登陆注册
5387400000045

第45章 FATE(2)

"I have yet to learn that my verses and my art causerie are of second-rate quality," said Mrs. Thundleford with acerbity.

"However, as you all seem bent on watching a silly game, there's no more to be said. I shall go upstairs and finish some writing.

Later on, perhaps, I will come down and join you."

To one, at least, of the onlookers the game was anything but silly.

It was absorbing, exciting, exasperating, nerve-stretching, and finally it grew to be tragic. The Major with the St. Moritz reputation was playing a long way below his form, young Strinnit was playing slightly above his, and had all the luck of the game as well. From the very start the balls seemed possessed by a demon of contrariness; they trundled about complacently for one player, they would go nowhere for the other.

"A hundred and seventy, seventy-four," sang out the youth who was marking. In a game of two hundred and fifty up it was an enormous lead to hold. Clovis watched the flush of excitement die away from Dillot's face, and a hard white look take its place.

"How much have you go on?" whispered Clovis. The other whispered the sum through dry, shaking lips. It was more than he or any one connected with him could pay; he had done what he had said he would do. He had been rash.

"Two hundred and six, ninety-eight."

Rex heard a clock strike ten somewhere in the hall, then another somewhere else, and another, and another; the house seemed full of striking clocks. Then in the distance the stable clock chimed in.

In another hour they would all be striking eleven, and he would be listening to them as a disgraced outcast, unable to pay, even in part, the wager he had challenged.

"Two hundred and eighteen, a hundred and three." The game was as good as over. Rex was as good as done for. He longed desperately for the ceiling to fall in, for the house to catch fire, for anything to happen that would put an end to that horrible rolling to and fro of red and white ivory that was jostling him nearer and nearer to his doom.

"Two hundred and twenty-eight, a hundred and seven."

Rex opened his cigarette-case; it was empty. That at least gave him a pretext to slip away from the room for the purpose of refilling it; he would spare himself the drawn-out torture of watching that hopeless game played out to the bitter end. He backed away from the circle of absorbed watchers and made his way up a short stairway to a long, silent corridor of bedrooms, each with a guests' name written in a little square on the door. In the hush that reigned in this part of the house he could still hear the hateful click-click of the balls; if he waited for a few minutes longer he would hear the little outbreak of clapping and buzz of congratulation that would hail Strinnit's victory. On the alert tension of his nerves there broke another sound, the aggressive, wrath-inducing breathing of one who sleeps in heavy after-dinner slumber. The sound came from a room just at his elbow; the card on the door bore the announcement "Mrs. Thundleford." The door was just slightly ajar;

Rex pushed it open an inch or two more and looked in. The august Teresa had fallen asleep over an illustrated guide to Florentine art-galleries; at her side, somewhat dangerously near the edge of the table, was a reading-lamp. If Fate had been decently kind to him, thought Rex, bitterly, that lamp would have been knocked over by the sleeper and would have given them something to think of besides billiard matches.

There are occasions when one must take one's Fate in one's hands.

Rex took the lamp in his.

"Two hundred and thirty-seven, one hundred and fifteen." Strinnit was at the table, and the balls lay in good position for him; he had a choice of two fairly easy shots, a choice which he was never to decide. A sudden hurricane of shrieks and a rush of stumbling feet sent every one flocking to the door. The Dillot boy crashed into the room, carrying in his arms the vociferous and somewhat dishevelled Teresa Thundleford; her clothing was certainly not a mass of flames, as the more excitable members of the party afterwards declared, but the edge of her skirt and part of the table-cover in which she had been hastily wrapped were alight in a flickering, half-hearted manner. Rex flung his struggling burden on the billiard table, and for one breathless minute the work of beating out the sparks with rugs and cushions and playing on them with soda-water syphons engrossed the energies of the entire company.

"It was lucky I was passing when it happened," panted Rex; "some one had better see to the room, I think the carpet is alight."

As a matter of fact the promptitude and energy of the rescuer had prevented any great damage being done, either to the victim or her surroundings. The billiard table had suffered most, and had to be laid up for repairs; perhaps it was not the best place to have chosen for the scene of salvage operations; but then, as Clovis remarked, when one is rushing about with a blazing woman in one's arms one can't stop to think out exactly where one is going to put her.

