The two girls came up the unlighted stone staircase which led from Maggie's cave to the door of the parlour. Sophia, foremost, was carrying a large tray, and Constance a small one. Constance, who had nothing on her tray but a teapot, a bowl of steaming and balmy-scented mussels and cockles, and a plate of hot buttered toast, went directly into the parlour on the left. Sophia had in her arms the entire material and apparatus1 of a high tea for two, including eggs, jam, and toast (covered with the slop-basin turned upside down), but not including mussels and cockles. She turned to the right, passed along the corridor by the cutting-out room, up two steps into the sheeted and shuttered gloom of the closed shop, up the showroom stairs, through the showroom, and so into the bedroom corridor. Experience had proved it easier to make this long detour2 than to round the difficult corner of the parlour stairs with a large loaded tray. Sophia knocked with the edge of the tray at the door of the principal bedroom. The muffled3 oratorical4 sound from within suddenly ceased, and the door was opened by a very tall, very thin, black-bearded man, who looked down at Sophia as if to demand what she meant by such an interruption.
"I've brought the tea, Mr. Critchlow," said Sophia.
And Mr. Critchlow carefully accepted the tray.
"Is that my little Sophia?" asked a faint voice from the depths of the bedroom.
"Yes, father," said Sophia.
But she did not attempt to enter the room. Mr. Critchlow put the tray on a white-clad chest of drawers near the door, and then he shut the door, with no ceremony. Mr. Critchlow was John Baines's oldest and closest friend, though decidedly younger than the draper. He frequently "popped in" to have a word with the invalid5; but Thursday afternoon was his special afternoon, consecrated6 by him to the service of the sick. From two o'clock precisely7 till eight o'clock precisely he took charge of John Baines, reigning8 autocratically over the bedroom. It was known that he would not tolerate invasions, nor even ambassadorial visits. No! He gave up his weekly holiday to this business of friendship, and he must be allowed to conduct the business in his own way. Mrs. Baines herself avoided disturbing Mr. Critchlow's ministrations on her husband. She was glad to do so; for Mr. Baines was never to be left alone under any circumstances, and the convenience of being able to rely upon the presence of a staid member of the Pharmaceutical9 Society for six hours of a given day every week outweighed10 the slight affront11 to her prerogatives12 as wife and house-mistress. Mr. Critchlow was an extremely peculiar13 man, but when he was in the bedroom she could leave the house with an easy mind. Moreover, John Baines enjoyed these Thursday afternoons. For him, there was 'none like Charles Critchlow.' The two old friends experienced a sort of grim, desiccated happiness, cooped up together in the bedroom, secure from women and fools generally. How they spent the time did not seem to be certainly known, but the impression was that politics occupied them. Undoubtedly14 Mr. Critchlow was an extremely peculiar man. He was a man of habits. He must always have the same things for his tea. Black-currant jam, for instance. (He called it "preserve.") The idea of offering Mr. Critchlow a tea which did not comprise black-currant jam was inconceivable by the intelligence of St. Luke's Square. Thus for years past, in the fruit-preserving season, when all the house and all the shop smelt15 richly of fruit boiling in sugar, Mrs. Baines had filled an extra number of jars with black-currant jam, 'because Mr. Critchlow wouldn't TOUCH any other sort.'
So Sophia, faced with the shut door of the bedroom, went down to the parlour by the shorter route. She knew that on going up again, after tea, she would find the devastated16 tray on the doormat.
Constance was helping17 Mr. Povey to mussels and cockles. And Mr. Povey still wore one of the antimacassars. It must have stuck to his shoulders when he sprang up from the sofa, woollen antimacassars being notoriously parasitic18 things. Sophia sat down, somewhat self-consciously. The serious Constance was also perturbed19. Mr. Povey did not usually take tea in the house on Thursday afternoons; his practice was to go out into the great, mysterious world. Never before had he shared a meal with the girls alone. The situation was indubitably unexpected, unforeseen; it was, too, piquant20, and what added to its piquancy21 was the fact that Constance and Sophia were, somehow, responsible for Mr. Povey. They felt that they were responsible for him. They had offered the practical sympathy of two intelligent and well-trained young women, born nurses by reason of their sex, and Mr. Povey had accepted; he was now on their hands. Sophia's monstrous22, sly operation in Mr. Povey's mouth did not cause either of them much alarm, Constance having apparently23 recovered from the first shock of it. They had discussed it in the kitchen while preparing the teas; Constance's extraordinarily24 severe and dictatorial25 tone in condemning26 it had led to a certain heat. But the success of the impudent27 wrench28 justified29 it despite any irrefutable argument to the contrary. Mr. Povey was better already, and he evidently remained in ignorance of his loss.
