chapter 12 at the villa marguerite

"then you were really in the thick of it all!" said lady tamplin enviously. "my dear, how thrilling!" she opened her china blue eyes very wide and gave a little sigh.

"a real murder," said mr evans gloatingly.

"of course chubby had no idea of anything of the kind," went on lady tamplin, "he simply could not imagine why the police wanted you. my dear, what an opportunity! i think, you know - yes, i certainly think something might be made out of this."

a calculating look rather marred the ingenuousness of the blue eyes.

katherine felt slightly uncomfortable. they were just finishing lunch, and she looked in turn at the three people sitting round the table. lady tamplin, full of practical schemes; mr evans, beaming with naive appreciation, and lenox with a queer crooked smile on her dark face.

"marvellous luck," murmured chubby. "i wish i could have gone along with you - and seen - all the exhibits."

his tone was wistful and childlike.

katherine said nothing. the police had laid no injunctions of secrecy upon her, and it was clearly impossible to suppress the bare facts or try to keep them from her hostess.

but she did rather wish it had been possible to do so.

"yes," said lady tamplin, coming suddenly out of her reverie, "i do think something might be done. a little account, you know, cleverly written up. an eyewitness, a feminine touch: 'how i chatted with the dead woman, little thinking -' that sort of thing, you know."

"rot!" said lenox.

"you have no idea," said lady tamplin in a soft, wistful voice,

"what newspapers will pay for a little tit-bit! written, of course, by someone of really unimpeachable social position. you would not like to do it yourself, i dare say, katherine dear, but just give me the bare bones of it, and i will manage the whole thing for you. mr de haviland is a special friend of mine. we have a little understanding together. a most delightful man - not at all reporterish. how does the idea strike you, katherine?"

"i would much prefer to do nothing of the kind," said katherine bluntly.

lady tamplin was rather disconcerted at this uncompromising refusal. she sighed and turned to the elucidation of further details.

"a very striking-looking woman, you said? i wonder now who she could have been. you didn't hear her name?"

"it was mentioned," katherine admitted, "but i can't remember it. you see, i was rather upset."

"i should think so," said mr evans, "it must have been a beastly shock."

it is to be doubted whether, even if katherine had remembered the name, she would have admitted the fact. lady tamplin's

remorseless cross-examination was making her restive. lenox, who was observant in her own way, noticed this, and offered to take katherine upstairs to see her room. she left her there, remarking kindly before she went, "you mustn't mind mother; she would make a few pennies' profit out of her dying grandmother if she could."

lenox went down again to find her mother and her stepfather discussing the newcomer.

"presentable," said lady tamplin, "quite presentable. her clothes are all right. that grey thing is the same model that gladys cooper wore in palm trees in egypt -"

"have you noticed her eyes - what?" interposed mr evans.

"never mind her eyes, chubby," said lady tamplin tartly, "we are discussing the things that really matter."

"oh, quite," said mr evans, and retired into his shell.

"she doesn't seem to me very - malleable," said lady tamplin, rather hesitating to choose the right word.

"she has all the instincts of a lady, as they say in books," said lenox, with a grin.

"narrow-minded," murmured lady tamplin. "inevitable under the circumstances, i suppose."

"i expect you will do your best to broaden her," said lenox, with a grin, "but you will have your work cut out. just now, you noticed, she stuck down her forefeet and laid back her ears and refused to budge."

"anyway," said lady tamplin hopefully, "she doesn't look to me at all mean. some people, when they come into money, seem to attach undue importance to it."

"oh, you'll easily touch her for what you want," said lenox, "and, after all, that is all that matters, isn't it? that is what she is here for."

"she is my own cousin," said lady tamplin, with dignity.

"cousin, eh?" said mr evans, waking up again. "i suppose i call her katherine, don't i?"

"it is of no importance at all what you call her, chubby," said lady tamplin.

"good," said mr evans, "then i will. do you suppose she plays tennis?" he added hopefully.

"of course not," said lady tamplin. "she has been a companion, i tell you. companions don't play tennis - or golf. they might possibly play golf-croquet, but i have always understood that they wind wool and wash dogs most of the day."

