She sent in a little note to Charlie on which she had written: “Please see me. It is urgent.” A Chinese boy asked her to wait and brought the answer that Mr. Townsend would see her in five minutes. She was unaccountably nervous. When at last she was ushered into his room Charlie came forward to shake hands with her, but the moment the boy, having closed the door, left them alone he dropped the affable formality of his manner.

“I say, my dear, you really mustn't come here in working hours. I've got an awful lot to do and we don't want to give people a chance to gossip.”

She gave him a long look with those beautiful eyes of her and tried to smile, but her lips were stiff and she could not.

“I wouldn't have come unless it was necessary.”

He smiled and took her arm.

“Well, since you're here come and sit down.”

It was a bare room, narrow, with a high ceiling; its walls were painted in two shades of terra cotta. The only furniture consisted of a large desk, a revolving chair for Townsend to sit in and a leather arm-chair for visitors. It intimidated Kitty to sit in this. He sat at the desk. She had never seen him in spectacles before; she did not know that he used them. When he noticed that her eyes were on them he took them off.

“I only use them for reading,” he said.

Her tears came easily and now, she hardly knew why, she began to cry. She had no deliberate intention of deceiving, but rather an instinctive desire to excite his sympathy. He looked at her blankly.

“Is anything the matter? Oh, my dear, don't cry.”

She took out her handkerchief and tried to check her sobs. He rang the bell and when the boy came to the door went to it.

“If any one asks for me say I'm out.”

“Very good, sir.”

The boy closed the door. Charlie sat on the arm of the chair and put his arm round Kitty's shoulders.

“Now, Kitty dear, tell me all about it.”

“Walter wants a divorce,” she said.

She felt the pressure of his arm on her shoulder cease. His body stiffened. There was a moment's silence, then Townsend rose from her chair and sat down once more in his.

“What exactly do you mean?” he said.

She looked at him quickly, for his voice was hoarse, and she saw that his face was dully red.

“I've had a talk with him. I've come straight from the house now. He says he has all the proof he wants.”

“You didn't commit yourself, did you? You didn't acknowledge anything?”

Her heart sank.

“No,” she answered.

“Are you quite sure?” he asked, looking at her sharply.

“Quite sure,” she lied again.

He leaned back in his chair and stared vacantly at the map of China which was hanging on the wall in front of him. She watched him anxiously. She was somewhat disconcerted at the manner in which he had received the news. She had expected him to take her in his arms and tell her he was thankful, for now they could be together always; but of course men were funny. She was crying softly, not now to arouse sympathy, but because it seemed the natural thing to do.

“This is a bloody mess we've got into,” he said at length. “But it's no good losing our heads. Crying isn't going to do us any good, you know.”

She noticed the irritation in his voice and dried her eyes.

“It's not my fault, Charlie. I couldn't help it.”

“Of course you couldn't. It was just damned bad luck. I was just as much to blame as you were. The thing to do now is to see how we're going to get out of it. I don't suppose you want to be divorced any more than I do.”

She smothered a gasp. She gave him a searching look. He was not thinking of her at all.

“I wonder what his proofs really are. I don't know how he can actually prove that we were together in that room. On the whole we've been about as careful as any one could be. I'm sure that old fellow at the curio shop wouldn't have given us away. Even if he'd seen us go in there's not reason why we shouldn't hunt curios together.”

He was talking to himself rather than to her.

“It's easy enough to bring charges, but it's damned difficult to prove them; any lawyer will tell you that. Our line is to deny everything, and if he threatens to bring an action we'll tell him to go to hell and we'll fight it.”

“I couldn't go into court, Charlie.”

“Why on earth not? I'm afraid you'll have to. God knows, I don't want a row, but we can't take it lying down.”

“Why need we defend it?”

“What a question to ask. After all, it's not only you that are concerned, I'm concerned too. But as a matter of fact I don't think you need be afraid of that. We shall be able to square your husband somehow. The only thing that worries me is the best way to set about it.”

It looked as though an idea occurred to him, for he turned towards her with his charming smile and his tone, a moment before abrupt and business-like, became ingratiating.

“I'm afraid you've been awfully upset, poor little woman. It's too bad.” He stretched out his hand and took hers. “It's a scrape we've got into, but we shall get out of it. It's not...” He stopped and Kitty had a suspicion that he had been about to say that it was not the first he had got out of. “The greatest thing is to keep our heads. You know I shall never let you down.”

“I'm not frightened. I don't care what he does.”

He smiled still, but perhaps his smile was a trifle forced.

“If the worst comes to the worst I shall have to tell the Governor. He'll curse me like hell, but he's a good fellow and a man of the world. He'll fix it up somehow. It wouldn't do him any good if there was a scandal.”

“What can he do?” asked Kitty.

“He can bring pressure to bear on Walter. If he can't get at him through his ambition he'll get at him through his sense of duty.”

