Thirty-six

Thirty-six
That was two years ago. We still live on the island. Before me, on therough wooden table, is the letter that Suzanne wrote me.
Dear Babes in the Wood—Dear Lunatics in Love,I’m not surprised—not at all. All the time we’ve been talk-ing Paris and frocks I felt that it wasn’t a bit real—thatyou’d vanish into the blue some day to be married over thetongs in the good old gipsy fashion. But you are a couple oflunatics! This idea of renouncing¹ a vast fortune is absurd.
Colonel Race wanted to argue the matter, but I have per-suaded him to leave the argument to time. He can admin-ister the estate for Harry²—and none better. Because, afterall, honeymoons⁴ don’t last forever—you’re not here, Anne,so I can safely say that without having you fly out at melike a little wildcat—Love in the wilderness⁵ will last a goodwhile, but one day you will suddenly begin to dream ofhouses in Park Lane, sumptuous⁶ furs, Paris frocks, thelargest thing in motors and the latest thing in perambu-lators, French maids and Norland nurses! Oh, yes, youwill!
But have your honeymoon³, dear lunatics, and let it be along one. And think of me sometimes, comfortably puttingon weight amidst the fleshpots!
Your loving friend,
Suzanne Blair
P.S.—I am sending you an assortment⁷ of frying pans as awedding present, and an enormous terrine of p?té de foiegras to remind you of me.
There is another letter that I sometimes read. It came a good while afterthe other and was accompanied by a bulky parcel. It appeared to be writ-ten from somewhere in Bolivia.
My dear Anne Beddingfeld,
I can’t resist writing to you, not so much for the pleasure itgives me to write, as for the enormous pleasure I know itwill give you to hear from me. Our friend Race wasn’t quiteas clever as he thought himself, was he?
I think I shall appoint you my literary executor. I’m send-ing you my diary. There’s nothing in it that would interestRace and his crowd, but I fancy that there are passages init which may amuse you. Make use of it in any way youlike. I suggest an article for the Daily Budget, “Criminals Ihave met.” I only stipulate⁸ that I shall be the central fig-ure.
By this time I have no doubt that you are no longer AnneBeddingfeld, but Lady Eardsley, queening it in Park Lane.
I should just like to say that I bear you no malice⁹ whatever.
It is hard, of course, to have to begin all over again at mytime of life, but, entre nous, I had a little reserve fundcarefully put aside for such a contingency¹⁰. It has come invery usefully and I am getting together a nice little connex-ion. By the way, if you ever come across that funny friendof yours, Arthur Minks¹¹, just tell him that I haven’t forgot-ten him, will you? That will give him a nasty jar.
On the whole I think I have displayed a most Christian¹² andforgiving spirit. Even to Pagett. I happened to hear that he—or rather Mrs. Pagett—had brought a sixth child intothe world the other day. England will be entirely¹³ popu-lated by Pagetts soon. I sent the child a silver mug, and, ona postcard, declared my willingness to act as godfather. Ican see Pagett taking both mug and postcard straight toScotland Yard without a smile on his face!
Bless you, liquid eyes. Some day you will see what a mis-take you have made in not marrying me.
Yours ever
Eustace Pedler
Harry was furious. It is the one point on which he and I do not see eye toeye. To him, Sir Eustace was the man who tried to murder me and whomhe regards as responsible for the death of his friend. Sir Eustace’s attemptson my life have always puzzled me. They are not in the picture, so tospeak. For I am sure that he always had a genuinely kindly¹⁴ feeling to-wards me.
Then why did he twice attempt to take my life? Harry says “because he’sa damned scoundrel,” and seems to think that settles the matter. Suzannewas more discriminating¹⁵. I talked it over with her, and she put it down toa “fear complex.” Suzanne goes in rather for psychoanalysis. She pointedout to me that Sir Eustace’s whole life was actuated by a desire to be safeand comfortable. He had an acute sense of self- preservation¹⁶. And themurder of Nadina removed certain inhibitions. His actions did not repres-ent the state of his feeling towards me, but were the result of his acutefears for his own safety. I think Suzanne is right. As for Nadina, she wasthe kind of woman who deserved to die. Men do all sorts of questionablethings in order to get rich, but women shouldn’t pretend to be in lovewhen they aren’t for ulterior motives¹⁷.
I can forgive Sir Eustace easily enough, but I shall never forgive Nadina.
Never, never, never!
The other day I was unpacking¹⁸ some tins that were wrapped in bits ofan old Daily Budget, and I suddenly came upon the words, “The Man in theBrown Suit.” How long ago it seemed! I had, of course, severed¹⁹ my connex-ion with the Daily Budget long ago—I had done with it sooner than it haddone with me. MY ROMANTIC WEDDING was given a halo of publicity²⁰.
My son is lying in the sun, kicking his legs. There’s a “man in a brownsuit” if you like. He’s wearing as little as possible, which is the best cos-tume for Africa, and is as brown as a berry. He’s always burrowing²¹ in theearth. I think he takes after Papa. He’ll have that same mania²² for Pleisto-cene clay.
Suzanne sent me a cable when he was born:
“Congratulations and love to the latest arrival on Lunatics’ Island. Is hishead dolichocephalic or brachycephalic?”
I wasn’t going to stand that from Suzanne. I sent her a reply of oneword, economical and to the point:
“Platycephalic!”