"Have some?" Constance asked of Sophia, with a large spoon hovering30 over the bowl of shells.
"Yes, PLEASE," said Sophia, positively31.
Constance well knew that she would have some, and had only asked from sheer nervousness.
"Pass your plate, then."
Now when everybody was served with mussels, cockles, tea, and toast, and Mr. Povey had been persuaded to cut the crust off his toast, and Constance had, quite unnecessarily, warned Sophia against the deadly green stuff in the mussels, and Constance had further pointed32 out that the evenings were getting longer, and Mr. Povey had agreed that they were, there remained nothing to say. An irksome silence fell on them all, and no one could lift it off. Tiny clashes of shell and crockery sounded with the terrible clearness of noises heard in the night. Each person avoided the eyes of the others. And both Constance and Sophia kept straightening their bodies at intervals33, and expanding their chests, and then looking at their plates; occasionally a prim34 cough was discharged. It was a sad example of the difference between young women's dreams of social brilliance35 and the reality of life. These girls got more and more girlish, until, from being women at the administering of laudanum, they sank back to about eight years of age--perfect children--at the tea-table.
The tension was snapped by Mr. Povey. "My God!" he muttered, moved by a startling discovery to this impious and disgraceful oath (he, the pattern and exemplar--and in the presence of innocent girlhood too!). "I've swallowed it!"
"Swallowed what, Mr. Povey?" Constance inquired.
The tip of Mr. Povey's tongue made a careful voyage of inspection36 all round the right side of his mouth.
"Oh yes!" he said, as if solemnly accepting the inevitable37. "I've swallowed it!"
Sophia's face was now scarlet38; she seemed to be looking for some place to hide it. Constance could not think of anything to say.
"That tooth has been loose for two years," said Mr. Povey, "and now I've swallowed it with a mussel."
"Oh, Mr. Povey!" Constance cried in confusion, and added, "There's one good thing, it can't hurt you any more now."
"Oh!" said Mr. Povey. "It wasn't THAT tooth that was hurting me. It's an old stump39 at the back that's upset me so this last day or two. I wish it had been."
Sophia had her teacup close to her red face. At these words of Mr. Povey her cheeks seemed to fill out like plump apples. She dashed the cup into its saucer, spilling tea recklessly, and then ran from the room with stifled40 snorts.
"Sophia!" Constance protested.
"I must just---" Sophia incoherently spluttered in the doorway41. "I shall be all right. Don't---"
Constance, who had risen, sat down again.
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apparatus
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| n.装置，器械；器具，设备 | |
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detour
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| n.绕行的路，迂回路；v.迂回，绕道 | |
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muffled
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| adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
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oratorical
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| adj.演说的，雄辩的 | |
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invalid
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| n.病人，伤残人；adj.有病的，伤残的；无效的 | |
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consecrated
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| adj.神圣的，被视为神圣的v.把…奉为神圣，给…祝圣( consecrate的过去式和过去分词 )；奉献 | |
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precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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reigning
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| adj.统治的，起支配作用的 | |
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pharmaceutical
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| adj.药学的，药物的；药用的，药剂师的 | |
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outweighed
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| v.在重量上超过( outweigh的过去式和过去分词 )；在重要性或价值方面超过 | |
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affront
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| n./v.侮辱，触怒 | |
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prerogatives
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| n.权利( prerogative的名词复数 )；特权；大主教法庭；总督委任组成的法庭 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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smelt
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| v.熔解，熔炼；n.银白鱼，胡瓜鱼 | |
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devastated
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| v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的 | |
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helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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parasitic
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| adj.寄生的 | |
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perturbed
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| adj.烦燥不安的v.使（某人）烦恼，不安( perturb的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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piquant
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| adj.辛辣的，开胃的，令人兴奋的 | |
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piquancy
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| n.辛辣，辣味，痛快 | |
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monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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extraordinarily
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| adv.格外地；极端地 | |
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dictatorial
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| adj. 独裁的，专断的 | |
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condemning
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| v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的现在分词 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地 | |
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impudent
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| adj.鲁莽的，卑鄙的，厚颜无耻的 | |
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wrench
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| v.猛拧；挣脱；使扭伤；n.扳手；痛苦，难受 | |
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justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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hovering
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| 鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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prim
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| adj.拘泥形式的，一本正经的；n.循规蹈矩，整洁；adv.循规蹈矩地，整洁地 | |
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brilliance
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| n.光辉，辉煌，壮丽，（卓越的）才华，才智 | |
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inspection
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| n.检查，审查，检阅 | |
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inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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stump
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| n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走 | |
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stifled
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| （使）窒息， （使）窒闷( stifle的过去式和过去分词 )； 镇压，遏制； 堵 | |
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doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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