She led the way up the broad staircase and the two of them followed her.
Yes, thought Stafford Nye, a very comfortable house. Jacobean paper, amost unsightly carved oak staircase but pleasantly shallow treads. Pic-tures nicely chosen but of no particular artistic1 interest. A rich man’shouse, he thought. A man, not of bad taste, a man of conventional tastes.
Good thick pile carpet of an agreeable plum-coloured texture2.
On the first floor, the grenadier-like parlour-maid went to the first dooralong it. She opened it and stood back to let them go in but she made noannouncement of names. The Countess went in first and Sir Stafford Nyefollowed her. He heard the door shut quietly behind him.
There were four people in the room. Sitting behind a large desk whichwas well covered with papers, documents, an open map or two and pre-sumably other papers which were in the course of discussion, was a large,fat man with a very yellow face. It was a face Sir Stafford Nye had seen be-fore, though he could not for the moment attach the proper name to it. Itwas a man whom he had met only in a casual fashion, and yet the occa-sion had been an important one. He should know, yes, definitely he shouldknow. But why–why wouldn’t the name come?
With a slight struggle, the figure sitting at the desk rose to his feet. Hetook the Countess Renata’s outstretched hand.
‘You’ve arrived,’ he said, ‘splendid.’
‘Yes. Let me introduce you, though I think you already know him. SirStafford Nye, Mr Robinson.’
Of course. In Sir Stafford Nye’s brain something clicked like a camera.
That fitted in, too, with another name. Pikeaway. To say that he knew allabout Mr Robinson was not true. He knew about Mr Robinson all that MrRobinson permitted to be known. His name, as far as anyone knew, wasRobinson, though it might have been any name of foreign origin. No onehad ever suggested anything of that kind. Recognition came also of hispersonal appearance. The high forehead, the melancholy3 dark eyes, thelarge generous mouth, and the impressive white teeth–false teeth, presum-ably, but at any rate teeth of which it might have been said, like in RedRiding Hood4, ‘the better to eat you with, child!’
He knew, too, what Mr Robinson stood for. Just one simple word de-scribed it. Mr Robinson represented Money with a capital M. Money in itsevery aspect. International money, world-wide money, private home fin-ances, banking5, money not in the way that the average person looked at it.
You never thought of him as a very rich man. Undoubtedly6 he was a veryrich man but that wasn’t the important thing. He was one of the arrangersof money, the great clan7 of bankers. His personal tastes might even havebeen simple, but Sir Stafford Nye doubted if they were. A reasonablestandard of comfort, even luxury, would be Mr Robinson’s way of life. Butnot more than that. So behind all this mysterious business there was thepower of money.
‘I heard of you just a day or two ago,’ said Mr Robinson, as he shookhands, ‘from our friend Pikeaway, you know.’
That fitted in, thought Stafford Nye, because now he remembered thaton the solitary8 occasion before that he had met Mr Robinson, ColonelPikeaway had been present. Horsham, he remembered, had spoken of MrRobinson. So now there was Mary Ann (or the Countess Zerkowski?) andColonel Pikeaway sitting in his own smoke-filled room with his eyes halfclosed either going to sleep or just waking up, and there was Mr Robinsonwith his large, yellow face, and so there was money at stake somewhere,and his glance shifted to the three other people in the room because hewanted to see if he knew who they were and what they represented, or ifhe could guess.
In two cases at least he didn’t need to guess. The man who sat in the tallporter’s chair by the fireplace, an elderly figure framed by the chair as apicture frame might have framed him, was a face that had been wellknown all over England. Indeed, it still was well known, although it wasvery seldom seen nowadays. A sick man, an invalid9, a man who madevery brief appearances, and then it was said, at physical cost to himself inpain and difficulty. Lord Altamount. A thin emaciated11 face, outstandingnose, grey hair which receded12 just a little from the forehead, and thenflowed back in a thick grey mane; somewhat prominent ears that cartoon-ists had used in their time, and a deep piercing glance that not so muchobserved as probed. Probed deeply into what it was looking at. At the mo-ment it was looking at Sir Stafford Nye. He stretched out a hand asStafford Nye went towards him.
