MissDunnehidtheCapelstreetlibrarycopyofTheWomaninWhitefarbackinherdrawerandrolledasheetofgaudynotepaperintohertypewriter。
Toomuchmysterybusinessinit。Isheinlovewiththatone,Marion?
ChangeitandgetanotherbyMaryCecilHaye。
Thediskshotdownthegroove,wobbledawhile,ceasedandogledthem:
six。
MissDunneclickedonthekeyboard:
16June1904。
FivetallwhitehattedsandwichmenbetweenMonypeny’scornerandtheslabwhereWolfeTone’sstatuewasnot,eeledthemselvesturningH。E。L。Y。’S
andploddedbackastheyhadcome。
ThenshestaredatthelargeposterofMarieKendall,charmingsoubrette,and,listlesslylolling,scribbledonthejottersixteensandcapitalesses。
Mustardhairanddaubycheeks。She’snotnicelooking,isshe?Thewaysheisholdingupherbitofaskirt。Wonderwillthatfellowbeatthebandtonight。IfIcouldgetthatdressmakertomakeaconcertinaskirtlikeSusyNagle’s。Theykickoutgrand。Shannonandalltheboatclubswellsnevertookhiseyesoffher。Hopetogoodnesshewon’tkeepmeheretillseven。
Thetelephonerangrudelybyherear。
Hello。Yes,sir。No,sir。Yes,sir。I’llringthemupafterfive。
Onlythosetwo,sir,forBelfastandLiverpool。Allright,sir。ThenI
cangoaftersixifyou’renotback。Aquarterafter。Yes,sir。Twentysevenandsix。I’lltellhim。Yes:one,seven,six。
Shescribbledthreefiguresonanenvelope。
MrBoylanlHello!ThatgentlemanfromSportwasinlookingforyou。MrLenehan,yes。Hesaidhe’llbeintheOrmondatfour。No,sir。
Yes,sir。I’llringthemupafterfive。
Twopinkfacesturnedintheflareofthetinytorch。
Who’sthat?NedLambertasked。IsthatCrotty?
RingabellaandCrosshaven,avoicereplied,gropingforfoothold。
Hello,Jack,isthatyourself?NedLambertsaid,raisinginsalutehispliantlathamongtheflickeringarches。Comeon。Mindyourstepsthere。
Thevestaintheclergyman’supliftedhandconsumeditselfInalongsoftflameandwasletfall。Attheirfeetitsredspeckdied:andmouldyairclosedroundthem。
Howinteresting!arefinedaccentsaidinthegloom。
Yes,sir,NedLambertsaidheartily。WearestandinginthehistoriccouncilchamberofsaintMary’sabbeywheresilkenThomasproclaimedhimselfarebelin1534。ThisisthemosthistoricspotinallDublin。O’MaddenBurkeisgoingtowritesomethingaboutitoneofthesedays。TheoldbankofIrelandwasoverthewaytillthetimeoftheunionandtheoriginaljews’templewasheretoobeforetheybuilttheirsynagogueoverinAdelaideroad。Youwereneverherebefore,Jack,wereyou?
No,Ned。
HerodedownthroughDamewalk,therefinedaccentsaid,ifmymemoryservesme。ThemansionoftheKildareswasinThomascourt。
That’sright,NedLambertsaid。That’squiteright,sir。
Ifyouwillbesokindthen,theclergymansaid,thenexttimetoallowmeperhaps。
Certainly,NedLambertsaid。Bringthecamerawheneveryoulike。
I’llgetthosebagsclearedawayfromthewindows。Youcantakeitfromhereorfromhere。
Inthestillfaintlighthemovedabout,tappingwithhislaththepiledseedbagsandpointsofvantageonthefloor。
Fromalongfaceabeardandgazehungonachessboard。
I’mdeeplyobliged,MrLambert,theclergymansaid。Iwon’ttrespassonyourvaluabletime……
You’rewelcome,sir,NedLambertsaid。Dropinwheneveryoulike。
Nextweek,say。Canyousee?
