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1、【英文文学】Jill the RecklessChapter 1Freddie Rooke gazed coldly at the breakfast-table. Through a gleamingeye-glass he inspected the revolting object which Parker, hisfaithful man, had placed on a plate before him.Parker! His voice had a ring of pain.Sir?Whats this?Poached egg, sir.Freddie averted his ey
2、es with a silent shudder.It looks just like an old aunt of mine, he said. Remove it!He got up, and, wrapping his dressing-gown about his long legs, tookup a stand in front of the fireplace. From this position he surveyedthe room, his shoulders against the mantelpiece, his calves pressingthe club-fen
3、der. It was a cheerful oasis in a chill and foggy world,a typical London bachelors breakfast-room. The walls were a restfulgray, and the table, set for two, a comfortable arrangement in whiteand silver.Eggs, Parker, said Freddie solemnly, are the acid test!Yes, sir?If, on the morning after, you can
4、tackle a poached egg, you are allright. If not, not. And dont let anybody tell you otherwise.No, sir.Freddie pressed the palm of his hand to his brow, and sighed.It would seem, then, that I must have revelled a triflewhole-heartedly last night. I was possibly a little blotto. Notwhiffled, perhaps, b
5、ut indisputably blotto. Did I make much noisecoming in?No, sir. You were very quiet.Ah! A dashed bad sign!Freddie moved to the table, and poured himself a cup of coffee.The cream-jug is to your right, sir, said the helpful Parker.Let it remain there. Cafe noir for me this morning. As noir as itcan j
6、olly well stick! Freddie retired to the fireplace and sippeddelicately. As far as I can remember, it was Ronny Devereuxbirthday or something . . .Mr Martyns, I think you said, sir.Thats right. Algy Martyns birthday, and Ronny and I were theguests. It all comes back to me. I wanted Derek to roll alon
7、g andjoin the festivities-hes never met Ronny-but he gave it a miss.Quite right! A chap in his position has responsibilities. Member ofParliament and all that. Besides, said Freddie earnestly, drivinghome the point with a wave of his spoon, hes engaged to be married.You must remember that, Parker!I
8、will endeavor to, sir.Sometimes, said Freddie dreamily, I wish I were engaged to bemarried. Sometimes I wish I had some sweet girl to watch over me and. . . No, I dont, by Jove! It would give me the utter pip! Is SirDerek up yet, Parker?Getting up, sir.See that everything is all right, will you? I m
9、ean as regards thefoodstuffs and what not. I want him to make a good breakfast. Hesgot to meet his mother this morning at Charing Cross. Shes leggingit back from the Riviera.Indeed, sir?Freddie shook his head.You wouldnt speak in that light, careless tone if you knew her!Well, youll see her tonight.
10、 Shes coming here to dinner.Yes, sir.Miss Mariner will he here, too. A foursome. Tell Mrs Parker to pullup her socks and give us something pretty ripe. Soup, fish, all thatsort of thing. _She_ knows. And lets have a stoup of malvoisie fromthe oldest bin. This is a special occasion!Her ladyship will
11、be meeting Miss Mariner for the first time, sir?Youve put your finger on it! Absolutely the first time on this orany stage! We must all rally round and make the thing a success.I am sure Mrs Parker will strain every nerve, sir. Parker moved tothe door, carrying the rejected egg, and stepped aside to
12、 allow atall, well-built man of about thirty to enter. Good morning, SirDerek.Morning, Parker.Parker slid softly from the room. Derek Underhill sat down at thetable. He was a strikingly handsome man, with a strong, forcefulface, dark, lean and cleanly shaven. He was one of those men whom astranger w
13、ould instinctively pick out of a crowd as worthy of note.His only defect was that his heavy eyebrows gave him at times anexpression which was a little forbidding. Women, however, had neverbeen repelled by it. He was very popular with women, not quite sopopular with men-always excepting Freddie Rooke
14、, who worshipped him.They had been at school together, though Freddie was the younger byseveral years.Finished, Freddie? asked Derek.Freddie smiled wanly,We are not breakfasting this morning, he replied. The spirit waswilling, but the jolly old flesh would have none of it. To beperfectly frank, the
15、Last of the Rookes has a bit of a head.Ass! said Derek.A bit of sympathy, said Freddie, pained, would not be out ofplace. We are far from well. Some person unknown has put athreshing-machine inside the old bean and substituted a piece ofbrown paper for our tongue. Things look dark and yellow and wob
16、bly!You shouldnt have overdone it last night.It was Algy Martyns birthday, pleaded Freddie.If I were an ass like Algy Martyn, said Derek, I wouldnt go aboutadvertising the fact that Id been born. Id hush it up!He helped himself to a plentiful portion of kedgeree, Freddiewatching him with repulsion m
