雙語·面紗 第二十四章

She sent in a little note to Charlie on which she had written: “Please see me. It is urgent.” A Chinese boy asked her to wait and brought the answer that Mr. Townsend would see her in five minutes. She was unaccountably nervous. When at last she was ushered into his room Charlie came forward to shake hands with her, but the moment the boy, having closed the door, left them alone he dropped the affable formality of his manner.

“I say, my dear, you really mustn't come here in working hours. I've got an awful lot to do and we don't want to give people a chance to gossip.”

She gave him a long look with those beautiful eyes of her and tried to smile, but her lips were stiff and she could not.

“I wouldn't have come unless it was necessary.”

He smiled and took her arm.

“Well, since you're here come and sit down.”

It was a bare room, narrow, with a high ceiling; its walls were painted in two shades of terra cotta. The only furniture consisted of a large desk, a revolving chair for Townsend to sit in and a leather arm-chair for visitors. It intimidated Kitty to sit in this. He sat at the desk. She had never seen him in spectacles before; she did not know that he used them. When he noticed that her eyes were on them he took them off.

“I only use them for reading,” he said.

Her tears came easily and now, she hardly knew why, she began to cry. She had no deliberate intention of deceiving, but rather an instinctive desire to excite his sympathy. He looked at her blankly.

“Is anything the matter? Oh, my dear, don't cry.”

She took out her handkerchief and tried to check her sobs. He rang the bell and when the boy came to the door went to it.

“If any one asks for me say I'm out.”

“Very good, sir.”

The boy closed the door. Charlie sat on the arm of the chair and put his arm round Kitty's shoulders.

“Now, Kitty dear, tell me all about it.”

“Walter wants a divorce,” she said.

She felt the pressure of his arm on her shoulder cease. His body stiffened. There was a moment's silence, then Townsend rose from her chair and sat down once more in his.

“What exactly do you mean?” he said.

She looked at him quickly, for his voice was hoarse, and she saw that his face was dully red.

“I've had a talk with him. I've come straight from the house now. He says he has all the proof he wants.”

“You didn't commit yourself, did you? You didn't acknowledge anything?”

Her heart sank.

“No,” she answered.

“Are you quite sure?” he asked, looking at her sharply.

“Quite sure,” she lied again.

He leaned back in his chair and stared vacantly at the map of China which was hanging on the wall in front of him. She watched him anxiously. She was somewhat disconcerted at the manner in which he had received the news. She had expected him to take her in his arms and tell her he was thankful, for now they could be together always; but of course men were funny. She was crying softly, not now to arouse sympathy, but because it seemed the natural thing to do.

“This is a bloody mess we've got into,” he said at length. “But it's no good losing our heads. Crying isn't going to do us any good, you know.”

She noticed the irritation in his voice and dried her eyes.

“It's not my fault, Charlie. I couldn't help it.”

“Of course you couldn't. It was just damned bad luck. I was just as much to blame as you were. The thing to do now is to see how we're going to get out of it. I don't suppose you want to be divorced any more than I do.”

She smothered a gasp. She gave him a searching look. He was not thinking of her at all.

“I wonder what his proofs really are. I don't know how he can actually prove that we were together in that room. On the whole we've been about as careful as any one could be. I'm sure that old fellow at the curio shop wouldn't have given us away. Even if he'd seen us go in there's not reason why we shouldn't hunt curios together.”

He was talking to himself rather than to her.

“It's easy enough to bring charges, but it's damned difficult to prove them; any lawyer will tell you that. Our line is to deny everything, and if he threatens to bring an action we'll tell him to go to hell and we'll fight it.”

“I couldn't go into court, Charlie.”

“Why on earth not? I'm afraid you'll have to. God knows, I don't want a row, but we can't take it lying down.”

“Why need we defend it?”

