Eleven DINNER WITH BILL

Eleven DINNER WITH BILL

Bundle set out to keep her appointment with Bill on the following eveningfull of expectation.
Bill greeted her with every sign of elation¹.
“Bill really is rather nice,” thought Bundle to herself. “Just like a large,clumsy dog that wags its tail when it’s pleased to see you.”
The large dog was uttering short staccato yelps² of comment and inform-ation.
“You look tremendously fit, Bundle. I can’t tell you how pleased I am tosee you. I’ve ordered oysters³—you do like oysters, don’t you? And how’severything? What did you want to go mouldering⁴ about abroad so long?
Were you having a very gay time?”
“No, deadly,” said Bundle. “Perfectly⁵ foul⁶. Old diseased colonels creepingabout in the sun, and active, wizened⁷ spinsters running libraries andchurches.”
“Give me England,” said Bill. “I bar this foreign business — exceptSwitzerland. Switzerland’s all right. I’m thinking of going this Christmas.
Why don’t you come along?”
“I’ll think about it,” said Bundle. “What have you been doing with your-self lately, Bill?”
It was an incautious query⁸. Bundle had merely made it out of politenessand as a preliminary to introducing her own topics of conversation. Itwas, however, the opening for which Bill had been waiting.
“That’s just what I’ve been wanting to tell you about. You’re brainy,Bundle, and I want your advice. You know that musical show, ‘Damn YourEyes?’ ”
“Yes.”
“Well, I’m going to tell you about one of the dirtiest pieces of work ima-ginable. My God! the theatrical⁹ crowd. There’s a girl—a Yankee girl—aperfect stunner—”
Bundle’s heart sank. The grievances¹⁰ of Bill’s lady friends were alwaysinterminable—they went on and on and there was no stemming them.
“This girl, Babe St. Maur her name is—”
“I wonder how she got her name?” said Bundle sarcastically¹¹.
Bill replied literally¹².
“She got it out of Who’s Who. Opened it and jabbed her finger down on apage without looking. Pretty nifty, eh? Her real name’s Goldschmidt or Ab-rameier—something quite impossible.”
“Oh, quite,” agreed Bundle.
“Well, Babe St. Maur is pretty smart. And she’s got muscles. She was oneof the eight girls who made the living bridge—”
“Bill,” said Bundle desperately¹³. “I went to see Jimmy Thesiger yesterdaymorning.”
“Good old Jimmy,” said Bill. “Well, as I was telling you, Babe’s prettysmart. You’ve got to be nowadays. She can put it over on most theatricalpeople. If you want to live, be high-handed, that’s what Babe says. Andmind you, she’s the goods all right. She can act—it’s marvellous how thatgirl can act. She’d not much chance in ‘Damn Your Eyes’—just swamped ina pack of good-looking girls. I said why not try the legitimate¹⁴ stage—youknow, Mrs. Tanqueray—that sort of stuff—but Babe just laughed—”
“Have you seen Jimmy at all?”
“Saw him this morning. Let me see, where was I? Oh, yes, I hadn’t got tothe rumpus yet. And mind you it was jealousy¹⁵—sheer, spiteful jealousy.
The other girl wasn’t a patch on Babe for looks and she knew it. So shewent behind her back—”
Bundle resigned herself to the inevitable¹⁶ and heard the whole story ofthe unfortunate circumstances which had led up to Babe St. Maur’s sum-mary disappearance¹⁷ from the cast of “Damn Your Eyes.” It took a longtime. When Bill finally paused for breath and sympathy, Bundle said:
“You’re quite right, Bill, it’s a rotten shame. There must be a lot of jeal-ousy about—”
“The whole theatrical world’s rotten with it.”
“It must be. Did Jimmy say anything to you about coming down to theAbbey next week?”
For the first time, Bill gave his attention to what Bundle was saying.
“He was full of a long rigmarole he wanted me to stuff Codders with.
About wanting to stand in the Conservative interest. But you know,Bundle, it’s too damned risky¹⁸.”
“Stuff,” said Bundle. “If George does find him out, he won’t blame you.
