Frau Kaethe Gregorovious overtook her husband on the path of their villa.
“How was Nicole?” she asked mildly; but she spoke out of breath, giving away the fact that she had held the question in her mind during her run.
Franz looked at her in surprise.
“Nicole’s not sick. What makes you ask, dearest one?”
“You see her so much—I thought she must be sick.”
“We will talk of this in the house.”
Kaethe agreed meekly. His study was over in the administration building and the children were with their tutor in the living-room; they went up to the bedroom.
“Excuse me, Franz,” said Kaethe before he could speak. “Excuse me, dear, I had no right to say that. I know my obligations and I am proud of them. But there is a bad feeling between Nicole and me.”
“Birds in their little nests agree,” Franz thundered. Finding the tone inappropriate to the sentiment he repeated his command in the spaced and considered rhythm with which his old master, Doctor Dohmler, could cast significance on the tritest platitude. “Birds—in—their—nests—agree!”
“I realize that. You haven’t seen me fail in courtesy toward Nicole.”
“I see you failing in common sense. Nicole is half a patient—she will possibly remain something of a patient all her life. In the absence of Dick I am responsible.” He hesitated; sometimes as a quiet joke he tried to keep news from Kaethe. “There was a cable from Rome this morning. Dick has had grippe and is starting home to-morrow.”
Relieved, Kaethe pursued her course in a less personal tone:
“I think Nicole is less sick than any one thinks—she only cherishes her illness as an instrument of power. She ought to be in the cinema, like your Norma Talmadge—that’s where all American women would be happy.”
“Are you jealous of Norma Talmadge, on a film?”
“I don’t like Americans. They’re selfish, selfish!”
“You like Dick?”
“I like him,” she admitted. “He’s different, he thinks of others.”
—And so does Norma Talmadge, Franz said to himself. Norma Talmadge must be a fine, noble woman beyond her loveliness. They must compel her to play foolish r?les; Norma Talmadge must be a woman whom it would be a great privilege to know.
Kaethe had forgotten about Norma Talmadge, a vivid shadow that she had fretted bitterly upon one night as they were driving home from the movies in Zurich.
“—Dick married Nicole for her money,” she said. “That was his weakness—you hinted as much yourself one night.”
“You’re being malicious.”
“I shouldn’t have said that,” she retracted. “We must all live together like birds, as you say. But it’s difficult when Nicole acts as—when Nicole pulls herself back a little, as if she were holding her breath—as if I smelt bad!”
Kaethe had touched a material truth. She did most of her work herself, and, frugal, she bought few clothes. An American shop-girl, laundering two changes of underwear every night, would have noticed a hint of yesterday’s reawakened sweat about Kaethe’s person, less a smell than an ammoniacal reminder of the eternity of toil and decay. To Franz this was as natural as the thick dark scent of Kaethe’s hair, and he would have missed it equally; but to Nicole, born hating the smell of a nurse’s fingers dressing her, it was an offense only to be endured.
“And the children,” Kaethe continued. “She doesn’t like them to play with our children—” but Franz had heard enough:
“Hold your tongue—that kind of talk can hurt me professionally, since we owe this clinic to Nicole’s money. Let us have lunch.”
Kaethe realized that her outburst had been ill-advised, but Franz’s last remark reminded her that other Americans had money, and a week later she put her dislike of Nicole into new words.
The occasion was the dinner they tendered the Divers upon Dick’s return. Hardly had their footfalls ceased on the path when she shut the door and said to Franz:
“Did you see around his eyes? He’s been on a debauch!”
“Go gently,” Franz requested. “Dick told me about that as soon as he came home. He was boxing on the trans-Atlantic ship. The American passengers box a lot on these trans-Atlantic ships.”
“I believe that?” she scoffed. “It hurts him to move one of his arms and he has an unhealed scar on his temple—you can see where the hair’s been cut away.”
Franz had not noticed these details.
“But what?” Kaethe demanded. “Do you think that sort of thing does the Clinic any good? The liquor I smelt on him tonight, and several other times since he’s been back.”
She slowed her voice to fit the gravity of what she was about to say:“Dick is no longer a serious man.”
Franz rocked his shoulders up the stairs, shaking off her persistence. In their bedroom he turned on her.
“He is most certainly a serious man and a brilliant man. Of all the men who have recently taken their degrees in neuro-pathology in Zurich, Dick has been regarded as the most brilliant—more brilliant than I could ever be.”
“For shame!”
“It’s the truth—the shame would be not to admit it. I turn to Dick when cases are highly involved. His publications are still standard in their line—go into any medical library and ask. Most students think he’s an Englishman—they don’t believe that such thoroughness could come out of America.” He groaned domestically, taking his pajamas from under the pillow, “I can’t understand why you talk this way, Kaethe—I thought you liked him.”
“For shame!” Kaethe said. “You’re the solid one, you do the work.It’s a case of hare and tortoise—and in my opinion the hare’s race is almost done.”
“Tch! Tch!”
“Very well, then. It’s true.”
