bear him to go away some-where. And Dr. Nicholson has been so kind and understanding. I shall feelhappy about Henry being under his charge.”
“I thought you didn’t like Nicholson, Sylvia,” said Roger.
“I’ve changed my mind.” She spoke simply. “Nobody could have beennicer or kinder than he was this afternoon. My silly prejudice against himhas quite vanished.”
There was a moment’s silence. The position was awkward. Neither Ro-ger nor Sylvia knew quite what to say next.
“Poor Henry,” said Sylvia. “He broke down. He was terribly upset at myknowing. He agreed that he must fight this awful craving⁷ for my sake andTommy’s, but he said I hadn’t a conception of what it meant. I suppose Ihaven’t, though Dr. Nicholson explained very fully⁵. It becomes a kind ofobsession—people aren’t responsible for their actions—so he said. Oh, Ro-ger, it seems so awful. But Dr. Nicholson was really kind. I trust him.”
“All the same, I think it would be better—” began Roger.
Sylvia turned on him.
“I don’t understand you, Roger. Why have you changed your mind? Halfan hour ago you were all for Henry’s going to the Grange.”
“Well—I’ve—I’ve had time to think the matter over since—”
Again Sylvia interrupted.
“Anyway, I’ve made up my mind. Henry shall go to the Grange andnowhere else.”
They confronted her in silence, then Roger said:
“Do you know, I think I will ring up Nicholson. He will be home now. I’dlike—just to have a talk with him about matters.”
Without waiting for her reply he turned away and went rapidly into thehouse. The two women stood looking after him.
“I cannot understand Roger,” said Sylvia impatiently. “About a quarterof an hour ago he was positively⁸ urging me to arrange for Henry to go tothe Grange.”
Her tone held a distinct note of anger.
“All the same,” said Frankie, “I agree with him. I’m sure I’ve read some-where that people ought always to go for a cure somewhere far away fromtheir homes.”
“I think that’s just nonsense,” said Sylvia.
Frankie felt in a dilemma⁹. Sylvia’s unexpected obstinacy¹⁰ was makingthings difficult, and also she seemed suddenly to have become as violentlypro-Nicholson as she formerly¹¹ had been against him. It was very hard toknow what arguments to use. Frankie considered telling the whole storyto Sylvia—but would Sylvia believe it? Even Roger had not been very im-pressed by the theory of Dr. Nicholson’s guilt¹². Sylvia, with her newfoundpartisanship where the doctor was concerned, would probably be evenless so. She might even go and repeat the whole thing to him. It was cer-tainly difficult.
An aeroplane passed low overhead in the gathering¹³ dusk, filling the airwith its loud beat of engines. Both Sylvia and Frankie stared up at it, gladof the respite¹⁴ it afforded, since neither of them quite knew what to saynext. It gave Frankie time to collect her thoughts, and Sylvia time to re-cover from her fit of sudden anger.
As the aeroplane disappeared over the trees and its roar receded¹⁵ intothe distance, Sylvia turned abruptly¹⁶ to Frankie.
“It’s been so awful—” she said brokenly. “And you all seem to want tosend Henry far away from me.”
“No, no,” said Frankie. “It wasn’t that at all.”
She cast about for a minute.
“It was only that I thought he ought to have the best treatment. And I dothink that Dr. Nicholson is rather—well, rather a quack¹⁷.”
“I don’t believe it,” said Sylvia. “I think he’s a very clever man and justthe kind of man Henry needs.”
She looked defiantly¹⁸ at Frankie. Frankie marvelled¹⁹ at the hold Dr. Nich-olson had acquired over her in such a short time. All her former distrustof the man seemed to have vanished completely.
At a loss what to say or do next, Frankie relapsed into silence. PresentlyRoger came out again from the house. He seemed slightly breathless.
“Nicholson isn’t in yet,” he said. “I left a message.”
“I don’t see why you want to see Dr. Nicholson so urgently,” said Sylvia.
“You suggested this plan, and it’s all arranged and Henry has consented.”
“I think I’ve got some say in the matter, Sylvia,” said Roger gently. “Afterall, I’m Henry’s brother.”
“You suggested the plan yourself,” said Sylvia obstinately²⁰.
“Yes, but I’ve heard a few things about Nicholson since.”
“What things? Oh! I don’t believe you.”
She bit her lip, turned away and plunged²² into the house.
