Sixteen

Sixteen
“Darling,” said Deborah. “Do you know I almost thought the most terriblethings about you?”
“Did you?” said Tuppence. “When?”
Her eyes rested affectionately on her daughter’s dark head.
“That time when you sloped off to Scotland to join Father and I thoughtyou were with Aunt Gracie. I almost thought you were having an affairwith someone.”
“Oh, Deb, did you?”
“Not really, of course. Not at your age. And of course I knew you andCarrot Top are devoted¹ to each other. It was really an idiot called TonyMarsdon who put it into my head. Do you know, Mother—I think I mighttell you—he was found afterwards to be a Fifth Columnist². He always didtalk rather oddly—how things would be just the same, perhaps better ifHitler did win.”
“Did you—er—like him at all?”
“Tony? Oh no—he was always rather a bore. I must dance this.”
She floated away in the arms of a fair-haired young man, smiling up athim sweetly. Tuppence followed their revolutions for a few minutes, thenher eyes shifted to where a tall young man in Air Force uniform was dan-cing with a fair-haired slender girl.
“I do think, Tommy,” said Tuppence, “that our children are rather nice.”
“Here’s Sheila,” said Tommy.
He got up as Sheila Perenna came towards their table.
She was dressed in an emerald evening dress which showed up herdark beauty. It was a sullen³ beauty tonight and she greeted her host andhostess somewhat ungraciously.
“I’ve come, you see,” she said, “as I promised. But I can’t think why youwanted to ask me.”
“Because we like you,” said Tommy smiling.
“Do you really?” said Sheila. “I can’t think why. I’ve been perfectly⁴ foulto you both.”
She paused and murmured:
“But I am grateful.”
Tuppence said:
“We must find a nice partner to dance with you.”
“I don’t want to dance. I loathe⁵ dancing. I came just to see you two.”
“You will like the partner we’ve asked to meet you,” said Tuppence smil-ing.
“I—” Sheila began. Then stopped—for Carl von Deinim was walkingacross the floor.
Sheila looked at him like one dazed. She muttered:
“You—”
“I, myself,” said Carl.
There was something a little different about Carl von Deinim this even-ing. Sheila stared at him, a trifle perplexed⁶. The colour had come up onher cheeks, turning them a deep glowing red.
She said a little breathlessly:
“I knew that you would be all right now—but I thought they would stillkeep you interned⁷?”
Carl shook his head.
“There is no reason to intern⁸ me.”
He went on:
“You have got to forgive me, Sheila, for deceiving you. I am not, you see,Carl von Deinim at all. I took his name for reasons of my own.”
He looked questioningly at Tuppence, who said:
“Go ahead. Tell her.”
“Carl von Deinim was my friend. I knew him in England some years ago.
I renewed acquaintanceship with him in Germany just before the war. Iwas there then on special business for this country.”
“You were in the Intelligence?” asked Sheila.
“Yes. When I was there, queer things began to happen. Once or twice Ihad some very near escapes. My plans were known when they should nothave been known. I realised that there was something wrong and that ‘therot,’ to express it in their terms, had penetrated⁹ actually into the service inwhich I was. I had been let down by my own people. Carl and I had a cer-tain superficial likeness¹⁰ (my grandmother was a German), hence my suit-ability for work in Germany. Carl was not a Nazi¹¹. He was interested solelyin his job—a job I myself had also practised—research chemistry. He de-cided, shortly before war broke out, to escape to England. His brothershad been sent to concentration camps. There would, he thought, be greatdifficulties in the way of his own escape, but in an almost miraculous¹² fash-ion all these difficulties smoothed themselves out. The fact, when he men-tioned it to me, made me somewhat suspicious. Why were the authoritiesmaking it so easy for von Deinim to leave Germany when his brothers andother relations were in concentration camps and he himself was suspec-ted because of his anti-Nazi sympathies? It seemed as though they wantedhim in England for some reason. My own position was becoming increas-ingly precarious¹³. Carl’s lodgings¹⁴ were in the same house as mine and oneday I found him, to my sorrow, lying dead on his bed. He had succumbedto depression and taken his own life, leaving a letter behind which I readand pocketed.