“What a question to ask. After all, it's not only you that are concerned, I'm concerned too. But as a matter of fact I don't think you need be afraid of that. We shall be able to square your husband somehow. The only thing that worries me is the best way to set about it.”

It looked as though an idea occurred to him, for he turned towards her with his charming smile and his tone, a moment before abrupt and business-like, became ingratiating.

“I'm afraid you've been awfully upset, poor little woman. It's too bad.” He stretched out his hand and took hers. “It's a scrape we've got into, but we shall get out of it. It's not...” He stopped and Kitty had a suspicion that he had been about to say that it was not the first he had got out of. “The greatest thing is to keep our heads. You know I shall never let you down.”

“I'm not frightened. I don't care what he does.”

He smiled still, but perhaps his smile was a trifle forced.

“If the worst comes to the worst I shall have to tell the Governor. He'll curse me like hell, but he's a good fellow and a man of the world. He'll fix it up somehow. It wouldn't do him any good if there was a scandal.”

“What can he do?” asked Kitty.

“He can bring pressure to bear on Walter. If he can't get at him through his ambition he'll get at him through his sense of duty.”

Kitty was a little chilled. She did not seem able to make Charlie see how desperately grave the situation was. His airiness made her impatient. She was sorry that she had come to see him in his office. The surroundings intimidated her. It would have been much easier to say what she wanted if she could have been in his arms with hers round his neck.

“You don't know Walter,” she said.

“I know that every man has his price.”

She loved Charlie with all her heart, but his reply disconcerted her; for such a clever man it was a stupid thing to say.

“I don't think you realise how angry Walter is. You haven't seen his face and the look of his eyes.”

He did not reply for a moment, but looked at her with a slight smile. She knew what he was thinking. Walter was the bacteriologist and occupied a subordinate position; he would hardly have the impudence to make himself a nuisance to the upper officials of the Colony.

“It's no good deceiving yourself, Charlie,” she said earnestly. “If Walter has made up his mind to bring an action nothing that you or anybody else can say will have the slightest influence.”

His face once more grew heavy and sulky.

“Is it his idea to make me co-rrespondent?”

“At first it was. At last I managed to get him to consent to let me divorce him.”

“Oh, well, that's not so terrible.” His manner relaxed again and she saw the relief in his eyes. “That seems to me a very good way out. After all, it's the least a man can do, it's the only decent thing.”

“But he makes a condition.”

He gave her an inquiring glance and he seemed to reflect.

“Of course I'm not a very rich man, but I'll do anything in my power.”

Kitty was silent. Charlie was saying things which she would never have expected him to say. And they made it difficult for her to speak. She had expected to blurt it out in one breath, held in his loving arms, with her burning face hid on his breast.

“He agrees to my divorcing him if your wife will give him the assurance that she will divorce you.”

“Anything else?”

Kitty could hardly find her voice.

“And--it's awfully hard to say, Charlie, it sounds dreadful--if you'll promise to marry me within a week of the decrees being made absolute.”

她給查理留了個便條，上面寫道：“請來見我，事情緊急?！币粋€中國職員讓她等著，然后告訴她湯森先生五分鐘后見她。她有著不可名狀的緊張焦慮。最后，她被人領(lǐng)進了查理的辦公室，他走上前來跟她握了握手，但當職員關(guān)上了房門，只留他們倆單獨在一起的時候，他馬上把和藹可親、一本正經(jīng)的態(tài)度拋到了一邊。

“我說，親愛的，你真的有必要在工作時間著急來這兒嗎？我有太多的事情要做，而且不想給別人說閑話的機會。”

她用她那雙美麗的眼睛端詳了他半天，想擠出笑容，但嘴角僵硬，根本笑不出來。

“除非迫不得已，我是不會來這兒的?！?/p>

他笑著拉著她的手臂。

“好的，既然你都來了，就坐下吧。”