Kitty was a little chilled. She did not seem able to make Charlie see how desperately grave the situation was. His airiness made her impatient. She was sorry that she had come to see him in his office. The surroundings intimidated her. It would have been much easier to say what she wanted if she could have been in his arms with hers round his neck.

“You don't know Walter,” she said.

“I know that every man has his price.”

She loved Charlie with all her heart, but his reply disconcerted her; for such a clever man it was a stupid thing to say.

“I don't think you realise how angry Walter is. You haven't seen his face and the look of his eyes.”

He did not reply for a moment, but looked at her with a slight smile. She knew what he was thinking. Walter was the bacteriologist and occupied a subordinate position; he would hardly have the impudence to make himself a nuisance to the upper officials of the Colony.

“It's no good deceiving yourself, Charlie,” she said earnestly. “If Walter has made up his mind to bring an action nothing that you or anybody else can say will have the slightest influence.”

His face once more grew heavy and sulky.

“Is it his idea to make me co-rrespondent?”

“At first it was. At last I managed to get him to consent to let me divorce him.”

“Oh, well, that's not so terrible.” His manner relaxed again and she saw the relief in his eyes. “That seems to me a very good way out. After all, it's the least a man can do, it's the only decent thing.”

“But he makes a condition.”

He gave her an inquiring glance and he seemed to reflect.

“Of course I'm not a very rich man, but I'll do anything in my power.”

Kitty was silent. Charlie was saying things which she would never have expected him to say. And they made it difficult for her to speak. She had expected to blurt it out in one breath, held in his loving arms, with her burning face hid on his breast.

“He agrees to my divorcing him if your wife will give him the assurance that she will divorce you.”

“Anything else?”

Kitty could hardly find her voice.

“And--it's awfully hard to say, Charlie, it sounds dreadful--if you'll promise to marry me within a week of the decrees being made absolute.”

她给查理留了个便条，上面写道：“请来见我，事情紧急。”一个中国职员让她等着，然后告诉她汤森先生五分钟后见她。她有着不可名状的紧张焦虑。最后，她被人领进了查理的办公室，他走上前来跟她握了握手，但当职员关上了房门，只留他们俩单独在一起的时候，他马上把和蔼可亲、一本正经的态度抛到了一边。

“我说，亲爱的，你真的有必要在工作时间着急来这儿吗？我有太多的事情要做，而且不想给别人说闲话的机会。”

她用她那双美丽的眼睛端详了他半天，想挤出笑容，但嘴角僵硬，根本笑不出来。

“除非迫不得已，我是不会来这儿的。”

他笑着拉着她的手臂。

“好的，既然你都来了，就坐下吧。”

办公室家具不多，比较狭窄，屋顶较高，墙壁被刷成了褐色，深一道，浅一道。仅有的家具是一张大书桌，一把查理坐的旋转椅和一把为访客准备的皮扶手椅，可凯蒂只要坐进这把椅子就总感觉浑身不自在。查理坐在桌子后面，她以前从没看见过他戴眼镜，他注意到她的目光落在了他的眼镜上，就把它摘了下来。

“我只在读东西时才用眼镜。”他说道。

她的眼泪说流就流了下来，也不知道为什么。她开始哭了起来，本来没有打算装给他看，但她有种本能的冲动想唤起他的同情。他不知所措地望着她。

“出了什么事了吗？噢，我亲爱的，别哭。”

她掏出手绢，想抑制住抽泣。他按了按铃，当那个职员走到门前的时候，他把门打开了。

“如果有人找我，就说我不在。”

“好的，先生。”

职员关上了门，查理坐在了椅子背上，用他的手臂搂着凯蒂的肩膀。

“现在，凯蒂宝贝，告诉我怎么回事吧。”

“沃尔特想要离婚。”她说道。

她觉得肩膀上他手臂的力道消失了，他的身体也变得僵直了。片刻沉默之后，查理从椅背上站起身来，又坐回到了自己的靠背椅上。

“究竟是怎么回事？”他说道。

她很快地看了他一眼，觉出他的声音嘶哑了，看到他的脸也沉下来变红了。

“我和他有过一次谈话，谈完话后我直接从家来到这儿。他说他已经掌握了所有的证据。”

“你自己没承认，对吗？你没承认任何事吧？”

她的心沉了下去。

“没有。”她回答道。

“你确定什么都没承认吗？”他问道，目光锐利地看着她。

“我确定。”她又一次说了谎。

他靠回了椅子背，眼睛茫然地看着挂在他面前墙上的中国地图。她焦急地看着他，从他刚刚听到这个消息的表现上，她感到有点儿不太对劲儿，原来指望他能把她搂在怀里，告诉她他心存感激，因为现在他们终于可以永远地在一起了。然而男人们遇到这种情景当然都很滑稽。她轻轻地哭泣着，现在不是为了博得同情，而是因为哭泣似乎是她唯一能做的很自然的事了。