With his open hand he pushed down air briskly.
“Stop!”
The upshot was that they had exchanged viewpoints like debaters. Kaethe admitted to herself that she had been too hard on Dick, whom she admired and of whom she stood in awe, who had been so appreciative and understanding of herself. As for Franz, once Kaethe’s idea had had time to sink in, he never after believed that Dick was a serious person. And as time went on he convinced himself that he had never thought so.
凱綏·格雷戈羅維斯夫人在他們家別墅的小徑上緊走幾步趕上了她丈夫。
“尼科爾怎么啦?”她語(yǔ)氣輕松地問(wèn),但由于喘息未定就發(fā)問(wèn),說(shuō)明她跑過(guò)來(lái)時(shí)心里就在想這個(gè)問(wèn)題。
弗朗茨詫異地看了看她。
“尼科爾沒(méi)事。你干嗎問(wèn)這個(gè),親愛(ài)的?”
“你老去看她——我想她肯定是病了?!?/p>
“咱們回家再說(shuō)吧。”
凱綏順從地點(diǎn)點(diǎn)頭。他在辦公樓的工作已經(jīng)結(jié)束,而孩子們跟他們的家庭教師在客廳里,于是夫妻倆上樓去了臥室。
“對(duì)不起,弗朗茨,”沒(méi)等丈夫說(shuō)話,凱綏便先開了口,“對(duì)不起,親愛(ài)的,我不該那么問(wèn)。我明白我的職責(zé),并為這種職責(zé)感到自豪。不過(guò),我和尼科爾之間有一種隔膜?!?/p>
“同巢之鳥應(yīng)該和睦相處!”弗朗茨大聲叫道。隨后,他覺(jué)得這樣的腔調(diào)與自己所要表達(dá)的感情不合拍,于是就換上了一種一字一頓、抑揚(yáng)頓挫的語(yǔ)調(diào)將剛才的話又重復(fù)了一遍:“同——巢——之——鳥——應(yīng)——該——和——睦——相——處!”他老師多姆勒醫(yī)生慣用這種語(yǔ)調(diào)說(shuō)話,讓最無(wú)聊的陳詞濫調(diào)也顯得大有深意。
“這我知道。你沒(méi)見(jiàn)過(guò)我對(duì)尼科爾有失禮之處吧?”
“我看你是缺乏常識(shí)。尼科爾是半個(gè)病人,也許終生都要跟病魔做斗爭(zhēng)。迪克不在的時(shí)候,我有責(zé)任照顧她?!闭f(shuō)到這里,他有些猶豫,停頓了一下才又說(shuō)了下去,因?yàn)橛袝r(shí)他覺(jué)得不該說(shuō)的事情還是不要告訴凱綏為好,“今天上午從羅馬來(lái)了封電報(bào)——迪克得了流感,他明天啟程回來(lái)?!?/p>
凱綏松了口氣,接著就用一種比較平緩的語(yǔ)氣繼續(xù)說(shuō)道:“我覺(jué)得尼科爾病得并不像人們所想的那么厲害——她只是以此作為幌子顯示自己的能力。她真應(yīng)該去演電影,就像你所欣賞的諾瑪·塔爾梅奇那樣——所有的美國(guó)女子都樂(lè)于上銀幕?!?/p>
“電影里的諾瑪·塔爾梅奇也讓你吃醋啦?”
“反正我就是不喜歡美國(guó)人。他們自私,太自私了!”
“你喜歡迪克嗎?”
“我喜歡他,”她承認(rèn)道,“他與眾不同,遇事老替別人著想?!?/p>
弗朗茨心想:“諾瑪·塔爾梅奇也是一樣的。她不僅艷壓群芳,還必定是個(gè)溫文爾雅、品格高尚的人。她出演庸俗的角色,一定是受到了導(dǎo)演的強(qiáng)迫。如果能結(jié)識(shí)這樣一個(gè)女子,那真是三生有幸!”
他們?cè)谔K黎世看過(guò)諾瑪·塔爾梅奇演的電影,回家的路上,凱綏就像一個(gè)打翻了的醋壇子,把一個(gè)明明生動(dòng)的形象說(shuō)得一無(wú)是處。而今,她對(duì)諾瑪·塔爾梅奇的那股醋意早已不見(jiàn)了。
“迪克娶尼科爾是看上了她的錢,”只聽她說(shuō)道,“那是他的弱點(diǎn)……記得有天夜里,你好像也透露出了這樣的意思?!?/p>
“你這是血口噴人。”
“我不該這么說(shuō),”她連忙改了口,“正如你所言:同巢之鳥應(yīng)該和睦相處!可是,尼科爾那個(gè)樣子,就難跟她和睦相處了——她見(jiàn)了我就把身子往后縮,似乎還屏住呼吸,就好像我身上有臭味一樣!”
