“Quite so, my dear fellow, quite so,” said Lord Caterham.
He had used the same words three times already, each time in the hopethat they would end the interview and permit him to escape. He dislikedvery much being forced to stand on the steps of the exclusive London clubto which he belonged and listen to the interminable eloquence1 of the Hon.
George Lomax.
Clement2 Edward Alistair Brent, ninth Marquis of Caterham, was a smallgentleman, shabbily dressed, and entirely3 unlike the popular conceptionof a marquis. He had faded blue eyes, a thin melancholy4 nose,and a vaguebut courteous5 manner.
The principal misfortune of Lord Caterham’s life was to have succeededhis brother, the eighth marquis, four years ago. For the previous LordCaterham had been a man of mark, a household word all over England. Atone6 time Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, he had always bulkedlargely in the counsels of the Empire, and his country seat, Chimneys, wasfamous for its hospitality. Ably seconded by his wife, a daughter of theDuke of Perth, history had been made and unmade at informal weekendparties at Chimneys, and there was hardly anyone of note in England—orindeed in Europe—who had not, at one time or another, stayed there.
That was all very well. The ninth Marquis of Caterham had the utmostrespect and esteem7 for the memory of his brother. Henry had done thatkind of thing magnificently. What Lord Caterham objected to was the as-sumption that Chimneys was a national possession rather than a privatecountry house. There was nothing that bored Lord Caterham more thanpolitics—unless it was politicians. Hence his impatience8 under the contin-ued eloquence of George Lomax. A robust9 man, George Lomax, inclined toembonpoint, with a red face and protuberant10 eyes, and an immense senseof his own importance.
“You see the point, Caterham? We can’t—we simply can’t afford a scan-dal of any kind just now. The position is one of the utmost delicacy11.”
“It always is,” said Lord Caterham, with a flavour of irony12.
“My dear fellow, I’m in a position to know!”
“Oh, quite so, quite so,” said Lord Caterham, falling back upon his previ-ous line of defence.
“One slip over this Herzoslovakian business and we’re done. It is mostimportant that the oil concessions13 should be granted to a British company.
You must see that?”
“Of course, of course.”
“Prince Michael Obolovitch arrives the end of the week, and the wholething can be carried through at Chimneys under the guise14 of a shootingparty.”
“I was thinking of going abroad this week,” said Lord Caterham.
“Nonsense, my dear Caterham, no one goes abroad in early October.”
“My doctor seems to think I’m in rather a bad way,” said Lord Caterham,longingly eyeing a taxi that was crawling past.
He was quite unable to make a dash for liberty, however, since Lomaxhad the unpleasant habit of retaining a hold upon a person with whom hewas engaged in serious conversation—doubtless the result of long experi-ence. In this case, he had a firm grip of the lapel of Lord Caterham’s coat.
“My dear man, I put it to you imperially. In a moment of national crisis,such as is fast approaching—”
Lord Caterham wriggled15 uneasily. He felt suddenly that he would rathergive any number of house parties than listen to George Lomax quotingfrom one of his own speeches. He knew by experience that Lomax wasquite capable of going on for twenty minutes without a stop.
“All right,” he said hastily, “I’ll do it. You’ll arrange the whole thing, Isuppose.”
“My dear fellow, there’s nothing to arrange. Chimneys, quite apart fromits historic associations, is ideally situated16. I shall be at the Abbey, lessthan seven miles away. It wouldn’t do, of course, for me to be actually amember of the house party.”
“Of course not,” agreed Lord Caterham, who had no idea why it wouldnot do, and was not interested to learn.
“Perhaps you wouldn’t mind having Bill Eversleigh, though. He’d be use-ful to run messages.”
“Delighted,” said Lord Caterham, with a shade more animation17. “Bill’squite a decent shot, and Bundle likes him.”
“The shooting, of course, is not really important. It’s only the pretext18, asit were.”
Lord Caterham looked depressed19 again.
“That will be all, then. The Prince, his suite20, Bill Eversleigh, HermanIsaacstein—”
“Who?”
“Herman Isaacstein. The representative of the syndicate I spoke21 to youabout.”
“The all-British syndicate?
“Yes. Why?”
“Nothing—nothing—I only wondered, that’s all. Curious names thesepeople have.”
“Then, of course, there ought to be one or two outsiders—just to give thething a bona fide appearance. Lady Eileen could see to that—young people,uncritical, and with no idea of politics.”
“Bundle would attend to that all right, I’m sure.”