‘I don’t get up,’ said Lord Altamount. His voice was faint, an old man’svoice, a far-away voice. ‘My back doesn’t allow me. Just come back fromMalaya, haven’t you, Stafford Nye?’
‘Yes.’
‘Was it worth your going? I expect you think it wasn’t. You’re probablyright, too. Still, we have to have these excrescences in life, these ornamen-tal trimmings to adorn13 the better kind of diplomatic lies. I’m glad youcould come here or were brought here tonight. Mary Ann’s doing, I sup-pose?’
So that’s what he calls her and thinks of her as, thought Stafford Nye tohimself. It was what Horsham had called her. She was in with them then,without a doubt. As for Altamount, he stood for–what did he stand fornowadays? Stafford Nye thought to himself. He stands for England. He stillstands for England until he’s buried in Westminster Abbey or a countrymausoleum, whatever he chooses. He has been England, and he knowsEngland, and I should say he knows the value of every politician and gov-ernment official in England pretty well, even if he’s never spoken to them.
Lord Altamount said:
‘This is our colleague, Sir James Kleek.’
Stafford Nye didn’t know Kleek. He didn’t think he’d even heard of him.
A restless, fidgety type. Sharp, suspicious glances that never rested any-where for long. He had the contained eagerness of a sporting dog awaitingthe word of command. Ready to start off at a glance from his master’s eye.
But who was his master? Altamount or Robinson?
Stafford’s eye went round to the fourth man. He had risen to his feetfrom the chair where he had been sitting close to the door. Bushy mous-tache, raised eyebrows15, watchful16, withdrawn17, managing in some way toremain familiar yet almost unrecognizable.
‘So it’s you,’ said Sir Stafford Nye, ‘how are you, Horsham?’
‘Very pleased to see you here, Sir Stafford.’
Quite a representative gathering18, Stafford Nye thought, with a swiftglance round.
They had set a chair for Renata not far from the fire and LordAltamount. She had stretched out a hand–her left hand, he noticed–and hehad taken it between his two hands, holding it for a minute, then droppingit. He said:
‘You took risks, child, you take too many risks.’
Looking at him, she said, ‘It was you who taught me that, and it’s theonly way of life.’
Lord Altamount turned his head towards Sir Stafford Nye.
‘It wasn’t I who taught you to choose your man. You’ve got a naturalgenius for that.’ Looking at Stafford Nye, he said, ‘I know your great-aunt,or your great-great-aunt, is she?’
‘Great-Aunt Matilda,’ said Stafford Nye immediately.
‘Yes. That’s the one. One of the Victorian tours-de-force of the ’nineties.
She must be nearly ninety herself now.’
He went on:
‘I don’t see her very often. Once or twice a year perhaps. But it strikesme every time–that sheer vitality20 of hers that outlives her bodily strength.
They have the secret of that, those indomitable Victorians and some of theEdwardians as well.’
Sir James Kleek said, ‘Let me get you a drink, Nye? What will you have?’
‘Gin and tonic21, if I may.’
The Countess refused with a small shake of the head.
James Kleek brought Nye his drink and set it on the table near Mr Robin-son. Stafford Nye was not going to speak first. The dark eyes behind thedesk lost their melancholy for a moment. They had quite suddenly atwinkle in them.
‘Any questions?’ he said.
‘Too many,’ said Sir Stafford Nye. ‘Wouldn’t it be better to have explana-tions first, questions later?’
‘Is that what you’d like?’
‘It might simplify matters.’
‘Well, we start with a few plain statements of facts. You may or you maynot have been asked to come here. If not, that fact may rankle22 slightly.’
‘He prefers to be asked always,’ said the Countess. ‘He said as much tome.’
‘Naturally,’ said Mr Robinson.
‘I was hi-jacked,’ said Stafford Nye. ‘Very fashionable, I know. One ofour more modern methods.’
He kept his tone one of light amusement.
‘Which invites, surely, a question from you,’ said Mr Robinson.
‘Just one small word of three letters. Why?’
‘Quite so. Why? I admire your economy of speech. This is a private com-mittee–a committee of inquiry23. An inquiry of world-wide significance.’
‘Sounds interesting,’ said Sir Stafford Nye.
‘It is more than interesting. It is poignant24 and immediate19. Four differentways of life are represented in this room tonight,’ said Lord Altamount.