同类推荐
  • 观物外篇

    观物外篇

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 集验方

    集验方

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 秀野林禅师语录

    秀野林禅师语录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 摩诃止观科节

    摩诃止观科节

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 续明纪事本末

    续明纪事本末

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 情途陌路

    情途陌路

    听闻自己父亲重病入院,在需要一大笔钱之后,柳烟儿在刚上班的第一天,就直闯总裁办公室,哪里料到,为此的看到了一幕——,原本以为,自己会似小说里边的,遇上一个好心的总裁,给自己带来一线的生机,哪里曾想到,自己遇上的,是一个流氓总裁,非但不答应救自己,反而还落井下石,在告诉她天下没有免费的午餐之后,给了她一纸的契约。
  • 百家争鸣

    百家争鸣

    这本《百家争鸣》由金开诚主编,陈长文编著:百家争鸣是指春秋战国时期知识分子中不同学派的涌现及各流派争芳斗艳的局面。
  • 我心如初

    我心如初

    一段年少时的爱恋,牵出一生的纠缠。大学时代的林珊阳光灿烂,意外邂逅了大三学长徐睿。开朗直率的她和才气出众的徐睿在青青校园的背景下,产生了一系列的爱情纠葛。然而,不善表达的他终于使她在一次伤心之下远走他乡……
  • 重生之民国夫人

    重生之民国夫人

    玉寒锁烟色,晚来缘几何?他出身军阀,手握重兵,对她强取豪夺;她出身名门,美名远扬,却被他死死纠缠;一个霸道强硬,想将人牢牢锁在身边,一个负隅顽抗,想逃离得无影无踪。一场车祸,一世重生,前世今生爱恨纠葛,牵扯着志在天下的青年军阀,深陷情爱的青梅竹马,江山与爱人,两场生死较量,究竟谁能赢尽天下?江山美人、军阀混战、重生锁恋,尽在《重生之民国夫人》。
  • 水浒传之谜

    水浒传之谜

    梁山好汉中为什么一个农民也没有,梁山英雄有多少真人真事,宋江究竟有没有武艺,李师师有功于梁山吗?梁山一百零八将是偶然巧合吗?“三碗不过冈”是什么酒,《水浒传》里为什么很少吃猪肉,卢俊义为什么会坐上梁山第二把交椅。
  • 驱鬼

    驱鬼

    夹着报纸、拎着早餐的杜仲,一阵左闪右躲,在忙忙碌碌开市的小贩和狭窄的弄堂中穿行而过,驾轻就熟地挤进一间低矮的小楼。当初他决定将侦探社开在这里就是图热闹。人多的地方才有事情发生,敏锐的好奇心是一个侦探必不可少的首要条件。转眼间,侦探社开了半年有余。每天数次穿行于窗外的那条小巷,加上一天到晚受到市声的耳濡目染,使得杜仲对街上哪个小贩缺斤短两、哪个童叟无欺、哪个有什么小习惯、哪个有不为人知的秘密等等,清楚得像一面镜子。这是很平常的一天,和往日并没有什么不同。
  • 坠羽司命书

    坠羽司命书

    他,为爱创下旷世奇书《坠羽司命》,又为了一对姐妹背离羽族。当他被封印时,失传已久的《坠羽司命》再次出现,变为了他的眼睛:看她身世凄苦,远嫁敌方、备受欺凌,最终如何成为女祭司;看她如何因司命人一言而被囚禁在千年岛,一次次向命运抗争……
  • 绑定终身:冷少的迷糊女佣

    绑定终身:冷少的迷糊女佣

    他说:能够遇上你,是我这一生最大的幸福!她说:遇上你,是我这一生最大的不幸,我是倒了八辈子才遇上了你。他是H市权势滔天的冷少,只要他想要的,就没有得不到的,却唯独她!妃璃鳕本该自由自在享受美好的时光,却被突然告知她自小定了一个娃娃亲,天!这都什么年代了,还娃娃亲?秉着新时代良好的思想,妃璃鳕对此不屑一顾,却不想回家路上遭绑架,这还不算,竟让她堂堂林家大小姐给他当女佣?自此惹上了一匹腹黑奸诈,披着羊皮的狼!传言他高冷,不言苟笑?可是这个厚颜无耻的男人又是怎么回事?叔可忍婶不可忍,妃璃鳕奋起一脚,踹开了某男:混蛋,不要得寸进尺!
  • 嗜血拽妃

    嗜血拽妃

    推荐发发新文——《豪门独家萌妻》!!!她,遭队友陷害,一朝穿越竟沦落为爹不疼、家姐辱打、族人耻笑的慕三小姐,虽有倾世容颜,却是百年难得一见的废材。废材?逼婚?嘲笑?看她如何翻身斗家姐、揍族人、杀敌人。再次翻身,爱慕者一大推,上门求婚踏破门槛,只见某男抱着宝宝指着下面的人说道:“宝宝,只有你爹才配得上你娘,看那个,没有你爹我高、那个,没有你爹我富、那个没有你爹我帅,那个……【内设一对萌宝。】
  • 母皇系统之千基变

    母皇系统之千基变

    一次有预谋的意外,让主角完整的融合了一只虫族母皇,成为拥有母皇基因改造系统的新人类,从此开始了在异界彪悍的升级之旅。 母皇,所有生物基因的终极处理器,打造完美肉体武装的无上神器。 豹之爪,虎之牙,鹰之翼,龙之息,比蒙之力,神灵之威…… 所有强大的生物基因,都是我手中的音符,我用它们谱写最华丽热血的战斗乐章。 千基变的乐章已经奏响,让我们开战吧! _______________________________________________________ 新书《卖主角的小主神》书号3385777,已开,欢迎大家欣赏