Mary Durrant crossed the room and picked up some fallen petals1 from avase of chrysanthemums2. She put them carefully into the wastepaper bas-ket. She was a tall, serene-looking young woman of twenty-seven who, al-though her face was unlined, yet looked older than her years, probablyfrom a sedate3 maturity4 that seemed part of her makeup5. She had goodlooks, without a trace of glamour6. Regular features, a good skin, eyes of avivid blue, and fair hair combed off her face and arranged in a large bunat the back of her neck; a style which at the moment happened to be fash-ionable although that was not her reason for wearing it so. She was a wo-man who always kept to her own style. Her appearance was like herhouse; neat, well kept. Any kind of dust or disorder7 worried her.
The man in the invalid8 chair watching her as she put the fallen petalscarefully away, smiled a slightly twisted smile.
“Same tidy creature,” he said. “A place for everything and everything inits place.” He laughed, with a faint malicious9 note in the laugh. But MaryDurrant was quite undisturbed.
“I do like things to be tidy,” she agreed. “You know, Phil, you wouldn’tlike it yourself if the house was like a shambles10.”
Her husband said with a faint trace of bitterness:
“Well, at any rate I haven’t got the chance of making it into one.”
Soon after their marriage, Philip Durrant had fallen a victim to polio ofthe paralytic11 type. To Mary, who adored him, he had become her child aswell as her husband. He himself felt at times slightly embarrassed by herpossessive love. His wife had not got the imagination to understand thather pleasure in his dependence12 upon her sometimes irked him.
He went on now rather quickly, as though fearing some word of com-miseration or sympathy from her.
“I must say your father’s news beggars description! After all this time!
How can you be so calm about it?”
“I suppose I can hardly take it in … It’s so extraordinary. At first I simplycouldn’t believe what father was saying. If it had been Hester, now, Ishould have thought she’d imagined the whole thing. You know whatHester’s like.”
Philip Durrant’s face lost a little of its bitterness. He said softly:
“A vehement13 passionate14 creature, setting out in life to look for troubleand certain to find it.”
Mary waved away the analysis. Other people’s characters did not in-terest her.
She said doubtfully: “I suppose it’s true? You don’t think this man mayhave imagined it all?”
“The absentminded scientist? It would be nice to think so,” said Philip,“but it seems that Andrew Marshall has taken the matter seriously. AndMarshall, Marshall & Marshall are a very hard-headed legal proposition,let me tell you.”
Mary Durrant said, frowning: “What will it actually mean, Phil?”
Philip said: “It means that Jacko will be completely exonerated15. That is,if the authorities are satisfied—and I gather that there is going to be noquestion of anything else.”
“Oh, well,” said Mary, with a slight sigh, “I suppose it’s all very nice.”
Philip Durrant laughed again, the same twisted, rather bitter laughter.
“Polly!” he said, “you’ll be the death of me.”
Only her husband had ever called Mary Durrant Polly. It was a nameludicrously inappropriate to her statuesque appearance. She looked atPhilip in faint surprise.
“I don’t see what I’ve said to amuse you so much.”
“You were so gracious about it!” said Philip. “Like Lady Somebody at theSale of Work praising the Village Institute’s handiwork.”
Mary said, puzzled: “But it is very nice! You can’t pretend it’s been satis-factory to have had a murderer in the family.”
“Not really in the family.”
“Well, it’s practically the same thing. I mean, it was all very worrying,and made one most uncomfortable. Everybody was so agog16 and curious. Ihated it all.”
“You took it very well,” said Philip. “Froze them with that icy blue gazeof yours. Made them pipe down and look ashamed of themselves. It’s won-derful the way you manage never to show emotion.”
“I disliked it all very much. It was all most unpleasant,” said Mary Dur-rant, “but at any rate he died and it was over. And now—now, I suppose, itwill all be raked up again. So tiresome17.”
“Yes,” said Philip Durrant thoughtfully. He shifted his shoulders slightly,a faint expression of pain on his face. His wife came to him quickly.
“Are you cramped18? Wait. Let me just move this cushion. There. That bet-ter?”
“You ought to have been a hospital nurse,” said Philip.
“I’ve not the least wish to nurse a lot of people. Only you.”
It was said very simply but there was a depth of feeling behind the barewords.
The telephone rang and Mary went to it.
“Hallo … yes … speaking … Oh, it’s you….”
She said aside to Philip: “It’s Micky.”
