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第38章

  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?