章节正文
I simply haven't any. I'm told that Davos is full of
Russians, and they are sure to wear the most lovely
sables and things. To be among people who are smothered
in furs when one hasn't any oneself makes one want to
break most of the Commandments."
"If it's furs that you're out for," said Eleanor,
"you will have to superintend the choice of them in
person. You can't be sure that your cousin knows the
difference between silver-fox and ordinary squirrel."
"There are some heavenly silver-fox stoles at
Goliath and Mastodon's," said Suzanne, with a sigh; "if I
could only inveigle Bertram into their building and take
him for a stroll through the fur department!"
"He lives somewhere near there, doesn't he?" said
Eleanor. "Do you know what his habits are? Does he take
a walk at any particular time of day?"
"He usually walks down to his club about three
o'clock, if it's a fine day. That takes him right past
Goliath and Mastodon's."
"Let us two meet him accidentally at the street
corner to-morrow," said Eleanor; "we can walk a little
way with him, and with luck we ought to be able to side-
track him into the shop. You can say you want to get a
hair-net or something. When we're safely there I can
say: 'I wish you'd tell me what you want for your
birthday.' Then you'll have everything ready to hand -
the rich cousin, the fur department, and the topic of
birthday presents."
"It's a great idea," said Suzanne; "you really are a
brick. Come round to-morrow at twenty to three; don't be
late, we must carry out our ambush to the minute."
At a few minutes to three the next afternoon the
fur-trappers walked warily towards the selected corner.
In the near distance rose the colossal pile of Messrs.
Goliath and Mastodon's famed establishment. The
afternoon was brilliantly fine, exactly the sort of
weather to tempt a gentleman of advancing years into the
discreet exercise of a leisurely walk.
"I say, dear, I wish you'd do something for me this
evening," said Eleanor to her companion; "just drop in
after dinner on some pretext or other, and stay on to
make a fourth at bridge with Adela and the aunts.
Otherwise I shall have to play, and Harry Scarisbrooke is
going to come in unexpectedly about nine-fifteen, and I
particularly want to be free to talk to him while the
others are playing."
"Sorry, my dear, no can do," said Suzanne; "ordinary
bridge at threepence a hundred, with such dreadfully slow
players as your aunts, bores me to tears. I nearly go to
sleep over it."
"But I most particularly want an opportunity to talk
with Harry," urged Eleanor, an angry glint coming into
her eyes.
"Sorry, anything to oblige, but not that," said
Suzanne cheerfully; the sacrifices of friendship were
beautiful in her eyes as long as she was not asked to
make them.
Eleanor said nothing further on the subject, but the
corners of her mouth rearranged themselves.
"There's our man!" exclaimed Suzanne suddenly;
"hurry!"
Mr. Bertram Kneyght greeted his cousin and her
friend with genuine heartiness, and readily accepted
their invitation to explore the crowded mart that stood
temptingly at their elbow. The plate-glass doors swung
open and the trio plunged bravely into the jostling
throng of buyers and loiterers.
"Is it always as full as this?" asked Bertram of
Eleanor.
"More or less, and autumn sales are on just now,"
she replied.
Suzanne, in her anxiety to pilot her cousin to the
desired haven of the fur department, was usually a few
paces ahead of the others, coming back to them now and
then if they lingered for a moment at some attractive
counter, with the nervous solicitude of a parent rook
encouraging its young ones on their first flying
expedition.
"It's Suzanne's birthday on Wednesday next,"
confided Eleanor to Bertram Kneyght at a moment when
Suzanne had left them unusually far behind; "my birthday
comes the day before, so we are both on the look-out for
something to give each other."
"Ah," said Bertram. "Now, perhaps you can advise me
on that very point. I want to give Suzanne something,
and I haven't the least idea what she wants."
"She's rather a problem," said Eleanor. "She seems
to have everything one can think of, lucky girl. A fan
is always useful; she'll be going to a lot of dances at
Davos this winter. Yes, I should think a fan would
please her more than anything. After our birthdays are
over we inspect each other's muster of presents, and I
always feel dreadfullyhumble. She gets such nice
things, and I never have anything worth showing. You
see, none of my relations or any of the people who give
me presents are at all well off, so I can't expect them
to do anything more than just remember the day with some
little trifle. Two years ago an uncle on my mother's
side of the family, who had come into a small legacy,
promised me a silver-fox stole for my birthday. I can't
tell you how excited I was about it, how I pictured
myself showing it off to all my friends and enemies.
