- •I wrapped my hanky round my thumb and got myself organized. George
- •I was known as Needle.
- •I stood silently among the people, watching. As you will see, I wasn't in a
- •I took a good look at this man accompanying Kathleen. It was her husband.
- •It was not for me to speak to Kathleen, but I had a sudden inspiration which
- •I must explain that I departed this life nearly five years ago. But I did not
- •Inspired to it. Indeed it's one of the things I can't do now — to speak out,
- •I taught in a private school in Kensington, for almost three months, very
- •I didn't love Skinny so I gave him back the ring.
- •I accompanied the party as a sort of secretary. Skinny vouched for me, he
- •I had broken off our engagement, lectured me about this, but still he took me
- •I'm busy in the hat-shop and being presented. You would think he hadn't
- •I must say I was myself a bit off-put by this news about the brown woman. I
- •Intelligent than a mule and sturdier than a horse. But I'm not having any
- •I was able to live on the fee I got for writing a gossip column in a local
- •I met George once more in a hotel in Bulawayo. We drank highballs and
- •I had half a mind to marry Skinny; perhaps, I thought, when his studies
- •I had already heard about the baby girl. Coal black, by repute, with
- •Impotence and need I secreted a venom which infected all my life for days on
- •I was nearly sick. One, because of my Scottish upbringing. Two, because of
- •I returned to England with Skinny's party just before the war.
- •I did not see George again till just before my death, five years ago.
- •I was waiting to write about life and it seemed to me that the good fortune lay in
- •I thought of my type of luck after I became a Catholic and was being
- •I visited Skinny twice in the two years that he was in the sanatorium. He was
- •Very close friends. We met several times each week, and after our Saturday-
- •If we had felt moved to do so.
- •I ought to get in touch with poor George. But then I think he would write
- •I did not speak of George's marriage, nor of any of his confidences in the
- •Impatience with him in former days; she said,
- •In the course of the morning he had told her of his wartime nightclub in
- •I was curious to see this version of George, but I was leaving for Scotland
- •Visited at week-ends; this old lady lived a few miles from Kathleen's aunt,
- •I should go ahead of her in the early afternoon to see to the provisions for our
- •I said no, I liked an empty house.
- •It was like a treasure hunt as I followed clue after clue through the cool silent
- •I found myself speaking to him almost as if he were a child.
- •I giggled, and looked at him. His face had grown much larger, his lips full, wide,
- •I still kept up. They referred to her as "George's Dark Lady" and of course
- •I said, "If Kathleen intends to marry you, I shall tell her that you're already
- •Vest year. Unfortunately, the byreman's hands were even brawnier and
- •If I hadn't been wearing my long-sleeved cardigan, it was said, the bruises
- •I dashed his hopes. I said, "Hallo, George!"
- •In that convivial street. I thought to myself. "He looks as if he had a mouthful
- •I might have been inspired to say more on that agreeable morning, but he
- •I doubt if George will ever see me again in the Portobello Road. He broods
- •Its few drooping tenants. They huddled together like birds in a storm; their
- •I was waiting for friends to come and pick me up on their way to Venice.
- •Importance was permitted to dawn upon strangers.
- •In the garden, strangely standing on a path between the flowers for
- •I climbed the lower slopes of the mountains while the experts in their boots
- •I was moved by the sight. The girl called Mitzi was watching me as I stood
- •In the kitchen doorway. "Coffee?'' she said.
- •I saw a black lacquered cabinet inlaid with mother-of-pearl, and just
- •I went into the polished dining-room, and Mitzi brought my coffee there.
- •It was that very day that the nuisance occurred. The double windows of my
- •It was a cold day. I sat in my room writing letters. I glanced out of the
- •I looked up a few moments later, and this time Herr Stroh was seated on a
- •I left my room and went down to complain to Frau Lublonitsch.
- •I returned to my room. Herr Stroh still sat in position, the field-glasses in
- •In his doorway blinking up at the roof of the Guest-house Lublonitsch. He
- •I didn't want to draw his attention by following the line of his gaze but I
- •In Frau Lublonitsch's splendid bedroom.
