What continually impressed Sophia as strange, in the behaviour not only of Gerald but of Chirac and other people with whom she came into contact, was its quality of casualness. She had all her life been accustomed to see enterprises, even minor1 ones, well pondered and then carefully schemed beforehand. In St. Luke's Square there was always, in every head, a sort of time-table of existence prepared at least one week in advance. But in Gerald's world nothing was prearranged. Elaborate affairs were decided2 in a moment and undertaken with extraordinary lightness. Thus the excursion to Auxerre! During lunch scarcely a word was said as to it; the conversation, in English for Sophia's advantage, turning, as usual under such circumstances, upon the difficulty of languages and the differences between countries. Nobody would have guessed that any member of the party had any preoccupation whatever for the rest of the day. The meal was delightful3 to Sophia; not merely did she find Chirac comfortingly kind and sincere, but Gerald was restored to the perfection of his charm and his good humour. Then suddenly, in the midst of coffee, the question of trains loomed5 up like a swift crisis. In five minutes Chirac had departed--whether to his office or his home Sophia did not understand, and within a quarter of an hour she and Gerald were driving rapidly to the Gare de Lyon, Gerald stuffing into his pocket a large envelope full of papers which he had received by registered post. They caught the train by about a minute, and Chirac by a few seconds. Yet neither he nor Gerald seemed to envisage6 the risk of inconvenience and annoyance7 which they had incurred8 and escaped. Chirac chattered9 through the window with another journalist in the next compartment10. When she had leisure to examine him, Sophia saw that he must have called at his home to put on old clothes. Everybody except herself and Gerald seemed to travel in his oldest clothes.
The train was hot, noisy, and dusty. But, one after another, all three of them fell asleep and slept heavily, calmly, like healthy and exhausted11 young animals. Nothing could disturb them for more than a moment. To Sophia it appeared to be by simple chance that Chirac aroused himself and them at Laroche and sleepily seized her valise and got them all out on the platform, where they yawned and smiled, full of the deep, half-realized satisfaction of repose12. They drank nectar from a wheeled buffet13, drank it eagerly, in thirsty gulps14, and sighed with pleasure and relief, and Gerald threw down a coin, refusing change with a lord's gesture. The local train to Auxerre was full, and with a varied15 and sinister16 cargo17. At length they were in the zone of the waiting guillotine. The rumour18 ran that the executioner was on the train. No one had seen him; no one was sure of recognizing him, but everyone hugged the belief that he was on the train. Although the sun was sinking the heat seemed not to abate19. Attitudes grew more limp, more abandoned. Soot20 and prickly dust flew in unceasingly at the open windows. The train stopped at Bonnard, Chemilly, and Moneteau, each time before a waiting crowd that invaded it. And at last, in the great station at Auxerre, it poured out an incredible mass of befouled humanity that spread over everything like an inundation21. Sophia was frightened. Gerald left the initiative to Chirac, and Chirac took her arm and led her forward, looking behind him to see that Gerald followed with the valise. Frenzy22 seemed to reign23 in Auxerre.
The driver of a cab demanded ten francs for transporting them to the Hotel de l'Epee.
"Bah!" scornfully exclaimed Chirac, in his quality of experienced Parisian who is not to be exploited by heavy-witted provincials24.
But the driver of the next cab demanded twelve francs.
"Jump in," said Gerald to Sophia. Chirac lifted his eyebrows25.
At the same moment a tall, stout26 man with the hard face of a flourishing scoundrel, and a young, pallid27 girl on his arm, pushed aside both Gerald and Chirac and got into the cab with his companion.
Chirac protested, telling him that the cab was already engaged.
The usurper28 scowled29 and swore, and the young girl laughed boldly.
Sophia, shrinking, expected her escort to execute justice heroic and final; but she was disappointed.
"Brute30!" murmured Chirac, and shrugged31 his shoulders, as the carriage drove off, leaving them foolish on the kerb.
By this time all the other cabs had been seized. They walked to the Hotel de l'Epee, jostled by the crowd, Sophia and Chirac in front, and Gerald following with the valise, whose weight caused him to lean over to the right and his left arm to rise. The avenue was long, straight, and misty32 with a floating dust. Sophia had a vivid sense of the romantic. They saw towers and spires33, and Chirac talked to her slowly and carefully of the cathedral and the famous churches. He said that the stained glass was marvellous, and with much care he catalogued for her all the things she must visit. They crossed a river. She felt as though she was stepping into the middle age. At intervals34 Gerald changed the valise from hand to hand; obstinately35, he would not let Chirac touch it. They struggled upwards36, through narrow curving streets.
"Voila!" said Chirac.
They were in front of the Hotel de l'Epee. Across the street was a cafe crammed37 with people. Several carriages stood in front. The Hotel de l'Epee had a reassuring38 air of mellow39 respectability, such as Chirac had claimed for it. He had suggested this hotel for Madame Scales because it was not near the place of execution. Gerald had said, "Of course! Of course!" Chirac, who did not mean to go to bed, required no room for himself.