Roger looked at Frankie.
“This is a bit awkward,” he said.
“Very awkward, indeed.”
“Once Sylvia has made her mind up she can be obstinate²¹ as the devil.”
“What are we going to do?”
They sat down again on the garden seat and went into the matter care-fully. Roger agreed with Frankie that to tell the whole story to Sylviawould be a mistake. The best plan, in his opinion, would be to tackle thedoctor.
“But what are you going to say exactly?”
“I don’t know that I shall say much—but I shall hint a good deal. At anyrate, I agree with you about one thing—Henry mustn’t go to the Grange.
Even if we come right out into the open, we’ve got to stop that.”
“We give the whole show away if we do,” Frankie reminded him.
“I know. That’s why we’ve got to try everything else first. Curse Sylvia,why must she turn obstinate just at this minute?”
“It shows the power of the man,” Frankie said.
“Yes. You know, it inclines me to believe that, evidence or no evidence,you may be right about him after all—what’s that?”
They both sprang up.
“It sounded like a shot,” said Frankie. “From the house.”
They looked at each other, then raced towards the building. They wentin by the french window of the drawing room and passed through into thehall. Sylvia Bassington-ffrench was standing⁶ there, her face white as pa-per.
“Did you hear?” she said. “It was a shot—from Henry’s study.”
She swayed and Roger put an arm round her to steady her. Frankiewent to the study door and turned the handle.
“It’s locked,” she said.
“The window,” said Roger.
He deposited Sylvia, who was in a half-fainting condition, on a conveni-ent settee and raced out again through the drawing room, Frankie on hisheels. They went round the house till they came to the study window. Itwas closed, but they put their faces close to the glass and peered in. Thesun was setting and there was not much light—but they could see plainlyenough.
Henry Bassington-ffrench was lying sprawled²³ out across his desk. Therewas a bullet wound plainly visible in the temple and a revolver lay on thefloor, where it had dropped from his hand.
“He’s shot himself,” said Frankie. “How ghastly! .?.?.”
“Stand back a little,” said Roger. “I’m going to break the window.”
He wrapped his hand in his coat and struck the pane²⁴ of glass a heavyblow that shattered it. Roger picked out the pieces carefully, then he andFrankie stepped into the room. As they did so, Mrs. Bassington-ffrenchand Dr. Nicholson came hurrying along the terrace.
“Here’s the doctor,” said Sylvia. “He’s just come. Has — has anythinghappened to Henry?”
Then she saw the sprawling²⁵ figure and uttered a cry.
Roger stepped quickly out again through the window and Dr. Nicholsonthrust Sylvia into his arms.
“Take her away,” he said briefly²⁶. “Look after her. Give her some brandyif she’ll take it. Don’t let her see more than you can help.”
He himself stepped through the window and joined Frankie.
He shook his head slowly.
“This is a tragic²⁷ business,” he said. “Poor fellow. So he felt he couldn’tface the music. Too bad. Too bad.”
He bent²⁸ over the body then straightened himself up again.
“Nothing to be done. Death must have been instantaneous. I wonder ifhe wrote something first. They usually do.”
Frankie advanced till she stood beside them. A piece of paper with a fewscrawled words on it, evidently freshly written, lay at Bassington-ffrench’selbow. Their purport²⁹ was clear enough.
I feel this is the best way out, (Henry Bassington-ffrenchhad written). This fatal habit has taken too great a holdon me for me to fight it now. Want to do the best I can forSylvia—Sylvia and Tommy. God bless you both, my dears.
Forgive me. .?.?.
Frankie felt a lump rise in her throat.
“We mustn’t touch anything,” said Dr. Nicholson. “There will have to bean inquest, of course. We must ring up the police.”
In obedience³⁰ to his gesture, Frankie went towards the door. Then shestopped.
“The key’s not in the lock,” she said.
“No? Perhaps it’s in his pocket.”
He knelt down, investigating delicately. From the dead man’s coatpocket he drew out a key.
He tried it in the lock and it fitted. Together they passed out into thehall. Dr. Nicholson went straight to the telephone.
Frankie, her knees shaking under her, felt suddenly sick.