"o god!" said mr evans, "do they really?"

lenox drifted upstairs again to katherine's room. "can i help you?" she asked rather perfunctorily.

on katherine's disclaimer, lenox sat on the edge of the bed and stared thoughtfully at her guest.

"why did you come?" she said at last. "to us, i mean. we're not your sort."

"oh, i am anxious to get into society."

"don't be an ass," said lenox promptly detecting the flicker of a smile. "you know what i mean well enough. you are not a bit what i thought you would be. i say, you have got some decent clothes."

she sighed. "clothes are no good to me. i was born awkward. it's a pity, because i love them."

"i love them too," said katherine, "but it has not been much use my loving them up to now. do you think this is nice?"

she and lenox discussed several models with artistic fervour.

"i like you," said lenox suddenly. "i came up to warn you not to be taken in by mother, but i think now that there is no need to do that. you are frightfully sincere and upright and all those queer things, but you are not a fool. oh hell! what is it now?"

lady tamplin's voice was calling plaintively from the hall:

"lenox, derek has just rung up. he wants to come to dinner tonight. will it be all right? i mean, we haven't got anything awkward, like quails, have we?"

lenox reassured her and came back into katherine's room. her face looked brighter and less sullen.

"i'm glad old derek is coming," she said, "you'll like him."

"who is derek?"

"he is lord leconbury's son, married a rich american woman. women are simply potty about him."

"why?"

"oh, the usual reason - very good-looking and a regular bad lot. everyone goes off their head about him."

"do you?"

"sometimes i do," said lenox, "and sometimes i think i would like to marry a nice curate and live in the country and grow things in frames." she paused a minute, and then added, "an irish curate would be best, and then i should hunt."

after a minute or two she reverted to her former theme. "there is something queer about derek. all that family are a bit potty - mad gamblers, you know. in the old days they used to gamble away their wives and their estates, and did most reckless things just for the love of it. derek would have made a perfect highwayman - debonair and gay, just the right manner." she moved to the door.

"well, come down when you like it."

left alone, katherine gave herself up to thought. just at present she felt thoroughly ill at ease and jarred by her surroundings.

the shock of the discovery in the train and the reception of the news by her new friends jarred upon her susceptibilities. she thought long and earnestly about the murdered woman. she had been sorry for ruth, but she could not honestly say that she had liked her. she had divined only too well the ruthless egoism that was the keynote of her personality, and it repelled her.

she had been amused and a trifle hurt by the other's cool dismissal of her when she had served her turn. that she had come to some decision, katherine was quite certain, but she wondered now what that decision had been. whatever it was, death had stepped in and made all decisions meaningless.

strange that it should have been so, and that a brutal crime should have been the ending of that fateful journey. but suddenly katherine remembered a small fact that she ought, perhaps, to have told the police - a fact that had for the moment escaped her memory. was it of any real importance? she had certainly thought that she had seen a man going into that particular compartment?

but she realized that she might easily have been mistaken. it might have been the compartment next door, and certainly the man in question could be no train robber. she recalled him very clearly as she had seen him on those two previous occasions - once at the savoy and once at cook's office. no, doubtless she had been mistaken. he had not gone into the dead woman's compartment, and it was perhaps as well that she had said nothing to the police. she might have done incalculable harm by doing so.

she went down to join the others on the terrace outside. through the branches of mimosa, she looked out over the blue of the mediterranean, and, whilst listening with half an ear to lady tamplin's chatter, she was glad that she had come. this was better than st mary mead.

that evening she put on the mauvy pink dress that went by the name of soupir d'automne, and after smiling at her reflection in the mirror, went downstairs with, for the first time in her life, a faint feeling of shyness.

most of lady tamplin's guests had arrived, and since noise was the essential of lady tamplin's parties, the din was already critic. chubby rushed up to katherine, passed a cocktail upon her, and took her under his wing.

"oh, here you are, derek," cried lady tamplin, as the door opened to admit the last comer. "now at last we can have something to eat. i am starving."

katherine looked across the room. she was startled. so this - was derek, and she realized that she was not surprised. she had always known that she would some day meet the man whom she had seen three times by such a curious chain of coincidences. she thought, too, that he recognized her. he paused abruptly in what he was saying to lady tamplin, and went on again as though with an effort. they all went in to dinner, and katherine found that he was placed beside her. he turned to her at once with a vivid smile.