“I decided¹⁵ then to effect a substitution. I wanted to get out of Germany—and I wanted to know why Carl was being encouraged to do so. I dressedhis body in my clothes and laid it on my bed. It was disfigured by the shothe had fired into his head. My landlady¹⁶, I knew, was semiblind.
“With Carl von Deinim’s papers I travelled to England and went to theaddress to which he had been recommended to go. The address was SansSouci.
“Whilst I was there I played the part of Carl von Deinim and never re-laxed. I found arrangements had been made for me to work in the chem-ical factory there. At first I thought that the idea was I should be com-pelled to do work for the Nazis¹⁷. I realised later that the part for which mypoor friend had been cast was that of scapegoat¹⁸.
“When I was arrested on faked evidence, I said nothing. I wanted toleave the revelation of my own identity as late as possible. I wanted to seewhat would happen.
“It was only a few days ago that I was recognised by one of our peopleand the truth came out.”
Sheila said reproachfully:
“You should have told me.”
He said gently:
“If you feel like that—I am sorry.”
His eyes looked into hers. She looked at him angrily and proudly—thenthe anger melted. She said:
“I suppose you had to do what you did .?.?.”
“Darling—”
He caught himself up.
“Come and dance .?.?.”
They moved off together.
Tuppence sighed.
“What’s the matter?” said Tommy.
“I do hope Sheila will go on caring for him now that he isn’t a Germanoutcast with everyone against him.”
“She looks as though she cares all right.”
“Yes, but the Irish are terribly perverse¹⁹. And Sheila is a born rebel.”
“Why did he search your room that day? That’s what led us up thegarden path so terribly.”
Tommy gave a laugh.
“I gather he thought Mrs. Blenkensop wasn’t a very convincing person.
In fact—while we were suspecting him he was suspecting us.”
“Hallo, you two,” said Derek Beresford as he and his partner dancedpast his parents’ table. “Why don’t you come and dance?”
He smiled encouragingly at them.
“They are so kind to us, bless ’em,” said Tuppence.
Presently the twins and their partners returned and sat down.
Derek said to his father:
“Glad you got a job all right. Not very interesting, I suppose?”
“Mainly routine,” said Tommy.
“Never mind, you’re doing something. That’s the great thing.”
“And I’m glad Mother was allowed to go and work too,” said Deborah.
“She looks ever so much happier. It wasn’t too dull, was it, Mother?”
“I didn’t find it at all dull,” said Tuppence.
“Good,” said Deborah. She added: “When the war’s over, I’ll be able totell you something about my job. It’s really frightfully interesting, but veryconfidential.”
“How thrilling,” said Tuppence.
“Oh, it is! Of course, it’s not so thrilling as flying—”
She looked enviously²⁰ at Derek.
She said, “He’s going to be recommended for—”
Derek said quickly:
“Shut up, Deb.”
Tommy said:
“Hallo, Derek, what have you been up to?”
“Oh, nothing much—sort of show all of us are doing. Don’t know whythey pitched on me,” murmured the young airman, his face scarlet²¹. Helooked as embarrassed as though he had been accused of the most deadlyof sins.
He got up and the fair-haired girl got up too.
Derek said:
“Mustn’t miss any of this—last night of my leave.”
“Come on, Charles,” said Deborah.
The two of them floated away with their partners.
Tuppence prayed inwardly:
“Oh let them be safe—don’t let anything happen to them .?.?.”
She looked up to meet Tommy’s eyes. He said, “About that child—shallwe?”
“Betty? Oh, Tommy, I’m glad you’ve thought of it, too! I thought it wasjust me being maternal²². You really mean it?”
“That we should adopt her? Why not? She’s had a raw deal, and it willbe fun for us to have something young growing up.”
“Oh Tommy!”
She stretched out her hand and squeezed his. They looked at each other.
“We always do want the same things,” said Tuppence happily.
Deborah, passing Derek on the floor, murmured to him:
“Just look at those two—actually holding hands! They’re rather sweet,aren’t they? We must do all we can to make up to them for having such adull time in this war. .?.?.”