17、ingled with envy. When he began to eat,the spectacle became too poignant for the sufferer, and he wanderedto the window.What a beast of a day!It was an appalling day. January, that grim month, was treatingLondon with its usual severity. Early in the morning a bank of foghad rolled up off the river,
18、and was deepening from pearly white to alurid brown. It pressed on the window-pane like a blanket, leavingdark, damp rivulets on the glass.Awful! said Derek.Your maters train will be late.Yes. Damned nuisance. Its bad enough meeting trains in any case,without having to hang about a draughty station
19、for an hour.And its sure, I should imagine, went on Freddie, pursuing histrain of thought, to make the dear old thing pretty tolerably ratty,if she has one of those slow journeys. He pottered back to thefireplace, and rubbed his shoulders reflectively against themantelpiece. I take it that you wrote
20、 to her about Jill?Of course. Thats why shes coming over, I suppose. By the way, yougot those seats for that theatre tonight?Yes. Three together and one somewhere on the outskirts. If its allthe same to you, old thing, Ill have the one on the outskirts.Derek, who had finished his kedgeree and was no
21、w making himself ablot on Freddies horizon with toast and marmalade, laughed.What a rabbit you are, Freddie! Why on earth are you so afraid ofmother?Freddie looked at him as a timid young squire might have gazed uponSt. George when the latter set out to do battle with the dragon. Hewas of the amiabl
22、e type which makes heroes of its friends. In the olddays when he had fagged for him at Winchester he had thought Derekthe most wonderful person in the world, and this view he stillretained. Indeed, subsequent events had strengthened it. Derek haddone the most amazing things since leaving school. He
23、had had abrilliant career at Oxford, and now, in the House of Commons, wasalready looked upon by the leaders of his party as one to be watchedand encouraged. He played polo superlatively well, and was a fineshot. But of all his gifts and qualities the one that extortedFreddies admiration in its inte
24、nsest form was his lion-like courageas exemplified by his behavior in the present crisis. There he sat,placidly eating toast and marmalade, while the boat-train containingLady Underhill already sped on its way from Dover to London. It waslike Drake playing bowls with the Spanish Armada in sight.I wi
25、sh I had your nerve! he said, awed. What I should be feeling,if I were in your place and had to meet your mater after telling herthat I was engaged to marry a girl she had never seen, I dont know.Id rather face a wounded tiger!Idiot! said Derek placidly.Not, pursued Freddie, that I mean to say anyth
26、ing in the leastderogatory and so forth to your jolly old mater, if you understandme, but the fact remains she scares me pallid! Always has, ever sincethe first time I went to stay at your place when I was a kid. I canstill remember catching her eye the morning I happened by pure chanceto bung an ap
27、ple through her bedroom window, meaning to let a cat onthe sill below have it in the short ribs. She was at least thirtyfeet away, but, by Jove, it stopped me like a bullet!Push the bell, old man, will you? I want some more toast.Freddie did as he was requested with growing admiration.The condemned
28、man made an excellent breakfast, he murmured. Moretoast, Parker, he added, as that admirable servitor opened the door.Gallant! Thats what I call it. Gallant!Derek tilted his chair back.Mother is sure to like Jill when she sees her, he said._When_ she sees her! Ah! But the trouble is, young feller-me
29、-lad,that she _hasnt_ seen her! Thats the weak spot in your case, oldcompanion! A month ago she didnt know of Jills existence. Now, youknow and I know that Jill is one of the best and brightest. As far aswe are concerned, everything in the good old garden is lovely. Why,dash it, Jill and I were chil
30、dren together. Sported side by side onthe green, and what not. I remember Jill, when she was twelve,turning the garden-hose on me and knocking about seventy-five percent off the market value of my best Sunday suit. That sort of thingforms a bond, you know, and Ive always felt that she was a corker.B
31、ut your maters got to discover it for herself. Its a dashed pity,by Jove, that Jill hasnt a father or a mother or something of thatspecies to rally round just now. They would form a gang. Theresnothing like a gang! But shes only got that old uncle of hers. Arummy bird! Met him?Several times. I like
32、him.Oh, hes a genial old buck all right. A very bonhomous lad. But youhear some pretty queer stories about him if you get among people whoknew him in the old days. Even now Im not so dashed sure I shouldcare to play cards with him. Young Threepwood was telling me only theother day that the old boy t