辦公室家具不多，比較狹窄，屋頂較高，墻壁被刷成了褐色，深一道，淺一道。僅有的家具是一張大書桌，一把查理坐的旋轉(zhuǎn)椅和一把為訪客準備的皮扶手椅，可凱蒂只要坐進這把椅子就總感覺渾身不自在。查理坐在桌子后面，她以前從沒看見過他戴眼鏡，他注意到她的目光落在了他的眼鏡上，就把它摘了下來。

“我只在讀東西時才用眼鏡?！彼f道。

她的眼淚說流就流了下來，也不知道為什么。她開始哭了起來，本來沒有打算裝給他看，但她有種本能的沖動想喚起他的同情。他不知所措地望著她。

“出了什么事了嗎？噢，我親愛的，別哭。”

她掏出手絹，想抑制住抽泣。他按了按鈴，當那個職員走到門前的時候，他把門打開了。

“如果有人找我，就說我不在。”

“好的，先生。”

職員關(guān)上了門，查理坐在了椅子背上，用他的手臂摟著凱蒂的肩膀。

“現(xiàn)在，凱蒂寶貝，告訴我怎么回事吧。”

“沃爾特想要離婚。”她說道。

她覺得肩膀上他手臂的力道消失了，他的身體也變得僵直了。片刻沉默之后，查理從椅背上站起身來，又坐回到了自己的靠背椅上。

“究竟是怎么回事？”他說道。

她很快地看了他一眼，覺出他的聲音嘶啞了，看到他的臉也沉下來變紅了。

“我和他有過一次談話，談完話后我直接從家來到這兒。他說他已經(jīng)掌握了所有的證據(jù)?！?/p>

“你自己沒承認，對嗎？你沒承認任何事吧？”

她的心沉了下去。

“沒有?！彼卮鸬?。

“你確定什么都沒承認嗎？”他問道，目光銳利地看著她。

“我確定。”她又一次說了謊。

他靠回了椅子背，眼睛茫然地看著掛在他面前墻上的中國地圖。她焦急地看著他，從他剛剛聽到這個消息的表現(xiàn)上，她感到有點兒不太對勁兒，原來指望他能把她摟在懷里，告訴她他心存感激，因為現(xiàn)在他們終于可以永遠地在一起了。然而男人們遇到這種情景當然都很滑稽。她輕輕地哭泣著，現(xiàn)在不是為了博得同情，而是因為哭泣似乎是她唯一能做的很自然的事了。

“這下我們可麻煩大了?！背聊S久后，他開口說道，“但是，失去理智于事無補，你知道，哭哭啼啼對我們也沒有任何好處?！?/p>

她注意到他的聲音里有點兒懊惱，于是擦干了眼淚。

“這不是我的錯，查理，我控制不住自己，就想哭?！?/p>

“你當然控制不住，運氣真是糟糕透頂，我跟你一樣脫不了干系。我們當下要做的是怎么擺脫這個麻煩，我覺得你比我更不想離婚吧?！?/p>

她倒吸了一口氣，看著他，想搞清楚他什么意思，而他根本沒顧及她的疑惑。

“我想知道他究竟掌握了什么證據(jù)。我不知道他能怎樣證明就是我們倆待在那間屋子里?？傮w上，我們一直都盡可能地小心謹慎。我敢保證古董店的那個老家伙不會出賣我們，即使他看見我們出入古董店，也證明不了什么呀，沒有理由說我們倆不能一起逛古董店嘛?！?/p>

他好像在自說自話，而不是在對她說。

“指控某項罪名很容易，但要找出證據(jù)可就太難了，每個律師都會告訴你這一點的。我們的底線就是否認一切，如果他威脅說要采取訴訟，我們就告訴他，下地獄去吧，我們會反擊的。”

“我不能上法庭，查理?！?/p>

“為什么不能？恐怕你不得不上。上帝作證，我不想和你爭吵，但是我們不能坐以待斃?！?/p>

“我們?yōu)槭裁匆裾J它呢？”

