Twenty-one

Twenty-one
There had been nothing to tell Philip Durrant that this day was differentfrom any other day.
He had no idea that today would decide his future once and for all.
He woke in good health and spirits. The sun, a pale autumnal sun, shonein at the window. Kirsten brought him a telephone message which in-creased his good spirits.
“Tina’s coming over for tea,” he told Mary when she came in with hisbreakfast.
“Is she? Oh, yes, of course, it’s her afternoon off, isn’t it?”
Mary sounded preoccupied¹.
“What’s the matter, Polly?”
“Nothing.”
She chipped off the top of his egg for him. At once, he felt irritated.
“I can still use my hands, Polly.”
“Oh, I thought it would save you trouble.”
“How old do you think I am? Six?”
She looked faintly surprised. Then she said abruptly²:
“Hester’s coming home today.”
“Is she?” He spoke³ vaguely⁴, because his mind was full of his plans fordealing with Tina. Then he caught sight of his wife’s expression.
“For goodness” sake, Polly, do you think I’ve got a guilty passion for thegirl?”
She turned her head aside.
“You’re always saying she’s so lovely.”
“So she is. If you like beautiful bones and a quality of the unearthly.” Headded dryly: “But I’m hardly cut out to be a seducer⁵, am I?”
“You might wish you were.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Polly. I never knew you had this tendency to jeal-ousy.”
“You don’t know anything about me.”
He started to rebut⁶ that, but paused. It came to him, with something of ashock, that perhaps he didn’t know very much about Mary.
She went on:
“I want you to myself—all to myself. I want there to be nobody in theworld but you and me.”
“We’d run out of conversation, Polly.”
He had spoken lightly, but he felt uncomfortable. The brightness of themorning seemed suddenly dimmed.
She said: “Let’s go home, Philip, please let’s go home.”
“Very soon we will, but not just yet. Things are coming along. As I toldyou, Tina’s coming this afternoon.” He went on, hoping to turn herthought into a new channel: “I’ve great hopes of Tina.”
“In what way?”
“Tina knows something.”
“You mean—about the murder?”
“Yes.”
“But how can she? She wasn’t even here that night.”
“I wonder now. I think, you know, that she was. Funny how odd littlethings turn up to help. That daily, Mrs. Narracott—the tall one, she told mesomething.”
“What did she tell you?”
“A bit of village gossip. Mrs. Somebody or other’s Ernie—no—Cyril. He’dhad to go with his mother to the police station. Something he’d seen on thenight poor Mrs. Argyle was done in.”
“What had he seen?”
“Well, there Mrs. Narracott was rather vague. She hadn’t got it out ofMrs. Somebody yet. But one can guess, can’t one, Polly? Cyril wasn’t insidethe house, so he must have seen something outside. That gives us twoguesses. He saw Micky or he saw Tina. It’s my guess that Tina came outhere that night.”
“She’d have said so.”
“Not necessarily. It sticks out a mile that Tina knows something she isn’ttelling. Say she drove out that night. Perhaps she came into the house andfound your mother dead.”
“And went away again without saying anything? Nonsense.”
“There may have been reasons … She may have seen or heard some-thing that made her think she knew who’d done it.”
“She was never particularly fond of Jacko. I’m sure she wouldn’t havewanted to shield him.”
“Then perhaps it wasn’t Jacko she suspected … But later, when Jackowas arrested, she thought that what she had suspected was quite wrong.
Having said she wasn’t here, she had to stick to it. But now, of course, it’sdifferent.”
Mary said impatiently:
“You just imagine things, Philip. You make up a lot of things that can’tpossibly be true.”
“They’re quite likely to be true. I’m going to try and make Tina tell mewhat she knows.”
“I don’t believe she knows anything. Do you really think she knows whodid it?”
“I wouldn’t go as far as that. I think she either saw—or heard—some-thing. I want to find out what that something is.”
“Tina won’t tell if she doesn’t want to.”
“No, I agree. And she’s a great one for keeping things to herself. Littlepoker face, too. Never shows anything. But she’s not really a good liar⁸—not nearly as good a liar as you are, for instance … My method will be toguess. Put my guess to her as a question. To be answered yes or no. Do youknow what will happen then? One of three things. She’ll either say yes—and that will be that. Or she will say no—and since she isn’t a good liar Ishall know whether her no is genuine. Or she will refuse to answer andput on her poker⁷ face—and that, Polly, will be as good as yes. Come now,you must admit that there are possibilities with this technique of mine.”
“Oh, leave it all alone, Phil! Do leave it alone! It will all die down and beforgotten.”
“No. This thing has got to be cleared up. Otherwise we’ll have Hesterthrowing herself out of windows and Kirsty having a nervous breakdown⁹.
Leo’s already freezing up into a kind of stalactite. As for poor old Gwenda,she’s on the point of accepting a post in Rhodesia.”
“What does it matter what happens to them?”
“Nobody matters but us—that’s what you mean?”
His face was stern and angry. It startled Mary. She had never seen herhusband look like that before.
