CHAPTER 1011.docx

1、CHAPTER 1011CHAPTER 10 A day or two later Mrs. Strickland sent me round a note asking if I could go and see her that evening after dinner. I found her alone. Her black dress, simple to austerity, suggested her bereaved condition, and I was innocently astonished that notwithstanding a real emotion sh

2、e was able to dress the part she had to play according to her notions of seemliness. You said that if I wanted you to do anything you wouldnt mind doing it, she remarked. It was quite true. Will you go over to Paris and see Charlie? I? I was taken aback. I reflected that I had only seen him once. I

3、did not know what she wanted me to do. Fred is set on going. Fred was Colonel MacAndrew. But Im sure hes not the man to go. Hell only make things worse. I dont know who else to ask. Her voice trembled a little, and I felt a brute even to hesitate. But Ive not spoken ten words to your husband. He doe

4、snt know me. Hell probably just tell me to go to the devil. That wouldnt hurt you, said Mrs. Strickland, smiling. What is it exactly you want me to do? She did not answer directly. I think its rather an advantage that he doesnt know you. You see, he never really liked Fred; he thought him a fool; he

5、 didnt understand soldiers. Fred would fly into a passion, and thered be a quarrel, and things would be worse instead of better. If you said you came on my behalf, he couldnt refuse to listen to you. I havent known you very long, I answered. I dont see how anyone can be expected to tackle a case lik

6、e this unless he knows all the details. I dont want to pry into what doesnt concern me. Why dont you go and see him yourself? You forget he isnt alone. I held my tongue. I saw myself calling on Charles Strickland and sending in my card; I saw him come into the room, holding it between finger and thu

7、mb: To what do I owe this honour? Ive come to see you about your wife. Really. When you are a little older you will doubtless learn the advantage of minding your own business. If you will be so good as to turn your head slightly to the left, you will see the door. I wish you good-afternoon. I foresa

8、w that it would be difficult to make my exit with dignity, and I wished to goodness that I had not returned to London till Mrs. Strickland had composed her difficulties. I stole a glance at her. She was immersed in thought. Presently she looked up at me, sighed deeply, and smiled. It was all so unex

9、pected, she said. Wed been married seventeen years. I sever dreamed that Charlie was the sort of man to get infatuated with anyone. We always got on very well together. Of course, I had a great many interests that he didnt share. Have you found out who - I did not quite know how to express myself -

10、who the person, who it is hes gone away with? No. No one seems to have an idea. Its so strange. Generally when a man falls in love with someone people see them about together, lunching or something, and her friends always come and tell the wife. I had no warning - nothing. His letter came like a thu

11、nderbolt. I thought he was perfectly happy. She began to cry, poor thing, and I felt very sorry for her. But in a little while she grew calmer. Its no good making a fool of myself, she said, drying her eyes. The only thing is to decide what is the best thing to do. She went on, talking somewhat at r

12、andom, now of the recent past, then of their first meeting and their marriage; but presently I began to form a fairly coherent picture of their lives; and it seemed to me that my surmises had not been incorrect. Mrs. Strickland was the daughter of an Indian civilian, who on his retirement had settle

13、d in the depths of the country, but it was his habit every August to take his family to Eastbourne for change of air; and it was here, when she was twenty, that she met Charles Strickland. He was twenty-three. They played together, walked on the front together, listened together to the nigger minstr

14、els; and she had made up her mind to accept him a week before he proposed to her. They lived in London, first in Hampstead, and then, as he grew more prosperous, in town. Two children were born to them. He always seemed very fond of them. Even if he was tired of me, I wonder that he had the heart to

15、 leave them. Its all so incredible. Even now I can hardly believe its true. At last she showed me the letter he had written. I was curious to see it, but had not ventured to ask for it. MY DEAR AMY, I think you will find everything all right in the flat. I have given Anne your instructions, and dinn