You’ll just have been taken in, that’s all.”
“That’s not it at all,” said Bill. “I mean it’s too damned risky for Jimmy.
Before he knows where he is, he’ll be parked down somewhere like Toot-ing East, pledged to kiss babies and make speeches. You don’t know howthorough Codders is and how frightfully energetic.”
“Well, we’ll have to risk that,” said Bundle. “Jimmy can take care of him-self all right.”
“You don’t know Codders,” repeated Bill.
“Who’s coming to this party, Bill? Is it anything very special?”
“Only the usual sort of muck. Mrs. Macatta for one.”
“The M.P.?”
“Yes, you know, always going off the deep end about Welfare and PureMilk and Save the Children. Think of poor Jimmy being talked to by her.”
“Never mind Jimmy. Go on telling me.”
“Then there’s the Hungarian, what they call a Young Hungarian. Count-ess something unpronounceable. She’s all right.”
He swallowed as though embarrassed, and Bundle observed that he wascrumbling his bread nervously¹⁹.
“Young and beautiful?” she inquired delicately.
“Oh, rather.”
“I didn’t know George went in for female beauty much.”
“Oh, he doesn’t. She runs baby feeding in Buda Pesth —something likethat. Naturally she and Mrs. Macatta want to get together.”
“Who else?”
“Sir Stanley Digby—”
“The Air Minister?”
“Yes. And his secretary, Terence O’Rourke. He’s rather a lad, by the way—or used to be in his flying days. Then there’s a perfectly poisonous Ger-man chap called Herr Eberhard. I don’t know who he is, but we’re all mak-ing the hell of a fuss about him. I’ve been twice told off to take him out tolunch, and I can tell you, Bundle, it was no joke. He’s not like the Embassychaps, who are all very decent. This man sucks in soup and eats peas witha knife. Not only that, but the brute²⁰ is always biting his fingernails—posit-ively gnaws²¹ at them.”
“Pretty foul.”
“Isn’t it? I believe he invents things—something of the kind. Well, that’sall. Oh, yes, Sir Oswald Coote.”
“And Lady Coote?”
“Yes, I believe she’s coming too.”
Bundle sat lost in thought for some minutes. Bill’s list was suggestive,but she hadn’t time to think out various possibilities just now. She mustget on to the next point.
“Bill,” she said, “what’s all this about Seven Dials?”
Bill at once looked horribly embarrassed. He blinked and avoided herglance.
“I don’t know what you mean,” he said.
“Nonsense,” said Bundle. “I was told you know all about it.”
“About what?”
This was rather a poser. Bundle shifted her ground.
“I don’t see what you want to be so secretive for,” she complained.
“Nothing to be secretive about. Nobody goes there much now. It wasonly a craze.”
This sounded puzzling.
“One gets so out of things when one is away,” said Bundle in a sad voice.
“Oh, you haven’t missed much,” said Bill. “Everyone went there just tosay they had been. It was boring really, and, my God, you can get tired offried fish.”
“Where did everyone go?”
“To the Seven Dials Club, of course,” said Bill, staring. “Wasn’t that whatyou were asking about?”
“I didn’t know it by that name,” said Bundle.
“Used to be a slummy sort of district round about Tottenham Court Roadway. It’s all pulled down and cleaned up now. But the Seven Dials Clubkeeps to the old atmosphere. Fried fish and chips. General squalor. Kind ofEast End stunt²², but awfully²³ handy to get at after a show.”
“It’s a nightclub, I suppose,” said Bundle. “Dancing and all that?”
“That’s it. Awfully mixed crowd. Not a posh affair. Artists, you know,and all sorts of odd women and a sprinkling of our lot. They say quite a lotof things, but I think that that’s all bunkum myself, just said to make theplace go.”
“Good,” said Bundle. “We’ll go there tonight.”
“Oh! I shouldn’t do that,” said Bill. His embarrassment²⁴ had returned. “Itell you it’s played out. Nobody goes there now.”
“Well, we’re going.”
“You wouldn’t care for it, Bundle. You wouldn’t really.”
