Chapter 6 six promises

My wife is a very punctual woman.So it didn't bother me that I arrived ten minutes late after my appointment for lunch at the Claridge's, and she didn't show up.I want a cocktail.It was the height of summer and there were only two or three empty tables in the hall.Some people had just finished their meals and were drinking coffee there.Others were tossing around with a fruitless martini like I was.The women looked jovial and charming in their beautiful summer dresses; the men were debonair.However, among these people, I can hardly find a person whose appearance is enough to attract me to wait here for a quarter of an hour.Although they looked well-groomed, well-mannered, well-dressed, and chic, they were all similar, basically coming out of the same mold.I watched them that way more out of patience than curiosity.

It's two o'clock and I'm already hungry.My wife says she wears neither jade bracelets nor watches.Because jade bracelets tend to turn green, and watches always stop.All this she attributed to her own ominous fate.I don't have much to say about whether I wear the jade bracelet or not, but I sometimes think: If she winds up on time, the watch won't stop.I was thinking about it when a waiter came up and told me in his usual secretive way (it seemed their messages were often more ominous than their words) that a lady had just called to say she couldn't speak I have lunch.

I hesitated for a moment.Eating alone in this crowded place is not very pleasant; however, it will be too late to go to the club again, so I finally decided: I will be safe when I come.I walked slowly into the restaurant.To some fashionable people it is a matter of complacency to be known by the steward in a good hotel; it is of little importance to me.But on this occasion I might have felt more relieved if I hadn't been treated so coldly.The lady in charge told me with a stern hostile face that all the tables were booked.I looked around this spacious and magnificent hall in despair, and was suddenly happy to see a person I knew, Elizabeth.Mrs Vermont.She is my old friend.She smiled, and I noticed that there was no one else beside her, so I walked over.

Would you take pity on a hungry man and let me sit with you?I asked. Ah, welcome.But I'm almost done. Her small table happened to be next to a large pillar.When I sat down, I found that, despite the hustle and bustle of the restaurant, we sat there with little distraction from the outside world. I'm so lucky, I said, I'm going to faint from hunger. Her smile was captivating; it did not add luster to her cheeks all at once, but it made one feel charming little by little.The smile lingered for a moment at the corner of the mouth, and then slowly penetrated into the big crystal eyes, and stayed there gently.Everyone has to admit Elizabeth.Vermont is beautiful.I didn't know her when she was a young girl, but more than one person has told me she was so lovely that it moved people to tears.I am convinced of this statement, for, at present, in spite of her fifty years of age, her beauty is unmatched, and even those young girls who are like flowers can't help but be overshadowed.I don't like women who paint their faces and make them look the same; I don't think it's wise to detract from their natural beauty with powders, rouges, and lipsticks.However, Elizabeth.Vermont's make-up is not to imitate nature, but to improve it.People didn't bother to ask her what panacea she used, but they were amazed at the effect it produced.She uses just the right amount of makeup to enhance her natural beauty rather than diminish it.I think her hair is dyed, it looks so black and shiny.She sat upright, as if she never wanted to slouch on the chair for a while.She is slender and wears a black satin dress with clear lines, simple and generous, giving people the enjoyment of beauty.Around her neck hung a long necklace of pearls, and the only other jewelry on her body was the large emerald in the wedding ring, whose pale radiance accentuated the pale hands.However, it was the hands, stained with red nail polish, that clearly betrayed her age; it was by no means soft like a girl's hand, showing dimples on the plump joints.Her hands can't help but look regrettable.Before long, the hands were as sharp as the claws of a bird of prey.

Elizabeth.Vermont was indeed a remarkable woman.She was of noble birth, the daughter of the seventh Duke of St. Eugene.At the age of eighteen, she married a very rich man, and began her life of indulgence, extravagance and prostitution.She was too proud to be prudent, and too reckless to consider the consequences.Within two years, her husband had to file for a divorce because of her scandal.Later, she married one of the three defendants in the case, but abandoned him after eighteen months, and a series of love affairs ensued.Her life of debauchery made her notorious.Her attractive looks and monstrous conduct attracted more and more attention, and every act of her debauchery soon became the stuff of conversation.Her name was becoming more and more distasteful among respectable people.She's a gambler, a big spender, and a slut.Although she was unfaithful to her lover, she was faithful to her friends; so there was always a part of people around her who, regardless of what she did, still thought she was a very good woman.She was frank, jovial, and courageous; she was by no means a hypocrite, but always magnanimous and sincere.It was at this time that I met her.Because celebrity women often pin their spirits on art when they are frustrated, and the old fashion of using religion to relieve their distress is not very popular anymore.When they were looked down upon by their own class, they often descended to find solace in the circle of writers, painters, and musicians.I found her to be a delightful company, the kind of person who dared to give away her thoughts freely (which would save a lot of precious time), and very witty.She always likes to narrate her sensational past in that witty language.Her talk was good, though uninstructive, because, after all, she was a woman of her word.

