麥嘉麗不再詢問，忽地起身，飛也似的跑出大門，如旋風般沿著馬路一路狂奔，卷進位於霞飛路的豪宅裏。
望著披頭散發、一臉潮紅、扶著門框氣喘籲籲的女兒，麥基夫人一臉吃驚：“Carri？（嘉麗？）”
麥嘉麗喘幾口氣，逼視她：“Mommy， Daddy must have done something wrong. What has he done？（媽媽，爸爸一定做錯什麼了。他都做了些什麼呢？）”
“Your Daddy has done something wrong？ It''s queer. Why do you say so？（你爸爸做錯什麼了？奇怪，你為什麼這麼說？）”
麥基麗哭了：“Tell me， Mommy！（告訴我，媽媽！）”
麥基夫人抱住她，撫摸她的額頭：“You are crazy. Aren''t you feeling well？ It''s not like a fever！（你昏頭了。你是不是不舒服？看起來不像發燒呀！）”
麥嘉麗大聲哭叫：“I''m not crazy. Just tell me， Mommy！（我沒有昏頭。告訴我，媽媽！）”
“He has done nothing wrong. He''s been busy with his business and done it well. You know， our business is good， and he is too busy to e us retly. He needs a rest. （他沒有做錯事。他一直在做生意，做得不錯。你知道，我們的生意很好，隻是他太忙了，忙得近來見不到他人。他需要休息。）”
“He must be wrong， I know it.（他一定錯了，我知道的。）”
“Carri， why do you say so？ You know your father. He is a good man. He loves God. He has a deep faith in God， just like you and Mommy.（嘉麗，你為何這麼說？你了解你的父親。他是個好人。他愛上帝，他深深信仰上帝，就像你和媽媽一樣。）”
麥嘉麗哭道：“Mr. Wu is feeling bitter now， for the bsp;of Daddy！（伍先生正在痛苦，根源就是爸爸。）”
麥基夫人想了一會兒，輕輕拍她：“Dear， trust God； trust Mommy； trust Daddy. He''s a good man， isn''t he？ He''s never done wrong， you know.（親愛的，相信上帝，相信媽媽，相信爸爸。他是個好人，不是嗎？你知道的，他從來不做錯事。）”
麥嘉麗一臉茫然，但依舊“嗯”出一聲。
麥基到家時已近午夜。他扭亮電燈，輕輕踏上樓梯，推開臥室的房門。
麥基夫人扭亮床頭燈：“Dear， you are so late？（親愛的，這麼晚你才回來？）”
麥基脫下衣服，坐到床沿：“Yes.（嗯。）”
麥基夫人盯住他的臉看了一會兒：“You look pale. What''s matter？（你麵色不好。怎麼回事？）”
麥基握住她的手：“Dear， something goes wrong. We must leave！（出事了。我們必須離開。）”
“Leave？ When？ Where？ What''s wrong？（離開？何時？去哪兒？出什麼錯了？）”
“We have a little trouble in our business. We must leave Shanghai for India， maybe for Ameribsp;You and Carri go first， and I two days later.（生意上出了點小麻煩。我們必須離開上海，前往印度，也許去美國。你與嘉麗先走，我兩天後走。）”
麥基夫人大是震驚：“What''s the trouble， you must tell me！（什麼麻煩，你必須告訴我！）”
“The rubber stocks. Ameribsp;gover has retly limited the amount of the rubber import， and as a result， rubber pribsp;in London market dropped heavily. If the news es here， all of our stobsp;will bee nothing. （橡皮股。美國政府近日限製橡膠進口數量，造成倫敦市場橡膠價格暴跌。如果消息傳到此地，我們的所有股票都將成為廢紙。）”
麥基夫人麵色慘白。
“Don''t worry. I have blocked off all the els of the bad news， and the e will know nothing at least in three days. I bought the tickets for you two， and you must leave tomorrow evening. I have to ll out all the rest shares.（不要擔心。我已封鎖關於這一消息的所有通道，中國人在三日之內什麼也不會知道的。我已買好你們兩人的船票，你們明晚必須離開。我必須賣掉所有股票。）”
麥基夫人長歎一聲，喃聲：“Oh， Carri， Mommy is sorry to you. （唉，嘉麗，媽媽對不起你了。）”
“Sorry for what？（對不起什麼？）”
“Carri came home this afternoon and said to me that you must have done something wrong bebsp;Mr. Wu feels quite unhappy. （下午嘉麗回來，告訴我，你一定做下錯事了，因為伍先生很不快樂。）”