凱綏說(shuō)的是實(shí)情。她操持家務(wù),生活節(jié)儉,很少給自己買衣服穿。就連美國(guó)的女店員一夜也要換洗兩套內(nèi)衣,她們也會(huì)留意到凱綏身上散發(fā)出的隔天的汗酸味——確切地說(shuō),那是一種表象,是凱綏勞作不休、體質(zhì)變差所產(chǎn)生的類似氨水的味道。弗朗茨對(duì)此已習(xí)以為常,就像聞凱綏的頭發(fā)散發(fā)出的濃濃的氣味一樣,要是聞不到,還會(huì)想念呢。尼科爾則不然——她討厭為她穿衣服的護(hù)士手上的氣味,自然也就不愿忍受凱綏身上的氣味了。
“還有呢,”凱綏繼續(xù)發(fā)著牢騷,“她不愿讓他們家的孩子跟咱們的孩子一起玩……”
弗朗茨聽夠了,于是便說(shuō)道:“你應(yīng)該管住你的嘴!這種話會(huì)毀了我的事業(yè),因?yàn)槲覀兛苛四峥茽柕腻X才有了這家診所。咱們吃飯吧?!?/p>
凱綏意識(shí)到她這番發(fā)作實(shí)在欠妥,但弗朗茨的最后一句話倒提醒了她,讓她覺(jué)得美國(guó)人財(cái)大氣粗,可以胡作非為。一個(gè)星期后,她對(duì)尼科爾的不滿找到了新的發(fā)泄口。
當(dāng)時(shí),迪克回來(lái),他們?cè)O(shè)宴為他接風(fēng)。宴后,戴弗夫婦的腳步聲剛剛從小徑上消失,她就關(guān)上房門,對(duì)弗朗茨說(shuō):“你看見(jiàn)他的眼圈了嗎?他可太放縱了!”
“別說(shuō)得那么難聽?!备ダ蚀淖l責(zé)道,“迪克一回家就把事情告訴了我。他在橫渡大西洋的輪船上玩了玩拳擊。在這些橫渡大西洋的輪船上常有美國(guó)乘客參加拳擊活動(dòng)。”
“這話我能相信嗎?”她哼了哼鼻子說(shuō),“他的一條胳膊一動(dòng)就叫疼,太陽(yáng)穴的一處傷口還沒(méi)有愈合——你可以看見(jiàn)那兒的頭發(fā)被剪掉了?!?/p>
弗朗茨可沒(méi)有注意到這些細(xì)節(jié)。
“難道不蹊蹺嗎?”凱綏問(wèn)道,“難道你會(huì)認(rèn)為這種情況能給診所增光添彩嗎?今晚我聞到他身上有一股酒氣——他回來(lái)后,我已多次聞到他酒氣熏天了。”
說(shuō)到這里,她把語(yǔ)速放慢,以顯示她所說(shuō)的情況是十分嚴(yán)重的。“迪克不再是個(gè)生活嚴(yán)肅的人了?!?/p>
弗朗茨聳聳肩上了樓,不愿再聽她喋喋不休的指責(zé)。到了臥室,他轉(zhuǎn)向她說(shuō):“他當(dāng)然是個(gè)生活嚴(yán)肅的人,還是個(gè)才華橫溢的人。近來(lái)在蘇黎世取得神經(jīng)病理學(xué)學(xué)位的大有人在,而他被認(rèn)為是最有才華的——他叫我一輩子都望塵莫及?!?/p>
“丟臉!”
“這是明擺著的事實(shí)——不承認(rèn)這一點(diǎn)才丟臉呢。每當(dāng)遇到疑難病例,我就去請(qǐng)教迪克。他的著作在精神病學(xué)領(lǐng)域一直都是經(jīng)典——到醫(yī)學(xué)院的圖書館一問(wèn)便知。莘莘學(xué)子大多以為他是英國(guó)人——他們不相信如此完美的經(jīng)典之作會(huì)出自一個(gè)美國(guó)人之手?!彼麌K嘖贊嘆,隨手從枕頭下面取出睡衣來(lái),“我不明白你為什么要說(shuō)這樣的話,凱綏——我以為你是喜歡他的?!?/p>
“丟臉!”凱綏說(shuō),“你是實(shí)干家,事情都是你做的。這是一場(chǎng)龜兔賽跑的游戲——依我看,兔子也快輸了。”
“行啦!行啦!”
“好吧,好吧。這是實(shí)際情況嘛?!?/p>
他叉開五指,把手用力往下一揮。
“別說(shuō)了!”
夫妻倆的這場(chǎng)談話猶如一場(chǎng)辯論,他們各抒己見(jiàn),針鋒相對(duì)。末了,凱綏承認(rèn)自己不該過(guò)于苛責(zé)迪克——她畢竟是崇拜和敬畏迪克的,而迪克對(duì)她也很欣賞,很理解。至于弗朗茨,妻子的話漸漸被淡忘于時(shí)間的長(zhǎng)河里,但從那以后他再也不覺(jué)得迪克是個(gè)生活嚴(yán)肅的人了。隨著時(shí)間的推移,他越發(fā)覺(jué)得自己從來(lái)就不認(rèn)為迪克是個(gè)生活嚴(yán)肅的人。
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