She was still brooding over this last failure when one afternoon, as she loitered on the hotel terrace, she was approached by a young woman whom she had seen sitting near the wheeled chair of an old lady wearing a crumpled1 black bonnet2 under a funny fringed parasol with a jointed3 handle.
The young woman, who was small, slight and brown, was dressed with a disregard of the fashion which contrasted oddly with the mauve powder on her face and the traces of artificial colour in her dark untidy hair. She looked as if she might have several different personalities4, and as if the one of the moment had been hanging up a long time in her wardrobe and been hurriedly taken down as probably good enough for the present occasion.
With her hands in her jacket pockets, and an agreeable smile on her boyish face, she strolled up to Undine and asked, in a pretty variety of Parisian English, if she had the pleasure of speaking to Mrs. Marvell.
On Undine's assenting5, the smile grew more alert and the lady continued: "I think you know my friend Sacha Adelschein?"
No question could have been less welcome to Undine. If there was one point on which she was doggedly6 and puritanically7 resolved, it was that no extremes of social adversity should ever again draw her into the group of people among whom Madame Adelschein too conspicuously8 figured. Since her unsuccessful attempt to win over Indiana by introducing her to that group, Undine had been righteously resolved to remain aloof9 from it; and she was drawing herself up to her loftiest height of disapproval10 when the stranger, as if unconscious of it, went on: "Sacha speaks of you so often--she admires you so much.--I think you know also my cousin Chelles," she added, looking into Undine's eyes. "I am the Princess Estradina. I've come here with my mother for the air."
The murmur11 of negation12 died on Undine's lips. She found herself grappling with a new social riddle13, and such surprises were always stimulating14. The name of the untidy-looking young woman she had been about to repel15 was one of the most eminent16 in the impregnable quarter beyond the Seine. No one figured more largely in the Parisian chronicle than the Princess Estradina, and no name more impressively headed the list at every marriage, funeral and philanthropic entertainment of the Faubourg Saint Germain than that of her mother, the Duchesse de Dordogne, who must be no other than the old woman sitting in the Bath-chair with the crumpled bonnet and the ridiculous sunshade.
But it was not the appearance of the two ladies that surprised Undine. She knew that social gold does not always glitter, and that the lady she had heard spoken of as Lili Estradina was notoriously careless of the conventions; but that she should boast of her intimacy17 with Madame Adelschein, and use it as a pretext18 for naming herself, overthrew19 all Undine's hierarchies20.
"Yes--it's hideously21 dull here, and I'm dying of it. Do come over and speak to my mother. She's dying of it too; but don't tell her so, because she hasn't found it out. There were so many things our mothers never found out," the Princess rambled22 on, with her half-mocking half-intimate smile; and in another moment Undine, thrilled at having Mrs. Spragg thus coupled with a Duchess, found herself seated between mother and daughter, and responding by a radiant blush to the elder lady's amiable23 opening: "You know my nephew Raymond--he's your great admirer."
How had it happened, whither would it lead, how long could it last? The questions raced through Undine's brain as she sat listening to her new friends--they seemed already too friendly to be called acquaintances!--replying to their enquiries, and trying to think far enough ahead to guess what they would expect her to say, and what tone it would be well to take. She was used to such feats24 of mental agility25, and it was instinctive26 with her to become, for the moment, the person she thought her interlocutors expected her to be; but she had never had quite so new a part to play at such short notice. She took her cue, however, from the fact that the Princess Estradina, in her mother's presence, made no farther allusion27 to her dear friend Sacha, and seemed somehow, though she continued to chat on in the same easy strain, to look differently and throw out different implications. All these shades of demeanour were immediately perceptible to Undine, who tried to adapt herself to them by combining in her manner a mixture of Apex28 dash and New York dignity; and the result was so successful that when she rose to go the Princess, with a hand on her arm, said almost wistfully: "You're staying on too? Then do take pity on us! We might go on some trips together; and in the evenings we could make a bridge."