Then just at that moment his wife died, and, of course,
poor man, he could not be expected to think of birthday
presents at such a time. He has lived abroad ever since,
and I never got my fur. Do you know, to this day I can
scarcely look at a silver-fox pelt in a shop window or
round anyone's neck without feeling ready to burst into
tears. I suppose if I hadn't had the prospect of getting
one I shouldn't feel that way. Look, there is the fan
counter, on your left; you can easily slip away in the
crowd. Get her as nice a one as you can see - she is
such a dear, dear girl."
"Hullo, I thought I had lost you," said Suzanne,
making her way through an obstructive knot of shoppers.
"Where is Bertram?"
"I got separated from him long ago. I thought he
was on ahead with you," said Eleanor. "We shall never
find him in this crush."
Which turned out to be a true prediction.
"All our trouble and forethought thrown away," said
Suzanne sulkily, when they had pushed their way
fruitlessly through half a dozen departments.
"I can't think why you didn't grab him by the arm,"
said Eleanor; "I would have if I'd known him longer, but
I'd only just been introduced. It's nearly four now,
we'd better have tea."
Some days later Suzanne rang Eleanor up on the
telephone.
"Thank you very much for the photograph frame. It
was just what I wanted. Very good of you. I say, do you
know what that Kneyght person has given me? Just what
you said he would - a wretched fan. What? Oh yes, quite
a good enough fan in its way, but still . . ."
"You must come and see what he's given me," came in
Eleanor's voice over the 'phone.
"You! Why should he give you anything?"
"Your cousin appears to be one of those rare people
of wealth who take a pleasure in giving good presents,"
came the reply.
"I wondered why he was so anxious to know where she
lived," snapped Suzanne to herself as she rang off.
A cloud has arisen between the friendships of the
two young women; as far as Eleanor is concerned the cloud
has a silver-fox lining.
THE PHILANTHROPIST AND THE HAPPY CAT
JOCANTHA BESSBURY was in the mood to be serenely and
graciously happy. Her world was a pleasant place, and it
was wearing one of its pleasantest aspects. Gregory had
managed to get home for a hurried lunch and a smoke
afterwards in the little snuggery; the lunch had been a
good one, and there was just time to do justice to the
coffee and cigarettes. Both were excellent in their way,
and Gregory was, in his way, an excellent husband.
Jocantha rather suspected herself of making him a very
charming wife, and more than suspected herself of having
a first-rate dressmaker.
"I don't suppose a more thoroughlycontented
personality is to be found in all Chelsea," observed
Jocantha in allusion to herself; "except perhaps Attab,"
she continued, glancing towards the large tabby-marked
cat that lay in considerable ease in a corner of the
divan. "He lies there, purring and dreaming, shifting
his limbs now and then in an ecstasy of cushioned
comfort. He seems the incarnation of everything soft and
silky and velvety, without a sharp edge in his
composition, a dreamer whose philosophy is sleep and let
sleep; and then, as evening draws on, he goes out into
the garden with a red glint in his eyes and slays a
drowsy sparrow."
"As every pair of sparrows hatches out ten or more
young ones in the year, while their food supply remains
stationary, it is just as well that the Attabs of the
community should have that idea of how to pass an amusing
afternoon," said Gregory. Having delivered himself of
this sage comment he lit another cigarette, bade Jocantha
a playfully affectionate good-bye, and departed into the
outer world.
"Remember, dinner's a wee bit earlier to-night, as
we're going to the Haymarket," she called after him.
Left to herself, Jocantha continued the process of
looking at her life with placid, introspective eyes. If
she had not everything she wanted in this world, at least
she was very well pleased with what she had got. She was
very well pleased, for instance, with the snuggery, which
contrived somehow to be cosy and dainty and expensive all
at once. The porcelain was rare and beautiful, the
Chinese enamels took on wonderful tints in the firelight,
the rugs and hangings led the eye through sumptuous
harmonies of colouring. It was a room in which one might
have suitably entertained an ambassador or an archbishop,
but it was also a room in which one could cut out
pictures for a scrap-book without feeling that one was
scandalising the deities of the place with one's litter.
And as with the snuggery, so with the rest of the house,
and as with the house, so with the other departments of
Jocantha's life; she really had good reason for being one
of the most contented women in Chelsea.
From being in a mood of simmering satisfaction with
her lot she passed to the phase of being generously
commiserating for those thousands around her whose lives
Russians, and they are sure to wear the most lovely
sables and things. To be among people who are smothered
in furs when one hasn't any oneself makes one want to
break most of the Commandments."