1 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。

2 columnist   

n.专栏作家

参考例句：

• The host was interviewing a local columnist.节目主持人正在同一位当地的专栏作家交谈。
• She's a columnist for USA Today.她是《今日美国报》的专栏作家。

3 sullen   

adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的

参考例句：

• He looked up at the sullen sky.他抬头看了一眼阴沉的天空。
• Susan was sullen in the morning because she hadn't slept well.苏珊今天早上郁闷不乐，因为昨晚没睡好。

4 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

5 loathe   

v.厌恶，嫌恶

参考例句：

• I loathe the smell of burning rubber.我厌恶燃着的橡胶散发的气味。
• You loathe the smell of greasy food when you are seasick.当你晕船时，你会厌恶油腻的气味。

6 perplexed   

adj.不知所措的

参考例句：

• The farmer felt the cow,went away,returned,sorely perplexed,always afraid of being cheated.那农民摸摸那头牛，走了又回来，犹豫不决，总怕上当受骗。
• The child was perplexed by the intricate plot of the story.这孩子被那头绪纷繁的故事弄得迷惑不解。

7 interned   

v.拘留，关押( intern的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was interned but,as he was in no way implicated in war crimes,was released. 他曾被拘留过，但因未曾涉嫌战争罪行而被释放了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• These soldiers were interned in a neutral country until the war was over. 这些士兵被拘留在一个中立国，直到战争结束。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

8 intern   

v.拘禁，软禁；n.实习生

参考例句：

• I worked as an intern in that firm last summer.去年夏天我在那家商行实习。
• The intern bandaged the cut as the nurse looked on.这位实习生在护士的照看下给病人包扎伤口。

9 penetrated   

adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The knife had penetrated his chest. 刀子刺入了他的胸膛。
• They penetrated into territory where no man had ever gone before. 他们已进入先前没人去过的地区。

10 likeness   

n.相像，相似（之处）

参考例句：

• I think the painter has produced a very true likeness.我认为这位画家画得非常逼真。
• She treasured the painted likeness of her son.她珍藏她儿子的画像。

11 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

12 miraculous   

adj.像奇迹一样的，不可思议的

参考例句：

• The wounded man made a miraculous recovery.伤员奇迹般地痊愈了。
• They won a miraculous victory over much stronger enemy.他们战胜了远比自己强大的敌人，赢得了非凡的胜利。

13 precarious   

adj.不安定的，靠不住的；根据不足的

参考例句：

• Our financial situation had become precarious.我们的财务状况已变得不稳定了。
• He earned a precarious living as an artist.作为一个艺术家，他过得是朝不保夕的生活。

14 lodgings   

n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍

参考例句：

• When he reached his lodgings the sun had set. 他到达公寓房间时，太阳已下山了。
• I'm on the hunt for lodgings. 我正在寻找住所。

15 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

16 landlady   

n.女房东，女地主

参考例句：

• I heard my landlady creeping stealthily up to my door.我听到我的女房东偷偷地来到我的门前。
• The landlady came over to serve me.女店主过来接待我。

17 Nazis   

n.（德国的）纳粹党员( Nazi的名词复数 )；纳粹主义

参考例句：

• The Nazis worked them over with gun butts. 纳粹分子用枪托毒打他们。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Nazis were responsible for the mass murder of Jews during World War Ⅱ. 纳粹必须为第二次世界大战中对犹太人的大屠杀负责。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 scapegoat   

n.替罪的羔羊，替人顶罪者；v.使…成为替罪羊

参考例句：

• He has been made a scapegoat for the company's failures.他成了公司倒闭的替罪羊。
• They ask me to join the party so that I'll be their scapegoat when trouble comes.他们想叫我入伙，出了乱子，好让我替他们垫背。

19 perverse   

adj.刚愎的；坚持错误的，行为反常的

参考例句：

• It would be perverse to stop this healthy trend.阻止这种健康发展的趋势是没有道理的。
• She gets a perverse satisfaction from making other people embarrassed.她有一种不正常的心态，以使别人难堪来取乐。

20 enviously   

adv.满怀嫉妒地

参考例句：

• Yet again, they were looking for their way home blindly, enviously. 然而，它们又一次盲目地、忌妒地寻找着归途。 来自辞典例句
• Tanya thought enviously, he must go a long way south. 坦妮亚歆羡不置，心里在想，他准是去那遥远的南方的。 来自辞典例句

21 scarlet   

n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的

参考例句：

• The scarlet leaves of the maples contrast well with the dark green of the pines.深红的枫叶和暗绿的松树形成了明显的对比。
• The glowing clouds are growing slowly pale,scarlet,bright red,and then light red.天空的霞光渐渐地淡下去了，深红的颜色变成了绯红，绯红又变为浅红。

22 maternal   

adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的

参考例句：

• He is my maternal uncle.他是我舅舅。
• The sight of the hopeless little boy aroused her maternal instincts.那个绝望的小男孩的模样唤起了她的母性。