Ten（1）

Ten
“Did you say Three Spades, Mrs. Blenkensop?”
Yes, Mrs. Blenkensop had said Three Spades. Mrs. Sprot, returningbreathless from the telephone: “And they’ve changed the time of the ARPexam, again, it’s too bad,” demanded to have the bidding again.
Miss Minton, as usual, delayed things by ceaseless reiterations.
“Was it Two Clubs I said? Are you sure? I rather thought, you know, thatit might have been one No Trump¹—Oh yes, of course, I remember now.
Mrs. Cayley said One Heart, didn’t she? I was going to say one No Trumpalthough I hadn’t quite got the count, but I do think one should play aplucky game—and then Mrs. Cayley said One Heart and so I had to go TwoClubs. I always think it’s so difficult when one has two short suits—”
“Sometimes,” Tuppence thought to herself, “it would save time if MissMinton just put her hand down on the table to show them all. She wasquite incapable² of not telling exactly what was in it.”
“So now we’ve got it right,” said Miss Minton triumphantly³. “One Heart,Two Clubs.”
“Two Spades,” said Tuppence.
“I passed, didn’t I?” said Mrs. Sprot.
They looked at Mrs. Cayley, who was leaning forward listening. MissMinton took up the tale.
“Then Mrs. Cayley said Two Hearts and I said Three Diamonds.”
“And I said Three Spades,” said Tuppence.
“Pass,” said Mrs. Sprot.
Mrs. Cayley sat in silence. At last she seemed to become aware thateveryone was looking at her.
“Oh dear,” she flushed. “I’m so sorry. I thought perhaps Mr. Cayleyneeded me. I hope he’s all right out there on the terrace.”
She looked from one to the other of them.
“Perhaps, if you don’t mind, I’d better just go and see. I heard rather anodd noise. Perhaps he’s dropped his book.”
She fluttered out of the window. Tuppence gave an exasperated⁴ sigh.
“She ought to have a string tied to her wrist,” she said. “Then he couldpull it when he wanted her.”
“Such a devoted⁵ wife,” said Miss Minton. “It’s very nice to see, isn’t it?”
“Is it?” said Tuppence, who was feeling far from good-tempered.
The three women sat in silence for a minute or two.
“Where’s Sheila tonight?” asked Miss Minton.
“She went to the pictures,” said Mrs. Sprot.
“Where’s Mrs. Perenna?” asked Tuppence.
“She said she was going to do accounts in her room,” said Miss Minton.
“Poor dear. So tiring, doing accounts.”
“She’s not been doing accounts all evening,” said Mrs. Sprot, “becauseshe came in just now when I was telephoning in the hall.”
“I wonder where she’d been,” said Miss Minton, whose life was taken upwith such small wonderments. “Not to the pictures, they wouldn’t be outyet.”
“She hadn’t got a hat on,” said Mrs. Sprot. “Nor a coat. Her hair was allanyhow and I think she’d been running or something. Quite out of breath.
She ran upstairs without a word and she glared—positively glared at me—and I’m sure I hadn’t done anything.”
Mrs. Cayley reappeared at the window.
“Fancy,” she said. “Mr. Cayley has walked all round the garden by him-self. He quite enjoyed it, he said. Such a mild night.”
She sat down again.
“Let me see—oh, do you think we could have the bidding over again?”
Tuppence suppressed a rebellious⁶ sigh. They had the bidding all overagain and she was left to play Three Spades.
Mrs. Perenna came in just as they were cutting for the next deal.
“Did you enjoy your walk?” asked Miss Minton.
Mrs. Perenna stared at her. It was a fierce and unpleasant stare. Shesaid:
“I’ve not been out.”
“Oh—oh—I thought Mrs. Sprot said you’d come in just now.”
Mrs. Perenna said:
“I just went outside to look at the weather.”
Her tone was disagreeable. She threw a hostile glance at the meek⁷ Mrs.
Sprot, who flushed and looked frightened.
“Just fancy,” said Mrs. Cayley, contributing her item of news. “Mr. Cay-ley walked all round the garden.”
Mrs. Perenna said sharply:
“Why did he do that?”
Mrs. Cayley said:
“It is such a mild night. He hasn’t even put on his second muffler and hestill doesn’t want to come in. I do hope he won’t get a chill.”
Mrs. Perenna said:
“There are worse things than chills. A bomb might come any minute andblow us all to bits!”
“Oh, dear, I hope it won’t.”
“Do you? I rather wish it would.”
Mrs. Perenna went out of the window. The four bridge players staredafter her.
“She seems very odd tonight,” said Mrs. Sprot.
Miss Minton leaned forward.
“You don’t think, do you—” She looked from side to side. They all leanednearer together. Miss Minton said in a sibilant whisper:
“You don’t suspect, do you, that she drinks?”
“Oh, dear,” said Mrs. Cayley. “I wonder now? That would explain it. Shereally is so—so unaccountable sometimes. What do you think, Mrs. Blen-kensop?”
“Oh, I don’t really think so. I think she’s worried about something. Er—it’s your call, Mrs. Sprot.”
“Dear me, what shall I say?” asked Mrs. Sprot, surveying her hand.
Nobody volunteered to tell her, though Miss Minton, who had been gaz-ing with unabashed interest into her hand, might have been in a positionto advise.
“That isn’t Betty, is it?” demanded Mrs. Sprot, her head upraised.
“No, it isn’t,” said Tuppence firmly.
“She felt that she might scream unless they could get on with the game.
Mrs. Sprot looked at her hand vaguely⁸, her mind still apparently⁹ mater-nal. Then she said:
“Oh, One Diamond, I think.”
The call went round. Mrs. Cayley led.
“When in doubt lead a Trump, they say,” she twittered, and laid downthe Nine of Diamonds.
A deep genial¹⁰ voice said:
“’Tis the curse of Scotland that you’ve played there!”
Mrs. O’Rourke stood in the window. She was breathing deeply—her eyeswere sparkling. She looked sly and malicious¹¹. She advanced into theroom.
“Just a nice quiet game of bridge, is it?”
“What’s that in your hand?” asked Mrs. Sprot, with interest.
“’Tis a hammer,” said Mrs. O’Rourke amiably¹². “I found it lying in thedrive. No doubt someone left it there.”
“It’s a funny place to leave a hammer,” said Mrs. Sprot doubtfully.
“It is that,” agreed Mrs. O’Rourke.
She seemed in a particularly good humour. Swinging the hammer by itshandle she went out into the hall.
“Let me see,” said Miss Minton. “What’s trumps¹³?”
The game proceeded for five minutes without further interruption, andthen Major Bletchley came in. He had been to the pictures and proceededto tell them in detail the plot of Wandering Minstrel, laid in the reign¹⁴ ofRichard the First. The Major, as a military man, criticised at some lengththe crusading battle scenes.
The rubber was not finished, for Mrs. Cayley, looking at her watch, dis-covered the lateness of the hour with shrill¹⁵ little cries of horror andrushed out to Mr. Cayley. The latter, as a neglected invalid¹⁶, enjoyed him-self a great deal, coughing in a sepulchral¹⁷ manner, shivering dramaticallyand saying several times:
“Quite all right, my dear. I hope you enjoyed your game. It doesn’t mat-ter about me at all. Even if I have caught a severe chill, what does it reallymatter? There’s a war on!”

