Bundle Brent was a resourceful girl—she was also a girl of imagination.
She had foreseen that Bill, if not Jimmy, would make objections to her par-ticipation in the possible dangers of the night. It was not Bundle’s idea towaste time in argument. She had laid her own plans and made her ownarrangements. A glance from her bedroom window shortly before dinnerhad been highly satisfactory. She had known that the grey walls of the Ab-bey were plentifully1 adorned2 with ivy3, but the ivy outside her window wasparticularly solid looking and would present no difficulties to one of herathletic propensities4.
She had no fault to find with Bill’s and Jimmy’s arrangements as far asthey went. But in her opinion they did not go far enough. She offered nocriticism, because she intended to see to that side of things herself. Briefly,while Jimmy and Bill were devoting themselves to the inside of the Abbey,Bundle intended to devote her attentions to the outside.
Her own meek5 acquiescence6 in the tame r?le assigned to her gave heran infinity7 of pleasure, though she wondered scornfully how either of thetwo men could be so easily deceived. Bill, of course, had never been fam-ous for scintillating8 brain power. On the other hand, he knew, or shouldknow, his Bundle. And she considered that Jimmy Thesiger, though onlyslightly acquainted with her, ought to have known better than to imaginethat she could be so easily and summarily disposed of.
Once in the privacy of her own room, Bundle set rapidly to work. Firstshe discarded her evening dress and the negligible trifle which she worebeneath it, and started again, so to speak, from the foundations. Bundlehad not brought her maid with her, and she had packed herself. Other-wise, the puzzled Frenchwoman might have wondered why her lady tooka pair of riding breeches and no further equine equipment.
Arrayed in riding breeches, rubber- soled shoes, and a dark- colouredpullover, Bundle was ready for the fray9. She glanced at the time. As yet, itwas only half past twelve. Too early by far. Whatever was going to happenwould not happen for some time yet. The occupants of the house must allbe given time to get off to sleep. Half past one was the time fixed10 byBundle for the start of operations.
She switched off her light and sat down by the window to wait. Punctu-ally at the appointed moment, she rose, pushed up the sash and swung herleg over the sill. The night was a fine one, cold and still. There was star-light but no moon.
She found the descent very easy. Bundle and her two sisters had runwild in the park at Chimneys as small children, and they could all climblike cats. Bundle arrived on a flower bed, rather breathless, but quite un-scathed.
She paused a minute to take stock of her plans. She knew that the roomsoccupied by the Air Minister and his secretary were in the west wing; thatwas the opposite side of the house from where Bundle was now standing11.
A terrace ran along the south and west side of the house, ending abruptlyagainst a walled fruit garden.
Bundle stepped out of her flower bed and turned the corner of thehouse to where the terrace began on the south side. She crept very quietlyalong it, keeping close to the shadow of the house. But, as she reached thesecond corner, she got a shock, for a man was standing there, with theclear intention of barring her way.
The next instant she had recognized him.
“Superintendent12 Battle! You did give me a fright!”
“That’s what I’m here for,” said the Superintendent pleasantly.
Bundle looked at him. It struck her now, as so often before, how remark-ably little camouflage13 there was about him. He was large and solid and no-ticeable. He was, somehow, very English. But of one thing Bundle wasquite sure. Superintendent Battle was no fool.
“What are you really doing here?” she asked, still in a whisper.
“Just seeing,” said Battle, “that nobody’s about who shouldn’t be.”
“Oh!” said Bundle, rather taken aback.
“You, for instance, Lady Eileen. I don’t suppose you usually take a walkat this time of night.”
“Do you mean,” said Bundle slowly, “that you want me to go back?”
Superintendent Battle nodded approvingly.
“You’re very quick, Lady Eileen. That’s just what I do mean. Did you—er—come out of a door, or the window?”
“The window. It’s easy as anything climbing down this ivy.”
Supertintendent Battle looked up at it thoughtfully.
“Yes,” he said. “I should say it would be.”
“And you want me to go back?” said Bundle. “I’m rather sick about that.
I wanted to go round on to the west terrace.”
“Perhaps you won’t be the only one who’ll want to do that,” said Battle.
“Nobody could miss seeing you,” said Bundle rather spitefully.
The Superintendent seemed rather pleased than otherwise.