‘We represent different branches. I have retired25 from active participationin the affairs of this country, but I am still a consulting authority. I havebeen consulted and asked to preside over this particular inquiry as towhat is going on in the world in this particular year of our Lord, becausesomething is going on. James, here, has his own special task. He is myright-hand man. He is also our spokesman. Explain the general set-out, ifyou will, Jamie, to Sir Stafford here.’
It seemed to Stafford Nye that the gun dog quivered. At last! At last I canspeak and get on with it! He leaned forward a little in his chair.
‘If things happen in the world, you have to look for a cause for them.
The outward signs are always easy to see but they’re not, or so the Chair-man–’ he bowed to Lord Altamount–‘and Mr Robinson and Mr Horshambelieve, important. It’s always been the same way. You take a naturalforce, a great fall of water that will give you turbine power. You take thediscovery of uranium from pitchblende, and that will give you in duecourse nuclear power that had not been dreamt of or known. When youfound coal and minerals, they gave you transport, power, energy. Thereare forces at work always that give you certain things. But behind each ofthem there is someone who controls it. You’ve got to find who’s controllingthe powers that are slowly gaining ascendancy26 in practically every coun-try in Europe, further afield still in parts of Asia. Less, possibly, in Africa,but again in the American continents both north and south. You’ve got toget behind the things that are happening and find out the motive27 forcethat’s making them happen. One thing that makes things happen ismoney.’
He nodded towards Mr Robinson.
‘Mr Robinson, there, knows as much about money as anybody in theworld, I suppose.’
‘It’s quite simple,’ said Mr Robinson. ‘There are big movements afoot.
There has to be money behind them. We’ve got to find out where thatmoney’s coming from. Who’s operating with it? Where do they get itfrom? Where are they sending it to? Why? It’s quite true what James says:
I know a lot about money! As much as any man alive knows today. Thenthere are what you might call trends. It’s a word we use a good dealnowadays! Trends or tendencies–there are innumerable words one uses.
They mean not quite the same thing, but they’re in relationship with eachother. A tendency, shall we say, to rebellion shows up. Look back throughhistory. You’ll find it coming again and again, repeating itself like a peri-odic table, repeating a pattern. A desire for rebellion, the means of rebel-lion, the form the rebellion takes. It’s not a thing particular to any particu-lar country. If it arises in one country, it will arise in other countries inless or more degrees. That’s what you mean, sir, isn’t it?’ He half turned to-wards Lord Altamount. ‘That’s the way you more or less put it to me.’
‘Yes, you’re expressing things very well, James.’
‘It’s a pattern, a pattern that arises and seems inevitable28. You can recog-nize it where you find it. There was a period when a yearning29 towardscrusades swept countries. All over Europe people embarked30 in ships, theywent off to deliver the Holy Land. All quite clear, a perfectly31 good patternof determined32 behaviour. But why did they go? That’s the interest of his-tory, you know. Seeing why these desires and patterns arise. It’s not al-ways a materialistic33 answer either. All sorts of things can cause rebellion,a desire for freedom, freedom of speech, freedom of religious worship,again a series of closely related patterns. It led people to embrace emigra-tion to other countries, to formation of new religions very often as full oftyranny as the forms of religion they had left behind. But in all this, if youlook hard enough, if you make enough investigations35, you can see whatstarted the onset36 of these and many other–I’ll use the same word–patterns.
In some ways it’s like a virus disease. The virus can be carried–round theworld, across seas, up mountains. It can go and infect. It goes apparentlywithout being set in motion. But one can’t be sure, even now, that that wasalways really true. There could have been causes. Causes that made thingshappen. One can go a few steps further. There are people. One person–tenpersons–a few hundred persons who are capable of being and setting inmotion a cause. So it is not the end process that one has to look at. It is thefirst people who set the cause in motion. You have your crusaders, youhave your religious enthusiasts37, you have your desires for liberty, youhave all the other patterns but you’ve got to go further back still. Furtherback to a hinterland. Visions, dreams. The prophet Joel knew it when hewrote “Your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see vis-ions.” And of those two, which are the more powerful? Dreams are not de-structive. But visions can open new worlds to you–and visions can alsodestroy the worlds that already exist…’
James Kleek turned suddenly towards Lord Altamount. ‘I don’t know ifit connects up, sir,’ he said, ‘but you told me a story once of somebody inthe Embassy at Berlin. A woman.’