"If it's furs that you're out for," said Eleanor,
"you will have to superintend the choice of them in
person. You can't be sure that your cousin knows the
difference between silver-fox and ordinary squirrel."
"There are some heavenly silver-fox stoles at
Goliath and Mastodon's," said Suzanne, with a sigh; "if I
could only inveigle Bertram into their building and take
him for a stroll through the fur department!"
"He lives somewhere near there, doesn't he?" said
Eleanor. "Do you know what his habits are? Does he take
a walk at any particular time of day?"
"He usually walks down to his club about three
o'clock, if it's a fine day. That takes him right past
Goliath and Mastodon's."
"Let us two meet him accidentally at the street
corner to-morrow," said Eleanor; "we can walk a little
way with him, and with luck we ought to be able to side-
track him into the shop. You can say you want to get a
hair-net or something. When we're safely there I can
say: 'I wish you'd tell me what you want for your
birthday.' Then you'll have everything ready to hand -
the rich cousin, the fur department, and the topic of
birthday presents."
"It's a great idea," said Suzanne; "you really are a
brick. Come round to-morrow at twenty to three; don't be
late, we must carry out our ambush to the minute."
At a few minutes to three the next afternoon the
fur-trappers walked warily towards the selected corner.
In the near distance rose the colossal pile of Messrs.
Goliath and Mastodon's famed establishment. The
afternoon was brilliantly fine, exactly the sort of
weather to tempt a gentleman of advancing years into the
discreet exercise of a leisurely walk.
"I say, dear, I wish you'd do something for me this
evening," said Eleanor to her companion; "just drop in
after dinner on some pretext or other, and stay on to
make a fourth at bridge with Adela and the aunts.
Otherwise I shall have to play, and Harry Scarisbrooke is
going to come in unexpectedly about nine-fifteen, and I
particularly want to be free to talk to him while the
others are playing."
"Sorry, my dear, no can do," said Suzanne; "ordinary
bridge at threepence a hundred, with such dreadfully slow
players as your aunts, bores me to tears. I nearly go to
sleep over it."
"But I most particularly want an opportunity to talk
with Harry," urged Eleanor, an angry glint coming into
her eyes.
"Sorry, anything to oblige, but not that," said
Suzanne cheerfully; the sacrifices of friendship were
beautiful in her eyes as long as she was not asked to
make them.
Eleanor said nothing further on the subject, but the
corners of her mouth rearranged themselves.
"There's our man!" exclaimed Suzanne suddenly;
"hurry!"
Mr. Bertram Kneyght greeted his cousin and her
friend with genuine heartiness, and readily accepted
their invitation to explore the crowded mart that stood
temptingly at their elbow. The plate-glass doors swung
open and the trio plunged bravely into the jostling
throng of buyers and loiterers.
"Is it always as full as this?" asked Bertram of
Eleanor.
"More or less, and autumn sales are on just now,"
she replied.
Suzanne, in her anxiety to pilot her cousin to the
desired haven of the fur department, was usually a few
paces ahead of the others, coming back to them now and
then if they lingered for a moment at some attractive
counter, with the nervous solicitude of a parent rook
encouraging its young ones on their first flying
expedition.
"It's Suzanne's birthday on Wednesday next,"
confided Eleanor to Bertram Kneyght at a moment when
Suzanne had left them unusually far behind; "my birthday
comes the day before, so we are both on the look-out for
something to give each other."
"Ah," said Bertram. "Now, perhaps you can advise me
on that very point. I want to give Suzanne something,
and I haven't the least idea what she wants."
"She's rather a problem," said Eleanor. "She seems
to have everything one can think of, lucky girl. A fan
is always useful; she'll be going to a lot of dances at
Davos this winter. Yes, I should think a fan would
please her more than anything. After our birthdays are
over we inspect each other's muster of presents, and I
always feel dreadfullyhumble. She gets such nice
things, and I never have anything worth showing. You
see, none of my relations or any of the people who give
me presents are at all well off, so I can't expect them
to do anything more than just remember the day with some
little trifle. Two years ago an uncle on my mother's
side of the family, who had come into a small legacy,
promised me a silver-fox stole for my birthday. I can't
tell you how excited I was about it, how I pictured
myself showing it off to all my friends and enemies.
Then just at that moment his wife died, and, of course,
poor man, he could not be expected to think of birthday
presents at such a time. He has lived abroad ever since,
and I never got my fur. Do you know, to this day I can
scarcely look at a silver-fox pelt in a shop window or
round anyone's neck without feeling ready to burst into
tears. I suppose if I hadn't had the prospect of getting
one I shouldn't feel that way. Look, there is the fan
counter, on your left; you can easily slip away in the
crowd. Get her as nice a one as you can see - she is
such a dear, dear girl."