The Hotel de l'Epee had one room to offer, at the price of twenty- five francs.
Gerald revolted at the attempted imposition. "A nice thing!" he grumbled40, "that ordinary travellers can't get a decent room at a decent price just because some one's going to be guillotined to- morrow! We'll try elsewhere!"
His features expressed disgust, but Sophia fancied that he was secretly pleased.
They swaggered out of the busy stir of the hotel, as those must who, having declined to be swindled, wish to preserve their importance in the face of the world. In the street a cabman solicited41 them, and filled them with hope by saying that he knew of a hotel that might suit them and would drive them there for five francs. He furiously lashed42 his horse. The mere4 fact of being in a swiftly moving carriage which wayfarers43 had to avoid nimbly, maintained their spirits. They had a near glimpse of the cathedral. The cab halted with a bump, in a small square, in front of a repellent building which bore the sign, 'Hotel de Vezelay.' The horse was bleeding. Gerald instructed Sophia to remain where she was, and he and Chirac went up four stone steps into the hotel. Sophia, stared at by loose crowds that were promenading44, gazed about her, and saw that all the windows of the square were open and most of them occupied by people who laughed and chattered. Then there was a shout: Gerald's voice. He had appeared at a window on the second floor of the hotel with Chirac and a very fat woman. Chirac saluted45, and Gerald laughed carelessly, and nodded.
"It's all right," said Gerald, having descended46.
"How much do they ask?" Sophia inquired indiscreetly.
Gerald hesitated, and looked self-conscious. "Thirty-five francs," he said. "But I've had enough of driving about. It seems we're lucky to get it even at that."
And Chirac shrugged his shoulders as if to indicate that the situation and the price ought to be accepted philosophically47. Gerald gave the driver five francs. He examined the piece and demanded a pourboire.
"Oh! Damn!" said Gerald, and, because he had no smaller change, parted with another two francs.
"Is any one coming out for this damned valise?" Gerald demanded, like a tyrant48 whose wrath49 would presently fall if the populace did not instantly set about minding their p's and q's.
But nobody emerged, and he was compelled to carry the bag himself.
The hotel was dark and malodorous, and every room seemed to be crowded with giggling50 groups of drinkers.
"We can't both sleep in this bed, surely," said Sophia when, Chirac having remained downstairs, she faced Gerald in a small, mean bedroom.
"You don't suppose I shall go to bed, do you?" said Gerald, rather brusquely. "It's for you. We're going to eat now. Look sharp."
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minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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loomed
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| v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近 | |
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envisage
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| v.想象，设想，展望，正视 | |
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annoyance
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| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
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incurred
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| [医]招致的，遭受的； incur的过去式 | |
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chattered
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| （人）喋喋不休( chatter的过去式 )； 唠叨； （牙齿）打战； （机器）震颤 | |
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compartment
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| n.卧车包房，隔间；分隔的空间 | |
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exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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buffet
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| n.自助餐；饮食柜台；餐台 | |
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14
gulps
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| n.一大口（尤指液体）( gulp的名词复数 )v.狼吞虎咽地吃，吞咽( gulp的第三人称单数 )；大口地吸（气）；哽住 | |
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varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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cargo
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| n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物 | |
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rumour
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| n.谣言，谣传，传闻 | |
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abate
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| vi.(风势，疼痛等)减弱，减轻，减退 | |
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soot
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| n.煤烟，烟尘；vt.熏以煤烟 | |
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inundation
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| n.the act or fact of overflowing | |
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frenzy
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| n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动 | |
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reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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provincials
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| n.首都以外的人，地区居民( provincial的名词复数 ) | |
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eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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pallid
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| adj.苍白的，呆板的 | |
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usurper
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| n. 篡夺者, 僭取者 | |
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scowled
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| 怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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32
misty
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| adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的 | |
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spires
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| n.（教堂的） 塔尖，尖顶( spire的名词复数 ) | |
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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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obstinately
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| ad.固执地，顽固地 | |
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upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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crammed
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| adj.塞满的，挤满的；大口地吃；快速贪婪地吃v.把…塞满；填入；临时抱佛脚( cram的过去式) | |
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38
reassuring
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| a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的，使人放心的 | |
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mellow
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| adj.柔和的；熟透的；v.变柔和；(使)成熟 | |
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40
grumbled
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| 抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声 | |
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41
solicited
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| v.恳求( solicit的过去式和过去分词 )；（指娼妇）拉客；索求；征求 | |
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42
lashed
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| adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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43
wayfarers
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| n.旅人，（尤指）徒步旅行者( wayfarer的名词复数 ) | |
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44
promenading
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| v.兜风( promenade的现在分词 ) | |
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45
saluted
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| v.欢迎，致敬( salute的过去式和过去分词 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
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46
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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philosophically
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| adv.哲学上；富有哲理性地；贤明地；冷静地 | |
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48
tyrant
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| n.暴君，专制的君主，残暴的人 | |
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49
wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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50
giggling
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| v.咯咯地笑( giggle的现在分词 ) | |
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