She faced him defiantly¹⁰.
“Why should I care about other people?” she asked.
“You never have, have you?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
Philip gave a sharp exasperated¹¹ sigh. He pushed his breakfast trayaside.
“Take this thing away. I don’t want any more.”
“But Philip—”
He made an impatient gesture. Mary picked up the tray and carried itout of the room. Philip wheeled himself over to the writing table. Pen inhand, he stared out of the window. He felt a curious oppression of spirit.
He had been so full of excitement a short while ago. Now he felt uneasyand restless.
But presently he rallied. He covered two sheets of paper rapidly. Thenhe sat back and considered.
It was plausible¹². It was possible. But he wasn’t entirely¹³ satisfied. Was hereally on the right tack¹⁴? He couldn’t be sure. Motive¹⁵. Motive was what wasso damnably lacking. There was some factor, somewhere, that had es-caped him.
He sighed impatiently. He could hardly wait for Tina to arrive. If onlythis could be cleared up. Just among themselves. That was all that was ne-cessary. Once they knew—then they would all be free. Free of this stiflingatmosphere of suspicion and hopelessness. They could all, except one, geton with their own lives. He and Mary would go back home and—His thoughts stopped. Excitement died down again. He faced his ownproblem. He didn’t want to go home… He thought of its orderly perfection,its shining chintzes, its gleaming brass¹⁶. A clean, bright, well-tended cage!
And he in the cage, tied to his invalid-chair, surrounded by the loving careof his wife.
His wife … When he thought of his wife, he seemed to see two people.
One the girl he had married, fair-haired, blue-eyed, gentle, reserved. Thatwas the girl he had loved, the girl he teased whilst she stared at him with apuzzled frown. That was his Polly. But there was another Mary—a Marywho was hard as steel, who was passionate¹⁷, but incapable¹⁸ of affection—aMary to whom nobody mattered but herself. Even he only mattered be-cause he was hers.
A line of French verse passed through his mind—how did it go.
Venus toute entière à sa proie attaché….
And that Mary he did not love. Behind the cold blue eyes of that Marywas a stranger—a stranger he did not know….
And then he laughed at himself. He was getting nervy and het up likeeverybody else in the house. He remembered his mother-in-law talking tohim about his wife. About the sweet little fair-haired girl in New York.
About the moment when the child had thrown her arms round Mrs.
Argyle’s neck and had cried out: “I want to stay with you. I don’t want toleave you ever!”
That had been affection, hadn’t it? And yet — how very unlike Mary.
Could one change so much between child and woman? How difficult, al-most impossible it was for Mary ever to voice affection, to be demonstrat-ive?
Yet certainly on that occasion—His thoughts stopped dead. Or was itreally quite simple? Not affection—just calculation. A means to an end. Ashow of affection deliberately¹⁹ produced. What was Mary capable of to getwhat she wanted?
Almost anything, he thought—and was shocked with himself for think-ing it.
Angrily he dashed down his pen, and wheeled himself out of the sittingroom into the bedroom next door. He wheeled himself up to the dressingtable. He picked up his brushes and brushed back his hair from where itwas hanging over his forehead. His own face looked strange to him.
Who am I, he thought, and where am I going? Thoughts that had neveroccurred to him before … He wheeled his chair close to the window andlooked out. Down below, one of the daily women stood outside the kitchenwindow and talked to someone inside. Their voices, softly accented in thelocal dialect, floated up to him….
His eyes widening, he remained as though tranced.
A sound from the next room awakened²⁰ him from his preoccupation. Hewheeled himself to the connecting door.
Gwenda Vaughan was standing²¹ by the writing table. She turned towardshim and he was startled by the haggardness of her face in the morningsunshine.
“Hallo, Gwenda.”
“Hallo Philip. Leo thought you might like the Illustrated²² London News.”
“Oh, thanks.”
“This is a nice room,” said Gwenda, looking round her. “I don’t believeI’ve ever been in it before.”
“Quite the Royal Suite²³ isn’t it?” said Philip. “Away from everybody. Idealfor invalids²⁴ and honeymoon²⁵ couples.”
Just too late he wished he had not used the last two words. Gwenda’sface quivered.
“I must get on with things,” she said vaguely.
“The perfect secretary.”
“Not even that nowadays. I make mistakes.”
“Don’t we all?” He added deliberately: “When are you and Leo gettingmarried?”
“We probably never shall.”
“That would be a real mistake,” said Philip.
“Leo thinks it might cause unfavourable comment—from the police!”
Her voice was bitter.
“Dash it all, Gwenda, one has to take some risks.”
“I’m willing to take risks,” said Gwenda. “I’ve never minded taking risks.
I’m willing to gamble on happiness. But Leo—”
“Yes? Leo?”
“Leo,” said Gwenda, “will probably die as he has lived, the husband ofRachel Argyle.”
The anger and bitterness in her eyes startled him.
“She might just as well be alive,” said Gwenda. “She’s here—in the house—all the time….”