“You’re going to take me to the Seven Dials Club and nowhere else, Bill.
And I should like to know why you are so unwilling²⁵?”
“I? Unwilling?”
“Painfully so. What’s the guilty secret?”
“Guilty secret?”
“Don’t keep repeating what I say. You do it to give yourself time.”
“I don’t,” said Bill indignantly. “It’s only—”
“Well? I know there’s something. You never can conceal²⁶ anything.”
“I’ve got nothing to conceal. It’s only—”
“Well?”
“It’s a long story—You see, I took Babe St. Maur there one night—”
“Oh! Babe St. Maur again.”
“Why not?”
“I didn’t know it was about her—” said Bundle, stifling²⁷ a yawn.
“As I say, I took Babe there. She rather fancied a lobster²⁸. I had a lobsterunder my arm—”
The story went on—When the lobster had been finally dismembered ina struggle between Bill and a fellow who was a rank outsider, Bundlebrought her attention back to him.
“I see,” she said. “And there was a row?”
“Yes, but it was my lobster. I’d bought it and paid for it. I had a perfectright—”
“Oh, you had, you had,” said Bundle hastily. “But I’m sure that’s all for-gotten now. And I don’t care for lobsters²⁹ anyway. So let’s go.”
“We may be raided by the police. There’s a room upstairs where theyplay baccarat.”
“Father will have to come and bail³⁰ me out, that’s all. Come on, Bill.”
Bill still seemed rather reluctant, but Bundle was adamant³¹ and theywere soon speeding to their destination in a taxi.
The place, when they got to it, was much as she imagined it would be. Itwas a tall house in a narrow street, 14 Hunstanton Street; she noted³² thenumber.
A man whose face was strangely familiar opened the door. She thoughthe started slightly when he saw her, but he greeted Bill with respectful re-cognition. He was a tall man, with fair hair, a rather weak, anaemic faceand slightly shifty eyes. Bundle puzzled to herself where she could haveseen him before.
Bill had recovered his equilibrium³³ now and quite enjoyed doing show-man. They danced in the cellar, which was very full of smoke—so much sothat you saw everyone through a blue haze³⁴. The smell of fried fish was al-most overpowering.
On the wall were rough charcoal³⁵ sketches³⁶, some of them executed withreal talent. The company was extremely mixed. There were portly foreign-ers, opulent Jewesses, a sprinkling of the really smart, and several ladiesbelonging to the oldest profession in the world.
Soon Bill led Bundle upstairs. There the weak-faced man was on guard,watching all those admitted to the gambling³⁷ room with a lynx eye. Sud-denly recognition came to Bundle.
“Of course,” she said. “How stupid of me. It’s Alfred who used to besecond footman at Chimneys. How are you, Alfred?”
“Nicely, thank you, your Ladyship.”
“When did you leave Chimneys, Alfred? Was it long before we gotback?”
“It was about a month ago, m’lady. I got a chance of bettering myself,and it seemed a pity not to take it.”
“I suppose they pay you very well here,” remarked Bundle.
“Very fair, m’lady.”
Bundle passed in. It seemed to her that in this room the real life of theclub was exposed. The stakes were high, she saw that at once, and thepeople gathered round the two tables were of the true type. Hawkeyed,haggard, with the gambling fever in their blood.
She and Bill stayed here for about half an hour. Then Bill grew restive³⁸.
“Let’s get out of this place, Bundle, and go on dancing.”
Bundle agreed. There was nothing to be seen here. They went downagain. They danced for another half hour, had fish and chips, and thenBundle declared herself ready to go home.
“But it’s so early,” Bill protested.
“No, it isn’t. Not really. And, anyway, I’ve got a long day in front of metomorrow.”
“What are you going to do?”
“That depends,” said Bundle mysteriously. “But I can tell you this, Bill,the grass is not going to grow under my feet.”
“It never does,” said Mr. Eversleigh.

