perfectly, unusual, straight, surprised, puzzled, sudden, sharply, calmly, peaceful, electric, loud, married, emotional, neat (14- intermediate);
magnificent, obstinate, faint, impulsive, punctual (5- upper-intermediate)
Agatha Christie. Philomel Cottage (in English, for intermediate, 3)
- flower beds – цветочные клумбы
- straightened up – выпрямился (от straighten – выпрямлять, выпрямиться )
- it was uncertain – было неизвестно (от It is uncertain. – Неизвестно. )
- must have misunderstood – должно быть неправильно поняли (must + perfect infinitive, от misunderstand – неправильно понять)
- must have been a mistake – это должно быть была ошибка
Alix was perfectly happy cooking meals and looking after the house. The garden which was full of magnificent flowers was taken care of by an old man from the village who came twice a week, and Gerald Martin, who was also keen on gardening, spent most of his time there.
As Alix turned round the corner of the house, she was surprised to see the old gardener busy over the flower beds. It was unusual because his days for work were Mondays and Fridays, and today was Wednesday.
«Why, George, what are you doing here?» she asked, as she came towards him. The old man straightened up, touching the brim of an old cap.
«I thought you’d be surprised, ma’am. But there will be a party at Squire’s on Friday, and I say to myself, I say, Mr Martin and his good lady will understand if I come on Wednesday instead of Friday.»
«That’s quite all right,» said Alix. «I hope you’ll enjoy yourself at the party.»
«I hope so,» said George. «It’s a fine thing to be able to eat and know all the time that you mustn’t pay for it. Then I thought too, ma’am, that I must see you before you go away so as to learn your wishes for the flower beds. You’ll have no idea when you’ll be back, ma’am, I suppose?»
«But I’m not going away.» George stared at her. «Aren’t you going to London tomorrow?»
«No. What put such an idea into your head?» George lookedpuzzled. «Mr Martin was down to the village yesterday. He told me you were both going away to London tomorrow, and it was uncertain when you’d be back again.»
«Nonsense,» said Alix, laughing. «You must have misunderstood him.» All the same, she wondered why Gerald had said it. Going to London? She never wanted to go to London again.
«I hate London,» she said suddenly and sharply.«Ah!» said George calmly. «It must have been a mistake, and yet he said that you were going away. I’m glad you’re living here. Mr Ames, who had this house before — a nice peacefulgentleman. A lot of money he spent on it, on the taps in all the bedrooms, and the electriclight and all. ‘You’ll never see your money back,’ I say to him. ‘It’s not for everyone all these things.’ But ‘George,’ he says to me, ‘I’ll get every penny of two thousand pounds for this house.’ And sure enough, he did.»
«He got three thousand,» said Alix, smiling.
«Two thousand,» repeated George. «It was the sum he talked of at the time.»
«It really was three thousand,» said Alix.
«Women never understand figures,» said George. «You’ll not tell me that Mr Ames stood in this very garden, and said three thousand to you in aloudvoice?»
«He didn’t say it to me,» said Alix. «He said it to my husband.» George leaned again to his flower bed.
«The price was two thousand,» he said obstinately. Alix did not want to argue with him.
Moving to one of the further beds, she began to pick flowers. The sunshine, the scent of the flowers, the faint hum of hurrying bees, all to make the day a perfect thing. As she moved towards the house, Alix noticed a small dark green object, peeping from between some leaves in one of the beds. She leaned and picked it up. It was her husband’s pocket diary. It must have fallen from his pocket when he was doing some gardening.
She opened it with some amusement. Almost from the beginning of their married life, she had understood that her impulsive and emotionalGerald was very neat and punctual, as he always planned his day ahead. This morning, for instance, he had announced that he should start for the village after breakfast — at 10:15. And at 10:15 to the minute he had left the house. Looking through the diary, she was amused to notice the date of May 14th. «Marry Alix — St Peter’s- 2:30.» «The big silly,» murmured Alix to herself, turning the pages. Suddenly she stopped. «Thursday, June 18th — why that’s TODAY.» In the space for that day was written in Gerald’s neat hand: «9 p.m.» Nothing else. What had Gerald planned to do at 9 p.m. Alix wondered.