Chapter 5
Into these dark imaginings a breath of the commonplace came with almost ludicrous effect.
A man came into the lounge, caught sight of the Boyntons and came across to them. He was a
pleasant middle-aged¹ American of a strictly² conventional type. He was carefully dressed, with a long
clean-shaven face and he had a slow, pleasant, somewhat monotonous³ voice.
‘I was looking around for you all,’ he said.
Meticulously⁴ he shook hands with the entire family. ‘And how do you find yourself, Mrs
Boynton? Not too tired by the journey?’
Almost graciously, the old lady wheezed⁵ out: ‘No, thank you. My health’s never good, as you
know—’
‘Why, of course, too bad—too bad.’
‘But I’m certainly no worse.’
Mrs Boynton added with a slow reptilian⁶ smile: ‘Nadine, here, takes good care of me, don’t you,
Nadine?’
‘I do my best.’ Her voice was expressionless.
‘Why, I bet you do,’ said the stranger heartily⁷. ‘Well, Lennox, and what do you think of King
David’s city?’
‘Oh, I don’t know.’
Lennox spoke⁸ apathetically—without interest.
‘Find it kind of disappointing, do you? I’ll confess it struck me that way at first. But perhaps you
haven’t been around much yet?’
Carol Boynton said: ‘We can’t do very much because of Mother.’
Mrs Boynton explained: ‘A couple of hours’ sightseeing is about all I can manage every day.’
The stranger said heartily: ‘I think it’s wonderful you manage to do all you do, Mrs Boynton.’
Mrs Boynton gave a slow, wheezy

分享到：