1 renouncing   

v.声明放弃( renounce的现在分词 )；宣布放弃；宣布与…决裂；宣布摒弃

参考例句：

• He enraged the government by renouncing the agreement. 他否认那项协议，从而激怒了政府。 来自辞典例句
• What do you get for renouncing Taiwan and embracing Beijing instead? 抛弃台湾，并转而拥抱北京之后，你会得到什么？ 来自互联网

2 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

3 honeymoon   

n.蜜月（假期）；vi.度蜜月

参考例句：

• While on honeymoon in Bali,she learned to scuba dive.她在巴厘岛度蜜月时学会了带水肺潜水。
• The happy pair are leaving for their honeymoon.这幸福的一对就要去度蜜月了。

4 honeymoons   

蜜月( honeymoon的名词复数 )； 短暂的和谐时期； 蜜月期； 最初的和谐时期

参考例句：

• I suppose all honeymoons are more or less alike. 我想所有的蜜月多多少少都是相似的。
• Honeymoons are stupid things. 蜜月是乏味的事情。

5 wilderness   

n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

6 sumptuous   

adj.豪华的，奢侈的，华丽的

参考例句：

• The guests turned up dressed in sumptuous evening gowns.客人们身着华丽的夜礼服出现了。
• We were ushered into a sumptuous dining hall.我们被领进一个豪华的餐厅。

7 assortment   

n.分类，各色俱备之物，聚集

参考例句：

• This shop has a good assortment of goods to choose from.该店各色货物俱全，任君选择。
• She was wearing an odd assortment of clothes.她穿着奇装异服。

8 stipulate   

vt.规定，（作为条件）讲定，保证

参考例句：

• International rules stipulate the number of foreign entrants.国际规则规定了外国参赛者的人数。
• Some manufacturers stipulate the price at which their goods are to be sold.有些制造商规定出售他们生产的商品的价格。

9 malice   

n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋

参考例句：

• I detected a suggestion of malice in his remarks.我觉察出他说的话略带恶意。
• There was a strong current of malice in many of his portraits.他的许多肖像画中都透着一股强烈的怨恨。

10 contingency   

n.意外事件，可能性

参考例句：

• We should be prepared for any contingency.我们应该对任何应急情况有所准备。
• A fire in our warehouse was a contingency that we had not expected.库房的一场大火是我们始料未及的。

11 minks   

n.水貂( mink的名词复数 )；水貂皮

参考例句：

• Fuck like minks, forget the rug rats, and live happily ever after. 我们象水貂一样作爱，忘掉小水貂吧，然后一起幸福生活。 来自互联网
• They fuck like minks, raise rug rats, and live happily ever after. 他们象水貂一样做爱，再养一堆小水貂，然后一起幸福的生活。 来自互联网

12 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

13 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

14 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

15 discriminating   

a.有辨别能力的

参考例句：

• Due caution should be exercised in discriminating between the two. 在区别这两者时应该相当谨慎。
• Many businesses are accused of discriminating against women. 许多企业被控有歧视妇女的做法。

16 preservation   

n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持

参考例句：

• The police are responsible for the preservation of law and order.警察负责维持法律与秩序。
• The picture is in an excellent state of preservation.这幅画保存得极为完好。

17 motives   

n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• to impeach sb's motives 怀疑某人的动机
• His motives are unclear. 他的用意不明。

18 unpacking   

n.取出货物，拆包[箱]v.从（包裹等）中取出（所装的东西），打开行李取出( unpack的现在分词 )；拆包；解除…的负担；吐露（心事等）

参考例句：

• Joe sat on the bed while Martin was unpacking. 马丁打开箱子取东西的时候，乔坐在床上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They are unpacking a trunk. 他们正在打开衣箱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 severed   

v.切断，断绝( sever的过去式和过去分词 )；断，裂

参考例句：

• The doctor said I'd severed a vessel in my leg. 医生说我割断了腿上的一根血管。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We have severed diplomatic relations with that country. 我们与那个国家断绝了外交关系。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

21 burrowing   

v.挖掘（洞穴），挖洞( burrow的现在分词 )；翻寻

参考例句：

• What are you burrowing around in my drawer for? 你在我抽屉里乱翻什么？ 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The forepaws are also used for burrowing and for dragging heavier logs. 它们的前爪还可以用来打洞和拖拽较重的树干。 来自辞典例句

22 mania   

n.疯狂；躁狂症，狂热，癖好

参考例句：

• Football mania is sweeping the country.足球热正风靡全国。
• Collecting small items can easily become a mania.收藏零星物品往往容易变成一种癖好。