‘Oh that? Yes, I found it interesting at the time. Yes, it has a bearing onwhat we are talking about now. One of the Embassy wives, clever, intelli-gent woman, well educated. She was very anxious to go personally andhear the Führer speak. I am talking, of course, of a time immediately pre-ceding the 1939 war. She was curious to know what oratory38 could do. Whywas everyone so impressed? And so she went. She came back and said,“It’s extraordinary. I wouldn’t have believed it. Of course I don’t under-stand German very well but I was carried away, too. And I see now whyeveryone is. I mean, his ideas were wonderful…They inflamed39 you. Thethings he said. I mean, you just felt there was no other way of thinking,that a whole new world would happen if only one followed him. Oh, Ican’t explain properly. I’m going to write down as much as I can remem-ber, and then if I bring it to you to see, you’ll see better than my just tryingto tell you the effect it had.”
‘I told her that was a very good idea. She came to me the next day andshe said, “I don’t know if you’ll believe this. I started to write down thethings I’d heard, the things Hitler had said. What they’d meant–but–it wasfrightening–there wasn’t anything to write down at all, I didn’t seem able toremember a single stimulating40 or exciting sentence. I have some of thewords, but it doesn’t seem to mean the same things as when I wrote themdown. They are just–oh, they are just meaningless. I don’t understand.’
‘That shows you one of the great dangers one doesn’t always remember,but it exists. There are people capable of communicating to others a wildenthusiasm, a kind of vision of life and of happening. They can do thatthough it is not really by what they say, it is not the words you hear, it is noteven the idea described. It’s something else. It’s the magnetic power that avery few men have of starting something, of producing and creating a vis-ion. By their personal magnetism41 perhaps, a tone of voice, perhaps someemanation that comes forth42 straight from the flesh. I don’t know, but it ex-ists.
‘Such people have power. The great religious teachers had this power,and so has an evil spirit power also. Belief can be created in a certainmovement, in certain things to be done, things that will result in a newheaven and a new earth, and people will believe it and work for it andfight for it and even die for it.’
He lowered his voice as he said: ‘Jan Smuts puts it in a phrase. He saidLeadership, besides being a great creative force, can be diabolical43.’
Stafford Nye moved in his chair.
‘I understand what you mean. It is interesting what you say. I can seeperhaps that it might be true.’
‘But you think it’s exaggerated, of course.’
‘I don’t know that I do,’ said Stafford Nye. ‘Things that sound exagger-ated are very often not exaggerated at all. They are only things that youhaven’t heard said before or thought about before. And therefore theycome to you as so unfamiliar44 that you can hardly do anything about themexcept accept them. By the way, may I ask a simple question? What doesone do about them?’
‘If you come across the suspicion that this sort of thing is going on, youmust find out about them,’ said Lord Altamount. ‘You’ve got to go like Kip-ling’s mongoose: Go and find out. Find out where the money comes fromand where the ideas are coming from, and where, if I may say so, the ma-chinery comes from. Who is directing the machinery45? There’s a chief ofstaff, you know, as well as a commander-in-chief. That’s what we’re tryingto do. We’d like you to come and help us.’
It was one of the rare occasions in his life when Sir Stafford Nye wastaken aback. Whatever he may have felt on some former occasions, hehad always managed to conceal46 the fact. But this time it was different. Helooked from one to the other of the men in the room. At Mr Robinson, im-passively yellow-faced with his mouthful of teeth displayed; to Sir JamesKleek, a somewhat brash talker, Sir Stafford Nye had considered him, butnevertheless he had obviously his uses; Master’s dog, he called him in hisown mind. He looked at Lord Altamount, the hood of the porter’s chairframed round his head. The lighting47 was not strong in the room. It gavehim the look of a saint in a niche48 in a cathedral somewhere. Ascetic49. Four-teenth-century. A great man. Yes, Altamount had been one of the greatmen of the past. Stafford Nye had no doubt of that, but he was now a veryold man. Hence, he supposed, the necessity for Sir James Kleek, and LordAltamount’s reliance on him. He looked past them to the enigmatic, coolcreature who had brought him here, the Countess Renata Zerkowski aliasMary Ann, alias50 Daphne Theodofanous. Her face told him nothing. Shewas not even looking at him. His eyes came round last to Mr Henry Hor-sham of Security.