"Hullo, I thought I had lost you," said Suzanne,
making her way through an obstructive knot of shoppers.
"Where is Bertram?"
"I got separated from him long ago. I thought he
was on ahead with you," said Eleanor. "We shall never
find him in this crush."
Which turned out to be a true prediction.
"All our trouble and forethought thrown away," said
Suzanne sulkily, when they had pushed their way
fruitlessly through half a dozen departments.
"I can't think why you didn't grab him by the arm,"
said Eleanor; "I would have if I'd known him longer, but
I'd only just been introduced. It's nearly four now,
we'd better have tea."
Some days later Suzanne rang Eleanor up on the
telephone.
"Thank you very much for the photograph frame. It
was just what I wanted. Very good of you. I say, do you
know what that Kneyght person has given me? Just what
you said he would - a wretched fan. What? Oh yes, quite
a good enough fan in its way, but still . . ."
"You must come and see what he's given me," came in
Eleanor's voice over the 'phone.
"You! Why should he give you anything?"
"Your cousin appears to be one of those rare people
of wealth who take a pleasure in giving good presents,"
came the reply.
"I wondered why he was so anxious to know where she
lived," snapped Suzanne to herself as she rang off.
A cloud has arisen between the friendships of the
two young women; as far as Eleanor is concerned the cloud
has a silver-fox lining.
THE PHILANTHROPIST AND THE HAPPY CAT
JOCANTHA BESSBURY was in the mood to be serenely and
graciously happy. Her world was a pleasant place, and it
was wearing one of its pleasantest aspects. Gregory had
managed to get home for a hurried lunch and a smoke
afterwards in the little snuggery; the lunch had been a
good one, and there was just time to do justice to the
coffee and cigarettes. Both were excellent in their way,
and Gregory was, in his way, an excellent husband.
Jocantha rather suspected herself of making him a very
charming wife, and more than suspected herself of having
a first-rate dressmaker.
"I don't suppose a more thoroughlycontented
personality is to be found in all Chelsea," observed
Jocantha in allusion to herself; "except perhaps Attab,"
she continued, glancing towards the large tabby-marked
cat that lay in considerable ease in a corner of the
divan. "He lies there, purring and dreaming, shifting
his limbs now and then in an ecstasy of cushioned
comfort. He seems the incarnation of everything soft and
silky and velvety, without a sharp edge in his
composition, a dreamer whose philosophy is sleep and let
sleep; and then, as evening draws on, he goes out into
the garden with a red glint in his eyes and slays a
drowsy sparrow."
"As every pair of sparrows hatches out ten or more
young ones in the year, while their food supply remains
stationary, it is just as well that the Attabs of the
community should have that idea of how to pass an amusing
afternoon," said Gregory. Having delivered himself of
this sage comment he lit another cigarette, bade Jocantha
a playfully affectionate good-bye, and departed into the
outer world.
"Remember, dinner's a wee bit earlier to-night, as
we're going to the Haymarket," she called after him.
Left to herself, Jocantha continued the process of
looking at her life with placid, introspective eyes. If
she had not everything she wanted in this world, at least
she was very well pleased with what she had got. She was
very well pleased, for instance, with the snuggery, which
contrived somehow to be cosy and dainty and expensive all
at once. The porcelain was rare and beautiful, the
Chinese enamels took on wonderful tints in the firelight,
the rugs and hangings led the eye through sumptuous
harmonies of colouring. It was a room in which one might
have suitably entertained an ambassador or an archbishop,
but it was also a room in which one could cut out
pictures for a scrap-book without feeling that one was
scandalising the deities of the place with one's litter.
And as with the snuggery, so with the rest of the house,
and as with the house, so with the other departments of
Jocantha's life; she really had good reason for being one
of the most contented women in Chelsea.