1 repentant   

adj.对…感到悔恨的

参考例句：

• He was repentant when he saw what he'd done.他看到自己的作为，心里悔恨。
• I'll be meek under their coldness and repentant of my evil ways.我愿意乖乖地忍受她们的奚落，忏悔我过去的恶行。

2 sob   

n.空间轨道的轰炸机；呜咽，哭泣

参考例句：

• The child started to sob when he couldn't find his mother.孩子因找不到他妈妈哭了起来。
• The girl didn't answer,but continued to sob with her head on the table.那个女孩不回答，也不抬起头来。她只顾低声哭着。

3 exclamation   

n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词

参考例句：

• He could not restrain an exclamation of approval.他禁不住喝一声采。
• The author used three exclamation marks at the end of the last sentence to wake up the readers.作者在文章的最后一句连用了三个惊叹号，以引起读者的注意。

4 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。

5 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

6 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

7 craving   

n.渴望,热望

参考例句：

• a craving for chocolate 非常想吃巧克力
• She skipped normal meals to satisfy her craving for chocolate and crisps. 她不吃正餐，以便满足自己吃巧克力和炸薯片的渴望。

8 positively   

adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实

参考例句：

• She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
• The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。

9 dilemma   

n.困境，进退两难的局面

参考例句：

• I am on the horns of a dilemma about the matter.这件事使我进退两难。
• He was thrown into a dilemma.他陷入困境。

10 obstinacy   

n.顽固；（病痛等）难治

参考例句：

• It is a very accountable obstinacy.这是一种完全可以理解的固执态度。
• Cindy's anger usually made him stand firm to the point of obstinacy.辛迪一发怒，常常使他坚持自见，并达到执拗的地步。

11 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

12 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。

13 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

14 respite   

n.休息，中止，暂缓

参考例句：

• She was interrogated without respite for twenty-four hours.她被不间断地审问了二十四小时。
• Devaluation would only give the economy a brief respite.贬值只能让经济得到暂时的缓解。

15 receded   

v.逐渐远离( recede的过去式和过去分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题

参考例句：

• The floodwaters have now receded. 洪水现已消退。
• The sound of the truck receded into the distance. 卡车的声音渐渐在远处消失了。

16 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

17 quack   

n.庸医；江湖医生；冒充内行的人；骗子

参考例句：

• He describes himself as a doctor,but I feel he is a quack.他自称是医生，可是我感觉他是个江湖骗子。
• The quack was stormed with questions.江湖骗子受到了猛烈的质问。

18 defiantly   

adv.挑战地，大胆对抗地

参考例句：

• Braving snow and frost, the plum trees blossomed defiantly. 红梅傲雪凌霜开。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• She tilted her chin at him defiantly. 她向他翘起下巴表示挑衅。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 marvelled   

v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I marvelled that he suddenly left college. 我对他突然离开大学感到惊奇。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I marvelled at your boldness. 我对你的大胆感到惊奇。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 obstinately   

ad.固执地，顽固地

参考例句：

• He obstinately asserted that he had done the right thing. 他硬说他做得对。
• Unemployment figures are remaining obstinately high. 失业数字仍然顽固地居高不下。

21 obstinate   

adj.顽固的，倔强的，不易屈服的，较难治愈的

参考例句：

• She's too obstinate to let anyone help her.她太倔强了，不会让任何人帮她的。
• The trader was obstinate in the negotiation.这个商人在谈判中拗强固执。

22 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

23 sprawled   

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）

参考例句：

• He was sprawled full-length across the bed. 他手脚摊开横躺在床上。
• He was lying sprawled in an armchair, watching TV. 他四肢伸开正懒散地靠在扶手椅上看电视。

24 pane   

n.窗格玻璃，长方块

参考例句：

• He broke this pane of glass.他打破了这块窗玻璃。
• Their breath bloomed the frosty pane.他们呼出的水气，在冰冷的窗玻璃上形成一层雾。

25 sprawling   

adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着）

参考例句：

• He was sprawling in an armchair in front of the TV. 他伸开手脚坐在电视机前的一张扶手椅上。
• a modern sprawling town 一座杂乱无序拓展的现代城镇

26 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

27 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

28 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

29 purport   

n.意义，要旨，大要；v.意味著，做为...要旨，要领是...

参考例句：

• Many theories purport to explain growth in terms of a single cause.许多理论都标榜以单一的原因解释生长。
• Her letter may purport her forthcoming arrival.她的来信可能意味着她快要到了。

30 obedience   

n.服从，顺从

参考例句：

• Society has a right to expect obedience of the law.社会有权要求人人遵守法律。
• Soldiers act in obedience to the orders of their superior officers.士兵们遵照上级军官的命令行动。