A new life began for Undine. The Princess, chained her mother's side, and frankly29 restive30 under her filial duty, clung to her new acquaintance with a persistence31 too flattering to be analyzed32. "My dear, I was on the brink33 of suicide when I saw your name in the visitors' list," she explained; and Undine felt like answering that she had nearly reached the same pass when the Princess's thin little hand had been held out to her. For the moment she was dizzy with the effect of that random34 gesture. Here she was, at the lowest ebb35 of her fortunes, miraculously36 rehabilitated37, reinstated, and restored to the old victorious38 sense of her youth and her power! Her sole graces, her unaided personality, had worked the miracle; how should she not trust in them hereafter?
Aside from her feeling of concrete attainment39. Undine was deeply interested in her new friends. The Princess and her mother, in their different ways, were different from any one else she had known. The Princess, who might have been of any age between twenty and forty, had a small triangular40 face with caressing41 impudent42 eyes, a smile like a silent whistle and the gait of a baker's boy balancing his basket. She wore either baggy43 shabby clothes like a man's, or rich draperies that looked as if they had been rained on; and she seemed equally at ease in either style of dress, and carelessly unconscious of both. She was extremely familiar and unblushingly inquisitive44, but she never gave Undine the time to ask her any questions or the opportunity to venture on any freedom with her. Nevertheless she did not scruple45 to talk of her sentimental46 experiences, and seemed surprised, and rather disappointed, that Undine had so few to relate in return. She playfully accused her beautiful new friend of being cachottiere, and at the sight of Undine's blush cried out: "Ah, you funny Americans! Why do you all behave as if love were a secret infirmity?"
The old Duchess was even more impressive, because she fitted better into Undine's preconceived picture of the Faubourg Saint Germain, and was more like the people with whom she pictured the former Nettie Wincher as living in privileged intimacy. The Duchess was, indeed, more amiable and accessible than Undine's conception of a Duchess, and displayed a curiosity as great as her daughter's, and much more puerile47, concerning her new friend's history and habits. But through her mild prattle48, and in spite of her limited perceptions. Undine felt in her the same clear impenetrable barrier that she ran against occasionally in the Princess; and she was beginning to understand that this barrier represented a number of things about which she herself had yet to learn. She would not have known this a few years earlier, nor would she have seen in the Duchess anything but the ruin of an ugly woman, dressed in clothes that Mrs. Spragg wouldn't have touched. The Duchess certainly looked like a ruin; but Undine now saw that she looked like the ruin of a castle.
The Princess, who was unofficially separated from her husband, had with her her two little girls. She seemed extremely attached to both--though avowing49 for the younger a preference she frankly ascribed to the interesting accident of its parentage--and she could not understand that Undine, as to whose domestic difficulties she minutely informed herself, should have consented to leave her child to strangers. "For, to one's child every one but one's self is a stranger; and whatever your egarements--" she began, breaking off with a stare when Undine interrupted her to explain that the courts had ascribed all the wrongs in the case to her husband. "But then--but then--" murmured the Princess, turning away from the subject as if checked by too deep an abyss of difference.
The incident had embarrassed Undine, and though she tried to justify50 herself by allusions51 to her boy's dependence52 on his father's family, and to the duty of not standing53 in his way, she saw that she made no impression. "Whatever one's errors, one's child belongs to one," her hearer continued to repeat; and Undine, who was frequently scandalized by the Princess's conversation, now found herself in the odd position of having to set a watch upon her own in order not to scandalize the Princess.