"i knew i was going to meet you soon," he remarked, "but i never dreamt that it would be here. it had to be, you know. once at the savoy and once at cook's - never twice without three times. don't say you can't remember me or never noticed me. i insist upon your pretending that you noticed me, anyway."

"oh, i did," said katherine, "but this is not the third time. it is the fourth. i saw you on the blue train."

"on the blue train!" something undefinable came over his manner; she could not have said just what it was. it was as though he had received a check, a setback. then he said carelessly:

"what was the rumpus this morning? somebody had died, hadn't they?"

"yes," said katherine slowly, "somebody had died."

"you shouldn't die on a train," remarked derek flippantly. "i believe it causes all sorts of legal and international complications, and it gives the train an excuse for being even later than usual."

"mr kettering?" a stout american lady, who was sitting opposite, leaned forward and spoke to him with the deliberate intonation of her race. "mr kettering, i do believe you have forgotten me, and i thought you such a perfectly lovely man."

derek leaned forward, answering her, and katherine sat almost dazed.

kettering! that was the name, of course! - she remembered it now

-but what a strange, ironical situation! here was this man whom she had seen go into his wife's apartment last night, who had left her safe and well, and now he was sitting there, quite unconscious of the fate that had befallen her. of that there was no doubt. he did not know.

a servant was leaning over derek, handing him a note and murmuring in his ear.

with a word of excuse to lady tamplin, he broke it open, and an expression of utter astonishment came over his face as he read; then he looked at his hostess.

"this is most extraordinary. i say, rosalie, i am afraid i will have to leave you. the prefect of police wants to see me at once. i can't think what about."

"your sins have found you out," remarked lenox.

"they must have," said derek, "probably some idiotic nonsense, but i suppose i shall have to push off to the prefecture. how dare the old boy rout me out from dinner? it ought to be something deadly serious to justify that," and he laughed as he pushed back his chair and rose to leave the room.

第十二章 在候爵镇

“你是刚刚受到到一桩案子的牵连了。”坦普林女士很惋惜地说道。“我的天，多大的刺激，我亲爱的！”她睁大了那两只蓝色的大眼睛，轻轻地叹了一口气。

“货真价实的谋杀！”年轻的丈夫很有感触地说道。

“丘比压根就没想到会有这样的事。”坦普林女士接着说，“他根本就不知道警察把你叫去的原因。你知道吗？应该到用一下这个事件。”

卡泰丽娜感到有些不快。人们刚刚吃过午饭，卡泰丽娜开始端详饭桌周围的人们。

坦普林女士又在考虑自己的新计划了。艾万斯先生傻气地坐在那里，雷斯诺却显得有些迷惑不解。

警察局方面并没有要求卡泰丽娜保守秘密，因此她也就没有必要向人们隐瞒事件的真相。当然，如果让她保持缄默，那就更好了。

“对！”坦普林女士突然从幻梦中清醒过来。“应该做一点事，在报上发表一篇文章，是一个证人的谈话；可以用这样的题目：‘同被害者谈过话，但不知道内情’──或者，如何？”

“胡思乱想。”雷诺斯说。

“你不相信？”坦普林女士象唱歌一样继续说道。“你知道报界肯给一篇小小的报道付多大的代价吗？当然，文章必须由一个出身高贵的人写。你当然不能承担这个任务，卡泰丽娜，我时刻准备承担这个工作。你认为如何？”

“让我去搞这套名堂，还没有这个兴趣呢。”卡泰丽娜直爽地说。

这种断然的拒绝使坦普林女士大吃一惊。她叹了一口气，但还试探着想多打听一点内情。

“你是说，这位被害的女士长得满不错，是吗？那能是谁呢？你没有记下她的名字吗？”

“有人提起过，”卡泰丽娜说，“但是我记不起了。你知道，我当时有点激动。”

坦普林女士的问题触动了自己的神经。雷诺斯同她母亲一样地敏感，她察觉到母亲的企图，因此，就邀请卡泰丽娜到自己的房间去。她们在房里呆了一会儿。在卡泰丽娜离开她的房间之前，雷诺斯很坦率地说道：“你不要怪罪我妈妈，为了拿一两个铜板，她可以去挖自己的祖坟。”

