Eight（1）

Eight
I
Hester Argyle was looking at herself in the glass. There was little vanity inher gaze. It was more an anxious questioning with behind it the humilityof one who has never really been sure of herself. She pushed up her hairfrom her forehead, pulled it to one side and frowned at the result. Then, asa face appeared behind hers in the mirror, she started, flinched¹ andswung round apprehensively².
“Ah,” said Kirsten Lindstrom, “you are afraid!”
“What do you mean, afraid, Kirsty?”
“You are afraid of me. You think that I come up behind you quietly andthat perhaps I shall strike you down.”
“Oh, Kirsty, don’t be so foolish. Of course I wouldn’t think anything likethat.”
“But you did think it,” said the other. “And you are right, too, to thinksuch things. To look at the shadows, to start when you see something thatyou do not quite understand. Because there is something here in thishouse to be afraid of. We know that now.”
“At any rate, Kirsty darling,” said Hester, “I needn’t be afraid of you.”
“How do you know?” said Kirsten Lindstrom. “Did I not read in the pa-per a short while back of a woman who had lived with another woman foryears, and then one day suddenly she kills her. Suffocates³ her. Tries toscratch her eyes out. And why? Because, she tells the police very gently,for some time she has seen that the devil is inhabiting the woman. She hadseen the devil looking out of the other woman’s eyes and she knows thatshe must be strong and brave and kill the devil!”
“Oh, well, I remember that,” said Hester. “But that woman was mad.”
“Ah,” said Kirsten. “But she did not know herself that she was mad. Andshe did not seem mad to those round her, because no one knew what wasgoing on in her poor, twisted mind. And so I say to you, you do not knowwhat is going on in my mind. Perhaps I am mad. Perhaps I looked one dayat your mother and thought that she was Antichrist and that I would killher.”
“But, Kirsty, that’s nonsense! Absolute nonsense.”
Kirsten Lindstrom sighed and sat down.
“Yes,” she admitted, “it is nonsense. I was very fond of your mother. Shewas good to me, always. But what I am trying to say to you, Hester, andwhat you have got to understand and believe, is that you cannot say ‘non-sense’ to anything or anyone. You cannot trust me or anybody else.”
Hester turned round and looked at the other woman.
“I really believe you’re serious,” she said.
“I am very serious,” said Kirsten. “We must all be serious and we mustbring things out into the open. It is no good pretending that nothing hashappened. That man who came here—I wish he had not come, but he did,and now he has made it, I understand, quite plain that Jacko was not amurderer. Very well then, someone else is a murderer, and that someoneelse must be one of us.”
“No, Kirsty, no. It could have been someone who—”
“Who what?”
“Well, who wanted to steal something, or who had a grudge⁴ againstMother for some reason in the past.”
“You think your mother would let that someone in?”
“She might,” said Hester. “You know what she was like. If somebodycame with a hard luck story, if someone came to tell her about some childthat was being neglected or ill-treated. Don’t you think Mother would havelet that person in and taken them to her room and listened to what theyhad to say?”
“It seems to me very unlikely,” said Kirsten. “At least it seems to me un-likely that your mother would sit down at a table and let that person pickup⁵ a poker⁶ and hit her on the back of the head. No, she was at her ease,confident, with someone she knew in the room.”
“I wish you wouldn’t, Kirsty,” cried Hester. “Oh, I wish you wouldn’t.
You’re bringing it so near, so close.”
“Because it is near, it is close. No, I will not say any more now, but I havewarned you that though you think you know someone well, though youmay think you trust them, you cannot be sure. So be on your guard. Be onyour guard against me and against Mary and against your father andagainst Gwenda Vaughan.”
“How can I go on living here and suspecting everybody?”
“If you will take my advice it will be better for you to leave this house.”
“I can’t just now.”
“Why not? Because of the young doctor?”
“I don’t know what you mean, Kirsty.” Colour flamed up in Hester’scheeks.
“I mean Dr. Craig. He is a very nice young man. A sufficiently⁷ good doc-tor, amiable⁸, conscientious⁹. You could do worse. But all the same I think itwould be better if you left here and went away.”
“The whole thing’s nonsense,” Hester cried angrily, “nonsense, non-sense, nonsense. Oh, how I wish Dr. Calgary had never come here.”
“So do I,” said Kirsten, “with all my heart.”

1 flinched   

v.（因危险和痛苦）退缩，畏惧( flinch的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He flinched at the sight of the blood. 他一见到血就往后退。
• This tough Corsican never flinched or failed. 这个刚毅的科西嘉人从来没有任何畏缩或沮丧。 来自辞典例句

2 apprehensively   

adv.担心地

参考例句：

• He glanced a trifle apprehensively towards the crowded ballroom. 他敏捷地朝挤满了人的舞厅瞟了一眼。 来自辞典例句
• Then it passed, leaving everything in a state of suspense, even the willow branches waiting apprehensively. 一阵这样的风过去，一切都不知怎好似的，连柳树都惊疑不定的等着点什么。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子

3 suffocates   

（使某人）窒息而死( suffocate的第三人称单数 )； （将某人）闷死； 让人感觉闷热； 憋气

参考例句：

• Greed suffocates humanity and intuitive knowledge. 贪婪可以灭绝人性和良知。
• The thick scent of aromatic plants tears at the throat and suffocates in the vast heat. 植物发散发出的浓郁香气在喉咙里撕裂，在炎热的天气下令人窒息。

4 grudge   

n.不满，怨恨，妒嫉；vt.勉强给，不情愿做

参考例句：

• I grudge paying so much for such inferior goods.我不愿花这么多钱买次品。
• I do not grudge him his success.我不嫉妒他的成功。

5 pickup   

n.拾起，获得

参考例句：

• I would love to trade this car for a pickup truck.我愿意用这辆汽车换一辆小型轻便卡车。||The luck guy is a choice pickup for the girls.那位幸运的男孩是女孩子们想勾搭上的人。

6 poker   

n.扑克；vt.烙制

参考例句：

• He was cleared out in the poker game.他打扑克牌，把钱都输光了。
• I'm old enough to play poker and do something with it.我打扑克是老手了，可以玩些花样。

7 sufficiently   

adv.足够地，充分地

参考例句：

• It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
• The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。

8 amiable   

adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的

参考例句：

• She was a very kind and amiable old woman.她是个善良和气的老太太。
• We have a very amiable companionship.我们之间存在一种友好的关系。

9 conscientious   

adj.审慎正直的，认真的，本着良心的

参考例句：

• He is a conscientious man and knows his job.他很认真负责，也很懂行。
• He is very conscientious in the performance of his duties.他非常认真地履行职责。