空幻之屋31

时间：2024-12-31 10:10:26

（单词翻译:单击）

Twenty-one
In the study Lady Angkatell flitted about touching1 things here and there with a vague forefinger2.
Sir Henry sat back in his chair watching her. He said at last:
“Why did you take the pistol, Lucy?”
Lady Angkatell came back and sank down gracefully3 into a chair.
“I’m not really quite sure, Henry. I suppose I had some vague ideas of an accident.”
“Accident?”
“Yes. All those roots of trees, you know,” said Lady Angkatell vaguely4, “sticking out—so easy,
just to trip over one. One might have had a few shots at the target and left one shot in the magazine
—careless, of course—but then people are careless. I’ve always thought, you know, that accident
would be the simplest way to do a thing of that kind. One would be dreadfully sorry, of course,
and blame oneself….”
Her voice died away. Her husband sat very still without taking his eyes off her face. He spoke5
again in the same quiet, careful voice.
“Who was to have had—the accident?”
Lucy turned her head a little, looking at him in surprise.
“John Christow, of course.”
“Good God, Lucy—” He broke off.
She said earnestly:
“Oh, Henry, I’ve been so dreadfully worried. About Ainswick.”
“I see. It’s Ainswick. You’ve always cared too much about Ainswick, Lucy. Sometimes I think
it’s the only thing you do care for.”
“Edward and David are the last—the last of the Angkatells. And David won’t do, Henry. He’ll
never marry—because of his mother and all that. He’ll get the place when Edward dies, and he
won’t marry, and you and I will be dead long before he’s even middle-aged6. He’ll be the last of
the Angkatells and the whole thing will die out.”
“Does it matter so much, Lucy?”
“Of course it matters! Ainswick!”
“You should have been a boy, Lucy.”
But he smiled a little—for he could not imagine Lucy being anything but feminine.
“It all depends on Edward’s marrying—and Edward’s so obstinate—that long head of his, like
my father’s. I hoped he’d get over Henrietta and marry some nice girl—but I see now that that’s
hopeless. Then I thought that Henrietta’s affair with John would run the usual course. John’s
affairs were never, I imagine, very permanent. But I saw him looking at her the other evening. He
really cared about her. If only John were out of the way I felt that Henrietta would marry Edward.
She’s not the kind of person to cherish a memory and live in the past. So, you see, it all came to
that—get rid of John Christow.”
“Lucy. You didn’t—What did you do, Lucy?”
Lady Angkatell got up again. She took two dead flowers out of a vase.
“Darling,” she said. “You don’t imagine for a moment, do you, that I shot John Christow? I did
have that silly idea about an accident. But then, you know, I remembered that we’d asked John
Christow here—it’s not as though he proposed himself. One can’t ask someone to be your guest
and then arrange accidents. Even Arabs are most particular about hospitality. So don’t worry, will
you, Henry?”
She stood looking at him with a brilliant, affectionate smile. He said heavily:
“I always worry about you, Lucy.”
“There’s no need, darling. And you see, everything has actually turned out all right. John has
been got rid of without our doing anything about it. It reminds me,” said Lady Angkatell
reminiscently, “of that man in Bombay who was so frightfully rude to me. He was run over by a
tram three days later.”
She unbolted the french windows and went out into the garden.
Sir Henry sat still, watching her tall, slender figure wander down the path. He looked old and
tired, and his face was the face of a man who lives at close quarters with fear.
In the kitchen a tearful Doris Emmott was wilting7 under the stern reproof8 of Mr. Gudgeon. Mrs.
Medway and Miss Simmons acted as a kind of Greek chorus.
“Putting yourself forward and jumping to conclusions in a way only an inexperienced girl
would do.”
“That’s right,” said Mrs. Medway.
“If you see me with a pistol in my hand, the proper thing to do is to come to me and say: ‘Mr.
Gudgeon, will you be so kind as to give me an explanation?’”
“Or you could have come to me,” put in Mrs. Medway. “I’m always willing to tell a young girl
what doesn’t know the world what she ought to think.”
“What you should not have done,” said Gudgeon severely9, “is to go babbling10 off to a policeman
—and only a sergeant11 at that! Never get mixed up with the police more than you can help. It’s
painful enough having them in the house at all.”
“Inexpressibly painful,” murmured Miss Simmons.
“Such a thing never happened to me before.”
“We all know,” went on Gudgeon, “what her ladyship is like. Nothing her ladyship does would
ever surprise me—but the police don’t know her ladyship the way we do, and it’s not to be
thought of that her ladyship should be worried with silly questions and suspicions just because she
wanders about with firearms. It’s the sort of thing she would do, but the police have the kind of
mind that just sees murder and nasty things like that. Her ladyship is the kind of absentminded
lady who wouldn’t hurt a fly, but there’s no denying that she puts things in funny places. I shall
never forget,” added Gudgeon with feeling, “when she brought back a live lobster12 and put it in the
card tray in the hall. Thought I was seeing things!”
“That must have been before my time,” said Simmons with curiosity.
Mrs. Medway checked these revelations with a glance at the erring13 Doris.
“Some other time,” she said. “Now then, Doris, we’ve only been speaking to you for your own
good. It’s common to be mixed up with the police, and don’t you forget it. You can get on with the
vegetables now, and be more careful with the runner beans than you were last night.”
Doris sniffed14.
“Yes, Mrs. Medway,” she said, and shuffled15 over to the sink.
Mrs. Medway said forebodingly:
“I don’t feel as I’m going to have a light hand with my pastry16. That nasty inquest tomorrow.
Gives me a turn every time I think of it. A thing like that—happening to us.”

