死亡约会 Part I Chapter 4（2）（在线收听）

Dr Gerard thought: ‘What an absurdity of an old tyrant!’

And then, suddenly, the old woman’s eyes were full on him, and he drew in his breath sharply.

Small black smouldering eyes they were, but something came from them, a power, a definiteforce, a wave of evil malignancy. Dr Gerard knew something about the power of personality. Herealized that this was no spoilt tyrannical invalid indulging petty whims. This old woman was adefinite force. In the malignancy of her glare he felt a resemblance to the effect produced by acobra. Mrs Boynton might be old, infirm, a prey to disease, but she was not powerless. She was awoman who knew the meaning of power, who had exercised a lifetime of power and who hadnever once doubted her own force. Dr Gerard had once met a woman who performed a mostdangerous and spectacular act with tigers. The great slinking brutes had crawled to their places andperformed their degrading and humiliating tricks. Their eyes and subdued snarls told of hatred,bitter fanatical hatred, but they had obeyed, cringed. That had been a young woman, a womanwith an arrogant dark beauty, but the look had been the same.

‘Une dompteuse,’ said Dr Gerard to himself.

And he understood now what that undercurrent to the harmless family talk had been. It washatred—a dark eddying stream of hatred.

He thought: ‘How fanciful and absurd most people would think me! Here is a commonplacedevoted American family reveling in Palestine—and I weave a story of black magic round it!’

Then he looked with interest at the quiet young woman who was called Nadine. There was awedding ring on her left hand, and as he watched her he saw her give one swift betraying glance atthe fair-haired, loose-limbed Lennox. He knew, then…They were man and wife, those two. But it was a mother’s glance rather than a wife’s—a truemother’s glance—protecting, anxious. And he knew something more. He knew that, alone out ofthat group, Nadine Boynton was unaffected by her mother-in-law’s spell. She may have dislikedthe old woman, but she was not afraid of her. The power did not touch her.

She was unhappy, deeply concerned about her husband, but she was free.

Dr Gerard said to himself: ‘All this is very interesting.’