第44章

”Dicky！”saidJames。”You’realwayswastingyourmoneyonsomething。”Buthesufferedthechangetobemadetillhisneckalsoshone，murmuringvaguely：”He’sanextravagantchap，I’mafraid。”

Alittlebrighterintheeye，withrathermorecolourthanusualinhischeeks，hetookhisseatinthedrawing-roomtowaitforthesoundofthefront-doorbell。”I’vemadeitaproperdinnerparty，”Emilysaidcomfortably；”I

thoughtitwouldbegoodpracticeforImogen——shemustgetusedtoitnowshe’scomingout。”

Jamesutteredanindeterminatesound，thinkingofImogenassheusedtoclimbabouthiskneeorpullChristmascrackerswithhim。”She’llbepretty，”hemuttered，”Ishouldn’twonder。””Sheispretty，”saidEmily；”sheoughttomakeagoodmatch。””Thereyougo，”murmuredJames；”she’dmuchbetterstayathomeandlookafterhermother。”AsecondDartiecarryingoffhisprettygranddaughterwouldfinishhim！HehadneverquiteforgivenEmilyforhavingbeenasmuchtakeninbyMontagueDartieashehimselfhadbeen。”Where’sWarmson?”hesaidsuddenly。”IshouldlikeaglassofMadeirato-night。””There’schampagne，James。”

Jamesshookhishead。”Nobody，”hesaid；”Ican’tgetanygoodoutofit。”

Emilyreachedforwardonhersideofthefireandrangthebell。”YourmasterwouldlikeabottleofMadeiraopened，Warmson。””No，no！”saidJames，thetipsofhisearsquiveringwithvehemence，andhiseyesfixedonanobjectseenbyhimalone。”Lookhere，Warmson，yougototheinnercellar，andonthemiddleshelfoftheendbinontheleftyou’llseesevenbottles；taketheoneinthecentre，anddon’tshakeit。It’sthelastoftheMadeiraIhadfromMr。Jolyonwhenwecameinhere——neverbeenmoved；itoughttobeinprimeconditionstill；butIdon’tknow，I

can’ttell。””Verygood，sir，”respondedthewithdrawingWarmson。”Iwaskeepingitforourgoldenwedding，”saidJamessuddenly，”butIshan’tlivethreeyearsatmyage。””Nonsense，James，”saidEmily，”don’ttalklikethat。””Ioughttohavegotitupmyself，”murmuredJames，”he’llshakeitaslikelyasnot。”Andhesankintosilentrecollectionoflongmomentsamongtheopengas-jets，thecobwebsandthegoodsmellofwine-soakedcorks，whichhadbeenappetisertosomanyfeasts。InthewinefromthatcellarwaswrittenthehistoryofthefortyoddyearssincehehadcometotheParkLanehousewithhisyoungbride，andofthemanygenerationsoffriendsandacquaintanceswhohadpassedintotheunknown；itsdepletedbinspreservedtherecordoffamilyfestivity——allthemarriages，births，deathsofhiskithandkin。Andwhenhewasgonethereitwouldbe，andhedidn’tknowwhatwouldbecomeofit。It’dbedrunkorspoiled，heshouldn’twonder！

>Fromthatdeepreverietheentranceofhissondraggedhim，followedverysoonbythatofWinifredandhertwoeldest。

Theywentdownarm-in-arm——JameswithImogen，thedebutante，becausehisprettygrandchildcheeredhim；SoameswithWinifred；

EmilywithVal，whoseeyeslightin

后续内容为VIP可读请开通VIP，或购买此章节