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1 touching sg6zQ9     
adj.动人的，使人感伤的
参考例句：
  • It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
  • His letter was touching.他的信很感人。
2 forefinger pihxt     
n.食指
参考例句：
  • He pinched the leaf between his thumb and forefinger.他将叶子捏在拇指和食指之间。
  • He held it between the tips of his thumb and forefinger.他用他大拇指和食指尖拿着它。
3 gracefully KfYxd     
ad.大大方方地；优美地
参考例句：
  • She sank gracefully down onto a cushion at his feet. 她优雅地坐到他脚旁的垫子上。
  • The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line. 新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。
4 vaguely BfuzOy     
adv.含糊地，暖昧地
参考例句：
  • He had talked vaguely of going to work abroad.他含糊其词地说了到国外工作的事。
  • He looked vaguely before him with unseeing eyes.他迷迷糊糊的望着前面，对一切都视而不见。
5 spoke XryyC     
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。
6 middle-aged UopzSS     
adj.中年的
参考例句：
  • I noticed two middle-aged passengers.我注意到两个中年乘客。
  • The new skin balm was welcome by middle-aged women.这种新护肤香膏受到了中年妇女的欢迎。
7 wilting e91c5c26d67851ee6c19ef7cf1fd8ef9     
萎蔫
参考例句：
  • The spectators were wilting visibly in the hot sun. 看得出观众在炎热的阳光下快支撑不住了。
  • The petunias were already wilting in the hot sun. 在烈日下矮牵牛花已经开始枯萎了。
8 reproof YBhz9     
n.斥责，责备
参考例句：
  • A smart reproof is better than smooth deceit.严厉的责难胜过温和的欺骗。
  • He is impatient of reproof.他不能忍受指责。
9 severely SiCzmk     
adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地
参考例句：
  • He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
  • He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。
10 babbling babbling     
n.胡说，婴儿发出的咿哑声adj.胡说的v.喋喋不休( babble的现在分词 )；作潺潺声（如流水）；含糊不清地说话；泄漏秘密
参考例句：
  • I could hear the sound of a babbling brook. 我听得见小溪潺潺的流水声。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Infamy was babbling around her in the public market-place. 在公共市场上，她周围泛滥着对她丑行的种种议论。 来自英汉文学 - 红字
11 sergeant REQzz     
n.警官，中士
参考例句：
  • His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
  • How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？
12 lobster w8Yzm     
n.龙虾，龙虾肉
参考例句：
  • The lobster is a shellfish.龙虾是水生贝壳动物。
  • I like lobster but it does not like me.我喜欢吃龙虾，但它不适宜于我的健康。
13 erring a646ae681564dc63eb0b5a3cb51b588e     
做错事的，错误的
参考例句：
  • Instead of bludgeoning our erring comrades, we should help them with criticism. 对犯错误的同志， 要批评帮助，不能一棍子打死。
  • She had too little faith in mankind not to know that they were erring. 她对男人们没有信心，知道他们总要犯错误的。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
14 sniffed ccb6bd83c4e9592715e6230a90f76b72     
v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说
参考例句：
  • When Jenney had stopped crying she sniffed and dried her eyes. 珍妮停止了哭泣，吸了吸鼻子，擦干了眼泪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The dog sniffed suspiciously at the stranger. 狗疑惑地嗅着那个陌生人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
15 shuffled cee46c30b0d1f2d0c136c830230fe75a     
v.洗（纸牌）( shuffle的过去式和过去分词 )；拖着脚步走；粗心地做；摆脱尘世的烦恼
参考例句：
  • He shuffled across the room to the window. 他拖着脚走到房间那头的窗户跟前。
  • Simon shuffled awkwardly towards them. 西蒙笨拙地拖着脚朝他们走去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
16 pastry Q3ozx     
n.油酥面团，酥皮糕点
参考例句：
  • The cook pricked a few holes in the pastry.厨师在馅饼上戳了几个洞。
  • The pastry crust was always underdone.馅饼的壳皮常常烤得不透。

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