33、ook thirty quid off him at picquet asclean as a whistle. And Jimmy Monroe, whos on the Stock Exchange,says hes frightfully busy these times buying margins or whatever itis chappies do down in the City. Margins. Thats the word. Jimmy mademe buy some myself on a thing called Amalgamated Dyes. I dontun
34、derstand the procedure exactly, but Jimmy says its a sound egg andwill do me a bit of good. What was I talking about? Oh, yes, oldSelby. Theres no doubt hes quite a sportsman. But till youve gotJill well established, you know, I shouldnt enlarge on him too muchwith the mater.On the contrary, said De
35、rek. I shall mention him at the firstopportunity. He knew my father out in India.Did he, by Jove! Oh, well, that makes a difference.Parker entered with the toast, and Derek resumed his breakfast.It may be a little bit awkward, he said, at first, meeting mother.But everything will be all right after
36、five minutes.Absolutely! But, oh, boy! that first five minutes! Freddie gazedportentously through his eye-glass. Then he seemed to be undergoingsome internal struggle, for he gulped once or twice. That first fiveminutes! he said, and paused again. A moments silentself-communion, and he went on with
37、a rush. I say, listen. Shall Icome along, too?Come along?To the station. With you.What on earth for?To see you through the opening stages. Break the ice and all thatsort of thing. Nothing like collecting a gang, you know. Moments whena feller needs a friend and so forth. Say the word, and Ill buzzal
38、ong and lend my moral support.Dereks heavy eyebrows closed together in an offended frown, andseemed to darken his whole face. This unsolicited offer of assistancehurt his dignity. He showed a touch of the petulance which came nowand then when he was annoyed, to suggest that he might not possess sost
39、rong a character as his exterior indicated.Its very kind of you, he began stiffly.Freddie nodded. He was acutely conscious of this himself.Some fellows, he observed, would say Not at all! I suppose. Butnot the Last of the Rookes! For, honestly, old man, betweenourselves, I dont mind admitting that t
40、his _is_ the bravest deed ofthe year, and Im dashed if I would do it for anyone else.Its very good of you, Freddie . . .Thats all right. Im a Boy Scout, and this is my act of kindnessfor today.Derek got up from the table.Of course you mustnt come, he said. We cant form a sort ofdebating society to d
41、iscuss Jill on the platform at Charing Cross.Oh, I would just hang around in the offing, shoving in an occasionaltactful word.Nonsense!The wheeze would simply be to . . .Its impossible.Oh, very well, said Freddie, damped. Just as you say, of course.But theres nothing like a gang, old man, nothing li
42、ke a gang!2.Derek Underhill threw down the stump of his cigar, and gruntedirritably. Inside Charing Cross Station business was proceeding asusual. Porters wheeling baggage-trucks moved to and fro likeJuggernauts. Belated trains clanked in, glad to get home, whileothers, less fortunate, crept relucta
43、ntly out through the blacknessand disappeared into an inferno of detonating fog-signals. Foroutside the fog still held. The air was cold and raw and tastedcoppery. In the street traffic moved at a funeral pace, to theaccompaniment of hoarse cries and occasional crashes. Once the sunhad worked its wa
44、y through the murk and had hung in the sky like agreat red orange, but now all was darkness and discomfort again,blended with that odd suggestion of mystery and romance which is aLondon fogs only redeeming quality.It seemed to Derek that he had been patrolling the platform for alife-time, but he res
45、umed his sentinel duty. The fact that theboat-train, being already forty-five minutes overdue, might arrive atany moment made it imperative that he remain where he was instead ofsitting, as he would much have preferred to sit, in one of thewaiting-rooms. It would be a disaster if his mother should g
46、et out ofthe train and not find him there to meet her. That was just the sortof thing which would infuriate her; and her mood, after a Channelcrossing and a dreary journey by rail, would be sufficientlydangerous as it was.The fog and the waiting had had their effect upon Derek. The resolutefront he
47、had exhibited to Freddie at the breakfast-table had meltedsince his arrival at the station, and he was feeling nervous at theprospect of the meeting that lay before him. Calm as he had appearedto the eye of Freddie and bravely as he had spoken, Derek, in therecesses of his heart, was afraid of his m
48、other. There are men-andDerek Underhill was one of them-who never wholly emerge from thenursery. They may put away childish things and rise in the world toaffluence and success, but the hand that rocked their cradle stillrules their lives. As a boy, Derek had always been firmly controlledby his mother, and the sway of her aggressive personality had enduredthrough manhood. Lady Underhill was a born ruler, dominating most ofthe people with whom life brought her in