Mrs. Marbury inspected the breakfast tray. "So I see. You haven't touched your breakfast. Is it your head troubling you again?"
"No. At least, yes .. I — I just feel a bit out of sorts."
"Well, I'm sorry, I'm sure. You'll not be going away today then?"
Mr. Cust sprang up abruptly. "No, no. I have to go. It's business. Important. Very important."
His hands were shaking. Seeing him so agitated, Mrs. Marbury tried to soothe him.
"Well, if you must
"No. I'm going to
There was something so peculiar about the tentative way
"Cheltenham's a nice place," she said conversationally
"I suppose so
peculiar [pI'kju:lI@], surprise [s@'praIz], shop [SOp]
"Well, if you must — you must. Going far this time?"
"No. I'm going to" — he hesitated for a minute or two — "Cheltenham — "
There was something so peculiar about the tentative way he said the word that Mrs. Marbury looked at him in surprise.
"Cheltenham's a nice place," she said conversationally. "I went there from Bristol one year. The shops are ever so nice."
"I suppose so — yes."
Mrs. Marbury stooped rather stiffly
"Nothing but this murdering business in the papers nowadays," she said
"Gives me the creeps
Mr. Cust's lips moved
creep [kri:p], figure ['fIg@], crumple [krVmpl]
Mrs. Marbury stooped rather stiffly — for stooping did not suit her figure — to pick up the paper that was lying crumpled on the floor.
"Nothing but this murdering business in the papers nowadays," she said as she glanced at the headlines before putting it back on the table.
"Gives me the creeps, it does. I don't read it. It's like Jack the Ripper all over again."
Mr. Cust's lips moved, but no sound came from them.