“I wonder now.” Lomax seemed struck by an idea. “You remember thematter I was speaking about just now?”
“You’ve been speaking about so many things.”
“No, no, I mean this unfortunate contretemps”—he lowered his voice toa mysterious whisper—“the memoirs22—Count Stylptitch’s memoirs.”
“I think you’re wrong about that,” said Lord Caterham, suppressing ayawn. “People like scandal. Damn it all, I read reminiscences myself—andenjoy ’em too.”
“The point is not whether people will read them or not—they’ll readthem fast enough — but their publication at this juncture23 might ruineverything—everything. The people of Herzoslovakia wish to restore themonarchy, and are prepared to offer the crown to Prince Michael, whohas the support and encouragement of His Majesty’s Government—”
“And who is prepared to grant concessions to Mr. Ikey Hermanstein andCo. in return for the loan of a million or so to set him on the throne—”
“Caterham, Caterham,” implored24 Lomax in an agonized25 whisper. “Dis-cretion, I beg of you. Above all things, discretion26.”
“And the point is,” continued Lord Caterham, with some relish27, thoughhe lowered his voice in obedience28 to the other’s appeal, “that some ofStylptitch’s reminiscences may upset the applecart. Tyranny and misbeha-viour of the Obolovitch family generally, eh? Questions asked in theHouse. Why replace the present broad-minded and democratic form ofgovernment by an obsolete29 tyranny? Policy dictated30 by the bloodsuckingcapitalists. Down with the Government. That kind of thing—eh?”
Lomax nodded.
“And there might be worse still,” he breathed. “Suppose—only supposethat some reference should be made to—to that unfortunate disappear-ance—you know what I mean.”
Lord Caterham stared at him.
“No, I don’t. What disappearance31?”
“You must have heard of it? Why, it happened while they were at Chim-neys. Henry was terribly upset about it. It almost ruined his career.”
“You interest me enormously,” said Lord Caterham. “Who or what dis-appeared?”
Lomax leant forward and put his mouth to Lord Caterham’s ear. The lat-ter withdrew it hastily.
“For God’s sake, don’t hiss32 at me.”
“You heard what I said?”
“Yes, I did,” said Lord Caterham reluctantly. “I remember now hearingsomething about it at the time. Very curious affair. I wonder who did it. Itwas never recovered?”
“Never. Of course we had to go about the matter with the utmost discre-tion. No hint of the loss could be allowed to leak out. But Stylptitch wasthere at the time. He knew something. Not all, but something. We were atloggerheads with him once or twice over the Turkish question. Supposethat in sheer malice33 he has set the whole thing down for the world to read.
Think of the scandal—of the far-reaching results. Everyone would say—why was it hushed up?”
“Of course they would,” said Lord Caterham, with evident enjoyment34.
Lomax, whose voice had risen to a high pitch, took a grip on himself.
“I must keep calm,” he murmured. “I must keep calm. But I ask you this,my dear fellow. If he didn’t mean mischief35, why did he send the manu-script to London in this roundabout way?”
“It’s odd, certainly. You are sure of your facts?”
“Absolutely. We—er—had our agents in Paris. The memoirs were con-veyed away secretly some weeks before his death.”
“Yes, it looks as though there’s something in it,” said Lord Caterham,with the same relish he had displayed before.
“We have found out that they were sent to a man called Jimmy, orJames, McGrath, a Canadian at present in Africa.”
“Quite an Imperial affair, isn’t it?” said Lord Caterham cheerily.
“James McGrath is due to arrive by the Granarth Castle tomorrow —Thursday.”
“What are you going to do about it?”
“We shall, of course, approach him at once, point out the possibly seri-ous consequences, and beg him to defer36 publication of the memoirs for atleast a month, and in any case to permit them to be judiciously—er—ed-ited.”
“Supposing that he says ‘No, sir,’ or ‘I’ll goddarned well see you in hellfirst,’ or something bright and breezy like that?” suggested Lord Caterham.
“That’s just what I’m afraid of,” said Lomax simply. “That’s why it sud-denly occurred to me that it might be a good thing to ask him down toChimneys as well. He’d be flattered, naturally, at being asked to meetPrince Michael, and it might be easier to handle him.”
“I’m not going to do it,” said Lord Caterham hastily. “I don’t get on withCanadians, never did—especially those that have lived much in Africa!”
“You’d probably find him a splendid fellow — a rough diamond, youknow.”