With faint surprise he observed that Henry Horsham was grinning athim.
‘But look here,’ said Stafford Nye, dropping all formal language, andspeaking rather like the schoolboy of eighteen he had once been. ‘Whereon earth do I come in? What do I know? Quite frankly51, I’m not distin-guished in any way in my own profession, you know. They don’t thinkvery much of me at the FO. Never have.’
‘We know that,’ said Lord Altamount.
It was Sir James Kleek’s turn to grin and he did so.
‘All the better perhaps,’ he remarked, and added apologetically as LordAltamount frowned at him, ‘Sorry, sir.’
‘This is a committee of investigation34,’ said Mr Robinson. ‘It is not a ques-tion of what you have done in the past, of what other people’s opinion ofyou may be. What we are doing is to recruit a committee to investigate.
There are not very many of us at the moment forming this committee. Weask you to join it because we think that you have certain qualities whichmay help in an investigation.’
Stafford Nye turned his head towards the Security man. ‘What about it,Horsham?’ he said. ‘I can’t believe you’d agree with that?’
‘Why not?’ said Henry Horsham.
‘Indeed? What are my “qualities”, as you call them? I can’t, quitefrankly, believe in them myself.’
‘You’re not a hero-worshipper,’ said Horsham. ‘That’s why. You’re thekind who sees through humbug52. You don’t take anyone at their own or theworld’s valuation. You take them at your own valuation.’
Ce n’est pas un gar?on sérieux. The words floated through Sir StaffordNye’s mind. A curious reason for which to be chosen for a difficult and ex-acting job.
‘I’ve got to warn you,’ he said, ‘that my principal fault, and one that’sbeen frequently noticed about me and which has cost me several goodjobs is, I think, fairly well known. I’m not, I should say, a sufficiently53 seri-ous sort of chap for an important job like this.’
‘Believe it or not,’ said Mr Horsham, ‘that’s one of the reasons why theywant you. I’m right, my lord, aren’t I?’ He looked towards Lord Altamount.
‘Public service!’ said Lord Altamount. ‘Let me tell you that very oftenone of the most serious disadvantages in public life is when people in apublic position take themselves too seriously. We feel that you won’t. Any-way,’ he said, ‘Mary Ann thinks so.’
Sir Stafford Nye turned his head. So here she was, no longer a countess.
She had become Mary Ann again.
‘You don’t mind my asking,’ he said, ‘but who are you really? I mean, areyou a real countess.’
‘Absolutely. Geboren, as the Germans say. My father was a man of pedi-gree, a good sportsman, a splendid shot, and had a very romantic butsomewhat dilapidated castle in Bavaria. It’s still there, the castle. As far asthat goes, I have connections with that large portion of the Europeanworld which is still heavily snobbish54 as far as birth is concerned. A poorand shabby countess sits down first at the table whilst a rich Americanwith a fabulous55 fortune in dollars in the bank is kept waiting.’
‘What about Daphne Theodofanous? Where does she come in?’
‘A useful name for a passport. My mother was Greek.’
‘And Mary Ann?’
It was almost the first smile Stafford Nye had seen on her face. Her eyeswent to Lord Altamount and from him to Mr Robinson.
‘Perhaps,’ she said, ‘because I’m a kind of maid-of-all-work, going places,looking for things, taking things from one country to another, sweepingunder the mat, do anything, go anywhere, clear up the mess.’ She lookedtowards Lord Altamount again. ‘Am I right, Uncle Ned?’
‘Quite right, my dear. Mary Ann you are and always will be to us.’
‘Were you taking something on that plane? I mean taking something im-portant from one country to another?’
‘Yes. It was known I was carrying it. If you hadn’t come to my rescue, ifyou hadn’t drunk possibly poisoned beer and handed over your banditcloak of bright colours as a disguise, well, accidents happen sometimes. Ishouldn’t have got here.’
