It was angerthat had seized Mrs. Strickland, and her pallor was the pallor of a cold andsudden rage. She spoke quickly now, with little gasps.

"I couldhave forgiven it if he'd fallen desperately in love with someone and gone offwith her. I should have thought that natural. I shouldn't really have blamedhim. I should have thought he was led away. Men are so weak, and women are sounscrupulous. But this is different. I hate him. I'll never forgive him now."

ColonelMacAndrew and his wife began to talk to her together. They were astonished.They told her she was mad. They could not understand. Mrs. Strickland turneddesperately to me.

"Don't yousee?" she cried.

"I'm notsure. Do you mean that you could have forgiven him if he'd left you for awoman, but not if he's left you for an idea? You think you're a match for theone, but against the other you're helpless?"

Mrs. Stricklandgave me a look in which I read no great friendliness, but did not answer.Perhaps I had struck home. She went on in a low and trembling voice:

"I neverknew it was possible to hate anyone as much as I hate him. Do you know, I'vebeen comforting myself by thinking that however long it lasted he'd want me atthe end? I knew when he was dying he'd send for me, and I was ready to go; I'dhave nursed him like a mother, and at the last I'd have told him that it didn'tmatter, I'd loved him always, and I forgave him everything. "

I have alwaysbeen a little disconcerted by the passion women have for behaving beautifullyat the death-bed of those they love. Sometimes it seems as if they grudge thelongevity which postpones their chance of an effective scene.

"But now-- now it's finished. I'm as indifferent to him as if he were a stranger. I shouldlike him to die miserable, poor, and starving, without a friend. I hope he'llrot with some loathsome disease. I have done with him. "

I thought it aswell then to say what Strickland had suggested.

"If youwant to divorce him, he's quite willing to do whatever is necessary to make itpossible. "

"Whyshould I give him his freedom?"

"I don'tthink he wants it. He merely thought it might be more convenient to you. "

Mrs. Stricklandshrugged her shoulders impatiently. I think I was a little disappointed in her.I expected then people to be more of a piece than I do now, and I wasdistressed to find so much vindictiveness in so charming a creature. I did notrealise how motley are the qualities that go to make up a human being. Now I amwell aware that pettiness and grandeur, malice and charity, hatred and love,can find place side by side in the same human heart.

I wondered ifthere was anything I could say that would ease the sense of bitter humiliationwhich at present tormented Mrs. Strickland. I thought I would try.

"You know,I'm not sure that your husband is quite responsible for his actions. I do notthink he is himself. He seems to me to be possessed by some power which isusing him for its own ends, and in whose hold he is as helpless as a fly in a spider'sweb. It's as though someone had cast a spell over him. I'm reminded of thosestrange stories one sometimes hears of another personality entering into a manand driving out the old one. The soul lives unstably in the body, and iscapable of mysterious transformations. In the old days they would say CharlesStrickland had a devil. "

Mrs. MacAndrewsmoothed down the lap of her gown, and gold bangles fell over her wrists.

"All thatseems to me very far-fetched, " she said acidly. "I don't deny thatperhaps Amy took her husband a little too much for granted. If she hadn't beenso busy with her own affairs, I can't believe that she wouldn't have suspectedsomething was the matter. I don't think that Alec could have something on hismind for a year or more without my having a pretty shrewd idea of it. "

The Colonelstared into vacancy, and I wondered whether anyone could be quite so innocentof guile as he looked.

"But thatdoesn't prevent the fact that Charles Strickland is a heartless beast. "She looked at me severely. "I can tell you why he left his wife -- frompure selfishness and nothing else whatever. "

"That iscertainly the simplest explanation, " I said. But I thought it explainednothing. When, saying I was tired, I rose to go, Mrs. Strickland made noattempt to detain me.