Each day, nevertheless, strengthened her hold on her new friends. After her first flush of triumph she began indeed to suspect that she had been a slight disappointment to the Princess, had not completely justified54 the hopes raised by the doubtful honour of being one of Sacha Adelschein's intimates. Undine guessed that the Princess had expected to find her more amusing, "queerer," more startling in speech and conduct. Though by instinct she was none of these things, she was eager to go as far as was expected; but she felt that her audacities55 were on lines too normal to be interesting, and that the Princess thought her rather school-girlish and old-fashioned. Still, they had in common their youth, their boredom56, their high spirits and their hunger for amusement; and Undine was making the most of these ties when one day, coming back from a trip to Monte-Carlo with the Princess, she was brought up short by the sight of a lady--evidently a new arrival--who was seated in an attitude of respectful intimacy beside the old Duchess's chair. Undine, advancing unheard over the fine gravel57 of the garden path, recognized at a glance the Marquise de Trezac's drooping58 nose and disdainful back, and at the same moment heard her say: "--And her husband?"
"Her husband? But she's an American--she's divorced," the Duchess replied, as if she were merely stating the same fact in two different ways; and Undine stopped short with a pang60 of apprehension61.
The Princess came up behind her. "Who's the solemn person with Mamma? Ah, that old bore of a Trezac!" She dropped her long eye-glass with a laugh. "Well, she'll be useful--she'll stick to Mamma like a leech62 and we shall get away oftener. Come, let's go and be charming to her."
She approached Madame de Trezac effusively64, and after an interchange of exclamations65 Undine heard her say "You know my friend Mrs. Marvell? No? How odd! Where do you manage to hide yourself, chere Madame? Undine, here's a compatriot who hasn't the pleasure--"
"I'm such a hermit66, dear Mrs. Marvell--the Princess shows me what I miss," the Marquise de Trezac murmured, rising to give her hand to Undine, and speaking in a voice so different from that of the supercilious67 Miss Wincher that only her facial angle and the droop59 of her nose linked her to the hated vision of Potash Springs.
Undine felt herself dancing on a flood-tide of security. For the first time the memory of Potash Springs became a thing to smile at, and with the Princess's arm through hers she shone back triumphantly68 on Madame de Trezac, who seemed to have grown suddenly obsequious69 and insignificant70, as though the waving of the Princess's wand had stripped her of all her false advantages.
But upstairs, in her own room. Undine's courage fell. Madame de Trezac had been civil, effusive63 even, because for the moment she had been taken off her guard by finding Mrs. Marvell on terms of intimacy with the Princess Estradina and her mother. But the force of facts would reassert itself. Far from continuing to see Undine through her French friends' eyes she would probably invite them to view her compatriot through the searching lens of her own ampler information. "The old hypocrite--she'll tell them everything," Undine murmured, wincing71 at the recollection of the dentist's assistant from Deposit, and staring miserably72 at her reflection in the dressing-table mirror. Of what use were youth and grace and good looks, if one drop of poison distilled73 from the envy of a narrow-minded woman was enough to paralyze them? Of course Madame de Trezac knew and remembered, and, secure in her own impregnable position, would never rest till she had driven out the intruder.