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 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。

3 triumphantly   

ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地

参考例句：

• The lion was roaring triumphantly. 狮子正在发出胜利的吼叫。
• Robert was looking at me triumphantly. 罗伯特正得意扬扬地看着我。

4 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。

5 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

6 rebellious   

adj.造反的，反抗的，难控制的

参考例句：

• They will be in danger if they are rebellious.如果他们造反，他们就要发生危险。
• Her reply was mild enough,but her thoughts were rebellious.她的回答虽然很温和，但她的心里十分反感。

7 meek   

adj.温顺的，逆来顺受的

参考例句：

• He expects his wife to be meek and submissive.他期望妻子温顺而且听他摆布。
• The little girl is as meek as a lamb.那个小姑娘像羔羊一般温顺。

8 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。

9 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

10 genial   

adj.亲切的，和蔼的，愉快的，脾气好的

参考例句：

• Orlando is a genial man.奥兰多是一位和蔼可亲的人。
• He was a warm-hearted friend and genial host.他是个热心的朋友，也是友善待客的主人。

11 malicious   

adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的

参考例句：

• You ought to kick back at such malicious slander. 你应当反击这种恶毒的污蔑。
• Their talk was slightly malicious.他们的谈话有点儿心怀不轨。

12 amiably   

adv.和蔼可亲地，亲切地

参考例句：

• She grinned amiably at us. 她咧着嘴向我们亲切地微笑。
• Atheists and theists live together peacefully and amiably in this country. 无神论者和有神论者在该国和睦相处。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 trumps   

abbr.trumpets 喇叭；小号；喇叭形状的东西；喇叭筒v.（牌戏）出王牌赢（一牌或一墩）( trump的过去式 )；吹号公告，吹号庆祝；吹喇叭；捏造

参考例句：

• On the day of the match the team turned up trumps. 比赛那天该队出乎意料地获得胜利。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Every time John is late getting home he trumps up some new excuse. 每次约翰晚回家都会编造个新借口。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 reign   

n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势

参考例句：

• The reign of Queen Elizabeth lapped over into the seventeenth century.伊丽莎白王朝延至17世纪。
• The reign of Zhu Yuanzhang lasted about 31 years.朱元璋统治了大约三十一年。

15 shrill   

adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫

参考例句：

• Whistles began to shrill outside the barn.哨声开始在谷仓外面尖叫。
• The shrill ringing of a bell broke up the card game on the cutter.刺耳的铃声打散了小汽艇的牌局。

16 invalid   

n.病人，伤残人；adj.有病的，伤残的；无效的

参考例句：

• He will visit an invalid.他将要去看望一个病人。
• A passport that is out of date is invalid.护照过期是无效的。

17 sepulchral   

adj.坟墓的，阴深的

参考例句：

• He made his way along the sepulchral corridors.他沿着阴森森的走廊走着。
• There was a rather sepulchral atmosphere in the room.房间里有一种颇为阴沉的气氛。