“瞧你這問題問的。畢竟這事不但跟你有關(guān)系，跟我也有關(guān)系。但事實上我認為你大可不必擔心。我們能擺平你丈夫的，我現(xiàn)在唯一需要考慮的是如何采用一種最好的方式來著手辦這件事?！?/p>

這時他好像突然有了主意，因為他又面向她露出了他迷人的微笑，他的口吻剛才還生硬而官腔十足，現(xiàn)在變成奉承討好的腔調(diào)了。

“恐怕你這段時間會非常難受，我可憐的小凱蒂，真是太糟糕了。”他伸出手抓住了她的手，“這只是我們遇到的一個小麻煩，我們一定會搞定的，它不是……”他停住了，凱蒂懷疑他下面想說他不是第一次搞定這樣的麻煩事了，“現(xiàn)在最重要的是保持頭腦清醒，你知道我是絕不會拋下你的。”

“我不害怕，我不在乎他做什么?！?/p>

他還在微笑，但也許他的微笑有點兒勉強。

“如果事情到了不可收拾的地步，我會把這事告訴總督的。他雖然會臭罵我一頓，但他是個好人，而且權(quán)力很大，他會把事情平息下去的，鬧出丑聞的話，對他也沒什么好處?！?/p>

“他能做什么？”凱蒂問道。

“他會給沃爾特施加壓力，如果他不能利用沃爾特的事業(yè)心讓他屈服，也會提醒他如果不聽話會丟掉飯碗?！?/p>

凱蒂有點兒不寒而栗，她似乎還無法使查理明白事情的嚴重程度，他空洞的想法讓她有些不耐煩。她有些后悔來他的辦公室見他，周圍的環(huán)境讓她覺得有種無形的威脅。如果她能躺在他的懷抱中，用她的雙臂勾著他的脖子，告訴他她究竟想要什么，可能她會感到放松得多。

“你不了解沃爾特。”她說道。

“我知道每個男人都會待價而沽，都會被收買?！?/p>

她全心全意地愛著查理，但是他的回答讓她不安，這么聰明的男人怎么會說出這樣愚蠢的話。

“我覺得你還沒明白沃爾特有多憤怒，你沒有見到他的臉色和他眼中的神情?！?/p>

他停頓了一會兒沒有說話，但是帶著輕笑看著她。她明白他心里正在想什么。沃爾特是個細菌學家，是他的下級，按理來說是不會做出粗魯放肆的舉動，使自己成為殖民地上層官員們的眼中釘?shù)摹?/p>

“你這樣自欺欺人沒有用處，查理?！彼钡卣f道，“如果沃爾特下定決心采取行動，你或者別的什么人所說的話對他產(chǎn)生不了什么影響?！?/p>

他的臉又一次陰沉了下來。

“他的意思是要指控我是奸夫？”

“一開始是這樣，但最后我說服了他同意和我離婚?！?/p>

“哦，好吧，還不算太糟糕。”他的態(tài)度又緩和了下來，她看到了他眼中如釋重負的神情，“對我來說，那似乎是個很好的出路。無論如何，那是男人可用的最后一招，也是唯一體面的解決方案。”

“但是他開出了條件。”

他用探尋的目光看了她一眼，似乎在考量著什么。

“當然了，雖說我不是很富有，但我會盡力而為的。”

凱蒂不說話了。查理所說的話是她做夢也沒想到的，讓她不知說什么好。她本來希望能緊緊抱住他，把發(fā)燙的臉藏在他的胸口，一股腦兒地把想說的話都吐露出來。

“如果你妻子承諾跟你離婚，他就會答應跟我離婚?！?/p>

“還有別的嗎？”

凱蒂幾乎自己都聽不到自己的聲音了。

“還有——呃，很難說出口，查理，聽上去很難為情——呃，在離婚協(xié)議簽署生效一周之內(nèi)，如果你答應娶我?！?/p>