On that same Thursday afternoon Virginia Revel1 had been playing tennisat Ranelagh. All the way back to Pont Street, as she lay back in the long,luxurious limousine2, a little smile played upon her lips as she rehearsedher part in the forthcoming interview. Of course it was within the boundsof possibility that the blackmailer3 might not reappear, but she felt prettycertain that he would. She had shown herself an easy prey5. Well, perhapsthis time there would be a little surprise for him!
When the car drew up at the house, she turned to speak to the chauffeurbefore going up the steps.
“How’s your wife, Walton? I forgot to ask.”
“Better I think, ma’am. The doctor said he’d look in and see her abouthalf past six. Will you be wanting the car again?”
Virginia reflected for a minute.
“I shall be away for the weekend. I’m going by the 6:40 from Padding-ton, but I shan’t need you again—a taxi will do for that. I’d rather you sawthe doctor. If he thinks it would do your wife good to go away for theweekend, take her somewhere, Walton. I’ll stand the expense.”
Cutting short the man’s thanks with an impatient nod of the head, Vir-ginia ran up the steps, delved6 into her bag in search of her latchkey, re-membered she hadn’t got it with her, and hastily rang the bell.
It was not answered at once, but as she waited there a young man cameup the steps. He was shabbily dressed, and carried in his hand a sheaf ofleaflets. He held one out to Virginia with the legend on it plainly visible:
“Why Did I Serve My Country?” In his left hand he held a collecting box.
“I can’t buy two of those awful poems in one day,” said Virginia plead-ingly. “I bought one this morning. I did, indeed, honour bright.”
The young man threw back his head and laughed. Virginia laughed withhim. Running her eyes carelessly over him, she thought him a more pleas-ing specimen7 than usual of London’s unemployed8. She liked his brownface, and the lean hardness of him. She went so far as to wish she had ajob for him.
But at that moment the door opened, and immediately Virginia forgotall about the problem of the unemployed, for to her astonishment9 the doorwas opened by her own maid, Elise.
“Where’s Chilvers?” she demanded sharply, as she stepped into the hall.
“But he is gone, madame, with the others.”
“What others? Gone where?”
“But to Datchet, madame—to the cottage, as your telegram said.”
“My telegram?” said Virginia, utterly10 at sea.
“Did not madame send a telegram? Surely there can be no mistake. Itcame but an hour ago.”
“I never sent any telegram. What did it say?”
“I believe it is still on the table là-bas.”
Elise retired11, pouncing12 upon it, and brought it to her mistress in tri-umph.
“Voilà, madame!”
The telegram was addressed to Chilvers and ran as follows:
“Please take household down to cottage at once, and make preparationsfor weekend party there. Catch 5:49 train.”
There was nothing unusual about it, it was just the sort of message sheherself had frequently sent before, when she had arranged a party at herriverside bungalow13 on the spur of the moment. She always took the wholehousehold down, leaving an old woman as caretaker. Chilvers would nothave seen anything wrong with the message, and like a good servant hadcarried out his orders faithfully enough.
“Me, I remained,” explained Elise, “knowing that madame would wishme to pack for her.”
“It’s a silly hoax,” cried Virginia, flinging down the telegram angrily.
“You know perfectly14 well, Elise, that I am going to Chimneys. I told you sothis morning.”
“I thought madame had changed her mind. Sometimes that does hap-pen, does it not, madame?”
Virginia admitted the truth of the accusation15 with a half-smile. She wasbusy trying to find a reason for this extraordinary practical joke. Elise putforward a suggestion.
“Mon Dieu!” she cried, clasping her hands. “If it should be the malefact-ors, the thieves! They send the bogus telegram and get the domestiques allout of the house, and then they rob it.”
“I suppose that might be it,” said Virginia doubtfully.
“Yes, yes madame, that is without a doubt. Every day you read in the pa-pers of such things. Madame will ring up the police at once—at once—be-fore they arrive and cut our throats.”
“Don’t get so excited, Elise. They won’t come and cut our throats at sixo’clock in the afternoon.”
“Madame, I implore16 you, let me run out and fetch a policeman now, atonce.”
“What on earth for? Don’t be silly, Elise. Go up and pack my things forChimneys, if you haven’t already done it. The new Cailleaux eveningdress, and the white crêpe marocain, and—yes, the black velvet—blackvelvet is so political, is it not?”
