Маленькая хозяйка большого дома / The Little Lady Of The Big House

© Матвеев С. А., адаптация текста, комментарии, упражнения, словарь, 2018

© ООО «Издательство АСТ», 2018

1

“Paula[1],” Dick Forrest[2], a rich rancher, said to his wife, a vivacious, athletic, and self-aware woman. “My best friend, Evan Graham[3], will arrive tomorrow morning. Tell the servant to put him in the watchtower[4]. I hope he will work on his book.”

“Graham?—Graham?” Paula asked. “Do I know him?”

“You met him once two years ago, inSantiago[5]. He had dinner with us.”

“Oh, one of those naval officers?”

Dick shook his head.

“Thecivilian[6]. Don’t you remember that big blond fellow—you talked about music with him for half an hour?”

“Oh, to be sure,” Paula vaguely recollected. “He’d met you somewhere before …South Africa[7], wasn’t it? Or the Philippines[8]?”

“That’s right. South Africa, it was. Evan Graham. Next time we met was on the boat on theYellow Sea[9].”

“Butwho about him[10], and what about him?” Paula queried. “And what’s the book?”

“Well, first of all,beginning at the end[11], he’s broke[12]—that is, for him, he’s broke. He’s got an income of several thousand a year left, but all that his father left him is gone. But he doesn’t whimper. He’d graduated from the university. His book covers last year’s trip across South America[13], West coast to East coast. The Brazilian government voluntarily gave him an honorarium of ten thousand dollars for the information concerning unexplored portions of Brazil[14]. Oh, he’s a man, a real man! You know the type—clean, big, strong, simple; been everywhere, seen everything, knows most of a lot of things, straight, looks you in the eyes—well, in short, a real man, indeed!”

Ernestine[15], Paula’s sister, clapped her hands, and exclaimed: “And he will come tomorrow!”

Dick shook his head reprovingly.

“Oh,nothing in that direction[16], Ernestine. Many nice girls like you have tried to hook Evan Graham. And, between ourselves, I couldn’t blame them. But he’s had fast legs, and they’ve always failed to get him into a corner[17], where, dazed and breathless, he could mechanically mutter ‘Yes’ and come out of the trance to find himself roped, thrown, and married. Forget him, Ernestine. Graham is not for you. He’s old like me—just about the same age, forty years old—and, like me, he’s seen a lot. He knows how to run away in time. He doesn’t care for young ladies. He is merely old, and very wise.”

2

“Where’s my little boy?” Dick shouted, walking through the Big House in quest of its Little Lady.

He came to the door that gave entrance to the long wing. It was a door without a knob, a huge panel of wood in a wood-paneled wall. But Dick knew the secret; he pressed the spring, and the door swung wide.

“Where’s my little boy?” he called again.

A glance into the bathroom was fruitless, as were the glances he sent into Paula’s wardrobe room and dressing room. He passed the short, broad stairway that led to her empty divan. He noticed adrawing easel[18].

“Where’s my little boy?” he shouted out to the sleeping porch; and found only a demure Chinese woman of thirty, who smiled with embarrassment.

This was Paula’s maid. Dick had taken her, as a child almost, for Paula’s service, from a fishing village on the Yellow Sea.

“Where is your mistress?” Dick asked.

“She maybe with young ladies—I don’t know,” she stammered; and Dick swung away on his heel.

Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

Текст предоставлен ООО «Литрес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на Литрес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.

1

Paula – Паола

2

Dick Forrest – Дик Форрест

3

Evan Graham – Ивэн Грэхем

4

watch-tower – сторожевая башня

5

Santiago – Сантьяго

6

civilian – штатский

7

South Africa – Южная Африка

8

Philippines – Филиппины

9

Yellow Sea – Жёлтое море

10

who about him – кто он такой

11

beginning at the end – если начать с конца

12

he’s broke – он разорён

13

South America – Южная Америка

14

Brazil – Бразилия

15

Ernestine – Эрнестина

16

nothing in that direction —здесь ничего не получится

17

to get him into a corner – загнать его в угол

18

drawing easel – мольберт