‘What were you carrying–or mustn’t I ask? Are there things I shall neverknow?’
‘There are a lot of things you will never know. There are a lot of thingsyou won’t be allowed to ask. I think that question of yours I shall answer.
A bare answer of fact. If I am allowed to do so.’
Again she looked at Lord Altamount.
‘I trust your judgment,’ said Lord Altamount. ‘Go ahead.’
‘Give him the dope,’ said the irreverent James Kleek.
Mr Horsham said, ‘I suppose you’ve got to know. I wouldn’t tell you, butthen I’m Security. Go ahead, Mary Ann.’
‘One sentence. I was bringing a birth certificate. That’s all. I don’t tell youany more and it won’t be any use your asking any more questions.’
Stafford Nye looked round the assembly.
‘All right. I’ll join. I’m flattered at your asking me. Where do we go fromhere?’
‘You and I,’ said Renata, ‘leave here tomorrow. We go to the Continent.
You may have read, or know, that there’s a Musical Festival taking placein Bavaria. It is something quite new which has only come into being inthe last two years. It has a rather formidable German name meaning “TheCompany of Youthful Singers” and is supported by the Governments ofseveral different countries. It is in opposition56 to the traditional festivalsand productions of Bayreuth. Much of the music given is modern–newyoung composers are given the chance of their compositions being heard.
Whilst thought of highly by some, it is utterly57 repudiated58 and held in con-tempt by others.’
‘Yes,’ said Sir Stafford, ‘I have read about it. Are we going to attend it?’
‘We have seats booked for two of the performances.’
‘Has this festival any special significance in our investigation?’
‘No,’ said Renata. ‘It is more in the nature of what you might call an exitand entry convenience. We go there for an ostensible59 and true reason, andwe leave it for our next step in due course.’
He looked round. ‘Instructions? Do I get any marching orders? Am I tobe briefed?’
‘Not in your meaning of those terms. You are going on a voyage of ex-ploration. You will learn things as you go along. You will go as yourself,knowing only what you know at present. You go as a lover of music, as aslightly disappointed diplomat14 who had perhaps hoped for some post inhis own country which he has not been given. Otherwise, you will knownothing. It is safer so.’
‘But that is the sum of activities at present? Germany, Bavaria, Austria,the Tyrol–that part of the world?’
‘It is one of the centres of interest.’
‘It is not the only one?’
‘Indeed, not even the principal one. There are other spots on the globe,all of varying importance and interest. How much importance each oneholds is what we have to find out.’
‘And I don’t know, or am not to be told, anything about these othercentres?’
‘Only in cursory60 fashion. One of them, we think the most important one,has its headquarters in South America, there are two with headquarters inthe United States of America, one in California, the other in Baltimore.
There is one in Sweden, there is one in Italy. Things have become very act-ive in the latter in the last six months. Portugal and Spain also have smal-ler centres. Paris, of course. There are further interesting spots just “com-ing into production”, you might say. As yet not fully61 developed.’
‘You mean Malaya, or Vietnam?’
‘No. No, all that lies rather in the past. It was a good rallying cry for viol-ence and student indignation and for many other things.
‘What is being promoted, you must understand, is the growing organiza-tion of youth everywhere against their mode of government; against theirparental customs, against very often the religions in which they have beenbrought up. There is the insidious62 cult10 of permissiveness, there is the in-creasing cult of violence. Violence not as a means of gaining money, butviolence for the love of violence. That particularly is stressed, and thereasons for it are to the people concerned one of the most importantthings and of the utmost significance.’
‘Permissiveness, is that important?’
‘It is a way of life, no more. It lends itself to certain abuses but not un-duly.’
‘What about drugs?’
‘The cult of drugs has been deliberately63 advanced and fomented64. Vastsums of money have been made that way, but it is not, or so we think, en-tirely activated65 for the money motive.’
All of them looked at Mr Robinson, who slowly shook his head.
‘No,’ he said, ‘it looks that way. There are people who are being appre-hended and brought to justice. Pushers of drugs will be followed up. Butthere is more than just the drug racket behind all this. The drug racket is ameans, and an evil means, of making money. But there is more to it thanthat.’
‘But who–’ Stafford Nye stopped.