“Madame looks ravishing in the eau de nil17 satin,” suggested Elise, herprofessional instincts reasserting themselves.
“No, I won’t take that. Hurry up, Elise, there’s a good girl. We’ve got verylittle time. I’ll send a wire to Chilvers at Datchet, and I’ll speak to the po-liceman on the beat as we go out and tell him to keep an eye on the place.
Don’t start rolling your eyes again, Elise—if you get so frightened beforeanything has happened, what would you do if a man jumped out fromsome dark corner and stuck a knife into you?”
Elise gave vent18 to a shrill19 squeak20, and beat a speedy retreat up the stairs,darting nervous glances over her shoulder as she went.
Virginia made a face at her retreating back, and crossed the hall to thelittle study where the telephone was. Elise’s suggestion of ringing up thepolice station seemed to her a good one, and she intended to act upon itwithout any further delay.
She opened the study door and crossed to the telephone. Then, with herhand on the receiver, she stopped. A man was sitting in the big armchair,sitting in a curious huddled21 position. In the stress of the moment, she hadforgotten all about her expected visitor. Apparently22 he had fallen asleepwhilst waiting for her.
She came right up to the chair, a slightly mischievous23 smile upon herface. And then suddenly the smile faded.
The man was not asleep. He was dead.
She knew it at once, knew it instinctively24 even before her eyes had seenand noted25 the small shining pistol lying on the floor, the little singed26 holejust above the heart with the dark stain round it, and the horrible droppedjaw.
She stood quite still, her hands pressed to her sides. In the silence sheheard Elise running down the stairs.
“Madame! Madame!”
“Well, what is it?”
She moved quickly to the door. Her whole instinct was to conceal27 whathad happened — for the moment anyway — from Elise. Elise wouldpromptly go into hysterics, she knew that well enough, and she felt a greatneed for calm and quiet in which to think things out.
“Madame, would it not be better if I should draw the chain across thedoor? These malefactors, at any minute they may arrive.”
“Yes, if you like. Anything you like.”
She heard the rattle28 of the chain, and then Elise running upstairs again,and drew a long breath of relief.
She looked at the man in the chair and then at the telephone. Her coursewas quite clear, she must ring up the police at once.
But still she did not do so. She stood quite still, paralysed with horrorand with a host of conflicting ideas rushing through her brain. The bogustelegram! Had it something to do with this? Supposing Elise had not stayedbehind? She would have let herself in—that is, presuming she had had herlatchkey with her as usual to find herself alone in the house with amurdered man—a man whom she had permitted to blackmail4 her on aformer occasion. Of course she had an explanation of that; but thinking ofthat explanation she was not quite easy in her mind. She rememberedhow frankly29 incredible George had found it. Would other people think thesame? Those letters now—of course, she hadn’t written them, but would itbe so easy to prove that?
She put her hands on her forehead, squeezing them tight together.
“I must think,” said Virginia. “I simply must think.”
Who had let the man in? Surely not Elise. If she had done so, she wouldhave been sure to have mentioned the fact at once. The whole thingseemed more and more mysterious as she thought about it. There wasreally only one thing to be done—ring up the police.
She stretched out her hand to the telephone, and suddenly she thoughtof George. A man—that was what she wanted—an ordinary levelheaded,unemotional man who would see things in their proper proportion andpoint out to her the best course to take.
Then she shook her head. Not George. The first thing George wouldthink of would be his own position. He would hate being mixed up in thiskind of business. George wouldn’t do at all.
Then her face softened30. Bill, of course! Without more ado, she rang upBill.
She was informed that he had left half an hour ago for Chimneys.
“Oh, damn!” cried Virginia, jamming down the receiver. It was horribleto be shut up with a dead body and to have no one to speak to.
And at that minute the front doorbell rang.
Virginia jumped. In a few minutes it rang again. Elise, she knew, wasupstairs packing and wouldn’t hear it.
Virginia went out in the hall, drew back the chain, and undid31 all thebolts that Elise had fastened in her zeal32. Then, with a long breath, shethrew open the door. On the steps was the unemployed young man.
Virginia plunged33 headlong with a relief born of overstrung nerves.
Come in,” she said. “I think perhaps I’ve got a job for you.”
She took him into the dining room, pulled forward a chair for him, satherself facing him, and stared at him very attentively34.
“Excuse me,” she said, “but are you—I mean—”
“Eton and Oxford,” said the young man. “That’s what you wanted to askme, wasn’t it?”
