Chapter 10 ten

A day or two later, Mrs. Strickland sent me a note asking me to come to her house that evening.I found her alone at home.She was dressed in black, so simple that it was almost serious, suggesting the misfortunes that had happened to her.True as her mournful feelings were, she had not forgotten to dress herself in accordance with the part the etiquette in her mind called her to play.I was so unsophisticated at the time and was very surprised. You said that if I asked you for anything, you were willing to help.she spoke. Not bad at all. So would you like to go to Paris and see how Strickland is?

I? I was taken aback.It occurred to me that I had only seen Strickland once.I don't know what she wants me to do. Fred was determined to go.Fred was Colonel MacAndrew.But I know he's definitely not the type to do this kind of thing.He will only make things worse.I don't know who to ask. Her voice trembled a little, and I felt that even if I hesitated a little, it would be too heartless. But I have not spoken ten words to your husband.He doesn't know me.He might send me away with a word. It does you no harm either.Mrs. Strickland laughed. What exactly do you want me to do?

She didn't answer my question directly. I think it's to his advantage that he doesn't know you.You know, he never liked Fred.He thought Fred was a fool.He doesn't understand soldiers.Fred would be furious.If the two had a big quarrel, not only would the matter not go well, but it would even get worse.If you tell him you're going on my behalf, he won't refuse you to talk to him. I have not known you very long, and I reply that it is difficult to deal with such matters unless you know all the details.I don't like to inquire about things that don't concern me.Why don't you go see him yourself?

You forget, he's not alone there. I didn't say anything.I thought I was going to visit Charles.Strickland, hand me my card, and I think of him coming into the room and holding my card between two fingers. What do you want to do? I'm here to talk to you about your wife. Yeah?When you are a few years older, you will definitely understand that you should not meddle in other people's business.If you turn your head slightly to the left, you'll see a door there.goodbye. Predictably, it was difficult for me to walk out with dignity.I do wish to be back in London a few days late, and not come back until Mrs. Strickland has settled the matter.I stole a glance at her.She was lost in thought.But she immediately looked up at me, sighed, and smiled.

So suddenly, she said, we've been married for sixteen years, and I never dreamed that Charles was such a person that he could be attracted to anyone.We've always gotten along very well.Of course, I have many interests and hobbies that are different from his. Did you find out who it was, I don't know how to put it, who was that person, who was walking with him? No.It seems that no one knows.Too strange.Under normal circumstances, if a man has a relationship with someone, he will always be seen, go out to eat or something.A wife always has friends who come and tell her these things.I was not warned there was no warning.His letter was like a bolt from the blue to me.I thought he had been living happily ever after.

She started to cry, poor woman, I feel so sorry for her.But after a while she gradually calmed down again. I shouldn't be taken as a joke, she wiped her eyes and said, the only thing to do is to decide quickly what to do. She went on talking, somewhat incoherently; now about the recent past, now about their first meeting and marriage.But in this way a fairly clear picture of their lives gradually formed in my mind.I think my guess in the past is still correct. Mrs. Strickland's father worked as a civil servant in India and settled in the remote countryside of England after retirement, but every August he would bring the whole family to Issey Terbaun went for a change of scenery.It was there that she met Charles.Strickland's.She was twenty that year, and Strickland was twenty-three.They played tennis together, walked on the Esplanade, and listened to mariachi singers.She had made up her mind to accept his proposal a week before he made it official.They settled down in London, at first in Hampstead, and then, as they became better off, moved into the city.They have two children.

He seemed to have always liked the two kids.Even though he is tired of me, I don't understand how he could have the heart to abandon the child too.It's all just unbelievable.To this day I can't believe it was true. At last she showed me the letter he had written.I was a little curious, but never dared to raise it boldly. Dear Amy: I think you will find that everything is arranged in the home.I have told her all that you have ordered Anne to do.Supper will be ready for you and the children when you get home.I will not be able to welcome you.I have made up my mind to live apart from you, and I will go to Paris tomorrow morning.I will wait until Paris to send this letter.I'm not coming back.My decision cannot be changed.