‘Who and what and why and where? The four W’s. That is your mission,Sir Stafford,’ said Mr Robinson. ‘That’s what you’ve got to find out. Youand Mary Ann. It won’t be easy, and one of the hardest things in theworld, remember, is to keep one’s secrets.’
Stafford Nye looked with interest at the fat yellow face of Mr Robinson.
Perhaps the secret of Mr Robinson’s domination in the financial worldwas just that. His secret was that he kept his secret. Mr Robinson’s mouthshowed its smile again. The large teeth gleamed.
‘If you know a thing,’ he said, ‘it is always a great temptation to showthat you know it; to talk about it, in other words. It is not that you want togive information, it is not that you have been offered payment to give in-formation. It is that you want to show how important you are. Yes, it’s justas simple as that. In fact,’ said Mr Robinson, and he half closed his eyes,‘everything in this world is so very, very simple. That’s what people don’tunderstand.’
The Countess got to her feet and Stafford Nye followed her example.
‘I hope you will sleep well and be comfortable,’ said Mr Robinson. ‘Thishouse is, I think, moderately comfortable.’
Stafford Nye murmured that he was quite sure of that, and on that pointhe was shortly to be proved to have been quite right. He laid his head onthe pillow and went to sleep immediately.
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artistic
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| adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的 | |
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texture
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| n.(织物)质地；(材料)构造；结构；肌理 | |
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melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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hood
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| n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖 | |
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banking
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| n.银行业，银行学，金融业 | |
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undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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clan
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| n.氏族，部落，宗族，家族，宗派 | |
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solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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invalid
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| n.病人，伤残人；adj.有病的，伤残的；无效的 | |
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cult
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| n.异教，邪教；时尚，狂热的崇拜 | |
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emaciated
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| adj.衰弱的，消瘦的 | |
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receded
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| 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 | |
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adorn
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| vt.使美化，装饰 | |
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diplomat
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| n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人 | |
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eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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watchful
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| adj.注意的，警惕的 | |
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withdrawn
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| vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出 | |
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gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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vitality
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| n.活力，生命力，效力 | |
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tonic
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| n./adj.滋补品，补药，强身的，健体的 | |
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rankle
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| v.（怨恨，失望等）难以释怀 | |
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inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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poignant
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| adj.令人痛苦的，辛酸的，惨痛的 | |
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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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ascendancy
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| n.统治权，支配力量 | |
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motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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yearning
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| a.渴望的；向往的；怀念的 | |
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embarked
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| 乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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materialistic
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| a.唯物主义的，物质享乐主义的 | |
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investigation
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| n.调查，调查研究 | |
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investigations
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| （正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究 | |
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onset
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| n.进攻，袭击，开始，突然开始 | |
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enthusiasts
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| n.热心人，热衷者( enthusiast的名词复数 ) | |
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oratory
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| n.演讲术；词藻华丽的言辞 | |
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inflamed
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| adj.发炎的，红肿的v.（使）变红，发怒，过热( inflame的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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stimulating
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| adj.有启发性的，能激发人思考的 | |
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magnetism
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| n.磁性，吸引力，磁学 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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diabolical
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| adj.恶魔似的，凶暴的 | |
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unfamiliar
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| adj.陌生的，不熟悉的 | |
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machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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niche
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| n.壁龛；合适的职务(环境、位置等) | |
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ascetic
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| adj.禁欲的；严肃的 | |
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alias
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| n.化名；别名；adv.又名 | |
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frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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humbug
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| n.花招，谎话，欺骗 | |
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sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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snobbish
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| adj.势利的，谄上欺下的 | |
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fabulous
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| adj.极好的；极为巨大的；寓言中的，传说中的 | |
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opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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repudiated
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| v.（正式地）否认( repudiate的过去式和过去分词 )；拒绝接受；拒绝与…往来；拒不履行（法律义务） | |
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ostensible
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| adj.(指理由)表面的，假装的 | |
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cursory
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| adj.粗略的；草率的；匆促的 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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insidious
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| adj.阴险的，隐匿的，暗中为害的，（疾病）不知不觉之间加剧 | |
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deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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fomented
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| v.激起，煽动（麻烦等）( foment的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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activated
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| adj. 激活的 动词activate的过去式和过去分词 | |
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