“Something of the kind,” admitted Virginia.
“Come down in the world entirely35 through my own incapacity to stick toregular work. This isn’t regular work you’re offering me, I hope?”
A smile hovered36 for a moment on her lips.
“It’s very irregular.”
“Good,” said the young man in a tone of satisfaction.
Virginia noted his bronzed face and long lean body with approval.
“You see,” she explained. “I’m in rather a hole, and most of my friendsare—well, rather high up. They’ve all got something to lose.”
“I’ve nothing whatever to lose. So go ahead. What’s the trouble?”
“There’s a dead man in the next room,” said Virginia. “He’s beenmurdered, and I don’t know what to do about it.”
She blurted37 out the words as simply as a child might have done. Theyoung man went up enormously in her estimation by the way he acceptedher statement. He might have been used to hearing a similar announce-ment made every day of his life.
“Excellent,” he said, with a trace of enthusiasm. “I’ve always wanted todo a bit of amateur detective work. Shall we go and view the body, or willyou give me the facts first?”
“I think I’d better give you the facts.” She paused for a moment to con-sider how best to condense her story, and then began speaking quietly andconcisely:
“This man came to the house for the first time yesterday and asked tosee me. He had certain letters with him — love letters, signed with myname—”
“But which weren’t written by you,” put in the young man quietly.
Virginia looked at him in some astonishment.
“How did you know that?”
“Oh, I deduced it. But go on.”
“He wanted to blackmail me—and I—well, I don’t know if you’ll under-stand, but I—let him.”
She looked at him appealingly, and he nodded his head reassuringly38.
“Of course I understand. You wanted to see what it felt like.”
“How frightfully clever of you! That’s just what I did feel.”
“I am clever,” said the young man modestly. “But, mind you, very fewpeople would understand that point of view. Most people, you see, haven’tgot any imagination.”
“I suppose that’s so. I told this man to come back today—at six o’clock. Iarrived home from Ranelagh to find that a bogus telegram had got all theservants except my maid out of the house. Then I walked into the studyand found the man shot.”
“Who let him in?”
“I don’t know. I think if my maid had done so she would have told me.”
“Does she know what has happened?”
“I have told her nothing.”
The young man nodded, and rose to his feet.
“And now to view the body,” he said briskly. “But I’ll tell you this—onthe whole it’s always best to tell the truth. One lie involves you in such alot of lies—and continuous lying is so monotonous39.”
“Then you advise me to ring up the police?”
“Probably. But we’ll just have a look at the fellow first.”
Virginia led the way out of the room. On the threshold she paused, look-ing back at him.
“By the way,” she said, “you haven’t told me your name yet?”
“My name? My name’s Anthony Cade.”
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收听单词发音
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1
revel
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| vi.狂欢作乐，陶醉；n.作乐，狂欢 | |
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limousine
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| n.豪华轿车 | |
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blackmailer
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| 敲诈者，勒索者 | |
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blackmail
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| n.讹诈，敲诈，勒索，胁迫，恫吓 | |
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prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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delved
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| v.深入探究，钻研( delve的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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7
specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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8
unemployed
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| adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的 | |
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9
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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10
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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12
pouncing
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| v.突然袭击( pounce的现在分词 )；猛扑；一眼看出；抓住机会（进行抨击） | |
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13
bungalow
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| n.平房，周围有阳台的木造小平房 | |
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14
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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15
accusation
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| n.控告，指责，谴责 | |
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16
implore
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| vt.乞求，恳求，哀求 | |
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17
nil
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| n.无，全无，零 | |
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vent
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| n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄 | |
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19
shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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20
squeak
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| n.吱吱声，逃脱；v.（发出）吱吱叫，侥幸通过；（俚）告密 | |
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21
huddled
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| 挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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22
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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23
mischievous
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| adj.调皮的，恶作剧的，有害的，伤人的 | |
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24
instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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25
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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26
singed
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| v.浅表烧焦( singe的过去式和过去分词 )；（毛发）燎，烧焦尖端[边儿] | |
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27
conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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28
rattle
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| v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓 | |
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29
frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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30
softened
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| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
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31
Undid
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| v. 解开, 复原 | |
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zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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33
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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34
attentively
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| adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神 | |
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35
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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36
hovered
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| 鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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37
blurted
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| v.突然说出，脱口而出( blurt的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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38
reassuringly
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| ad.安心，可靠 | |
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39
monotonous
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| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
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