Эротические рассказы

The Mystery of the Blue Train. Agatha ChristieЧитать онлайн книгу.

The Mystery of the Blue Train - Agatha Christie


Скачать книгу
should advise you, Miss Grey, to put that idea out of your mind.’

      Katherine shook her head. ‘You are quite right, I know, but I should like it done all the same.’

      ‘They will grab at the money and abuse you all the more afterwards.’

      ‘Well,’ said Katherine, ‘let them if they like. We all have our own ways of enjoying ourselves. They were, after all, Mrs Harfield’s only relatives, and though they despised her as a poor relation and paid no attention to her when she was alive, it seems to me unfair that they should be cut off with nothing.’

      She carried her point, though the lawyer was still unwilling, and she presently went out into the streets of London with a comfortable assurance that she could spend money freely and make what plans she liked for the future. Her first action was to visit the establishment of a famous dressmaker.

      A slim, elderly Frenchwoman, rather like a dreaming duchess, received her, and Katherine spoke with a certain naïveté.

      ‘I want, if I may, to put myself in your hands. I have been very poor all my life and know nothing about clothes, but now I have come into some money and want to look really well dressed.’

      The Frenchwoman was charmed. She had an artist’s temperament, which had been soured earlier in the morning by a visit from an Argentine meat queen, who had insisted on having those models least suited to her flamboyant type of beauty. She scrutinized Katherine with keen, clever eyes. ‘Yes—yes, it will be a pleasure. Mademoiselle has a very good figure; for her the simple lines will be best. She is also très anglaise. Some people it would offend them if I said that, but Mademoiselle no. Une belle Anglaise, there is no style more delightful.’

      The demeanour of a dreaming duchess was suddenly put off. She screamed out directions to various mannequins. ‘Clothilde, Virginie, quickly, my little ones, the little tailleur gris clair and the robe de soirée “soupir d’automne”. Marcelle, my child, the little mimosa suit of crêpe de chine.’

      It was a charming morning. Marcelle, Clothilde, Virginie, bored and scornful, passed slowly round, squirming and wriggling in the time-honoured fashion of mannequins. The Duchess stood by Katherine and made entries in a small notebook.

      ‘An excellent choice, Mademoiselle. Mademoiselle has great goût. Yes, indeed. Mademoiselle cannot do better than those little suits if she is going to the Riviera, as I suppose, this winter.’

      ‘Let me see that evening dress once more,’ said Katherine—‘the pinky mauve one.’

      Virginie appeared, circling slowly.

      ‘That is the prettiest of all,’ said Katherine, as she surveyed the exquisite draperies of mauve and grey and blue. ‘What do you call it?’

      ‘Soupir d’automne; yes, yes, that is truly the dress of Mademoiselle.’

      What was there in these words that came back to Katherine with a faint feeling of sadness after she had left the dressmaking establishment?

      ‘“Soupir d’automne; that is truly the dress of Mademoiselle.”’ Autumn, yes, it was autumn for her. She who had never known spring or summer, and would never know them now. Something she had lost never could be given to her again. These years of servitude in St Mary Mead—and all the while life passing by.

      ‘I am an idiot,’ said Katherine. ‘I am an idiot. What do I want? Why, I was more contented a month ago than I am now.’

      She drew out from her handbag the letter she had received that morning from Lady Tamplin. Katherine was no fool. She understood the nuances of that letter as well as anybody and the reason of Lady Tamplin’s sudden show of affection towards a long-forgotten cousin was not lost upon her. It was for profit and not for pleasure that Lady Tamplin was so anxious for the company of her dear cousin. Well, why not? There would be profit on both sides.

      ‘I will go,’ said Katherine.

      She was walking down Piccadilly at the moment, and turned into Cook’s to clinch the matter then and there. She had to wait for a few minutes. The man with whom the clerk was engaged was also going to the Riviera. Everyone, she felt, was going. Well, for the first time in her life, she, too, would be doing what ‘everybody’ did.

      The man in front of her turned abruptly, and she stepped into his place. She made her demand to the clerk, but at the same time half of her mind was busy with something else. That man’s face—in some vague way it was familiar to her. Where had she seen him before? Suddenly she remembered. It was in the Savoy outside her room that morning. She had collided with him in the passage. Rather an odd coincidence that she should run into him twice in a day. She glanced over her shoulder, rendered uneasy by something, she knew not what. The man was standing in the doorway looking back at her. A cold shiver passed over Katherine; she had a haunting sense of tragedy, of doom impending…

      Then she shook the impression from her with her usual good sense and turned her whole attention to what the clerk was saying.

      Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

      Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

      Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

      Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.