“Yes … yes, we have heard. Father telephoned … Well, of course … Yes …Yes … Philip says if the lawyers are satisfied it must be all right … Really,Micky, I don’t see why you’re so upset … I’m not aware of being particu-larly dense19 … Really, Micky, I do think you — Hallo?… Hallo?…” Shefrowned angrily. “He’s rung off.” She replaced the receiver. “Really, Philip,I can’t understand Micky.”
“What did he say exactly?”
“Well, he seems in such a state. He said that I was dense, that I didn’trealize the—the repercussions20. Hell to pay! That’s the way he put it. Butwhy? I don’t understand.”
“Got the wind up, has he?” said Philip thoughtfully.
“But why?”
“Well, he’s right, you know. There will be repercussions.”
Mary looked a little bewildered.
“You mean that there will be a revival21 of interest in the case? Of courseI’m glad Jacko is cleared, but it will be rather unpleasant if people begintalking about it again.”
“It’s not just what the neighbours say. There’s more to it than that.”
She looked at him inquiringly.
“The police are going to be interested, too!”
“The police?” Mary spoke22 sharply. “What’s it got to do with them?”
“My dear girl,” said Philip. “Think.”
Mary came back slowly to sit by him.
“It’s an unsolved crime again now, you see,” said Philip.
“But surely they won’t bother—after all this time?”
“A very nice bit of wishful thinking,” said Philip, “but fundamentally un-sound, I fear.”
“Surely,” said Mary, “after they’ve been so stupid—making such a badmistake over Jacko—they won’t want to rake it all up again?”
“They mayn’t want to—but they’ll probably have to! Duty is duty.”
“Oh, Philip, I’m sure you’re wrong. There will just be a bit of talk andthen it will all die down.”
“And then our lives will go on happily ever afterwards,” said Philip inhis mocking voice.
“Why not?”
He shook his head. “It’s not as simple as that … Your father’s right. Wemust all get together and have a consultation23. Get Marshall down as hesaid.”
“You mean—go over to Sunny Point?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, we can’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“It’s not practicable. You’re an invalid and—”
“I’m not an invalid.” Philip spoke with irritation24. “I’m quite strong andwell. I just happen to have lost the use of my legs. I could go to Timbuctoowith the proper transport laid on.”
“I’m sure it would be very bad for you to go to Sunny Point. Having allthis unpleasant business raked up—”
“It’s not my mind that’s affected25.”
“—And I don’t see how we can leave the house. There have been somany burglaries lately.”
“Get someone to sleep in.”
“It’s all very well to say that—as though it was the easiest thing in theworld.”
“Old Mrs. Whatsername can come in every day. Do stop making house-wifely objections, Polly. It’s you, really, who doesn’t want to go.”
“No, I don’t.”
“We won’t be there long,” said Philip reassuringly26. “But I think we’ve gotto go. This is a time when the family’s got to present a united front to theworld. We’ve got to find out exactly how we stand.”

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1
petals
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n.花瓣( petal的名词复数 ) | |
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2
chrysanthemums
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n.菊花( chrysanthemum的名词复数 ) | |
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sedate
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adj.沉着的,镇静的,安静的 | |
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maturity
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n.成熟;完成;(支票、债券等)到期 | |
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makeup
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n.组织;性格;化装品 | |
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glamour
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n.魔力,魅力;vt.迷住 | |
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disorder
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n.紊乱,混乱;骚动,骚乱;疾病,失调 | |
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8
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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9
malicious
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adj.有恶意的,心怀恶意的 | |
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shambles
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n.混乱之处;废墟 | |
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11
paralytic
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adj. 瘫痪的 n. 瘫痪病人 | |
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dependence
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n.依靠,依赖;信任,信赖;隶属 | |
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vehement
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adj.感情强烈的;热烈的;(人)有强烈感情的 | |
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14
passionate
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adj.热情的,热烈的,激昂的,易动情的,易怒的,性情暴躁的 | |
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15
exonerated
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v.使免罪,免除( exonerate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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agog
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adj.兴奋的,有强烈兴趣的; adv.渴望地 | |
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17
tiresome
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adj.令人疲劳的,令人厌倦的 | |
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18
cramped
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a.狭窄的 | |
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19
dense
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a.密集的,稠密的,浓密的;密度大的 | |
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20
repercussions
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n.后果,反响( repercussion的名词复数 );余波 | |
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21
revival
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n.复兴,复苏,(精力、活力等的)重振 | |
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22
spoke
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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 | |
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23
consultation
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n.咨询;商量;商议;会议 | |
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24
irritation
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n.激怒,恼怒,生气 | |
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affected
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adj.不自然的,假装的 | |
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reassuringly
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ad.安心,可靠 | |
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