Yes,yes。Goodafternoon,MrLambert。Verypleasedtohavemetyou。
Pleasureismine,sir,NedLambertanswered。
Hefollowedhisguesttotheoutletandthenwhirledhislathawayamongthepillars。WithJ。J。O’MolloyhecameforthslowlyintoMary’sabbeywheredraymenwereloadingfloatswithsacksofcarobandpalmnutmeal,O’Connor,Wexford。
Hestoodtoreadthecardinhishand。
ThereverendHughC。Love,Rathcoffey。Presentaddress:SaintMichael’s,Sallins。Niceyoungchapheis。He’swritingabookabouttheFitzgeraldshetoldme。He’swellupinhistory,faith。
Theyoungwomanwithslowcaredetachedfromherlightskirtaclingingtwig。
Ithoughtyouwereatanewgunpowderplot,J。J。O’Molloysaid。
NedLambertcrackedhisfingersintheair。
God,hecried。IforgottotellhimthatoneabouttheearlofKildareafterhesetfiretoCashelcathedral。Youknowthatone?I’mbloodysorryIdidit,sayshe,butIdeclaretoGodIthoughtthearchbishopwasinside。Hemightn’tlikeit,though。What?God,I’lltellhimanyhow。
Thatwasthegreatearl,theFitzgeraldMor。Hotmemberstheywereallofthem,theGeraldines。
Thehorseshepassedstartednervouslyundertheirslackharness。Heslappedapiebaldhaunchquiveringnearhimandcried:
Woa,sonny!
HeturnedtoJ。J。O’Molloyandasked:
Well,Jack。Whatisit?What’sthetrouble?Waitawhile。Holdhard。
Withgapingmouthandheadfarbackhestoodstilland,afteraninstant,sneezedloudly。
Chow!hesaid。Blastyou!
Thedustfromthosesacks,J。J。O’Molloysaidpolitely。
No,NedLambertgasped,Icaughta……coldnightbefore……blastyoursoul……nightbeforelast……andtherewasahellofalotofdraught……
Heheldhishandkerchiefreadyforthecoming……
Iwas……thismorning……poorlittle……whatdoyoucallhim……Chow!……
MotherofMoses!
TomRochfordtookthetopdiskfromthepileheclaspedagainsthisclaretwaistcoat。
See?hesaid。Sayit’sturnsix。Inhere,see。TurnNowOn。
Hesliditintotheleftslotforthem。Itshotdownthegroove,wobbledawhile,ceased,oglingthem:six。
Lawyersofthepast,haughty,pleading,beheldpassfromtheconsolidatedtaxingofficetoNisiPriuscourtRichieGouldingcarryingthecostbagofGoulding,CollisandWardandheardrustlingfromtheadmiraltydivisionofKing’sbenchtothecourtofappealanelderlyfemalewithfalseteethsmilingincredulouslyandablacksilkskirtofgreatamplitude。
See?hesaid。SeenowthelastoneIputinisoverhere。TurnsOver。
Theimpact。Leverage,see?
Heshowedthemtherisingcolumnofdisksontheright。
Smartidea,NoseyFlynnsaid,snuffling。Soafellowcominginlatecanseewhatturnisonandwhatturnsareover。
See?TomRochfordsaid。
Heslidinadiskforhimself:andwatcheditshoot,wobble,ogle,stop:
four。TurnNowOn。
I’llseehimnowintheOrmond,Lenehansaid,andsoundhim。Onegoodturndeservesanother。
Do,TomRochfordsaid。TellhimI’mBoylanwithimpatience。
Goodnight,M’Coysaidabruptly,whenyoutwobegin。
NoseyFlynnstoopedtowardsthelever,snufflingatit。
Buthowdoesitworkhere,Tommy?heasked。
Tooraloo,Lenehansaid,seeyoulater。
HefollowedM’CoyoutacrossthetinysquareofCramptoncourt。
He’sahero,hesaidsimply。
Iknow,M’Coysaid。Thedrain,youmean。
Drain?Lenehansaid。Itwasdownamanhole。
TheypassedDanLowry’smusichallwhereMarieKendall,charmingsoubrette,smiledonthemfromaposteradaubysmile。
GoingdownthepathofSycamorestreetbesidetheEmpiremusichallLenehanshowedM’Coyhowthewholethingwas。Oneofthosemanholeslikeabloodygaspipeandtherewasthepoordevilstuckdowninithalfchokedwithsewergas。DownwentTomRochfordanyhow,booky’svestandall,withtheroperoundhim。Andbedamnedbuthegottheroperoundthepoordevilandthetwowerehauledup。
Theactofahero,hesaid。
AttheDolphintheyhaltedtoallowtheambulancecartogalloppastthemforJervisstreet。
Thisway,hesaid,walkingtotheright。IwanttopopintoLynam’stoseeSceptre’sstartingprice。What’sthetimebyyourgoldwatchandchain?