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1
crumpled
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| adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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bonnet
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| n.无边女帽；童帽 | |
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jointed
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| 有接缝的 | |
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personalities
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| n. 诽谤，（对某人容貌、性格等所进行的）人身攻击； 人身攻击；人格, 个性, 名人( personality的名词复数 ) | |
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assenting
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| 同意，赞成( assent的现在分词 ) | |
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doggedly
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| adv.顽强地，固执地 | |
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puritanically
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conspicuously
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| ad.明显地，惹人注目地 | |
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aloof
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| adj.远离的；冷淡的，漠不关心的 | |
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disapproval
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| n.反对，不赞成 | |
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murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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negation
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| n.否定；否认 | |
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riddle
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| n.谜，谜语，粗筛；vt.解谜，给…出谜，筛，检查，鉴定，非难，充满于；vi.出谜 | |
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stimulating
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| adj.有启发性的，能激发人思考的 | |
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repel
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| v.击退，抵制，拒绝，排斥 | |
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eminent
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| adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的 | |
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intimacy
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| n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行 | |
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pretext
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| n.借口，托词 | |
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overthrew
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| overthrow的过去式 | |
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hierarchies
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| 等级制度( hierarchy的名词复数 )； 统治集团； 领导层； 层次体系 | |
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hideously
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| adv.可怕地，非常讨厌地 | |
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rambled
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| （无目的地）漫游( ramble的过去式和过去分词 )； （喻）漫谈； 扯淡； 长篇大论 | |
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amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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feats
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| 功绩，伟业，技艺( feat的名词复数 ) | |
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agility
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| n.敏捷，活泼 | |
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instinctive
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| adj.(出于)本能的；直觉的；(出于)天性的 | |
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allusion
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| n.暗示，间接提示 | |
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apex
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| n.顶点，最高点 | |
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frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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restive
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| adj.不安宁的，不安静的 | |
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persistence
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| n.坚持，持续，存留 | |
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analyzed
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| v.分析( analyze的过去式和过去分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析 | |
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brink
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| n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿 | |
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random
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| adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动 | |
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ebb
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| vi.衰退，减退；n.处于低潮，处于衰退状态 | |
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miraculously
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| ad.奇迹般地 | |
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rehabilitated
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| 改造（罪犯等）( rehabilitate的过去式和过去分词 )； 使恢复正常生活； 使恢复原状； 修复 | |
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victorious
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| adj.胜利的，得胜的 | |
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attainment
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| n.达到，到达；［常pl.］成就，造诣 | |
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triangular
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| adj.三角（形）的，三者间的 | |
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caressing
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| 爱抚的，表现爱情的，亲切的 | |
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42
impudent
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| adj.鲁莽的，卑鄙的，厚颜无耻的 | |
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baggy
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| adj.膨胀如袋的，宽松下垂的 | |
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inquisitive
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| adj.求知欲强的，好奇的，好寻根究底的 | |
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45
scruple
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| n./v.顾忌，迟疑 | |
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sentimental
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| adj.多愁善感的，感伤的 | |
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puerile
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| adj.幼稚的，儿童的 | |
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48
prattle
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| n.闲谈；v.（小孩般）天真无邪地说话；发出连续而无意义的声音 | |
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49
avowing
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| v.公开声明，承认( avow的现在分词 ) | |
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50
justify
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| vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护 | |
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51
allusions
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| 暗指，间接提到( allusion的名词复数 ) | |
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52
dependence
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| n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属 | |
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53
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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54
justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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55
audacities
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| n.大胆( audacity的名词复数 )；鲁莽；胆大妄为；鲁莽行为 | |
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56
boredom
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| n.厌烦，厌倦，乏味，无聊 | |
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gravel
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| n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石 | |
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58
drooping
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| adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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59
droop
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| v.低垂，下垂；凋萎，萎靡 | |
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60
pang
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| n.剧痛，悲痛，苦闷 | |
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61
apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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62
leech
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| n.水蛭，吸血鬼，榨取他人利益的人；vt.以水蛭吸血；vi.依附于别人 | |
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effusive
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| adj.热情洋溢的；感情(过多)流露的 | |
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effusively
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| adv.变溢地，热情洋溢地 | |
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exclamations
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| n.呼喊( exclamation的名词复数 )；感叹；感叹语；感叹词 | |
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66
hermit
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| n.隐士，修道者；隐居 | |
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67
supercilious
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| adj.目中无人的，高傲的；adv.高傲地；n.高傲 | |
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triumphantly
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| ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地 | |
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obsequious
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| adj.谄媚的，奉承的，顺从的 | |
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70
insignificant
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| adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的 | |
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71
wincing
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| 赶紧避开，畏缩( wince的现在分词 ) | |
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72
miserably
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| adv.痛苦地；悲惨地；糟糕地；极度地 | |
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distilled
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| adj.由蒸馏得来的v.蒸馏( distil的过去式和过去分词 )；从…提取精华 | |
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