On her way home, Mrs. Blenkensop stopped at the post office. Shebought stamps and on her way out went into one of the public call boxes.
There she rang up a certain number, and asked for “Mr. Faraday.” Thiswas the accepted method of communication with Mr. Grant. She came outsmiling and walked slowly homewards, stopping on the way to purchasesome knitting wool.
It was a pleasant afternoon with a light breeze. Tuppence curbed1 thenatural energy of her own brisk trot2 to that leisurely3 pace that accordedwith her conception of the part of Mrs. Blenkensop. Mrs. Blenkensop hadnothing on earth to do with herself except knit (not too well) and write let-ters to her boys. She was always writing letters to her boys—sometimesshe left them about half finished.
Tuppence came slowly up the hill towards Sans Souci. Since it was not athrough road (it ended at Smugglers’ Rest, Commander Haydock’s house)there was never much traffic—a few tradesmen’s vans in the morning.
Tuppence passed house after house, amusing herself by noting theirnames. Bella Vista4 (inaccurately named, since the merest glimpse of thesea was to be obtained, and the main view was the vast Victorian bulk ofEdenholme on the other side of the road). Karachi was the next house.
After that came Shirley Tower. Then Sea View (appropriate this time),Castle Clare (somewhat grandiloquent5, since it was a small house), Tre-lawny, a rival establishment to that of Mrs. Perenna, and finally the vastmaroon bulk of Sans Souci.
It was just as she came near to it that Tuppence became aware of a wo-man standing6 by the gate peering inside. There was something tense andvigilant about the figure.
Almost unconsciously, Tuppence softened7 the sound of her own foot-steps, stepping cautiously upon her toes.
It was not until she was close behind her, that the woman heard her andturned. Turned with a start.
She was a tall woman, poorly, even meanly dressed, but her face wasunusual. She was not young—probably just under forty—but there was acontrast between her face and the way she was dressed. She was fair-haired, with wide cheekbones, and had been—indeed still was—beautiful.
Just for a minute Tuppence had a feeling that the woman’s face was some-how familiar to her, but the feeling faded. It was not, she thought, a faceeasily forgotten.
The woman was obviously startled, and the flash of alarm that flittedacross her face was not lost on Tuppence. (Something odd here?)Tuppence said:
“Excuse me, are you looking for someone?”
The woman spoke8 in a slow, foreign voice, pronouncing the words care-fully as though she had learnt them by heart.
“This ’ouse is Sans Souci?”
“Yes. I live there. Did you want someone?”
There was an infinitesimal pause, then the woman said:
“You can tell me please. There is a Mr. Rosenstein there, no?”
“Mr. Rosenstein?” Tuppence shook her head. “No. I’m afraid not. Per-haps he has been there and left. Shall I ask for you?”
But the strange woman made a quick gesture of refusal. She said:
“No—no. I make mistake. Excuse, please.”
Then, quickly, she turned and walked rapidly down the hill again.
Tuppence stood staring after her. For some reason, her suspicions werearoused. There was a contrast between the woman’s manner and herwords. Tuppence had an idea that “Mr. Rosenstein” was a fiction, that thewoman had seized at the first name that came into her head.
Tuppence hesitated a minute, then she started down the hill after theother. What she could only describe as a “hunch” made her want to followthe woman.
Presently, however, she stopped. To follow would be to draw attentionto herself in a rather marked manner. She had clearly been on the point ofentering Sans Souci when she spoke to the woman; to reappear on hertrail would be to arouse suspicion that Mrs. Blenkensop was somethingother than appeared on the surface—that is to say if this strange womanwas indeed a member of the enemy plot.
No, at all costs Mrs. Blenkensop must remain what she seemed.
Tuppence turned and retraced9 her steps up the hill. She entered SansSouci and paused in the hall. The house seemed deserted10, as was usualearly in the afternoon. Betty was having her nap, the elder members wereeither resting or had gone out.
Then, as Tuppence stood in the dim hall thinking over her recent en-counter, a faint sound came to her ears. It was a sound she knew quitewell—the faint echo of a ting.
The telephone at Sans Souci was in the hall. The sound that Tuppencehad just heard was the sound made when the receiver of an extension istaken off or replaced. There was one extension in the house—in Mrs. Per-enna’s bedroom.
Tommy might have hesitated. Tuppence did not hesitate for a minute.
Very gently and carefully she lifted off the receiver and put it to her ear.
Someone was using the extension. It was a man’s voice. Tuppenceheard:
“—Everything going well. On the fourth, then, as arranged.”
A woman’s voice said: “Yes, carry on.”
There was a click as the receiver was replaced.
Tuppence stood there, frowning. Was that Mrs. Perenna’s voice? Diffi-cult to say with only those three words to go upon. If there had been onlya little more to the conversation. It might, of course, be quite an ordinaryconversation — certainly there was nothing in the words she had over-heard to indicate otherwise.
A shadow obscured the light from the door. Tuppence jumped and re-placed the receiver as Mrs. Perenna spoke.
“Such a pleasant afternoon. Are you going out, Mrs. Blenkensop, or haveyou just come in?”