“No, Lomax. I put my foot down there absolutely. Somebody else has gotto tackle him.”
“It has occurred to me,” said Lomax, “that a woman might be very use-ful here. Told enough and not too much, you understand. A woman couldhandle the whole thing delicately and with tact—put the position beforehim, as it were, without getting his back up. Not that I approve of womenin politics—St. Stephen’s is ruined, absolutely ruined, nowadays. But wo-man in her own sphere can do wonders. Look at Henry’s wife and whatshe did for him. Marcia was magnificent, unique, a perfect political host-ess.”
“You don’t want to ask Marcia down for this party, do you?” asked LordCaterham faintly, turning a little pale at the mention of his redoubtablesister-in-law.
“No, no, you misunderstand me. I was speaking of the influence of wo-men in general. No, I suggest a young woman, a woman of charm, beauty,intelligence?”
“Not Bundle? Bundle would be no use at all. She’s a red-hot Socialist37 ifshe’s anything at all, and she’d simply scream with laughter at the sugges-tion.”
“I was not thinking of Lady Eileen. Your daughter, Caterham, is charm-ing, simply charming, but quite a child. We need some one with savoirfaire, poise38, knowledge of the world—Ah, of course, the very person. Mycousin Virginia.”
“Mrs. Revel39?” Lord Caterham brightened up. He began to feel that hemight possibly enjoy the party after all. “A very good suggestion of yours,Lomax. The most charming woman in London.”
“She is well up in Herzoslovakian affairs too. Her husband was at theEmbassy there, you remember. And, as you say, a woman of great per-sonal charm.”
“A delightful40 creature,” murmured Lord Caterham.
“That is settled, then.”
Mr. Lomax relaxed his hold on Lord Caterham’s lapel, and the latter wasquick to avail himself of the chance.
“Bye-bye, Lomax, you’ll make all the arrangements, won’t you?”
He dived into a taxi. As far as it is possible for one upright Christian41 gen-tleman to dislike another upright Christian gentleman, Lord Caterham dis-liked the Hon. George Lomax. He disliked his puffy red face, his heavybreathing, and his prominent earnest blue eyes. He thought of the comingweekend and sighed. A nuisance, an abominable42 nuisance. Then hethought of Virginia Revel and cheered up a little.
“A delightful creature,” he murmured to himself. “A most delightfulcreature.”
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收听单词发音
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1
eloquence
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| n.雄辩；口才，修辞 | |
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clement
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| adj.仁慈的；温和的 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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courteous
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| adj.彬彬有礼的，客气的 | |
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atone
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| v.赎罪，补偿 | |
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esteem
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| n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作 | |
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impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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robust
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| adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的 | |
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protuberant
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| adj.突出的，隆起的 | |
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delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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irony
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| n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄 | |
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concessions
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| n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权 | |
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guise
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| n.外表，伪装的姿态 | |
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wriggled
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| v.扭动，蠕动，蜿蜒行进( wriggle的过去式和过去分词 )；（使身体某一部位）扭动；耍滑不做，逃避（应做的事等） | |
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situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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animation
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| n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作 | |
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pretext
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| n.借口，托词 | |
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depressed
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| adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的 | |
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suite
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| n.一套(家具)；套房；随从人员 | |
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spoke
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| 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 | |
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memoirs
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| n.回忆录；回忆录传( mem,自oir的名词复数) | |
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juncture
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| n.时刻，关键时刻，紧要关头 | |
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implored
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| 恳求或乞求（某人）( implore的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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agonized
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| v.使（极度）痛苦，折磨( agonize的过去式和过去分词 )；苦斗；苦苦思索；感到极度痛苦 | |
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discretion
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| n.谨慎；随意处理 | |
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relish
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| n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味 | |
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obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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obsolete
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| adj.已废弃的，过时的 | |
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dictated
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| v.大声讲或读( dictate的过去式和过去分词 )；口授；支配；摆布 | |
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disappearance
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| n.消失，消散，失踪 | |
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hiss
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| v.发出嘶嘶声；发嘘声表示不满 | |
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malice
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| n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋 | |
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enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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defer
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| vt.推迟，拖延；vi.(to)遵从，听从，服从 | |
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socialist
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| n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的 | |
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poise
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| vt./vi. 平衡，保持平衡；n.泰然自若，自信 | |
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revel
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| vi.狂欢作乐，陶醉；n.作乐，狂欢 | |
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delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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abominable
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| adj.可厌的，令人憎恶的 | |
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