1 elation   

n.兴高采烈，洋洋得意

参考例句：

• She showed her elation at having finally achieved her ambition.最终实现了抱负，她显得十分高兴。
• His supporters have reacted to the news with elation.他的支持者听到那条消息后兴高采烈。

2 yelps   

n.（因痛苦、气愤、兴奋等的）短而尖的叫声( yelp的名词复数 )v.发出短而尖的叫声( yelp的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The woman emitted queer regular little snores that sounded like yelps. 她那跟怪叫差不多的鼾声一股一股地从被里冒出来。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）
• As the moments passed the yelps grew closer and louder. 一会儿，呼叫声越来越近、越来越响了。 来自互联网

3 oysters   

牡蛎( oyster的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We don't have oysters tonight, but the crayfish are very good. 我们今晚没有牡蛎供应。但小龙虾是非常好。
• She carried a piping hot grill of oysters and bacon. 她端出一盘滚烫的烤牡蛎和咸肉。

4 mouldering   

v.腐朽( moulder的现在分词 )；腐烂，崩塌

参考例句：

• The room smelt of disuse and mouldering books. 房间里有一股长期不用和霉烂书籍的味道。
• Every mouldering stone was a chronicle. 每块崩碎剥落的石头都是一部编年史。 来自辞典例句

5 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。

6 foul   

adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规

参考例句：

• Take off those foul clothes and let me wash them.脱下那些脏衣服让我洗一洗。
• What a foul day it is!多么恶劣的天气！

7 wizened   

adj.凋谢的；枯槁的

参考例句：

• That wizened and grotesque little old man is a notorious miser.那个干瘪难看的小老头是个臭名远扬的吝啬鬼。
• Mr solomon was a wizened little man with frizzy gray hair.所罗门先生是一个干瘪矮小的人，头发鬈曲灰白。

8 query   

n.疑问，问号，质问；vt.询问，表示怀疑

参考例句：

• I query very much whether it is wise to act so hastily.我真怀疑如此操之过急地行动是否明智。
• They raised a query on his sincerity.他们对他是否真诚提出质疑。

9 theatrical   

adj.剧场的，演戏的；做戏似的，做作的

参考例句：

• The final scene was dismayingly lacking in theatrical effect.最后一场缺乏戏剧效果，叫人失望。
• She always makes some theatrical gesture.她老在做些夸张的手势。

10 grievances   

n.委屈( grievance的名词复数 )；苦衷；不满；牢骚

参考例句：

• The trade union leader spoke about the grievances of the workers. 工会领袖述说工人们的苦情。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He gave air to his grievances. 他申诉了他的冤情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 sarcastically   

adv.挖苦地，讽刺地

参考例句：

• 'What a surprise!' Caroline murmured sarcastically.“太神奇了!”卡罗琳轻声挖苦道。
• Pierce mocked her and bowed sarcastically. 皮尔斯嘲笑她，讽刺地鞠了一躬。

12 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

13 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

14 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

15 jealousy   

n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌

参考例句：

• Some women have a disposition to jealousy.有些女人生性爱妒忌。
• I can't support your jealousy any longer.我再也无法忍受你的嫉妒了。

16 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

17 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

18 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

19 nervously   

adv.神情激动地，不安地

参考例句：

• He bit his lip nervously,trying not to cry.他紧张地咬着唇，努力忍着不哭出来。
• He paced nervously up and down on the platform.他在站台上情绪不安地走来走去。

20 brute   

n.野兽，兽性

参考例句：

• The aggressor troops are not many degrees removed from the brute.侵略军简直象一群野兽。
• That dog is a dangerous brute.It bites people.那条狗是危险的畜牲，它咬人。