- •I turned the comer just as Herr Stroh gave up his gazing; he went indoors,
- •It while I waited for someone to come. I did not have to wait long, for two
- •Indeed were there, but invisible.
- •In the peeling pastel stucco of the little town, the unnecessary floral balconies,
- •Intrigued her.
- •Impassive neck.
- •Is she —"
- •Insurance manager. The successful kind."
- •I think twenty-two. I am twenty-two so far as Richard's concerned. I don't
- •If you want to be successful with men you have to hang on to your youth."
- •Invitation must come from Richard."
- •Valley.
- •I felt the need of his support. "
- •Including Gwen. The one called Grace was quite pretty, with a bewildered
- •I put on my dark glasses to shield my eyes from the sun and conceal my
- •It is discouraging to put on sun glasses in the middle of someone's intimate
- •I was sent to have my eyes tested. He took me into the darkened interior
- •I had seen Miss Simmonds once before, at a garden fete, where she stood on
- •I stopped looking round. I said. "Read what?" for I had been told I would
- •I recall reading the letters correctly down to the last few lines, which were
- •I broke the glasses by sitting on them during my school holidays two years
- •I washed my hair the night before and put a wave in it. Next morning at
- •I smiled and put my hand in my blazer pocket.
- •I formed an idea of his private life. "Dorothy" I speculated, "and Basil." I let
- •Is it to her?"
- •I invented for myself a recurrent scene in which brother and sister
- •I was sent for to try on my new reading glasses. I had the hat-pin with me I
- •I said, "Grandmother said to inquire after your mother."
- •I took to giving Basil a charming smile when I passed him in the street on
- •I took walks before supper round the back lanes, ambling right round the
- •Visible from the window. He laid it side by side with another sheet of paper
- •Ink and started writing on the bottom of the sheet of paper before him,
- •I shivered in my soaking wet clothes. Dorothy looked with her eye at the
- •I took them into Mr. Simmonds early that afternoon.
- •I had smeared them with cold cream first.
- •Interrupted:
- •I noted her correct phrase, "Are these they?" and it seemed just over the
- •Vicious, in the wrong.
- •I started screaming when I got home, and was given a sedative. By evening
- •It was put down to an accident. There was a strong hope that Miss
- •I said, "The bottle may have been tampered with, have you thought of
- •I was attended by our woman doctor, the widow of the town's former
- •I saw Dr. Gray leaving the Simmonds' at six o'clock one evening. She must
- •I walked on, certain that he had known my guilty suspicions all along.
- •I had come to the summer school to lecture on history and she on
- •Inmost lives. This is probably because they spend so much time hearing out
- •It and myself looked back at myself through the dark water. I looked at Dr.
- •I took them off for a moment. I rather liked her for her innocence in not
- •I had my glasses on again, and was walking on.
- •I thought, neither had I.
- •I said, "He might have stopped seeing eyes if you'd taken him at his word."
- •I could hardly believe she was shouting, who previously had been so calm.
- •I think it was then she recognised me.
- •It there and then. You see, he had to do it while it was still wet."
- •Vestments, or at least lace veil.
- •Vestments.
- •Instance, when a local Town Councillor resigned his office Raymond said,
- •In this particular, from the prejudices of that middle class to which they as
- •Introduce them to so many people." For the dark pair had, within a month,
- •In eyes, skin, teeth, which made him seem all the more eager. He called out
- •Irritated Lou, though she kept her peace.
- •Very well by Elizabeth." They had pulled up outside the house where
- •I'm not going to leave my kids in no nursery. I'm not going to send them to no
- •In that he took a tubercular turn, which was followed by a religious one. He
- •Very delicate question. She was amazed when, within three weeks, Oxford
- •In previous numbers, various references to the Black Madonna, how she had
- •It was the Saturday before that Sunday when Lou had her first sick turn.
- •In the next parish magazine. "Another case has come to light of the kindly
- •In fact, it was a very easy birth, a girl. Raymond was allowed in to see Lou
- •In the late afternoon. She was half asleep. "The nurse will take you to see the
- •In the other cots. "Far more so than the others."