16、er will be ready for you and the children when you come. I shall not be there to meet you. I have made up my mind to live apart from you, and I am going to Paris in the morning. I shall post this letter on my arrival. I shall not come back. My decision is irrevocable. Yours always, CHARLES STRICKLAN

17、D. Not a word of explanation or regret. Dont you think its inhuman? Its a very strange letter under the circumstances, I replied. Theres only one explanation, and that is that hes not himself. I dont know who this woman is whos got hold of him, but shes made him into another man. Its evidently been

18、going on a long time. What makes you think that? Fred found that out. My husband said he went to the club three or four nights a week to play bridge. Fred knows one of the members, and said something about Charles being a great bridge-player. The man was surprised. He said hed never even seen Charle

19、s in the card-room. Its quite clear now that when I thought Charles was at his club he was with her. I was silent for a moment. Then I thought of the children. It must have been difficult to explain to Robert, I said. Oh, I never said a word to either of them. You see, we only came up to town the da

20、y before they had to go back to school. I had the presence of mind to say that their father had been called away on business. It could not have been very easy to be bright and careless with that sudden secret in her heart, nor to give her attention to all the things that needed doing to get her chil

21、dren comfortably packed off. Mrs. Stricklands voice broke again. And what is to happen to them, poor darlings? How are we going to live? She struggled for self-control, and I saw her hands clench and unclench spasmodically. It was dreadfully painful. Of course Ill go over to Paris if you think I can

22、 do any good, but you must tell me exactly what you want me to do. I want him to come back. I understood from Colonel MacAndrew that youd made up your mind to divorce him. Ill never divorce him, she answered with a sudden violence. Tell him that from me. Hell never be able to marry that woman. Im as

23、 obstinate as he is, and Ill never divorce him. I have to think of my children. I think she added this to explain her attitude to me, but I thought it was due to a very natural jealousy rather than to maternal solicitude. Are you in love with him still? I dont know. I want him to come back. If hell

24、do that well let bygones be bygones. After all, weve been married for seventeen years. Im a broadminded woman. I wouldnt have minded what he did as long as I knew nothing about it. He must know that his infatuation wont last. If hell come back now everything can be smoothed over, and no one will kno

25、w anything about it. It chilled me a little that Mrs. Strickland should be concerned with gossip, for I did not know then how great a part is played in womens life by the opinion of others. It throws a shadow of insincerity over their most deeply felt emotions. It was known where Strickland was stay

26、ing. His partner, in a violent letter, sent to his bank, had taunted him with hiding his whereabouts: and Strickland, in a cynical and humourous reply, had told his partner exactly where to find him. He was apparently living in an Hotel. Ive never heard of it, said Mrs. Strickland. But Fred knows it

27、 well. He says its very expensive. She flushed darkly. I imagined that she saw her husband installed in a luxurious suite of rooms, dining at one smart restaurant after another, and she pictured his days spent at race-meetings and his evenings at the play. It cant go on at his age, she said. After a

28、ll, hes forty. I could understand it in a young man, but I think its horrible in a man of his years, with children who are nearly grown up. His health will never stand it. Anger struggled in her breast with misery. Tell him that our home cries out for him. Everything is just the same, and yet everyt

29、hing is different. I cant live without him. Id sooner kill myself. Talk to him about the past, and all weve gone through together. What am I to say to the children when they ask for him? His room is exactly as it was when he left it. Its waiting for him. Were all waiting for him. Now she told me exa

30、ctly what I should say. She gave me elaborate answers to every possible observation of his. You will do everything you can for me? she said pitifully. Tell him what a state Im in. I saw that she wished me to appeal to his sympathies by every means in my power. She was weeping freely. I was extraordinarily touched. I felt indignant at Stricklands cold cruelty, and I promised to do all I could to bring him back. I agreed to go over on the next day but one, and to stay in Paris till I had achieved something. Then, as it was growing late and we were both exhausted by so much emotion, I left her.