“I hope they won’t,” he said. “No unpleasantness. That’s my motto. And ifyou’ll excuse me, Lady Eileen, I think it’s time you were going back tobed.”
The firmness of his tone admitted no parley14. Rather crestfallen15, Bundleretraced her steps. She was halfway16 up the ivy when a sudden idea oc-curred to her, and she nearly relaxed her grip and fell.
Supposing Superintendent Battle suspected her.
There had been something—yes, surely there had been something in hismanner that vaguely17 suggested the idea. She couldn’t help laughing as shecrawled over the sill into her bedroom. Fancy the solid Superintendentsuspecting her!
Though she had so far obeyed Battle’s orders as to returning to herroom, Bundle had no intention of going to bed and sleeping. Nor did shethink that Battle had really intended her to do so. He was not a man to ex-pect impossibilities. And to remain quiescent18 when something daring andexciting might be going on was a sheer impossibility to Bundle.
She glanced at her watch. It was ten minutes to two. After a moment ortwo of irresolution19, she cautiously opened her door. Not a sound.
Everything was still and peaceful. She stole cautiously along the passage.
Once she halted, thinking she heard a board creak somewhere, but thenconvinced that she was mistaken, she went on again. She was now in themain corridor, making her way to the west wing. She reached the angle ofintersection and peered cautiously round—then she stared in blank sur-prise.
The watcher’s post was empty. Jimmy Thesiger was not there.
Bundle stared in complete amazement20. What had happened? Why hadJimmy left his post? What did it mean?
At that moment she heard a clock strike two.
She was still standing there, debating what to do next, when suddenlyher heart gave a leap and then seemed to stand still. The door handle ofTerence O’Rourke’s room was slowly turning.
Bundle watched, fascinated. But the door did not open. Instead the knobturned slowly to its original position. What did it mean?
Suddenly Bundle came to a resolution. Jimmy, for some unknownreason, had deserted21 his post. She must get hold of Bill.
Quickly and noiselessly, Bundle fled along the way she had come. Sheburst unceremoniously into Bill’s room.
“Bill, wake up! Oh, do wake up!”
It was an urgent whisper she sent forth22, but there came no response toit.
“Bill,” breathed Bundle.
Impatiently she switched on the lights, and then stood dumbfounded.
The room was empty, and the bed had not even been slept in.
Where then was Bill?
Suddenly she caught her breath. This was not Bill’s room. The dainty neg-ligée thrown over a chair, the feminine knickknacks on the dressing23 table,the black velvet24 evening dress thrown carelessly over a chair—Of course,in her haste she had mistaken the doors. This was the Countess Radzky’sroom.
But where, oh where, was the countess?
And just as Bundle was asking herself this question, the silence of thenight was suddenly broken, and in no uncertain manner.
The clamour came from below. In an instant Bundle had sped out of theCountess’s room and downstairs. The sounds came from the library—a vi-olent crashing of chairs being overturned.
Bundle rattled25 vainly at the library door. It was locked. But she couldclearly hear the struggle that was going on within—the panting and scuff-ling, curses in many tones, the occasional crash as some light piece of fur-niture came into the line of battle.
And then, sinister26 and distinct, breaking the peace of the night for goodand all, two shots in rapid succession.
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收听单词发音
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1
plentifully
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| adv. 许多地，丰饶地 | |
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adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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ivy
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| n.常青藤，常春藤 | |
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propensities
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| n.倾向，习性( propensity的名词复数 ) | |
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meek
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| adj.温顺的，逆来顺受的 | |
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acquiescence
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| n.默许；顺从 | |
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7
infinity
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| n.无限，无穷，大量 | |
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8
scintillating
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| adj．才气横溢的,闪闪发光的; 闪烁的 | |
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fray
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| v.争吵；打斗；磨损，磨破；n.吵架；打斗 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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12
superintendent
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| n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长 | |
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camouflage
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| n./v.掩饰，伪装 | |
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parley
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| n.谈判 | |
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crestfallen
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| adj. 挫败的，失望的，沮丧的 | |
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halfway
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| adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途 | |
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vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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quiescent
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| adj.静止的，不活动的，寂静的 | |
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irresolution
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| n.不决断，优柔寡断，犹豫不定 | |
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amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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dressing
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| n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料 | |
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24
velvet
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| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
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rattled
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| 慌乱的，恼火的 | |
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sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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