Forever yours, Charles.Strickland Not a single word of explanation, nor the slightest expression of apology or uneasiness.Do you think this person is too inhuman? In this case the letter is very strange.I answer. There is only one explanation, and that is that others have changed.I don't know which woman took him in the palm of her hand, but she must have made him into another person.It's pretty clear that this thing has been going on for a long time. What is your basis for thinking so? Fred had found out.My husband always said he was going to the club to play bridge three or four nights a week.Fred knew a member of that club, and told him once about Charles' fondness for bridge.The man was so surprised that he said he had never seen Charles in the card room.That made it very clear that while I thought Charles was at the club, he was actually hanging out with that woman.

I was speechless for a long time.Then I thought about the kids again. It must have been difficult to explain this to Robert.I said. Ah, I didn't tell either of them, not a word.You know, they went back to school the day after we were back in town.I didn't get flustered, I told them that my father had something to go to other places. With such a big secret in mind, it was not easy to behave properly and pretend to be calm.Besides, the energy involved in getting everything in order to send the children to school also took a toll on her.Mrs. Strickland's voice broke. What will they do next, poor dear?How will my family survive in the future?

She was trying to hold back her emotions, and I noticed her hands clenched and then loosened.The pain was simply horrific. If you think it would be good for me to go to Paris, of course I will, but you must tell me exactly what you want me to do. I'm going to call him back. I take Colonel MacAndrew to say that you have made up your mind to divorce him. I will never divorce him.She said suddenly and fiercely, tell him what I said, and he will never marry that woman.I am as obstinate as he is, and I will never divorce him.I want to think about my children. I think her last addition was to explain to me why she took this attitude, but I think she did it not so much from maternal love as from perfectly natural jealousy.

do you still love him I have no idea.I want him back.If he comes back, I can let the past go.Anyway, we've been husband and wife for seventeen years.I am not a small-minded woman.I've been kept in the dark in the past, and as long as I don't know, I don't mind about it.He should know that this infatuation cannot last long.If he came back now, things would be easily undone and no one would find out. Mrs. Strickland's interest in gossip gave me a chill, for I did not know at that time that the opinions of others mattered so much to a woman's life.I think this attitude casts a shadow of insincerity on their deep feelings. The place where Strickland lived was known to the family.His partner had written him a scathing letter through the bank in which Strickland had deposited his money, scolding him for hiding his whereabouts; Strickland told the partner in a cynical reply Where can one find him.It appears that he is staying in a hotel. I've never heard of the place, said Mrs. Strickland, but Fred knew the hotel very well.He said it was an expensive one. Her face flushed red.I imagined that she seemed to see her husband living in a luxurious apartment and eating in one fine restaurant after another.She imagined that he was living a life of debauchery, going to the racetrack every day and the theater every night. At his age, he can't live this kind of life, she said, he is forty years old after all.If it is a young person, I can understand.But his age is terrible, his children are almost grown up.Besides, his body couldn't bear it. Anger and pain wrestled in her chest. Tell him his home is calling him back.Everything at home is the same as in the past, but everything is also different from the past.I couldn't live without him.I would rather kill myself.Talk to him about the past, about our common experiences.What should I say to my children if they ask?His house is still exactly the same as when he left.His house is waiting for him.We are all waiting for him. She told me everything I should talk about when I got there.She even thought of what Strickland might say.Teach me how to answer. You will do everything in your power to help me get this done?She said pitifully, and told him my situation. I saw that she wished me to do everything possible to impress his pity.Her tears kept falling.I was very sad.I was so angry at Strickland's cruelty that I promised her I would do everything in my power to get him back.I agreed to leave in another day and never come back until things were cleared up.By this time it was getting late, and we were both worn out with emotion, so I took her leave.