From being in a mood of simmering satisfaction with
her lot she passed to the phase of being generously
commiserating for those thousands around her whose lives
- safely [´seifli]
ad.安全地；平安地 (初中英语单词) - establishment [i´stæbliʃmənt] n.建(成)立；研究所 (初中英语单词)
- companion [kəm´pæniən] n.同伴；同事；伴侣 (初中英语单词)
- dreadfully [dredfuli] ad.可怕地；糟透地 (初中英语单词)
- oblige [ə´blaidʒ] vt.责成；迫使；使感激 (初中英语单词)
- readily [´redili] ad.乐意地；容易地 (初中英语单词)
- invitation [,invi´teiʃən] n.邀请；请帖；吸引 (初中英语单词)
- anxiety [æŋ´zaiəti] n.挂念；渴望；焦虑的事 (初中英语单词)
- nervous [´nə:vəs] a.神经的；神经过敏的 (初中英语单词)
- wednesday [´wenzdi] n.星期三 (初中英语单词)
- advise [əd´vaiz] vt.忠告；建议；通知 (初中英语单词)
- inspect [in´spekt] v.检查；视察；检阅 (初中英语单词)
- humble [´hʌmbəl] a.谦卑的 vt.贬抑 (初中英语单词)
- trifle [´traifəl] n.琐事，小事；少量 (初中英语单词)
- abroad [ə´brɔ:d] ad.海外；到处；广泛 (初中英语单词)
- prospect [´prɔspekt, prəs´pekt] n.景色；境界 v.勘察 (初中英语单词)
- wretched [´retʃid] a.可怜的；倒霉的 (初中英语单词)
- wealth [welθ] n.财富，财产 (初中英语单词)
- anxious [´æŋkʃəs] a.担忧的；渴望的 (初中英语单词)
- thoroughly [´θʌrəli] ad.完全地，彻底地 (初中英语单词)
- considerable [kən´sidərəbəl] a.重要的；值得重视 (初中英语单词)
- philosophy [fi´lɔsəfi] n.哲学；人生观 (初中英语单词)
- comment [´kɔment] n.&v.评论；评注；注意 (初中英语单词)
- instance [´instəns] n.例子，实例，例证 (初中英语单词)
- expensive [ik´spensiv] a.费钱的，昂贵的 (初中英语单词)
- ambassador [æm´bæsədə] n.大使 (初中英语单词)
- satisfaction [,sætis´fækʃən] n.满意；满足 (初中英语单词)
- heavenly [´hevənli] a.天的，天空的 (高中英语单词)
- stroll [strəul] n.&v.漫步；散步；游荡 (高中英语单词)
- cheerfully [´tʃiəfuli] ad.高兴地，愉快地 (高中英语单词)
- genuine [´dʒenjuin] a.真正的；真诚的 (高中英语单词)
- explore [ik´splɔ:] v.勘探；探索；探查 (高中英语单词)
- crowded [´kraudid] a.充(拥)满了的 (高中英语单词)
- bravely [´breivli] ad.勇敢地；毅然 (高中英语单词)
- concerned [kən´sə:nd] a.有关的；担心的 (高中英语单词)
- hurried [´hʌrid] a.仓促的，慌忙的 (高中英语单词)
- ecstasy [´ekstəsi] n.狂喜；出神，入迷 (高中英语单词)
- affectionate [ə´fekʃənit] a.亲爱的 (高中英语单词)
- dainty [´deinti] a.秀丽的 n.美味 (高中英语单词)
- contented [kən´tentid] a.满足的；心满意足的 (高中英语单词)
- ambush [´æmbuʃ] n.埋伏(地点)；伏兵 (英语四级单词)
- colossal [kə´lɔsəl] a.庞大的；异常的 (英语四级单词)
- leisurely [´leʒəli] a.从容地，慢慢地 (英语四级单词)
- bridge [bridʒ] n.桥(梁)；鼻梁；桥牌 (英语四级单词)
- unexpectedly [´ʌniks´pektidli] ad.意外地；突然地 (英语四级单词)
- unusually [ʌn´ju:ʒuəli] ad.异常地；非常 (英语四级单词)
- muster [´mʌstə] n.集合 v.集合；征召 (英语四级单词)
- arisen [ə´rizn] arise的过去分词 (英语四级单词)
- allusion [ə´lu:ʒən] n.暗指；提及；引喻 (英语四级单词)
- placid [´plæsid] a.平静的；温和的 (英语四级单词)
- porcelain [´pɔ:slin] n.瓷 a.瓷的；精美的 (英语四级单词)
- superintend [,su:pərin´tend, ,sju:-] v.监督；管理；指挥 (英语六级单词)
- accidentally [,æksi´dentəli] ad.偶然地 (英语六级单词)
- brilliantly [´briljəntli] ad.灿烂地；杰出地 (英语六级单词)
- dreamer [´dri:mə] n.做梦的人；梦想者 (英语六级单词)
- departed [di´pɑ:tid] a.已往的；已故的 (英语六级单词)
- colouring [´kʌləriŋ] n.色彩；外貌；伪装 (英语六级单词)
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章节正文
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