21 gnaws   

咬( gnaw的第三人称单数 )； （长时间） 折磨某人； （使）苦恼； （长时间）危害某事物

参考例句：

• Time, whose tooth gnaws away everything else, is powerless against truth. 时间，它的利齿可咬碎万物，但对真理却无能为力。
• The water gnaws at the shoreline. 海水侵蚀海岸线。

22 stunt   

n.惊人表演，绝技，特技；vt.阻碍...发育，妨碍...生长

参考例句：

• Lack of the right food may stunt growth.缺乏适当的食物会阻碍发育。
• Right up there is where the big stunt is taking place.那边将会有惊人的表演。

23 awfully   

adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地

参考例句：

• Agriculture was awfully neglected in the past.过去农业遭到严重忽视。
• I've been feeling awfully bad about it.对这我一直感到很难受。

24 embarrassment   

n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫

参考例句：

• She could have died away with embarrassment.她窘迫得要死。
• Coughing at a concert can be a real embarrassment.在音乐会上咳嗽真会使人难堪。

25 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。

26 conceal   

v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽

参考例句：

• He had to conceal his identity to escape the police.为了躲避警方，他只好隐瞒身份。
• He could hardly conceal his joy at his departure.他几乎掩饰不住临行时的喜悦。

27 stifling   

a.令人窒息的

参考例句：

• The weather is stifling. It looks like rain. 今天太闷热，光景是要下雨。
• We were stifling in that hot room with all the windows closed. 我们在那间关着窗户的热屋子里，简直透不过气来。

28 lobster   

n.龙虾，龙虾肉

参考例句：

• The lobster is a shellfish.龙虾是水生贝壳动物。
• I like lobster but it does not like me.我喜欢吃龙虾，但它不适宜于我的健康。

29 lobsters   

龙虾( lobster的名词复数 )； 龙虾肉

参考例句：

• I have no idea about how to prepare those cuttlefish and lobsters. 我对如何烹调那些乌贼和龙虾毫无概念。
• She sold me a couple of live lobsters. 她卖了几只活龙虾给我。

30 bail   

v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人

参考例句：

• One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。
• She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。

31 adamant   

adj.坚硬的，固执的

参考例句：

• We are adamant on the building of a well-off society.在建设小康社会这一点上，我们是坚定不移的。
• Veronica was quite adamant that they should stay on.维罗妮卡坚信他们必须继续留下去。

32 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

33 equilibrium   

n.平衡，均衡，相称，均势，平静

参考例句：

• Change in the world around us disturbs our inner equilibrium.我们周围世界的变化扰乱了我们内心的平静。
• This is best expressed in the form of an equilibrium constant.这最好用平衡常数的形式来表示。

34 haze   

n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊

参考例句：

• I couldn't see her through the haze of smoke.在烟雾弥漫中，我看不见她。
• He often lives in a haze of whisky.他常常是在威士忌的懵懂醉意中度过的。

35 charcoal   

n.炭，木炭，生物炭

参考例句：

• We need to get some more charcoal for the barbecue.我们烧烤需要更多的碳。
• Charcoal is used to filter water.木炭是用来过滤水的。

36 sketches   

n.草图( sketch的名词复数 )；素描；速写；梗概

参考例句：

• The artist is making sketches for his next painting. 画家正为他的下一幅作品画素描。
• You have to admit that these sketches are true to life. 你得承认这些素描很逼真。 来自《简明英汉词典》

37 gambling   

n.赌博；投机

参考例句：

• They have won a lot of money through gambling.他们赌博赢了很多钱。
• The men have been gambling away all night.那些人赌了整整一夜。

38 restive   

adj.不安宁的，不安静的

参考例句：

• The government has done nothing to ease restrictions and manufacturers are growing restive.政府未采取任何措施放松出口限制,因此国内制造商变得焦虑不安。
• The audience grew restive.观众变得不耐烦了。