/9j/4QAYRXhpZgAASUkqAAgAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP/sABFEdWNreQABAAQAAABQAAD/4QRyaHR0cDov L25zLmFkb2JlLmNvbS94YXAvMS4wLwA8P3hwYWNrZXQgYmVnaW49Iu+7vyIgaWQ9Ilc1TTBNcENl aGlIenJlU3pOVGN6a2M5ZCI/PiA8eDp4bXBtZXRhIHhtbG5zOng9ImFkb2JlOm5zOm1ldGEvIiB4 OnhtcHRrPSJBZG9iZSBYTVAgQ29yZSA1LjAtYzA2MSA2NC4xNDA5NDksIDIwMTAvMTIvMDctMTA6 NTc6MDEgICAgICAgICI+IDxyZGY6UkRGIHhtbG5zOnJkZj0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMTk5 OS8wMi8yMi1yZGYtc3ludGF4LW5zIyI+IDxyZGY6RGVzY3JpcHRpb24gcmRmOmFib3V0PSIiIHht bG5zOnhtcE1NPSJodHRwOi8vbnMuYWRvYmUuY29tL3hhcC8xLjAvbW0vIiB4bWxuczpzdFJlZj0i aHR0cDovL25zLmFkb2JlLmNvbS94YXAvMS4wL3NUeXBlL1Jlc291cmNlUmVmIyIgeG1sbnM6eG1w PSJodHRwOi8vbnMuYWRvYmUuY29tL3hhcC8xLjAvIiB4bWxuczpkYz0iaHR0cDovL3B1cmwub3Jn L2RjL2VsZW1lbnRzLzEuMS8iIHhtcE1NOk9yaWdpbmFsRG9jdW1lbnRJRD0idXVpZDo4NzA2MWQ4 ZC00ZWFhLTQ3NDUtYmVjZi00YTJkZThlMjczY2EiIHhtcE1NOkRvY3VtZW50SUQ9InhtcC5kaWQ6 RTNEQUYyOEQzQzMwMTFFOTk5QzBFRDA5QjI2RjY5NDYiIHhtcE1NOkluc3RhbmNlSUQ9InhtcC5p aWQ6RTNEQUYyOEMzQzMwMTFFOTk5QzBFRDA5QjI2RjY5NDYiIHhtcDpDcmVhdG9yVG9vbD0iQWRv YmUgUGhvdG9zaG9wIENTNS4xIE1hY2ludG9zaCI+IDx4bXBNTTpEZXJpdmVkRnJvbSBzdFJlZjpp bnN0YW5jZUlEPSJ4bXAuaWlkOkM0OENCRUU2MUYyMDY4MTE5MkIwQzIxQjIyODExN0NBIiBzdFJl Zjpkb2N1bWVudElEPSJhZG9iZTpkb2NpZDpwaG90b3Nob3A6NmFkZTJlMzItODllNS0xMTdiLTg5 MjMtZjQzOWQ4NWRmMjI5Ii8+IDxkYzpjcmVhdG9yPiA8cmRmOlNlcT4gPHJkZjpsaT5mcmVtenQ8 L3JkZjpsaT4gPC9yZGY6U2VxPiA8L2RjOmNyZWF0b3I+IDxkYzp0aXRsZT4gPHJkZjpBbHQ+IDxy ZGY6bGkgeG1sOmxhbmc9IngtZGVmYXVsdCI+TXlzdGVyeSBvZiB0aGUgQmx1ZSBUcmFpbiwgVGhl IGJQQi5pbmRkPC9yZGY6bGk+IDwvcmRmOkFsdD4gPC9kYzp0aXRsZT4gPC9yZGY6RGVzY3JpcHRp b24+IDwvcmRmOlJERj4gPC94OnhtcG1ldGE+IDw/eHBhY2tldCBlbmQ9InIiPz7/7QBIUGhvdG9z aG9wIDMuMAA4QklNBAQAAAAAAA8cAVoAAxslRxwCAAACAAIAOEJJTQQlAAAAAAAQ/OEfici3yXgv NGI0B1h36//iDFhJQ0NfUFJPRklMRQABAQAADEhMaW5vAhAAAG1udHJSR0IgWFlaIAfOAAIACQAG ADEAAGFjc3BNU0ZUAAAAAElFQyBzUkdCAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABAAD21gABAAAAANMtSFAgIAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEWNwcnQAAAFQAAAAM2Rl c2MAAAGEAAAAbHd0cHQAAAHwAAAAFGJrcHQAAAIEAAAAFHJYWVoAAAIYAAAAFGdYWVoAAAIsAAAA FGJYWVoAAAJAAAAAFGRtbmQAAAJUAAAAcGRtZGQAAALEAAAAiHZ1ZWQAAANMAAAAhnZpZXcAAAPU AAAAJGx1bWkAAAP4AAAAFG1lYXMAAAQMAAAAJHRlY2gAAAQwAAAADHJUUkMAAAQ8AAAIDGdUUkMA AAQ8AAAIDGJUUkMAAAQ8AAAIDHRleHQAAAAAQ29weXJpZ2h0IChjKSAxOTk4IEhld2xldHQtUGFj a2FyZCBDb21wYW55AABkZXNjAAAAAAAAABJzUkdCIElFQzYxOTY2LTIuMQAAAAAAAAAAAA
Скачать книгу
Яндекс.Метрика