一阵狂怒这时突然把思特里克兰德太太攫住，她的一张脸气得煞白，一点血色也没有。下面的话她说得很快，每说几个字就喘一口气。

“他要是发疯地爱上一个人，同她逃跑，我是能够原谅他的。我会认为这种事是很自然的。我不会太责备他。我会想他是被拐骗走的。男人心肠很软，女人又什么手段都使得出来。但是现在却不是这么回事。我恨他。我现在永远也不会原谅他了。”

麦克安德鲁上校和他的妻子一起劝解她。他们感到很吃惊。他们说她发疯了。他们不理解她。思特里克兰德太太在一阵绝望中向我求援。

“你明白我的意思吗？”她喊道。

“我不敢说。你的意思是：如果他为了一个女人离开你，你是可以宽恕他的；如果他为了一个理想离开你，你就不能了，对不对？你认为你是前者的对手，可是同后者较量起来，就无能为力了，是不是这样？”

思特里克兰德太太狠狠地盯了我一眼，没有说什么。也许我的话说中了她的要害。她继续用低沉的、颤抖的声音说：

“我还从来没有象恨他这样恨过一个人呢。你知道，我一直宽慰自己说，不管这件事继续多久，最终他还是要我的。我想在他临终的时候他会叫我去，我也准备去。我会象一个母亲那样看护他，最后我还会告诉他，过去的事我不记在心里，我一直爱他，他做的任何事我都原谅他。”

女人们总是喜欢在她们所爱的人临终前表现得宽宏大量，她们的这种偏好叫我实在难以忍受。有时候我甚至觉得她们不愿意男人寿命太长，就是怕把演出这幕好戏的机会拖得太晚。

“但是现在——现在什么都完了。我对他就象对一个路人似的什么感情也没有了。我真希望他死的时候贫困潦倒、饥寒交迫，一个亲人也不在身边。我真希望他染上恶疮，浑身腐烂。我同他的关系算完了。”

我想我不妨趁这个时候把思特里克兰德的建议说出来。

“如果你想同他离婚，他很愿意给你制造任何离婚所需要的口实。”

“为什么我要给他自由呢？”

“我认为他不需要这种自由。他不过想这样做可能对你更方便一些。”

思特里克兰德太太不耐烦地耸了耸肩膀。我觉得我对她有些失望。当时我还同今天不一样，总认为人的性格是单纯统一的；当我发现这样一个温柔可爱的女性报复心居然这么重的时候，我感到很丧气。那时我还没认识到一个人的性格是极其复杂的。今天我已经认识到这一点了：卑鄙与伟大、恶毒与善良、仇恨与热爱是可以互不排斥地并存在同一颗心里的。

我不知道我能否说几句什么，减轻一些当时正在折磨着思特里克兰德太太的屈辱。我想我还是该试一试。

“你知道，我不敢肯 定你丈夫的行动是不是要由他自己负责。我觉得他已经不是他自己了。他好象被一种什么力量抓住了，正在被利用来完成这种势力所追逐的目标。他象是被捕捉到蛛网里的一只苍蝇，已经失去挣扎的能力。他象被符咒逮住了一样。这使我想起人们常常说的那种奇怪的故事：另一个人的精神走进一个人的躯体里，把他自己的赶了出去。人的灵魂在躯体内很不稳定，常常会发生神秘的变化。如果在过去，人们就会说查理斯·思特里克兰德是魔鬼附体了。

麦克安德鲁太太把她衣服的下摆理平，臂上的金钏滑落到手腕上。

“你说的这些话我觉得太离奇了点儿，”她尖酸地说，“我不否认，也许阿美对她丈夫过于放任了。如果她不是只顾埋头于自己的事，我想她一定会发觉思特里克兰德的行为有些异样的。如果阿莱克有什么心事，我不相信事过一年多还不被我看得清清楚楚的。”

上校眼睛茫然望着空中，我很想知道有谁的样子能象他这样胸襟坦荡、心地清白。

“但这丝毫也改变不了查理斯·思特里克兰德心肠冷酷的事实。”她面孔板得紧紧的，看了我一眼。“我可以告诉你为什么他抛弃了自己的妻子——纯粹是出于自私，再也没有其他理由了。”

“这肯定是最易于为人们接受的解释了，”我说。但是我心里却想：这等于什么也没有解释。最后我说身体有些劳累，便起身告辞了。思特里克兰德太太并没有留我多坐一会儿的意思。