All through the afternoon she thought of what Charlie had said about Walter. They were dining out that evening and when he came back from the Club she was dressing. He knocked at her door.

“Come in.”

He did not open.

“I'm going straight along to dress. How long will you be?”

“Ten minutes.”

He said nothing more, but went to his own room. His voice had that constrained note which she had heard in it the night before. She felt fairly sure of herself now. She was ready before he was and when he came downstairs she was already seated in the car.

“I'm afraid I've kept you waiting,” he said.

“I shall survive it,” she replied, and she was able to smile as she spoke.

She made an observation or two as they drove down the hill, but he answered curtly. She shrugged her shoulders; she was growing a trifle impatient: if he wanted to sulk, let him, she didn't care. They drove in silence till they reached their destination. It was a large dinner party. There were too many people and too many courses. While Kitty chatted gaily with her neighbours she watched Walter. He was deathly pale and his face was pinched.

“Your husband is looking rather washed out. I thought he didn't mind the heat. Has he been working very hard?”

“He always works hard.”

“I suppose you're going away soon?”

“Oh, yes, I think I shall go to Japan as I did last year,” she said.“The doctor says I must get out of the heat if I don't want to go all to pieces.”

Walter did not as usual when they were dining out give her a smiling glance now and then. He never looked at her. She had noticed that when he came down to the car he kept his eyes averted, and he did the same when, with his usual politeness, he gave her his hand to alight. Now, talking with the women on either side of him, he did not smile, but looked at them with steady and unblinking eyes; and really his eyes looked enormous and in that pale face coal black. His face was set and stern.

“He must be an agreeable companion,” thought Kitty ironically.

The idea of those unfortunate ladies trying to indulge in small talk with that grim mask not a little diverted her.

Of course he knew; there was no doubt about that, and he was furious with her. Why hadn't he said anything? Was it really because, though angry and hurt, he loved her so much that he was afraid she would leave him? The thought made her ever so slightly despise him, but good-naturedly: after all, he was her husband and he provided her with board and lodging; so long as he didn't interfere with her and let her do as she liked she would be quite nice to him. On the other hand perhaps his silence was due merely to a morbid timidity. Charlie was right when he said that no one would hate a scandal more than Walter. He never made a speech if he could help it. He had told her once that when he was subpoenaed as a witness on a case where he was to give expert evidence he had hardly slept for a week before. His shyness was a disease.

And there was another thing: men were very vain, and so long as no one knew what had happened it might be that Walter would be content to ignore it. Then she wondered whether by any possibility Charlie was right when he suggested that Walter knew which side his bread was buttered. Charlie was the most popular man in the Colony and soon would be the Colonial Secretary. He could be very useful to Walter: on the other hand he could make himself very unpleasant if Walter put his back up. Her heart exulted as she thought of her lover's strength and determination; she felt so defenceless in his virile arms. Men were strange: it would never have occurred to her that Walter was capable of such baseness, and yet you never knew; perhaps his seriousness was merely a mask for a mean and pettifogging nature. The more she considered it the more likely it seemed that Charlie was right; and she turned her glance once more on her husband. There was no indulgence in it.

It happened that just then the women on either side of him were talking with their neighbours and he was left alone. He was staring straight in front of him, forgetful of the party, and his eyes were filled with a mortal sadness. It gave Kitty a shock.

整个下午她的脑海里都想着查理所说的关于沃尔特的那些话。当天晚上他们计划外出吃饭，他从俱乐部回来的时候，她正在梳妆打扮。他敲了敲她的屋门。

“进来。”

他并没有推门进来。

“我就直接去换衣服了，你还要多长时间？”

“十分钟。”

他没有再说什么，返身回了自己的房间。他好像故意控制着语气，就像昨天晚上那样。她现在已经镇定自若了，在他捅破这层窗户纸之前，她已经做好了准备。当他走下楼时，她已经在车里落座了。

“让你久等了。”他说道。

“还好。”她回答道，当她说这话的时候竟然还露出了笑容。

当车子向山下开的时候，她还不时说上一两句话，但他的回答都是冷冰冰的。她耸了耸肩，也开始变得有点儿不耐烦了，如果他想生闷气，随他去，她才不在乎呢。一路上他们不再说话，一直到达了目的地。这是一场规模很大的晚宴，有太多的人光顾，当然也有太多的菜肴可以品尝。凯蒂一边快乐地和她的邻座聊着天，一边偷偷地瞄了一眼沃尔特。他的脸色惨白，眉头也没有舒展。

“你丈夫看上去很疲惫，我想他不是嫌这里太热吧。他工作的压力是不是太大了？”

“他工作起来总是很玩命。”

“我想你们是不是很快就要离开这儿了？”

“哦，是的，我想我们要去日本了，就像去年那样。”她说道，“如果我不想把小命交代到这儿的话，医生们说我必须逃离这种闷热。”

沃尔特没有像往常他们外出赴宴那样，用他含笑的目光时不时地扫上她几眼。他一眼也没看她，她已经注意到了这点。当他们走出来去坐车时，他的眼睛在刻意回避她，他也没有像通常那样彬彬有礼，让她把手搭在他的手上一起走。当和身旁的女士们说话的时候，他也没有丝毫笑容，只是用坚定而一眨也不眨的眼睛看着她们。他的双眼的确很大，在苍白的脸上显得像煤炭一样黑。他板着一副严肃的面孔。

“他可真是一个随和的好伴侣。”凯蒂不无讽刺地心里嘀咕着。

一想到那些不幸的女士在试图和那位带着一副冰冷面具的人聊天，凯蒂就觉得好笑。

当然，他也清楚，毫无疑问，她让他怒不可遏，可为什么他不说出来？难道果真是因为他太爱她了，即使生气和伤心，但还是害怕她会离开他吗？这个念头让她有点儿瞧不起他，可他的脾气还算温厚，毕竟，他是她的丈夫，是他为她提供了生活保障。只要他不干涉她的事，让她能够随心所欲地做事，她还是会善待他的。从另一方面来看，或许他的沉默是一种病态的怯懦，查理是对的，他说没有谁比沃尔特更不愿招惹上闲话的了。如果不到万不得已，他不会吭声的。有一次他曾告诉她一件事，他曾经作为一个案子的证人被传唤出庭作证，在法庭上他需要提供专业性的证据，在此之前，他有一周的时间都没睡好觉，他的害羞简直就是一种病态。

可能还有另外一层原因，男人们都很虚荣，只要没人知道事情的真相，沃尔特会甘愿不去理会它。那么她很想搞明白查理的分析是不是正确，查理暗示说沃尔特知道是谁给他提供了这份工作，他心里清楚应该怎么做。查理是在香港地头上最受欢迎的人，很快就会当上殖民地大臣，他对沃尔特来说很有用。再者说了，如果沃尔特不识好歹，查理也不会给他什么好果子吃的。当她想到自己情人的权势和决心时，心中一阵狂喜。在他刚健有力的双臂中，她觉得是那么放松。男人真是一种奇怪的动物，以前她从来没有想过沃尔特能够这样卑鄙，这是她做梦也想不到的。也许他严肃的外表只不过是张面具，掩盖着他卑鄙和欺骗的天性。她越想到这一点，越觉得查理很可能是对的。她把目光再次落到她丈夫身上，发现他根本没有跟人聊天。

当他周围的女客们和她们的邻座交谈的时候，他就落了单。他的眼睛直勾勾地盯着前面，好像忘了这场聚会，眼睛里充满了致命的忧伤，这让凯蒂像受到了电击般一震。