M’CoypeeredintoMarcusTertiusMoses’sombreoffice,thenatO’Neill’sclock。
Afterthree,hesaid。Who’sridingher?
O。Madden,Lenehansaid。Andagamefillysheis。
WhilehewaitedinTemplebarM’Coydodgedabananapeelwithgentlepushesofhistoefromthepathtothegutter。Fellowmightdamneasygetanastyfalltherecomingalongtightinthedark。
Thegatesofthedriveopenedwidetogiveegresstothevice-regalcavalcade。
Evenmoney,Lenehansaidreturning。IknockedagainstBantamLyonsintheregoingtobackabloodyhorsesomeonegavehimthathasn’tanearthly。
Throughhere。
TheywentupthestepsandunderMerchants’arch。Adark-backedfigurescannedbooksonthehawker’scart。
Thereheis,Lenehansaid。
Wonderwhatheisbuying,M’Coysaid,glancingbehind。
LeopoldoortheBloomisontheRye,Lenehansaid。
He’sdeadnutsonsales,M’Coysaid。IwaswithhimonedayandheboughtabookfromanoldoneinLiffeystreetfortwobob。Therewerefineplatesinitworthdoublethemoney,thestarsandthemoonandcometswithlongtails。Astronomyitwasabout。
Lenehanlaughed。
I’lltellyouadamngoodoneaboutcomets’tails,hesaid。Comeoverinthesun。
TheycrossedtothemetalbridgeandwentalongWellingtonquaybytheriverwall。
MasterPatrickAloysiusDignamcameoutofMangan’s,lateFehrenbach’s,carryingapoundandahalfofporksteaks。
TherewasabigspreadoutatGlencreereformatory,Lenehansaideagerly。Theannualdinneryouknow。Boiledshirtaffair。Thelordmayorwasthere,ValDillonitwas,andsirCharlesCameronandDanDawsonspokeandtherewasmusic。BartellD’ArcysangandBenjaminDollard。
Iknow,M’Coybrokein。Mymissussangthereonce。
Didshe?Lenehansaid。
AcardUnfurnishedApartmentsreappearedonthewindowsashofnumber7Ecclesstreet。
Hecheckedhistaleamomentbutbrokeoutinawheezylaugh。
ButwaittillItellyou,hesaid。DelahuntofCamdenstreethadthecateringandyourstrulywaschiefbottlewasher。Bloomandthewifewerethere。Lashingsofstuffweputup:portwineandsherryandcuraç;aotowhichwedidamplejustice。Fastandfuriousitwas。Afterliquidscamesolids。Coldjointsgaloreandmincepies。
Iknow,M’Coysaid。Theyearthemissuswasthere……
Lenehanlinkedhisarmwarmly。
ButwaittillItellyou,hesaid。Wehadamidnightlunchtooafterallthejollificationandwhenwesalliedforthitwasblueo’clockthemorningafterthenightbefore。Cominghomeitwasagorgeouswinter’snightontheFeatherbedMountain。BloomandChrisCallinanwereononesideofthecarandIwaswiththewifeontheother。Westartedsinginggleesandduets:Lo,theearlybeamofmorning。ShewaswellprimedwithagoodloadofDelahunt’sportunderherbellyband。EveryjoltthebloodycargaveIhadherbumpingupagainstme。Hell’sdelights!Shehasafinepair,Godblessher。Likethat。
Heheldhiscavedhandsacubitfromhim,frowning:
Iwastuckingtherugunderherandsettlingherboaallthetime。
KnowwhatImean?
第38章