第25章

”Aren’tyou?”askedValhardily。”I?”repliedJames，flustered。”I’vegotsomanyexpenses。Yourfather……”andhewassilent。”CousinJolyon’sgotanawfullyjollyplace。IwentdowntherewithUncleSoames——rippingstables。””Ah！”murmuredJamesprofoundly。”Thathouse——Iknewhowitwouldbe！”Andhelapsedintogloomymeditationoverhisfish-bones。Hisson’stragedy，andthedeepcleavageithadcausedintheForsytefamily，hadstillthepowertodrawhimdownintoawhirlpoolofdoubtsandmisgivings。Val，whohankeredtotalkofRobinHill，becauseRobinHillmeantHolly，turnedtoEmilyandsaid：”WasthatthehousebuiltforUncleSoames?”And，receivinghernod，wenton：”Iwishyou’dtellmeabouthim，Granny。WhatbecameofAuntIrene?Isshestillgoing?Heseemsawfullyworked-upaboutsomethingto-night。”

Emilylaidherfingeronherlips，butthewordIrenehadcaughtJames’ear。”What’sthat?”hesaid，stayingapieceofmuttonclosetohislips。”Who’sbeenseeingher?Iknewwehadn’theardthelastofthat。””Now，James，”saidEmily，”eatyourdinner。Nobody’sbeenseeinganybody。”

Jamesputdownhisfork。”Thereyougo，”hesaid。”Imightdiebeforeyou’dtellmeofit。

IsSoamesgettingadivorce?””Nonsense，”saidEmilywithincomparableaplomb；”Soamesismuchtoosensible。”

Jameshadsoughthisownthroat，gatheringthelongwhitewhiskerstogetherontheskinandboneofit。”She——shewasalways……”hesaid，andwiththatenigmaticremarktheconversationlapsed，forWarmsonhadreturned。Butlater，whenthesaddleofmuttonhadbeensucceededbysweet，savoury，anddessert，andValhadreceivedachequefortwentypoundsandhisgrandfather’skiss——likenootherkissintheworld，fromlipspushedoutwithasortoffearfulsuddenness，asifyieldingtoweakness——hereturnedtothechargeinthehall。”TellusaboutUncleSoames，Granny。Whyishesokeenonmother’sgettingadivorce?””YourUncleSoames，”saidEmily，andhervoicehadinitanexaggeratedassurance，”isalawyer，mydearboy。He’ssuretoknowbest。””Ishe?”mutteredVal。”ButwhatdidbecomeofAuntIrene?I

remembershewasjollygood-looking。””She——er……”saidEmily，”behavedverybadly。Wedon’ttalkaboutit。””Well，Idon’twanteverybodyatOxfordtoknowaboutouraffairs，”

ejaculatedVal；”it’sabrutalidea。Whycouldn’tfatherbepre-

ventedwithoutitsbeingmadepublic?”

Emilysighed。Shehadalwayslivedratherinanatmosphereofdivorce，owingtoherfashionableproclivities——somanyofthosewhoselegshadbeenunderhertablehavinggainedacertainnotor-

iety。When，however，ittouchedherownfamily，shelikeditnobetterthanotherpeople。Butshewaseminentlypractical，andawomanofcourage，whoneverpursuedashadowinpreferencetoitssubstance。”Yourmother，”shesaid，”willbehappierifshe’squitefree，Val。

Good-night，mydearboy；anddon’twearloudwaistcoatsupatOxford，they’renotthethingjustnow。Here’salittlepresent。”

Withanotherfivepoundsinhishand，andalittlewarmthinhisheart，

后续内容为VIP可读请开通VIP，或购买此章节