The Moon And Sixpence 15.4

"If thatwere so, he would hardly have been such a fool as to give his partner hisaddress, " I retorted acidly. "Anyhow, there's one thing I'm positiveof, he didn't go away with anyone. He's not in love. Nothing is farther fromhis thoughts. "There was apause while they reflected over my words."Well, ifwhat you say is true, " said Mrs. MacAndrew at last, "things aren'tso bad as I thought. "Mrs. Stricklandglanced at her, but said nothing.She was verypale now, and her fine brow was dark and lowering. I could not understand theexpression of her face. Mrs. MacAndrew continued:"If it'sjust a whim, he'll get over it. ""Why don'tyou go over to him, Amy?" hazarded the Colonel. "There's no reasonwhy you shouldn't live with him in Paris for a year. We'll look after thechildren. I dare say he'd got stale. Sooner or later he'll be quite ready tocome back to London, and no great harm will have been done. ""Iwouldn't do that, " said Mrs. MacAndrew. "I'd give him all the ropehe wants. He'll come back with his tail between his legs and settle down againquite comfortably. " Mrs. MacAndrew looked at her sister coolly."Perhaps you weren't very wise with him sometimes. Men are queercreatures, and one has to know how to manage them. "“如果是这种情况，他就不会做出那种傻事来，把自己的地址告诉他的伙友，”我以尖酸的口吻驳斥说，“不管怎么说，有一件事我绝对敢保证，他并不是同别人一块走的。他没有爱上谁。他的脑子里一点儿也没想到这种事。”谈话中断了一会儿，他们在思索我这一番话。“好吧，如果你说的是真的，”麦克安德鲁太太最后开口说，“事情倒不象我想的那么糟。”思特里克兰德太太看了她一眼，没有吭声。她的脸色这时变得非常苍白，秀丽的眉毛显得很黑，向下低垂着。我不能理解她脸上的这种神情。“你为什么不找他去啊，阿美？”上校出了个主意，“你完全可以同他一起在巴黎住一年。孩子由我们照管。我敢说他不久就会厌倦了。早晚有一天他会回心转意，准备回伦敦来。一场风波就算过去了。”“要是我就不那么做，”麦克安德鲁太太说，“他爱怎么样我就让他怎么样。有一天他会夹着尾巴回家来，老老实实地过他的舒服日子。”说到这里，麦克安德鲁太太冷冷地看了她妹妹一眼。“你同他一起生活，也许有些时候太不聪明了。男人都是些奇怪的动物，你该知道怎样驾御他们。”