Zero Hour（3）

　　III
　　Andrew MacWhirter was packing.
　　He laid three shirts carefully in his suitcase, and then that dark blue suit which he had remembered to fetch from the cleaners. Two suits left by two different MacWhirters had been too much for the girl in charge.
　　There was a tap on the door and he called "Come in."Audrey Strange walked in. She said: "I've come to thank you - are you packing?""Yes. I'm leaving here to-night. And sailing the day after to-morrow.""For South America?"
　　"For Chile."
　　She said: "I'll pack for you."
　　He protested, but she overbore him. He watched her as worked deftly¹ and methodically.
　　"There," she said, when she had finished. "You did that well," said MacWhirter.
　　There was a silence. Then Audrey said: "You saved my life. If you hadn't happened to see what you did see -"She broke off.
　　Then she said: "Did you realise at once that night on the cliff when you - you stopped me going over - when you said 'Go home, I'll see that you're not hanged' - did you realise then that you'd got some important evidence?""Not precisely²," said MacWhirter. "I had to think it out." "Then how could you say - what you did say?"MacWhirter always felt annoyed when he had to explain the intense simplicity³ of his thought processes.
　　"I meant just precisely that - that I intended to prevent you from being hanged."The colour came up in Audrey's cheeks.
　　"Supposing I had done it?"
　　"That would have made no difference."
　　"Did you think I had done it, then?"
　　"I didn't speculate on the matter overmuch. I was inclined to believe you were innocent, but it would have made no difference to my course of action.""And then you remembered the man on the rope?"MacWhirter was silent for a few moments. Then he cleared his throat.
　　"You may as well know, I suppose, I did not actually see a man climbing up a rope - indeed, I could not have done so, for I was up on Stark⁴ Head on Sunday night, not on Monday. I deduced what must have happened from the evidence of the suit and my suppositions were confirmed by the finding of a wet rope in the attic⁵."From red Audrey had gone white. She said incredulously: "Your story was all a lie?""Deductions⁶ would not have carried weight with the police. I had to say I saw what happened.""But - you might have had to swear to it at my trial.""Yes."
　　"You would have done that?"
　　"I would."
　　Audrey cried incredulously: "And you - you are the man who lost his job and came down to throwing himself off a cliff because he wouldn't tamper⁷ with the truth!""I have a great regard for the truth. But I've discovered there are things that matter more.""Such as?"
　　"You," said MacWhirter.
　　Audrey's eyes dropped. MacWhirter cleared his throat in an embarrassed manner.
　　"There's no need for you to feel under a great obligation or anything of that kind. You'll never hear of me again after to-day. The police have got Strange's confession⁸ and they'll not need my evidence. In any case, I hear he's so bad he'll maybe not live to come to trial.""I'm glad of that," said Audrey. "You were fond of him once?" "Of the man I thought he was."MacWhirter nodded. "We've all felt that way, maybe." He went on: "Everything's turned out well. Superintendent⁹ Battle was able to act upon my story and break down the man -"Audrey interrupted. She said: "He worked upon your story, yes. But I don't believe you fooled him. He deliberately¹⁰ shut his eyes.""Why do you say that?"
　　"When he was talking to me he mentioned it was lucky you saw what you did in the moonlight, and then added something - a sentence or two later - about it being a rainy night."MacWhirter was taken aback. "That's true. On Monday night I doubt if I'd have seen anything at all.""It doesn't matter," said Audrey.
　　"He knew that what you pretended to have seen was what had really happened. But it explains why he worked on Nevile to break him down. He suspected Nevile as soon as Thomas told him about me and Adrian. He knew then that if he was right about the kind of crime - he had fixed¹¹ on the wrong person - what he wanted was some kind of evidence to use on Nevile. He wanted, as he said, a miracle - you were Superintendent Battle's prayer.""That's a curious thing for him to say," said MacWhirter dryly. "So you see," said Audrey, "you are a miracle. My special miracle."MacWhirter said earnestly: "I'd not like you to feel you're under an obligation to me. I'm going right out of your life -""Must you?" said Audrey.
　　He stared at her. The colour came up, flooding her ears and temples.
　　She said: "Won't you take me with you?"
　　"You don't know what you're saying!"
　　"Yes, I do. I'm doing something very difficult - but that matters to me more than life or death. I know the time is very short. By the way, I'm conventional; I should like to be married before we go!""Naturally," said MacWhirter, deeply shocked. "You don't imagine I'd suggest anything else?""I'm sure you wouldn't," said Audrey.
　　MacWhirter said: "I'm not your kind. I thought you'd marry that quiet fellow who's cared for you so long.""Thomas? Dear, true Thomas. He's too true. He's faithful to the image of a girl he loved years ago. But the person he really cares for is Mary Aldin, though he doesn't know it yet himself."MacWhirter took a step towards her. He spoke¹² sternly. "Do you mean what you're saying?""Yes ... I want to be with you always, never to leave you. If you go I shall never find anybody like you, and I shall go lonely all my days."MacWhirter sighed. He took out his wallet and carefully examined its contents.
　　He murmured: "A special licence comes expensive. I'll need to go to the bank first thing to-morrow.""I could lend you some money," murmured Audrey.
　　"You'll do nothing of the kind. If I marry a woman, I pay for the licence. You understand?""You needn't," said Audrey softly, "look so stern."He said gently as he came towards her: "Last time I had my hands on you, you felt like a bird - struggling to escape. You'll never escape now ..."She said: "I shall never want to escape."

1 deftly   

adv.灵巧地，熟练地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He deftly folded the typed sheets and replaced them in the envelope. 他灵巧地将打有字的纸折好重新放回信封。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• At last he had a clew to her interest, and followed it deftly. 这一下终于让他发现了她的兴趣所在，于是他熟练地继续谈这个话题。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

2 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

3 simplicity   

n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯

参考例句：

• She dressed with elegant simplicity.她穿着朴素高雅。
• The beauty of this plan is its simplicity.简明扼要是这个计划的一大特点。

4 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

5 attic   

n.顶楼，屋顶室

参考例句：

• Leakiness in the roof caused a damp attic.屋漏使顶楼潮湿。
• What's to be done with all this stuff in the attic?顶楼上的材料怎么处理？

6 deductions   

扣除( deduction的名词复数 )； 结论； 扣除的量； 推演

参考例句：

• Many of the older officers trusted agents sightings more than cryptanalysts'deductions. 许多年纪比较大的军官往往相信特务的发现，而不怎么相信密码分析员的推断。
• You know how you rush at things,jump to conclusions without proper deductions. 你知道你处理问题是多么仓促，毫无合适的演绎就仓促下结论。

7 tamper   

v.干预，玩弄，贿赂，窜改，削弱，损害

参考例句：

• Do not tamper with other's business.不要干预别人的事。
• They had strict orders not to tamper with the customs of the minorities.他们得到命令严禁干涉少数民族的风俗习惯。

8 confession   

n.自白，供认，承认

参考例句：

• Her confession was simply tantamount to a casual explanation.她的自白简直等于一篇即席说明。
• The police used torture to extort a confession from him.警察对他用刑逼供。

9 superintendent   

n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长

参考例句：

• He was soon promoted to the post of superintendent of Foreign Trade.他很快就被擢升为对外贸易总监。
• He decided to call the superintendent of the building.他决定给楼房管理员打电话。

10 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

11 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

12 spoke   

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

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。