雷诺斯回到母亲房间的时候，正遇上母亲同继父在议论新来的客人。

“她长得很美。”坦普林女士说，“甚至可以说她相当漂亮，穿戴也相当得体。”

“你注意到她的眼睛了吗？”丘比问道。

“算了，你不要管她的眼睛了。丘比，现在谈谈要紧事。她看来有点不容易指使，不太听话。可是不会很小气。”

“妈妈，你将敲成一笔竹杠，你盘算的不是这样吗？”

“她是我堂妹。”坦普林女士严肃地说道。

“对，是你的堂妹，”正在打盹的艾万斯先生猛然惊醒。他说道：“你直接叫她卡泰丽娜好了。”

“你愿意叫她什么，这倒是无所谓的，丘比。”坦普林女士说道。

“如果你不介意的话，那我也叫她卡泰丽娜。你看她会打网球吗？”

“没有什么迹象表明这一点。”坦普林女士说，“她不过是个养女罢了。一般说来养女嘛，只会编织点什么东西。最多也不过是捻捻毛线，给小狗洗洗澡。”

“我的天！”艾万斯先生叫起来。“她真的只会干这些事？”

雷诺斯又回到卡泰丽娜所在的房间里。

“我能帮你干点什么吗？”雷诺斯问道。卡泰丽娜婉言拒绝了。雷诺斯坐在床沿上仔细端详着卡泰丽娜。

“你到底还是到我们这里来了，这是为什么呢？”她终于问道，“你在我们这里是很不合适的。”

“我要到社会上来体验一下生活。”卡泰丽娜说。

“看来你不会这样愚蠢，”雷诺斯说。“你穿的这身衣服可真漂亮。”她叹了一口气继续说道，“我不需要漂亮的衣服，我生来就不修边幅。遗憾！可是，我喜欢看别人穿件好看的衣服。”

“我也是，但时至今日我才很少有机会穿件好看的衣服。你住在这儿，喜欢这地方吗？”卡泰丽娜问道。

雷诺斯仔细地打量着卡泰丽娜的衣着。

“我喜欢你。”雷诺斯突然说。“我终于有机会告诉你，要留神我妈妈。但看来不必要了。你是个坦率而有礼貌的人，并不笨拙……出了什么事？”

从客厅里传出了坦普林女士音乐般的说话声：

“德里克刚刚来过电话，雷诺斯，他说晚上到我们这儿吃饭。可以吗？我们不是还有火鸡吗？可是他又不爱吃那东西。”

雷诺斯把妈妈安抚平静了这后，又回到卡泰丽娜的房间，坐在床边上，有点生妈妈的气。

“我喜欢德里克来。”过了一会儿她说。“他会讨你欢心的。”

“德里克是谁？”

“劳尔德·雷康布里的儿子；同一位很有钱的美国女人结了婚。追他的女人都成群结队了。”

“为什么？”

“这是现在比较时髦的风气。他是个漂亮的花花公子，纨裤子弟，又是个没用的人。

但是深得许多女人的垂青。”

“你也是吗？”

“我有时也挺喜欢他。”雷诺斯说，“但有时我又想找一个乡下的牧师结婚，在一个偏僻的地方去种我的白菜。”

她沉思了一会儿又继续说道：“同德里克在一起有趣着呢。全家同他一道喝酒，然后进行无聊的赌博，懂吗？在古代，人们可以输掉宫殿和老婆。德里克可以成为一个非常出色的土匪头子。真见鬼！”她站了起来走到门口，回头说道：

“你有兴趣的话，也下楼来看看。”

当屋里只剩下卡泰丽娜一个人的时候，她深思了起来。

她并没有感到是到了家里，反而觉得周围的环境使她颇受压抑。这里的人以这种方式询问她“蓝色特快”上发生的事件，使她那敏感的神经一再受到了刺激。她又认真地思索着被杀害的那位女士。她非常可怜露丝，虽然从个人感情上讲，她并不太喜欢她。