Later, she did a very surprising thing.That year, she was forty years old and married a twenty-one-year-old young man.Friends said it was the craziest thing she'd ever done in her life.Some people who have shared weal and woe with her no longer associate with her now, because it is too shameless for her to bully such an innocent and ignorant child.This is indeed too much.People expected a catastrophe.Because Elizabeth.Vermont had never been in love with a man for more than six months, and yes, friends thought the same of them both.Only letting the poor young man see through her infamy would move him from her.People's predictions were all wrong.I don't know if time changed her heart, or Peter.Vermont's innocent love had touched her; anyway, the fact was that she had become his virtuous wife.They were not well off, and though she had been a spendthrift in the past, she was now a thrifty housewife.She suddenly became so careful about protecting her reputation that the malicious slander against her has since disappeared.Peter's happiness seemed to be her only concern.No one doubted her sincere love for him anymore.Since then, Elizabeth.Vermont was no longer the stuff of gossip.It seemed that her story had come to an end and she had become a different woman entirely.Even I can't help but revel in the idea that by the time she's past sixty and gray-haired, looking back on her admirable years, her absurd past will not be my own. , but the history of a long-dead, unknown person.Because women have an enviable talent for forgetting.

However, who can foresee what is hidden in fate?In the blink of an eye, everything changes, Peter.After ten years of ideal married life, Vermont suddenly fell madly in love with a man named Barbara.Canton girl.She was a lovely girl, and she was Robert F.Canton's young girl, pretty, with fluffy blond hair.Of course, it can never be compared with Lady Elizabeth.Many people know what happened, but no one knows Elizabeth.Did Vermont hear anything.People were watching curiously to see how she would handle something she had never experienced before.She had always deserted her lovers in the past, and never had a lover deserted her.I thought at the time: she must give poor Miss Canton a quick blow, for I knew she was quick-witted and brave.This thought was running through my head as we sat there eating and talking.Her expression was the same as before, cheerful, charming, and frank, and there was no sign of trouble in her.She was still talking and laughing as usual, making our colorful topics more relaxed and lively.I am very happy.I think there must be some kind of strange power that prevents her from realizing Peter's change of heart. Could it be that her love for Peter is so great that she can't imagine that Peter's love for her will change a little?

We drank coffee and smoked a few more cigarettes.She asked me what time it was. It was a quarter to three. I have to call someone to check. let me pay together, ok? sure.She smiled. are you busy leaving I have an appointment with Peter at three o'clock. oh how is he he's good. She smiled, the same unhurried and lovely smile.However, I seem to detect a hint of ridicule.She hesitated for a while, looking at me cautiously. You like the unexpected, don't you?She said, I'm afraid you'll never guess what I have to do, will you?I called Peter this morning and asked him to meet me at three o'clock.I am going to ask him to divorce me.

No way, I really cried out, my face flushed, I didn't know what to say, I thought you guys got along very well. Do you think I don't know what people know?I'm not that stupid yet. She's not a woman who takes people's word for it easily, so I can't pretend I don't understand her intentions.I was silent for a moment. Why did you agree to divorce? Robert.Canton was a conservative; even if I divorced Peter, it was still a question of whether he would allow Barbara to marry Peter.As for me, you know I've been divorced many times, and it doesn't matter to me more or less.

She shrugged her beautiful shoulders. How do you know Peter wants to marry her? He loves her deeply. did he tell you No.He didn't even know I saw it.He's been terribly distressed lately.Poor man, he's been doing his best not to hurt my feelings. Perhaps this is a momentary impulse of emotion, I venture to say, it will pass. Will not.Barbara was young and pretty, which was nice, and they suited each other well.Besides, even if the impulse of the moment is fleeting, what is it?The main problem is that they are now inseparable.I am nineteen years older than Peter, and if a man stops loving a woman old enough to be his mother, do you think he will change his mind?You are a novelist, and you must know more about human nature than I do.

Why would you make such a sacrifice? When he proposed to me ten years ago, I told him: Whenever he wants freedom, I will give him freedom.You see, our age gap is so vast, I think that's the only way to be fair. So are you keeping a promise he didn't ask you to keep? She waved her slender hands slightly.At this moment I could not help but feel that the emerald in her hand was shining with an ominous dim light. Uh, you know I have to.One should act like a gentleman.To be honest, the reason why I came here for lunch today is also because I made up my mind.It was at this table that he proposed to me, and we ate here together that day.And the seat I'm sitting in, you know, happens to be the seat I'm sitting in right now.The trouble is that I love him as much now as I did then. She paused for a moment.I could almost see her grit her teeth and say, well, I think I should go.Peter hated a man who was not on time. She looked at me with a look of desolation in her eyes.I suddenly realized that she could barely stand up from the chair.However, she smiled and stood up suddenly. can i send you The furthest to the hotel entrance.she said with a smile. We walked through the restaurant and the lobby together, and when we got to the hotel entrance and the doorman opened the turnstile, I asked her if she wanted to hail a taxi. No, I would rather take a walk, the weather is so nice, she stretched out her hand to me, I am very happy to meet you.I will be traveling abroad tomorrow, but expect to be in London all autumn.please call me. She smiled, nodded at me, and left.I watched her walk up Davis Avenue.The afternoon air is still so mild, like spring; overhead, a few white clouds float leisurely in the blue sky.The way she walks is still so straight, and the posture of her head is still so graceful.Her slender figure attracts the attention of passers-by.I saw her nod politely to an acquaintance who tipped her hat.I don't think he ever imagined that behind all this was a broken heart.I would like to repeat again: she was a very faithful woman.