“这下我们可麻烦大了。”沉默许久后，他开口说道，“但是，失去理智于事无补，你知道，哭哭啼啼对我们也没有任何好处。”

她注意到他的声音里有点儿懊恼，于是擦干了眼泪。

“这不是我的错，查理，我控制不住自己，就想哭。”

“你当然控制不住，运气真是糟糕透顶，我跟你一样脱不了干系。我们当下要做的是怎么摆脱这个麻烦，我觉得你比我更不想离婚吧。”

她倒吸了一口气，看着他，想搞清楚他什么意思，而他根本没顾及她的疑惑。

“我想知道他究竟掌握了什么证据。我不知道他能怎样证明就是我们俩待在那间屋子里。总体上，我们一直都尽可能地小心谨慎。我敢保证古董店的那个老家伙不会出卖我们，即使他看见我们出入古董店，也证明不了什么呀，没有理由说我们俩不能一起逛古董店嘛。”

他好像在自说自话，而不是在对她说。

“指控某项罪名很容易，但要找出证据可就太难了，每个律师都会告诉你这一点的。我们的底线就是否认一切，如果他威胁说要采取诉讼，我们就告诉他，下地狱去吧，我们会反击的。”

“我不能上法庭，查理。”

“为什么不能？恐怕你不得不上。上帝作证，我不想和你争吵，但是我们不能坐以待毙。”

“我们为什么要否认它呢？”

“瞧你这问题问的。毕竟这事不但跟你有关系，跟我也有关系。但事实上我认为你大可不必担心。我们能摆平你丈夫的，我现在唯一需要考虑的是如何采用一种最好的方式来着手办这件事。”

这时他好像突然有了主意，因为他又面向她露出了他迷人的微笑，他的口吻刚才还生硬而官腔十足，现在变成奉承讨好的腔调了。

“恐怕你这段时间会非常难受，我可怜的小凯蒂，真是太糟糕了。”他伸出手抓住了她的手，“这只是我们遇到的一个小麻烦，我们一定会搞定的，它不是……”他停住了，凯蒂怀疑他下面想说他不是第一次搞定这样的麻烦事了，“现在最重要的是保持头脑清醒，你知道我是绝不会抛下你的。”

“我不害怕，我不在乎他做什么。”

他还在微笑，但也许他的微笑有点儿勉强。

“如果事情到了不可收拾的地步，我会把这事告诉总督的。他虽然会臭骂我一顿，但他是个好人，而且权力很大，他会把事情平息下去的，闹出丑闻的话，对他也没什么好处。”

“他能做什么？”凯蒂问道。

“他会给沃尔特施加压力，如果他不能利用沃尔特的事业心让他屈服，也会提醒他如果不听话会丢掉饭碗。”

凯蒂有点儿不寒而栗，她似乎还无法使查理明白事情的严重程度，他空洞的想法让她有些不耐烦。她有些后悔来他的办公室见他，周围的环境让她觉得有种无形的威胁。如果她能躺在他的怀抱中，用她的双臂勾着他的脖子，告诉他她究竟想要什么，可能她会感到放松得多。

“你不了解沃尔特。”她说道。

“我知道每个男人都会待价而沽，都会被收买。”

她全心全意地爱着查理，但是他的回答让她不安，这么聪明的男人怎么会说出这样愚蠢的话。

“我觉得你还没明白沃尔特有多愤怒，你没有见到他的脸色和他眼中的神情。”

他停顿了一会儿没有说话，但是带着轻笑看着她。她明白他心里正在想什么。沃尔特是个细菌学家，是他的下级，按理来说是不会做出粗鲁放肆的举动，使自己成为殖民地上层官员们的眼中钉的。

“你这样自欺欺人没有用处，查理。”她着急地说道，“如果沃尔特下定决心采取行动，你或者别的什么人所说的话对他产生不了什么影响。”

他的脸又一次阴沉了下来。

“他的意思是要指控我是奸夫？”

“一开始是这样，但最后我说服了他同意和我离婚。”

“哦，好吧，还不算太糟糕。”他的态度又缓和了下来，她看到了他眼中如释重负的神情，“对我来说，那似乎是个很好的出路。无论如何，那是男人可用的最后一招，也是唯一体面的解决方案。”

“但是他开出了条件。”

他用探寻的目光看了她一眼，似乎在考量着什么。

“当然了，虽说我不是很富有，但我会尽力而为的。”

凯蒂不说话了。查理所说的话是她做梦也没想到的，让她不知说什么好。她本来希望能紧紧抱住他，把发烫的脸藏在他的胸口，一股脑儿地把想说的话都吐露出来。

“如果你妻子承诺跟你离婚，他就会答应跟我离婚。”

“还有别的吗？”

凯蒂几乎自己都听不到自己的声音了。

“还有——呃，很难说出口，查理，听上去很难为情——呃，在离婚协议签署生效一周之内，如果你答应娶我。”