So it was not Mrs. Perenna who had been speaking from Mrs. Perenna’sroom. Tuppence murmured something about having had a pleasant walkand moved to the staircase.
Mrs. Perenna moved along the hall after her. She seemed bigger thanusual. Tuppence was conscious of her as a strong athletic11 woman.
She said:
“I must get my things off,” and hurried up the stairs. As she turned thecorner of the landing she collided with Mrs. O’Rourke, whose vast bulkbarred the top of the stairs.
“Dear, dear, now, Mrs. Blenkensop, it’s a great hurry you seem to be in.”
She did not move aside, just stood there smiling down at Tuppence justbelow her. There was, as always, a frightening quality about Mrs.
O’Rourke’s smile.
And suddenly, for no reason, Tuppence felt afraid.
The big smiling Irishwoman, with her deep voice, barring her way, andbelow Mrs. Perenna closing in at the foot of the stairs.
Tuppence glanced over her shoulder. Was it her fancy that there wassomething definitely menacing in Mrs. Perenna’s upturned face? Absurd,she told herself, absurd. In broad daylight—in a commonplace seasideboardinghouse. But the house was so very quiet. Not a sound. And sheherself here on the stairs between the two of them. Surely there was some-thing a little queer in Mrs. O’Rourke’s smile—some fixed12 ferocious13 qualityabout it, Tuppence thought wildly, “like a cat with a mouse.”
And then suddenly the tension broke. A little figure darted14 along the toplanding uttering shrill15 squeals16 of mirth. Little Betty Sprot in vest andknickers. Darting17 past Mrs. O’Rourke, shouting happily, “Peek bo,” as sheflung herself on Tuppence.
The atmosphere had changed. Mrs. O’Rourke, a big genial18 figure, wascrying out:
“Ah, the darlin.’ It’s a great girl she’s getting.”
Below, Mrs. Perenna had turned away to the door that led into the kit-chen. Tuppence, Betty’s hand clasped in hers, passed Mrs. O’Rourke andran along the passage to where Mrs. Sprot was waiting to scold the truant19.
Tuppence went in with the child.
She felt a queer sense of relief at the domestic atmosphere—the child’sclothes lying about, the woolly toys, the painted crib, the sheeplike andsomewhat unattractive face of Mr. Sprot in its frame on the dressing20 table,the burble of Mrs. Sprot’s denunciation of laundry prices and really shethought Mrs. Perenna was a little unfair in refusing to sanction guests hav-ing their own electric irons—
All so normal, so reassuring21, so everyday.
And yet—just now—on the stairs.
“Nerves,” said Tuppence to herself. “Just nerves!”
But had it been nerves? Someone had been telephoning from Mrs. Per-enna’s room. Mrs. O’Rourke? Surely a very odd thing to do. It ensured, ofcourse, that you would not be overheard by the household.
It must have been, Tuppence thought, a very short conversation. Themerest brief exchange of words.
“Everything going well. On the fourth as arranged.”
It might mean nothing—or a good deal.
The fourth. Was that a date? The fourth, say of a month?
Or it might mean the fourth seat, or the fourth lamppost, or the fourthbreakwater—impossible to know.
It might just conceivably mean the Forth22 Bridge. There had been an at-tempt to blow that up in the last war.
Did it mean anything at all?
It might quite easily have been the confirmation23 of some perfectly24 or-dinary appointment. Mrs. Perenna might have told Mrs. O’Rourke shecould use the telephone in her bedroom any time she wanted to do so.
And the atmosphere on the stairs, that tense moment, might have beenjust her own overwrought nerves. .?.?.
The quiet house—the feeling that there was something sinister—some-thing evil. .?.?.
“Stick to facts, Mrs. Blenkensop,” said Tuppence sternly. “And get onwith your job.”
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
curbed
|
|
| v.限制，克制，抑制( curb的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
trot
|
|
| n.疾走，慢跑；n.老太婆；现成译本；(复数）trots:腹泻（与the 连用）；v.小跑，快步走，赶紧 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
leisurely
|
|
| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
vista
|
|
| n.远景，深景，展望，回想 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
grandiloquent
|
|
| adj.夸张的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
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： |
|
|
|
|
7
softened
|
|
| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
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： |
|
|
|
|
9
retraced
|
|
| v.折回( retrace的过去式和过去分词 )；回忆；回顾；追溯 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
deserted
|
|
| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
athletic
|
|
| adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
fixed
|
|
| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
ferocious
|
|
| adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
darted
|
|
| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
shrill
|
|
| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
squeals
|
|
| n.长而尖锐的叫声( squeal的名词复数 )v.长声尖叫，用长而尖锐的声音说( squeal的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
darting
|
|
| v.投掷，投射( dart的现在分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
genial
|
|
| adj.亲切的，和蔼的，愉快的，脾气好的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
truant
|
|
| n.懒惰鬼，旷课者；adj.偷懒的，旷课的，游荡的；v.偷懒，旷课 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
dressing
|
|
| n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
reassuring
|
|
| a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的，使人放心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
forth
|
|
| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
confirmation
|
|
| n.证实，确认，批准 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
perfectly
|
|
| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |