George Lomax returned straightway to Whitehall. As he entered thesumptuous apartment in which he transacted1 affairs of State, there was ascuffling sound.
Mr. Bill Eversleigh was assiduously filing letters, but a large armchairnear the window was still warm from contact with a human form.
A very likeable young man, Bill Eversleigh. Age at a guess, twenty-five,big and rather ungainly in his movements, a pleasantly ugly face, a splen-did set of white teeth and a pair of honest brown eyes.
“Richardson sent up that report yet?”
“No, sir. Shall I get on to him about it?”
“It doesn’t matter. Any telephone messages?”
“Miss Oscar is dealing2 with most of them. Mr. Isaacstein wants to knowif you can lunch with him at the Savoy tomorrow.”
“Tell Miss Oscar to look in my engagement book. If I’m not engaged, shecan ring up and accept.”
“Yes, sir.”
“By the way, Eversleigh, you might ring up a number for me now. Lookit up in the book. Mrs. Revel3, 487 Pont Street.”
“Yes, sir.”
Bill seized the telephone book, ran an unseeing eye down a column ofM’s, shut the book with a bang and moved to the instrument on the desk.
With his hand upon it, he paused, as though in sudden recollection.
“Oh, I say, sir, I’ve just remembered. Her line’s out of order. Mrs.
Revel’s, I mean. I was trying to ring her up just now.”
George Lomax frowned.
“Annoying,” he said, “distinctly annoying.” He tapped the table unde-cidedly.
“If it’s anything important, sir, perhaps I might go round there now in ataxi. She is sure to be in at this time in the morning.”
George Lomax hesitated, pondering the matter. Bill waited expectantly,poised for instant flight, should the reply be favourable4.
“Perhaps that would be the best plan,” said Lomax at last. “Very well,then, take a taxi there, and ask Mrs. Revel if she will be at home this after-noon at four o’clock as I am very anxious to see her about an importantmatter.”
“Right, sir.”
Bill seized his hat and departed.
Ten minutes later, a taxi deposited him at 487 Pont Street. He rang thebell and executed a loud rat-tat on the knocker. The door was opened by agrave functionary5 to whom Bill nodded with the ease of long acquaint-ance.
“Morning, Chilvers, Mrs. Revel in?”
“I believe, sir, that she is just going out.”
“Is that you, Bill?” called a voice over the banisters. “I thought I recog-nized that muscular knock. Come up and talk to me.”
Bill looked up at the face that was laughing down on him, and whichwas always inclined to reduce him—and not him alone—to a state of bab-bling incoherency. He took the stairs two at a time and clasped VirginiaRevel’s outstretched hands tightly in his.
“Hullo, Virginia!”
“Hullo, Bill!”
Charm is a very peculiar6 thing; hundreds of young women, some ofthem more beautiful than Virginia Revel, might have said “Hullo, Bill,”
with exactly the same intonation7, and yet have produced no effectwhatever. But those two simple words, uttered by Virginia, had the mostintoxicating effect upon Bill.
Virginia Revel was just twenty-seven. She was tall and of an exquisiteslimness—indeed, a poem might have been written to her slimness, it wasso exquisitely9 proportioned. Her hair was of real bronze, with the green-ish tint8 in its gold; she had a determined10 little chin, a lovely nose, slantingblue eyes that showed a gleam of deepest cornflower between the half-closed lids, and a delicious and quite indescribable mouth that tilted11 everso slightly at one corner in what is known as “the signature of Venus.” Itwas a wonderfully expressive12 face, and there was a sort of radiant vitalityabout her that always challenged attention. It would have been quite im-possible ever to ignore Virginia Revel.
She drew Bill into the small drawing room which was all pale mauveand green and yellow, like crocuses surprised in a meadow.
“Bill, darling,” said Virginia, “isn’t the Foreign Office missing you? Ithought they couldn’t get on without you.”
“I’ve brought a message for you from Codders.”
Thus irreverently did Bill allude13 to his chief.
“And by the way, Virginia, in case he asks, remember that your tele-phone was out of order this morning.”
“But it hasn’t been.”
“I know that. But I said it was.”
“Why? Enlighten me as to this Foreign Office touch.” Bill threw her a re-proachful glance.
“So that I could get here and see you, of course.”
“Oh, darling Bill, how dense14 of me! And how perfectly15 sweet of you!”
“Chilvers said you were going out.”
“So I was—to Sloane Street. There’s a place there where they’ve got aperfectly wonderful new hip16 band.”
“A hip band?”
“Yes, Bill, H-I-P hip, B-A-N-D band. A band to confine the hips17. You wearit next the skin.”
“I blush for you Virginia. You shouldn’t describe your underwear to ayoung man to whom you are not related. It isn’t delicate.”
“But, Bill dear, there’s nothing indelicate about hips. We’ve all got hips—although we poor women are trying awfully18 hard to pretend we haven’t.
This hip band is made of red rubber and comes to just above the knees,and it’s simply impossible to walk in it.”
“How awful!” said Bill. “Why do you do it?”
“Oh, because it gives one such a noble feeling to suffer for one’s silhou-ette. But don’t let’s talk about my hip band. Give me George’s message.”
“He wants to know whether you’ll be in at four o’clock this afternoon.”
“I shan’t. I shall be at Ranelagh. Why this sort of formal call? Is he goingto propose to me, do you think?”
“I shouldn’t wonder.”
“Because, if so, you can tell him that I much prefer men who propose onimpulse.”
“Like me?”
“It’s not an impulse with you, Bill. It’s habit.”
“Virginia, won’t you ever—”
“No, no, no, Bill. I won’t have it in the morning before lunch. Do try andthink of me as a nice motherly person approaching middle age who hasyour interests thoroughly19 at heart.”
“Virginia, I do love you so.”
“I know, Bill, I know. And I simply love being loved. Isn’t it wicked anddreadful of me? I should like every nice man in the world to be in lovewith me.”
“Most of them are, I expect,” said Bill gloomily.
“But I hope George isn’t in love with me. I don’t think he can be. He’s sowedded to his career. What else did he say?”
“Just that it was very important.”
“Bill, I’m getting intrigued20. The things that George thinks important areso awfully limited. I think I must chuck Ranelagh. After all, I can go toRanelagh any day. Tell George that I shall be awaiting him meekly21 at fouro’clock.”
Bill looked at his wristwatch.
“It seems hardly worthwhile to go back before lunch. Come out andchew something, Virginia.”
“I’m going out to lunch somewhere or other.”
“That doesn’t matter. Make a day of it, and chuck everything all round.”
“It would be rather nice,” said Virginia, smiling at him.
“Virginia, you’re a darling. Tell me, you do like me rather, don’t you?
Better than other people.”
“Bill, I adore you. If I had to marry someone—simply had to—I mean ifit was in a book and a wicked mandarin22 said to me, ‘Marry someone or dieby slow torture,’ I should choose you at once—I should indeed. I shouldsay, ‘Give me little Bill.’ ”
“Well, then—”
“Yes, but I haven’t got to marry anyone. I love being a wicked widow.”
“You could do all the same things still. Go about, and all that. You’dhardly notice me about the house.”
“Bill, you don’t understand. I’m the kind of person who marries enthusi-astically if they marry at all.”
Bill gave a hollow groan23.
“I shall shoot myself one of these days, I expect,” he murmuredgloomily.
“No, you won’t, Bill darling. You’ll take a pretty girl out to supper—likeyou did the night before last.”
Mr. Eversleigh was momentarily confused.
“If you mean Dorothy Kirkpatrick, the girl who’s in Hooks and Eyes, I—well, dash it all, she’s a thoroughly nice girl, straight as they make ’em.
There was no harm in it.”
“Bill darling, of course there wasn’t. I love you to enjoy yourself. Butdon’t pretend to be dying of a broken heart, that’s all.”
Mr. Eversleigh recovered his dignity.
“You don’t understand at all, Virginia,” he said severely24. “Men—”
“Are polygamous! I know they are. Sometimes I have a shrewd suspi-cion that I am polyandrous. If you really love me, Bill, take me out tolunch quickly.”
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收听单词发音
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1
transacted
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| v.办理（业务等）( transact的过去式和过去分词 )；交易，谈判 | |
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dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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3
revel
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| vi.狂欢作乐，陶醉；n.作乐，狂欢 | |
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favourable
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| adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的 | |
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functionary
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| n.官员；公职人员 | |
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6
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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7
intonation
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| n.语调，声调；发声 | |
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8
tint
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| n.淡色，浅色；染发剂；vt.着以淡淡的颜色 | |
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exquisitely
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| adv.精致地；强烈地；剧烈地；异常地 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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tilted
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| v. 倾斜的 | |
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expressive
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| adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的 | |
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allude
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| v.提及，暗指 | |
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dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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15
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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16
hip
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| n.臀部，髋；屋脊 | |
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hips
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| abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯，耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 )；[建筑学]屋脊；臀围（尺寸）；臀部…的 | |
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18
awfully
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| adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地 | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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intrigued
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| adj.好奇的，被迷住了的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的过去式)；激起…的兴趣或好奇心；“intrigue”的过去式和过去分词 | |
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meekly
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| adv.温顺地，逆来顺受地 | |
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Mandarin
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| n.中国官话，国语，满清官吏；adj.华丽辞藻的 | |
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23
groan
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| vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
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severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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