- •Isn't hers, which is ridiculous."
- •Very long chance. I've never known it happen in my experience, but I've
- •Inquire after Lou. He rather regretted smashing up the cot in his first fury.
- •It white."
- •It must be back in the olden days the nigro some ansester but it is only nature.
- •I thank the almighty it has missed my kids and your hubby must think it was
I felt the need of his support. "
''Didn't you have a talk with Lucy?"
"Well yes, but not much really. Richard probably didn't realize you were
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coming to supper. Richard probably thought his mother and I could have a
heart-to-heart —
"I usually go to Lucy's on Sunday (я обычно бываю: «хожу к» у Люси по
воскресеньям)," Gwen said.
"Why (почему)?"
"Well, she's a friend of mine (ну, она моя подруга). I know her ways (я знаю
ее привычки; way — путь, дорога, манера поведения, обычай). She amuses
me (она развлекает меня; to amuse — забавлять)."
During the week Trudy saw Richard only once (за всю неделю: «в течение
недели» Труди видела Ричарда только раз), for a quick drink (за коротким
коктейлем: «быстрым напитком»; drink — питье, напиток, спиртной
напиток).
"Exams (экзамены)," he said. " I'm rather busy, darling (я очень занят,
дорогая)."
''Exams in November (экзамены в ноябре)? I thought they started in
December (я думала, что они начинаются в декабре)."
"Preparation for exams (подготовка к экзаменам)," he said. "Preliminaries
(предварительные экзамены; preliminaries — сокр. от preliminary
examination). Lots of work (куча работы)." He took her home (он отвез ее
домой), kissed her on the cheek (поцеловал ее в щеку) and drove off (и уехал).
She looked after the car (она смотрела вслед: «за» машиной), and for a
moment hated his moustache (и какой-то момент ненавидела его усики). But
she pulled herself together and (но, она собралась с силами; to pull oneself
together — взять себя в руки, собраться с духом), recalling her youthfulness
(призвав на помощь свою молодость: «вспомнив о своей молодости»; to
recall — возвращать; припоминать), decided she was too young really
(решила, что она действительно слишком молода) to judge the fine shades and
moods (чтобы судить о всех тонкостях оттенков в смене настроения; to judge
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— судить, оценивать, составлять мнение; mood — расположение духа,
moods — причуды, прихоти, капризы) of a man like Richard (такого
мужчины, как Ричард).
He picked her up at four o'clock on Sunday (он заехал за ней в четыре часа, в
воскресенье).
"Mother's looking forward to seeing you (мама с нетерпением ожидает
встречи с тобой)," he said. "She hopes you will stay for supper (она надеется,
что ты останешься на ужин)."
'"You won't have to go out (ты же не уйдешь: «тебе не надо будет уйти»),
will you, Richard (так ведь, Ричард)?"
"Not tonight, no (не сегодня, нет)."
But he did have to go out (но ему пришлось уйти) to keep an appointment
(чтобы не опоздать на встречу; to keep an appointment — прийти в
назначенное место или время) of which his mother reminded him immediately
after tea (о которой его мать напомнила ему сразу же после чая; to remind —
напоминать, делать напоминание; immediately — незамедлительно, тотчас).
He had smiled at his mother and said (он улыбнулся матери и сказал), "Thanks
(спасибо)."
busy ['bIzI] preparation ["prepq'reIS(q)n] youthfulness ['ju:Tf(q)lnIs]
appointment [q'pOIntmqnt] immediately [I'mi:dIqtlI]
"I usually go to Lucy's on Sunday," Gwen said.
"Why?"
"Well, she's a friend of mine. I know her ways. She amuses me."
During the week Trudy saw Richard only once, for a quick drink.
"Exams," he said. "I'm rather busy, darling."
''Exams in November? I thought they started in December."
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"Preparation for exams," he said. "Preliminaries. Lots of work." He took
her home, kissed her on the cheek and drove off.
