黑麦奇案18

时间：2025-10-10 08:28:09

（单词翻译:单击）

II
“Went off without a word to me,” said Mrs. Crump, raising her red,
wrathful face from the pastry1 she was now rolling out on the board.
“Slipped out without a word to anybody. Sly, that’s what it is. Sly! Afraid
she’d be stopped, and I would have stopped her if I’d caught her! The idea!
There’s the master dead, Mr. Lance coming home that hasn’t been home
for years and I said to Crump, I said: ‘Day out or no day out, I know my
duty. There’s not going to be cold supper tonight as is usual on a Thursday,
but a proper dinner. A gentleman coming home from abroad with his
wife, what was formerly2 married in the aristocracy, things must be prop-
erly done.’ You know me, miss, you know I take a pride in my work.”
Mary Dove, the recipient3 of these confidences, nodded her head gently.
“And what does Crump say?” Mrs. Crump’s voice rose angrily. “ ‘It’s my
day off and I’m goin’ off,’ that’s what he says. ‘And a fig4 for the aristo-
cracy,’ he says. No pride in his work, Crump hasn’t. So off he goes and I
tell Gladys she’ll have to manage alone tonight. She just says: ‘All right,
Mrs. Crump,’ then, when my back’s turned out she sneaks5. It wasn’t her
day out, anyway. Friday’s her day. How we’re going to manage now, I
don’t know! Thank goodness Mr. Lance hasn’t brought his wife here with
him today.”
“We shall manage, Mrs. Crump,” Mary’s voice was both soothing6 and au-
thoritative, “if we just simplify the menu a little.” She outlined a few sug-
gestions. Mrs. Crump nodded unwilling7 acquiescence8. “I shall be able to
serve that quite easily,” Mary concluded.
“You mean you’ll wait at table yourself, miss?” Mrs. Crump sounded
doubtful.
“If Gladys doesn’t come back in time.”
“She won’t come back,” said Mrs. Crump. “Gallivanting off, wasting her
money somewhere in the shops. She’s got a young man, you know, miss,
though you wouldn’t think it to look at her. Albert his name is. Going to
get married next spring, so she tells me. Don’t know what the married
state’s like, these girls don’t. What I’ve been through with Crump.” She
sighed, then said in an ordinary voice: “What about tea, miss. Who’s going
to clear it away and wash it up?”
“I’ll do that,” said Mary. “I’ll go and do it now.”
The lights had not been turned on in the drawing room though Adele
Fortescue was still sitting on the sofa behind the tea tray.
“Shall I switch the lights on, Mrs. Fortescue?” Mary asked. Adele did not
answer.
Mary switched on the lights and went across to the window, where she
pulled the curtains across. It was only then that she turned her head and
saw the face of the woman who had sagged9 back against the cushions. A
half-eaten scone10 spread with honey was beside her and her tea cup was
still half full. Death had come to Adele Fortescue suddenly and swiftly.

分享到：


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 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。
2 formerly ni3x9     
adv.从前，以前
参考例句：
  • We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
  • This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。
3 recipient QA8zF     
a.接受的,感受性强的 n.接受者,感受者,容器
参考例句：
  • Please check that you have a valid email certificate for each recipient. 请检查是否对每个接收者都有有效的电子邮件证书。
  • Colombia is the biggest U . S aid recipient in Latin America. 哥伦比亚是美国在拉丁美洲最大的援助对象。
4 fig L74yI     
n.无花果(树)
参考例句：
  • The doctor finished the fig he had been eating and selected another.这位医生吃完了嘴里的无花果，又挑了一个。
  • You can't find a person who doesn't know fig in the United States.你找不到任何一个在美国的人不知道无花果的。
5 sneaks 5c2450dbde040764a81993ba08e02d76     
abbr.sneakers (tennis shoes) 胶底运动鞋（网球鞋）v.潜行( sneak的第三人称单数 )；偷偷溜走；（儿童向成人）打小报告；告状
参考例句：
  • Typhoid fever sneaks in when sanitation fails. 环境卫生搞不好，伤寒就会乘虚而入。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Honest boys scorn sneaks and liars. 诚实的人看不起狡诈和撒谎的人。 来自辞典例句
6 soothing soothing     
adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的
参考例句：
  • Put on some nice soothing music.播放一些柔和舒缓的音乐。
  • His casual, relaxed manner was very soothing.他随意而放松的举动让人很快便平静下来。
7 unwilling CjpwB     
adj.不情愿的
参考例句：
  • The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
  • His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。
8 acquiescence PJFy5     
n.默许；顺从
参考例句：
  • The chief inclined his head in sign of acquiescence.首领点点头表示允许。
  • This is due to his acquiescence.这是因为他的默许。
9 sagged 4efd2c4ac7fe572508b0252e448a38d0     
下垂的
参考例句：
  • The black reticule sagged under the weight of shapeless objects. 黑色的拎包由于装了各种形状的东西而中间下陷。
  • He sagged wearily back in his chair. 他疲倦地瘫坐到椅子上。
10 scone chbyg     
n.圆饼，甜饼，司康饼
参考例句：
  • She eats scone every morning.她每天早上都吃甜饼。
  • Scone is said to be origined from Scotland.司康饼据说来源于苏格兰。

©2005-2010英文阅读网