1 preoccupied   

adj.全神贯注的，入神的；被抢先占有的；心事重重的v.占据（某人）思想，使对…全神贯注，使专心于( preoccupy的过去式)

参考例句：

• He was too preoccupied with his own thoughts to notice anything wrong. 他只顾想着心事，没注意到有什么不对。
• The question of going to the Mount Tai preoccupied his mind. 去游泰山的问题盘踞在他心头。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 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。

3 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。

4 vaguely   

adv.含糊地，暖昧地

参考例句：

• He had talked vaguely of going to work abroad.他含糊其词地说了到国外工作的事。
• He looked vaguely before him with unseeing eyes.他迷迷糊糊的望着前面，对一切都视而不见。

5 seducer   

n.诱惑者,骗子,玩弄女性的人

参考例句：

• Shvitzer - Yiddish: someone who sweats a lot, especially a nervous seducer. 依地语：一个汗如雨下的人，尤指一个紧张的玩弄女人者。
• The dream of flight is the dream a seductive seducer. 飞翔的梦就是引诱者的引诱之梦。

6 rebut   

v.辩驳，驳回

参考例句：

• He attempted to rebut the assertions made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳控方证人所作的断言。
• This open letter is to rebut the argument of abstractionism.这封公开信是反驳抽象派论点的。

7 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。

8 liar   

n.说谎的人

参考例句：

• I know you for a thief and a liar!我算认识你了，一个又偷又骗的家伙！
• She was wrongly labelled a liar.她被错误地扣上说谎者的帽子。

9 breakdown   

n.垮，衰竭；损坏，故障，倒塌

参考例句：

• She suffered a nervous breakdown.她患神经衰弱。
• The plane had a breakdown in the air,but it was fortunately removed by the ace pilot.飞机在空中发生了故障，但幸运的是被王牌驾驶员排除了。

10 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》

11 exasperated   

adj.恼怒的

参考例句：

• We were exasperated at his ill behaviour. 我们对他的恶劣行为感到非常恼怒。
• Constant interruption of his work exasperated him. 对他工作不断的干扰使他恼怒。

12 plausible   

adj.似真实的，似乎有理的，似乎可信的

参考例句：

• His story sounded plausible.他说的那番话似乎是真实的。
• Her story sounded perfectly plausible.她的说辞听起来言之有理。

13 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

14 tack   

n.大头钉；假缝，粗缝

参考例句：

• He is hammering a tack into the wall to hang a picture.他正往墙上钉一枚平头钉用来挂画。
• We are going to tack the map on the wall.我们打算把这张地图钉在墙上。

15 motive   

n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的

参考例句：

• The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
• He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

16 brass   

n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器

参考例句：

• Many of the workers play in the factory's brass band.许多工人都在工厂铜管乐队中演奏。
• Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc.黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。

17 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

18 incapable   

adj.无能力的，不能做某事的

参考例句：

• He would be incapable of committing such a cruel deed.他不会做出这么残忍的事。
• Computers are incapable of creative thought.计算机不会创造性地思维。

19 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

20 awakened   

v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到

参考例句：

• She awakened to the sound of birds singing. 她醒来听到鸟的叫声。
• The public has been awakened to the full horror of the situation. 公众完全意识到了这一状况的可怕程度。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 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。

22 illustrated   

adj. 有插图的，列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• His lecture was illustrated with slides taken during the expedition. 他在讲演中使用了探险时拍摄到的幻灯片。
• The manufacturing Methods: Will be illustrated in the next chapter. 制作方法将在下一章说明。

23 suite   

n.一套(家具)；套房；随从人员

参考例句：

• She has a suite of rooms in the hotel.她在那家旅馆有一套房间。
• That is a nice suite of furniture.那套家具很不错。

24 invalids   

病人，残疾者( invalid的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The invention will confer a benefit on all invalids. 这项发明将有助于所有的残疾人。
• H?tel National Des Invalids is a majestic building with a golden hemispherical housetop. 荣军院是有着半球形镀金屋顶的宏伟建筑。

25 honeymoon   

n.蜜月（假期）；vi.度蜜月

参考例句：

• While on honeymoon in Bali,she learned to scuba dive.她在巴厘岛度蜜月时学会了带水肺潜水。
• The happy pair are leaving for their honeymoon.这幸福的一对就要去度蜜月了。