那种贪得无厌的自私自利的本性使她感到很讨厌。

格蕾小姐谈完话后离开女士包厢时得到的印象是：露丝下了决心。但这种决心的确切含意，她弄不太清楚。可是，死亡把她的一切计划完全毁灭了，一切都成了泡影。多么可怕啊！这次火车上的旅行竟是如此的结局。突然她想起了一件事，她也许应该报告给警察局。这件事是她偶然间想起来的。这有什么意义呢？她确信，有个男子曾到过死者的包厢。当然，也可能那个人就住在隔壁的包厢里。铁路上的强盗作案的可能性是根本不存在的。这时她又一次想起那个人，同她两次见过面的人。一次在萨沃旅馆，一次在考瑞克旅行社。莫非是她搞错了，那个男人要本就没有进过死者的包厢，而是进了他自己的包厢？这件事不向警察局报告也许更好。谁能预料，一旦报告了会惹出什么样的后果。

她要下楼到他们那里去。透过合欢树的枝叉可见地中海上的蓝色波浪。当她听到坦普林女士说话的时，感到一阵高兴：这里毕竟和丽麦德村里不一样。

她穿上金黄色的晚服，在境子前打量了一番，带着一种胆怯而害羞的心情走进了大厅。

客人们已经云集在大厅里了。因为坦普林女士的声音特别的响，所以其他人的说话声乱哄哄地混成了一片，令人难以听清。丘比赶忙跑到卡泰丽娜那里，递给她一杯酒，然后就把她带在了自己的身边。

“你到底来了，德里克！”当一位迟到的客人走进大厅时，坦普林女士尖叫了一声。

“现在我们终于可以吃点东西了，我都快饿死了。”

卡泰丽娜吓了一跳。他就是德里克！同时，她又仔细地看了一眼，为了是确认一下，是否就是他。她看到，连续三次同她邂逅相遇的那个男子，这一次又同她相遇了。他似乎也认出了她。突然他停止了同坦普林女士的谈话，心里嘀咕了几秒钟，然后又继续谈下去。吃饭的时候，他同卡泰丽娜坐在一起，并向着卡泰丽娜微微一笑。

“我知道，我们很快就会认识的。”他说。“我只是没有想到会这种场合下相遇。

我现在开始相信定数了。一次在萨沃旅馆，一次在考瑞克旅行社，但诸事都是‘事不过三’，第三次最好。您现在最好别说，记不清了。您最她说：我们好象见过面。”

“您的确使我感到意外。”卡泰丽娜说，“但是我今天您想遇不是第三次，而是第四次。第三次在‘蓝色特快’列车上。”

“在‘蓝色特快’上？”他的表情突然有些变化。但是他并没有流露出一点惊慌的神色。他的声调还是那样沉着，继续说道：

“今天早晨的谣传到底是怎么回事？列车上真的死了人了？”

“是的，”卡泰丽娜慢悠悠地说，“是有人死了。”

“人真不该到列车上去死。我相信这又引起一系列的国际问题。火车又为自己的一再晚点找到了新的借口。”

“凯特林先生？”坐在他对面的一个美国胖女人，用她那特有的、证明她是个美国人的美国腔，向德里克说。“凯特林先生，看来您已经把我完全忘却了，可是我还是那样喜欢您。”

德里克很风趣地回答了胖女人的话。卡泰丽娜坐在旁边却显得目瞪口呆。

凯特林！当然这就是被害者的姓。这是多么离奇面又神秘！过去的一夜他到过自己妻子的包厢里，离别自己妻子的时候她还健在；而今天，今天他却安安稳稳地坐在这里，完全不知道他妻子的命运。这里决没有什么疑问：他不知道她已经死了。

一位仆人在德里克耳边说了些什么，并递给他一封信。他说了句“原谅”之后拆开了信。一种强烈的绝望的表情浮现在他的脸上，然后他呆滞地凝视着大厅内的太太们。

“这的确是很离奇的事。罗萨莉（罗萨莉是坦普林女士的爱称），万分遗憾，我不得不离开您。警察局长要见我。不知道是什么事。”

“你的罪行已经大白于天下了。雷诺斯大笑着说道。

“是这样，”德里克说。最大的可能是一场恶作剧。但是无论如何我得去一趟。否则这个老家伙决不会在我进行这样丰盛的晚餐的时候，来打扰我。因此，可以说是发生了比较严重的事情了。”他笑着把椅子向后一移，站起身离开了大厅。