She looked after the car, and for a moment hated his moustache. But she
pulled herself together and, recalling her youthfulness, decided she was too
young really to judge the fine shades and moods of a man like Richard.
He picked her up at four o'clock on Sunday.
"Mother's looking forward to seeing you," he said. "She hopes you will
stay for supper."
'"You won't have to go out, will you, Richard?"
"Not tonight, no."
But he did have to go out to keep an appointment of which his mother
reminded him immediately after tea. He had smiled at his mother and said,
"Thanks."
Trudy saw the photograph album (Труди посмотрела семейный альбом с
фотографиями), then she heard how Mrs. Seeton had met Richard's father in
Switzerland (затем она услышала /историю/ о том, как миссис Ситон
познакомилась с отцом Ричарда в Швейцарии), and what Mrs. Seeton had been
wearing at the time (и во что миссис Ситон была одета в тот момент; to wear
smth — быть одетым /во что-либо/, носить).
At half past six the supper party arrived (в половине седьмого прибыли
гостьи к ужину; party — вечеринка). These were three women, including Gwen
(это были три женщины, включая Гвен). The one called Grace was quite pretty
(одна /из них/, по имени Грейс, была очень хорошенькой; pretty — милый,
прелестный, привлекательный), with a bewildered air (немного смущенная;
bewildered — озадаченный, сбитый с толку; air — воздух, атмосфера;
манера держаться). The one called Iris was well over forty (другой, по имени
Айрис, было хорошо за сорок) and rather loud in her manner (и она была
достаточно шумливой; loud — громкий, звучный, крикливый).
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"Where's Richard tonight (и где же Ричард сегодня вечером), the old cad
(старый бродяга; cad — грубиян, хам, скотина)?" said Iris.
"How do I know (откуда мне знать)?" said his mother (сказала его мать)
"Who am I to ask (кто я такая, чтобы спрашивать)?"
"Well, at least he's a hard worker during the week (ну, по крайней мере, он
трудяга всю неделю; to work hard — много работать). A brilliant teacher
(выдающийся педагог; brilliant — блестящий, сверкающий)," said doe-eyed
Grace (сказала волоокая Грейс; doe — самка /например оленя/).
"Middling as a schoolmaster (и посредственность как директор школы;
middling — средний, сносный, второсортный)," Gwen said.
"Oh, Gwen! Look how long he's held down the job (посмотри, как он долго
удерживается в этой должности; to hold down a job — не потерять
должность, место)," his mother said.
"I should think (я думаю)," Grace said, "he's wonderful with the boys (он
очень ладит с мальчиками; wonderful — удивительный, поразительный)."
"Those Shakespearean productions (те постановки Шекспира; production —
производство; постановка пьесы) at the end of the summer term (в конце
летнего семестра; summer term — c 24 июня по 29 сентября) are really
magnificent (на самом деле великолепны)," Iris bawled (прокричала Айрис; to
bawl — вопить, выкрикивать). "I’ll hand him that (надо отдать ему должное;
to hand — передавать, дотрагиваться; отдавать должное), the old devil
(старый черт)."
"Magnificent (великолепны)," said his mother. "You must admit, Gwen — (ты
должна признать, Гвен)."
"Very middling performances (очень посредственные постановки)," Gwen
said.
"I suppose you are right (я полагаю, что ты права), but, after all, they are only
schoolboys (но, в конце-то концов, они всего лишь школьники). You can't do
much with untrained actors (вряд ли можно достичь: «сделать» много с
непрофессиональными
актерами;
(un)trained
—
(не)обученный,
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(не)квалифицированный). Gwen," said Mrs. Seeton very sadly (сказала миссис
Ситон очень печально).
bewildered [bI'wIldqd] brilliant ['brIlIqnt] middling ['mIdlIN]
magnificent [mxg'nIfIs(q)nt]
Trudy saw the photograph album, then she heard how Mrs. Seeton had
met Richard's father in Switzerland, and what Mrs. Seeton had been wearing
at the time.
At half past six the supper party arrived. These were three women,